Were castles clean or dirty?

Castles were very difficult to keep clean. There was no running water, so even simple washing tasks meant carrying a lot of bucketfuls of water from a well or stream. Few people had the luxury of being able to bathe regularly; the community was generally more tolerant of smells and dirt.

How clean were castles in medieval times?

Tied to health, class, and purity, hygiene in medieval castles, monasteries, and villages meant clean hair, fresh breath, and a smoothly shaved head - at least on occasion.

How did they clean castles?

There was particular way in which to 'clean up' oneself, rubbish had a designated place, floors were swept or kept free from too much debris, and rushes or floor coverings were used especially if they were not tiled or flagged. 3. Medieval women living in castles didn't just sit around gazing out of windows.

How did they poop in castles?

The toilet seat was made of a wooden bench covering the shaft hole in the masonry. The wood was usually cut with a rectangular or keyhole aperture. Hay, grass, or even moss were used as toilet paper.

Was it cold living in a castle?

It Was Very Dark And Extremely Cold

This led to giant fortresses of stone with small and narrow windows. The stone wasn't exactly conducive to letting heat in and the small windows let in very little of the sun's light, leaving most rooms in the castle extremely dark and cold.

How clean were Medieval people?

Do castles have rats?

Rat-catcher

Rats and other vermin flourished inside the walls of medieval towns. Castles — designed to withstand a siege — often contained stores of surplus grain, vegetables, and herbs. Along with their cool, dark interior, these stores provided a superb habitat for rats and mice.

How rough was life in medieval castles?

Life in a Medieval Castle: Cold, Dark, and Very Smelly!

To our modern standards of living, most Medieval castles would have been incredibly cold, cramped, totally lacking privacy, and would have been disgustingly smelly (and likely home to more than a fair share of rats!).

How did people in medieval times clean their butts?

And though sticks have been popular for cleaning the anus throughout history, ancient people wiped with many other materials, such as water, leaves, grass, stones, animal furs and seashells. In the Middle Ages, Morrison added, people also used moss, sedge, hay, straw and pieces of tapestry.

What did a medieval village smell like?

They were ankle-deep in a putrid mix of wet mud, rotten fish, garbage, entrails, and animal dung. People dumped their own buckets of faeces and urine into the street or simply sloshed it out the window.

How did Victorian ladies go to the toilet?

Chamber pots did not always have to sit below a commode. For ease of use, Victorian women could simply hold the chamber pot in their hands, rest a foot on the top of the chair, and hold the chamber pot underneath the skirts.

Did castles have bathrooms?

In the medieval period luxury castles were built with indoor toilets known as 'garderobes', and the waste dropped into a pit below.

How bad was hygiene in medieval times?

Clothes could be washed in a tub, often with stale urine or wood ash added to the water, and trampled underfoot or beaten with a wooden bat until clean. But many women did their washing in rivers and streams, and larger rivers often had special jetties to facilitate this, such as 'le levenderebrigge' on the Thames.

Why did people stop bathing in medieval times?

It wasn't just diseases from the water itself they were worried about. They also felt that with the pores widened after a bath, this resulted in infections of the air having easier access to the body. Hence, bathing, particularly at bathhouses, became connected with the spread of diseases.

Why were medieval towns so dirty?

They were a breeding ground for disease. The upper storeys of houses jutted out into the street, limiting light and air. There were no sewers, so household waste was thrown into the streets. There were large numbers of animals in towns, so there was a lot of manure left to rot down.

When did Europeans start bathing?

“Bathing as you and I know it was very, very uncommon [among western Europeans] until the later part of the 18th century,” says W. Peter Ward, a professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia and author of the new book The Clean Body: A Modern History.

How often did medieval royalty bathe?

Yes, it's true. Clean water was hard to get but even those, who had access to it, rarely bathed. It is believed that King Louis XIV bathed just twice in his lifetime. Not just him, Queen Isabella of Spain bathed once when she was born and once on her wedding day.

Do castles stink?

Often the moat surrounding the castle was used as a sewer. Both the moat and the castle quickly became smelly and dirty. It's said that the kings and queens of England never stayed longer than eight weeks in one of their castles because of the build-up of foul odors.

What did Romans smell like?

In Rome, frankincense, cinnamon, myrrh, and nard, were widely used in Imperial age temples, with frankincense and myrrh being the most popular.

How do Indian wipe their bum?

In India and the Indian subcontinent, over 95% of the population use water for cleansing the anal area after defecating. The cleaning of hands with soap/ liquid soap after this cleansing process is very important. In urban areas and newer settlements bidet showers are widely used.

Did early humans wipe?

From Seashells to Communal Sponges

What's clear is that humans in all time periods have used a variety of natural tools and materials to clean themselves. In very ancient times, wiping with stones and other natural materials and rinsing with water or snow was common. Some cultures opted for seashells and animal furs.

How did Vikings go to the toilet?

Interesting enough, according to the BBC Primary History site, there were no bathrooms in the Viking home. Most people probably washed in a wooden bucket or the nearest stream. Instead of toilets, people used cesspits, which are holes dug outside for toilet waste.

What was it like inside a castle?

Life in a castle in medieval times was very dark and cold. Windows were narrow, open slits. Toilets were benches with holes in. The waste would drop into a stinky cesspit or the moat.

Did castles have wood or stone floors?

Medieval Times

Typically, hardwood flooring was not just about aesthetics, but installed for practicality. Since oak and pine were readily available, those species are the most abundant in homes and castles from the middle ages.

What were castle floors made of?

In a ground-floor hall the floor was beaten earth, stone or plaster; when the hall was elevated to the upper story the floor was nearly always timber, supported either by a row of wooden pillars in the basement below, as in Chepstow's Great Hall (shown left), or by stone vaulting.