In the 19th century, humanity made such a qualitative breakthrough in all areas that it began to feel an irresistible contempt for the inhabitants of past eras. The attitude of the average 19th century homosapiens to everything that came before was, in fact, reduced to two feelings: condescension or rejection. It was then that some "tabloid" clichés appeared, which we still use today. This also applies to "dirty ancestors". The fact is that the authors of the 19th century often operated on unverified data: in the century before last, a huge number of pseudo-diaries of Marie Antoinette, non-existent letters from Madame Dubarry and scabrous rhymes of Queen Margot, which she did not write, were published …
Over time, some scribblers diligently copied from others, and still others - wrote false books. A typical example is E. Fuchs's book "The Gallant Age", in which the brand "moral freak" was affixed to all the ruling monarchs of the 17th - 18th centuries.
Nowadays, few people remember that English caricature of the 18th century, directed against high hairstyles. The caricature depicts a lady with such a huge curafure that mice and birds are quietly accommodated in it. But in the 19th century, clever brazomoytsy turned the Teremok hairstyle into … "a lousy house". From the mockery of the size grew the mockery of … dirt. And now even quite academic publications from year to year trynd about mice in the head of Princess de Lambal.
What's in real life?
In the 19th century, a person really began to actively and very often wash. (This was especially noticeable in England). The reason for this was not a special passion for “fragrant soap and a fluffy towel”, but … ecology. It was then in Europe that factories and factories were diligently smoked, steam locomotives hummed and steamboats puffed. The world gradually plunged into the smoke and stench generated by civilization. The human excretory system began to work with a greater load than in the "ecologically clean" XVIII century.
If in the era of Napoleon a woman washed her hair once a month, then at the end of the 19th century - once a week. But this very woman of the "age of steam and iron" did not think about the fact that her great-great-grandmother simply did not need such an exercise! Over time, the ecology deteriorated even more. More and more "additives" and "substitutes" were included in the human diet. With the advent of synthetics, there was a need for … a deodorant. A modern man, packed in "chemistry", eating modified soy + E-232 (former meat) and inhaling the entire periodic table is really constantly dirty. By the way, back in the days of the USSR, when we did not stand in countless traffic jams and ate normal chickens, we did not wash our hair every day …
Why is it that most people are pleased to know that they are purer than Louis XIV?
Promotional video:
Because they are not Louis XIV, of course. And, say, concrete worker Filimonov. He is pleased to read that even the kings of the 17th century washed themselves once a year and shit on the floor. Because he, the concrete worker Filimonov, washes himself every evening and shits on the floor only "drunk" or on a dispute. The average person (in the bad sense of the word) lives more calmly when he knows that someone “tall” was no better than himself.
Well, okay, it's all lyrics.
Let's start with the history of soap making …
Legend has it that the very word soap (soap) comes from the name of Mount Sapo in ancient Rome, where sacrifices were made to the gods. The animal fat released during the burning of the victim accumulated and mixed with the wood ash of the fire. Thus, the invention of soap is attributed to the Romans.
The Roman writer and scientist Pliny the Elder also mentions soap making in his main treatise "Natural History" in thirty-seven volumes. This source is an encyclopedia of natural knowledge of antiquity, and the mention of soap making in it clearly indicates that by that time its product had become an integral part of the life of the Roman population.
Starting in the 9th century AD, Marseille became the main supplier of soap in Europe. Only at the end of the XIV century did Marseilles soap give way to Venetian soap in international trade. Soap making was also actively developing in Italy, Greece and Spain.
L'Occitane is now one of the "heirs" of the soap-making traditions of southern France. For example, they have a soap made from medieval recipes. If you prove that in the Middle Ages people did not wash and all this is a lie, you can become fabulously rich. How? It's very simple - sue L`Occitane for the fact that they are misleading people.
In the 15th century in Italy, in Sevon, the first industrial production of solid soap began. At the same time, fats were combined not with ash, but with natural soda ash. This significantly reduced the cost of soap, and, consequently, transferred its soap making from the category of handicraft production to manufacturing.
Beginning in the XIV century, soap shops began to appear in Germany. Beef, lamb, lamb, lard, horse lard, bone, whale and fish oil, waste of fats from various industries were used to make soap. Vegetable oils were also added - linseed and cottonseed.
The history of soap making in Russia has its roots in the pre-Petrine era. Craftsmen learned how to make soap from potash and animal fats. Thus, in every home, the production of this product, so necessary in everyday life, was established. The number of small soap-making workshops was expanding, especially since Russia had all the resources necessary for this, and first of all, wood, since ash was the basis of potash.
And here a logical question arises: why the hell was this soap produced if the peoples of Europe were drowning in the mud and scratching themselves, no worse than mongrels ?! Production for the sake of production is undoubtedly an exciting process, but not so profitable as to suffer so much in the era of developed feudalism.
An article about the history of soap making
It cannot be denied, of course, that religious fanatics and particularly harsh citizens considered bathing a disgusting pleasure and preferred not to bathe. It is also important that the opinion about hygiene among the representatives of the ruling classes and the lower strata of the “third estate” was diametrically opposite. Soap was still a relatively expensive pleasure, and firewood in Europe rose in price from year to year. Consequently, taking a bath was more of a lordly occupation than a national one. True, in the 17th century in England, they were already burning with might and main with cheap coal, which served to develop hygiene in a single country.
