Cleanliness-
Bathing and cleansing of the medieval woman
BATHING
- DEODORANTS, SOAP & PERFUMING
- ORAL HYGIENE & DENTISTRY
Bathing
The general standard of cleanliness was considerably higher than Hollywood
movies would have us believe. The poorer person was just as concerned
with personal hygiene and cleanliness as the wealthy. A lack of money
and possessions did not preclude the lowest classes from basic good hygiene.
Hands and faces were usually washed with water before meals and after.
In noble households, ewers of water which were often scented with rose
petals or other fragrant herbs were set aside for this express purpose.
Pictured at left, a stained glass image of a woman bathing in a large,
canopied wooden tub . Pictured at right, a detail from a 14th century
illuminated manuscript, "Tacuinum Sanitatis" showing
two women washing the lower legs.
Bathing was a part of the daily ritual; the peasant or lower class would
bathe in streams or wash from a small basin and jug, whilst the wealthier
would attend public baths if they did not have one at their residence.
Due to the way that medieval people utilised their household space, a
seperate room was not usually set aside for the purpose of bathing alone.
The wooden tub would be brought to the room where it was required along
with the heated water and fragrant oils or soaps.
Baths
or stewes were almost a popular passtime for the townsperson or noble.
Scented bathes might also include a meal or refreshment served on a tray
which reached from one side of the tub to the other. Bathers would be
attended by men and women who would supply the patron's needs. Although
bathers bathed nude, headwear was still worn.
The church, whilst favouring cleanliness of mind, body and spirit were
very quick to denounce public stewes as dens of iniquity and moral looseness,
which it seems, they often were.
The Trotula texts give quite explicit cleansing instructions for women
prior to intercourse. (follow up).
Deodorant,
soap and perfuming
Perfumes and sachets were very much in demand. Roses and lavender were
especially cultivated for distillation of their oils. Musk was known and
used as a fixitive.
Documentation of guilds of
soap-producers can be found in Europe as early as 800 A.D
although soap did not come into widespread use in Europe during
the ninth century. It is generally accepted that soap was known in England
by the 10th century. A record from Richard of Devizes, a monk from the
12 century makes remark about the nuber of soap-makers in Bristol and
the smelly nature of their profession. Records show a "sopehouse"
at Bishopgate in London in the 15th century.
Early soaps were usually made with tallow, ash and beef or mutton fats
making them rather unattractive to look at. Techniques for producing the
production of soap improved during the next two hundred years, but it
remained soft. By the 12th century hard soap came into use
and is said to be an Arab development which was later imported into Europe.
The best soaps were known as "castile
soap" having originated in Castile, Spain. They were made using olive
oil instead of fats.
The image above at right is a detail from the third panel of Lorenzetti's
"The Birth of Mary" painted in 1342. It shows women with
a water jug and cloths for drying. A deodorant comprising of an infusion
of bay leaves and hyssop is known.
Oral
Hygiene & Dentistry
Brushes used for the cleansing of the teeth in the middle ages were unknown
although mouthwashes of vinegar along with various powders and the leaves
of the mallow plant were employed as were sticks for picking at food left
between the teeth for general dental hygiene. Ladies who were troubled
with bad breath were advised to employ the use of anise, fennell and cinnamon
as a remedy. To chew upon such leaves should alleiviate the situation
much in the same way that parsley is served on our plates today; not just
a garnish, but also to remove any bad breath caused by odorous foods.
The
lack of refined sugars that we know today assisted in the less instances
of tooth decay, although poor nutrition caused its own set of problems.
Toothache was also seen as a punishment from God or caused by worms burrowing
into the gums and teeth. For the lay populace dentistry was quite rudimentary
and often extractions were performed by itinerants who travelled from
town to town. Post extraction bleeding and infection often caused problems
for the unfortunate patients. Barbars or barbar-surgeon often also were
the town's dental practitioners.
There are records of acid being employed to pour into painful tooth cavities
which destroyed the nerve endings and allieviated the pain but did nothing
to re-enforce the tooth shell. Dental fillings appear to be unknown but
Paul B Newman, author of "Daily Life In The Middle Ages"
claims that gold caps were used as early as the 15th century.
A lecture given to the PHS in May 1993 by Dr David Brown, Head of the
Department of Dental Materials Science, U.M.D.S. Dental School, Guys Hospital,
London stated that:
"historically, a range of materials has been used for denture bases, including stone, wood, shell, bone, horn, ivory and metal. The Romans used bone and ivory (from the hippopotamus) including natural teeth in the dentures then subsequently ivory and later porcelain teeth. There appear to be no records of this technology being used in the middle ages however, so it is unknown whether these methods were known and employed or otherwise."
A marginal note in the Lebar Brecc from the Revue Celtique V, edited and translated by Whitley Stokes gives us this prayer:
Ordu Thomais togaide
i toeb Crist cen chinaid
ron-ícca mo déta cen guba
ar chruma is ar idhain.translation:
May the thumb of chosen Thomas
in the side of guiltless Christ
heal my teeth without lamentation
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