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I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

going-medieval.com

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Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#231

Post by hypertele-Xii »

vorpalhex wrote: post #27
khazhoux wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should ask the guy at my gym who apparently doesn't shower, and singes my nose hair from 10 feet away. Honest question: is there any way to tell a stranger they stink, without it being horribly awkward and even inappropriate? Truly, this is a gap in our social customs.

Recommend a soap. Talk about how much you like it.

Some people will miss subtle hints and think you're just a weirdo who likes talking about soap. Just tell the truth, as it is. Hey dude, you kinda stink, mind showering more often? Thanks.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#232

Post by macleginn »

aasasd wrote: post #219
kgeist wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_stove "As well as warming and cooking, Russian stoves were used for bathing. Once the stove became hot the burning wood was removed, and cast iron containers were put into the stove and filled with water. That allowed people to bathe inside of the stove. A grown man can easily fit inside, and during World War II some people escaped the Nazis by hiding in the stoves."

Okay, but can I get a schematic of how that's supposed to work? The opening on the pechka is on the side—what, you slide inside like in an MRI and then somehow chuck water onto yourself? Pretty sure just filling a proper wooden tub with the hot water is a lot simpler. For the context, back in my childhood I spent several summers in a house with a pechka (it's still there), and visited a couple others. Those could onl…

> Pretty sure just filling a proper wooden tub with the hot water is a lot simpler.

Water in a tub gets cold pretty quickly; vessels with water inside a stove keep warm for much longer.

Old school Russian stoves have been hard to find in Russian villages now because they are too big and impractical, but a proper article, like one shown here https://zen.yandex.ru/media/1banya/kak-mylis-v-russkoi-pechi... , can easily fit a grown person.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#233

Post by hypertele-Xii »

verisimi wrote: post #89
phyzome wrote: post #3

Tangential question: Why do humans place emphasis on bathing, when most other animals don't seem to need to do it? (I think in the US we bathe more than we actually need to, but on the other hand I assume that the strong cross-cultural emphasis indicates that we do actually need to do it to some degree to stay healthy.) Maybe something about our unusual skin, and how we sweat to stay cool?

It's business. Create a market for something that you don't need (and is arguably is bad for you), get people to pay for it, make it a 'norm' via advertising. All that product that can be sold, to be literally poured down the drain and strip your body off the natural, protective oils and bacteria on your skin and hair.

No post body was provided.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#234

Post by nonima »

_gabe_ wrote: post #52
cm2012 wrote: post #36

I feel very grateful for reddit.com/r/askhistorians. I feel like they are the only source I can trust on figuring out the best truth we know about history.

> I feel like they are the only source I can trust on figuring out the best truth we know about history. I hope this isn't a widespread belief. If it is, then this concerns me.

No post body was provided.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#235

Post by hypertele-Xii »

ncmncm wrote: post #205
Boltgolt wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe, but i don't think the best soap the world has ever seen will keep me from smelling like sweat after a few hot days

Yeah, like I said, modern soap. You can't buy the good stuff at all.

Where do you shop that doesn't sell plain old soap bars?

Need me to mail some for you?

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#236

Post by greenpeas »

southerntofu wrote: post #202
justanorherhack wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was a cultural value to feed people outside of the home before yourself and food donation was a cultural promoted ideology then that means there were lots of people to feed..

How do you reach this conclusion? I know many people in France who have difficulty feeding themselves / their family, yet depending on the region it may or may not be part of local culture to feed other people outside your home. In fact, it's definitely not local culture in any big city i've visited, and on the countryside it varies not by region but from one village to the next. From what i could see it it's really…

If food was plentiful and everyone had access to food, sharing food would not be a virtue. It's only a virtue if it's somewhat difficult for the person sharing (it means they are sacrificing something to help others) and at the same time is valuable to the receiver (the receiver really needs the food).

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#237

Post by aasasd »

raarts wrote: post #75

Quoted post unavailable.

Regarding the tubs, afaik large barrels were sometimes used for bathing, though I'm not sure when and where. I'd guess these wouldn't stand out specifically as bathing implements.

Although a barrel-with-a-seat would probably still be more convenient, in this vein: https://yourhautecouture.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/half...

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#238

Post by hypertele-Xii »

tgv wrote: post #111
astrobe_ wrote: post #64

Someone mentioned in the comments of TFA, but soap-making was an industry in a southern french town since ancient times. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille_soap

> The first documented soapmaker was recorded there in about 1370. That's not ancient times. That's practically Renaissance.

Wikipedia says [0] it's late middle ages, and only mentions the beginning of Italian reneissance. Though the word "ancient" has more specific meaning in history than is being used here, probably, referring to pre- middle ages (classical antiquity).

It's not ancient times, but also not quite reneissance yet.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#240

Post by UncleMeat »

raarts wrote: post #151
Osmose wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're gonna be disappointed in the rest of the internet and a significant amount of the adults in the world if this language is so foul as to bother you. Completely unnecessary callout. Either way, a skim of some google results looking for other articles on medieval bathing references evidence in the form of obituaries mentioning deaths of peasants while bathing in rivers, as well as the existence of bathhouses in s…

- soap is a motherfucking medieval invention - Your peasant ass - Medieval bathhouses were big fucking business. - Sex workers be showing right TF up in the public baths. - clearly, fucking clearly medieval people bathed - they wanted you to not be going down the bath house and getting your fuck on. - Hitting your chest with rocks and sitting in the desert trying not to wank This is completely unnecessary. You forget…

It's a fun blog, not a journal article. And it seems to be successful. She's one of the more widely known public historians of the medieval period.

Medievalists, in my experience, love this stuff. If you spend time on medieval twitter you'll find them sharing loads and loads of dirty images found in old books.

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