Medieval Peeps Were Filthy, Right? Why do we still believe people in the Middle Ages were gross dung peddlers who were like “bathing, don’t even know her”? Some of it is misunderstanding sources from then talking about not excessively bathing, though that wasn’t really about bathing and more like don’t spend a bunch of time shagging people at bathhouses. There’s also some misinterpretation that some holy figures and nobles like Queen Isabella of Spain, who wasn’t big on bathing, in general, were representative of everyone when no, they definitely were not. What also doesn’t help is that one or two centuries later, people did kind of for real bathe less, but somehow this gets pinned on being during medieval times because eras are confusing, I guess? Then there is an assumption that because of the plague and its spread, surely people weren’t very clean, which is, given the COVID pandemic in our times, kind of a weird take in hindsight.
Ye Olde Propaganda: The Middle Ages Stink!
Ye Olde Propaganda: The Middle Ages Stink!
Ye Olde Propaganda: The Middle Ages Stink!
Medieval Peeps Were Filthy, Right? Why do we still believe people in the Middle Ages were gross dung peddlers who were like “bathing, don’t even know her”? Some of it is misunderstanding sources from then talking about not excessively bathing, though that wasn’t really about bathing and more like don’t spend a bunch of time shagging people at bathhouses. There’s also some misinterpretation that some holy figures and nobles like Queen Isabella of Spain, who wasn’t big on bathing, in general, were representative of everyone when no, they definitely were not. What also doesn’t help is that one or two centuries later, people did kind of for real bathe less, but somehow this gets pinned on being during medieval times because eras are confusing, I guess? Then there is an assumption that because of the plague and its spread, surely people weren’t very clean, which is, given the COVID pandemic in our times, kind of a weird take in hindsight.