In general, England was one of the most "washed" countries of the 17th - 18th centuries. Interesting fact: The Duke of Devonshire got himself a marble bath with hot water, which was served from the "tap". They say that everyone was rushing to him as if on a tour … (Taken from the book '1700 Scenes from London Life' by Maureen Waller).
An article on grooming and hygiene in the Middle Ages
Excerpt: “Baths were very popular in the Middle Ages. In some medieval castles, you can find not only bathrooms, but also a drain and water supply system. Wash basins in the form of stone bowls built into the wall were not uncommon; water was supplied to such bowls from a lake or from a river near the castle. Examples of locks with washbasins are Goodrich and Conisbrough in England."
Public soap house (like a bathhouse) in the Middle Ages
The era of the Renaissance. Washing is not only water, but also music and food. Complex pleasure
In the Renaissance, for example, people not only washed themselves, but also … posed for the artist in the bathroom. They probably foresaw that their harsh descendants would think all sorts of nasty things about them. But nothing helped, they still think. Once upon a time there was Diana de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henry II. Diana loved to wash, and so that everyone knew about it, she called the artist Francois Clouet:
In those days (and until the 19th century), the bath was laid with a sheet. In the background is a maid carrying water
Another lover of another Henry - Gabrielle d'Estre also loved to wash. She loved so much that she even ordered a portrait similar to the one mentioned above. However, Gabrielle, unlike Diana, did not like to wash alone and introduced different people to this useful activity. You can say as much as you like that the pictures are pure debauchery. I, of course, am not an expert, but you can be debauched elsewhere, besides, water (with debauchery) has the property of being ridiculous and indecent to squish …
Gabrielle d'Estre with her sister
In this portrait of an unknown lady by an unknown artist (the so-called school of Fontainebleau), we are not interested in the beauty herself, but in her maid, scrubbing the bath
Another strange myth
Who among us has not read that perfumes and incense were used by unwashed and smelly ladies to fight off the disgusting smell of an unwashed body? Sorry, but for whom did they do it? If everyone is smelly, then no one smells the stench. Don't believe me? Turn to the station - there are always homeless people. For you they will smell like a gutter, meanwhile for each other they are quite pleasant and adequately smelling drinking companions …
In the painting by the French artist J.-B. Pater, which is called "Taking a bath", we see how much effort it took to wash the lady before bed. Apparently, the fat beauty is getting out of the bath: one servant is holding her, the other two have prepared towels … You can hardly arrange it for yourself …
This is not a sofa, this is also a bath (if you look where the ladies' shoes are, you can see the bottom characteristic of all baths). In the 18th century, people sometimes washed themselves in a special shirt. In it they swam in the river. In one of the books I read an interesting explanation: a lady put on a shirt if she wanted to receive a guest while washing. On the engraving by M. Moro Jr. ("Lady Taking a Bath"), this is exactly the case - a maid brought a letter from a visitor
King - Clean
The greatest cleanliness of the Gallant Age was the Prussian king Frederick William I. He washed himself every day and washed his hands countless times. His daughter, Wilhelmina Bayreuth, tells about these lovely oddities in her Memoirs. The king, members of the Surname and courtiers constantly smelled of soap, and the cheapest and most disgusting, for the Majesty did not recognize perfume and incense, and was also suspicious of expensive soap. Disliking such "friends of man" as lice, the king forced his soldiers and officers to shave to "zero" and wear wigs (in the French army, hairstyles from their own hair were allowed). The king made his son - the future Frederick the Great - shave too (in spite of the protest). This is how Frederick the Great walked, as in that skinhead song "I am shaved and angry, don't meet me" © …
Wilhelmina herself also remained faithful to family traditions: in her assessments of people, she did not forget to mention who was dirty and smelly. For example, when a bride was brought to her brother, Crown Prince Frederick, the Prussian princesses were unpleasantly shocked that she smelled bad (that is, it did not smell like soap).
Now a little about plumbing
There is information that … Bidet appeared during the Renaissance. A small bath, narrowed in the middle, was installed in a wooden frame on four legs, and water was poured from a jug. At the beginning of the 18th century, in France, the baths were made of metal, and the stands for them were made of walnut. Later, graceful porcelain or silver baths were placed on coasters made of exotic woods. The French royal court remained the trendsetter in this matter. For example, the bidet of the Marquise de Pompadour was made of inlaid wood with inlaid and gilded bronze wicks.
The basis of the foundations was Moidodyr, that is, a washbasin, a jug and a basin. All this "music" was in the so-called toilet room, which was intended to tidy up the appearance. As you know, Catherine II came from Vaterland almost naked and very hungry. But with her there was a copper jug for washing: the poor girl did not know that there are baths in Russia and the first one who would teach the German princess to the steam room would be Empress Elizabeth herself.
A question to the fans of the "dirty past": why did Catherine bring a jug with her?
1. As a cold weapon.
2. To shout at him: "Oeeeeuuu !!" to get a funny echo.
3. To "push" him as a non-ferrous metal.
You can object to me: but this information can also contradict the truth? They can. Why should I trust others? All sources are equal.
