Hygiene in the Middle Ages, all in the bath! The soap that makes the skin soft
The Middle Ages still has the reputation of a crappy era and stinks, bin hang on my little because it’s wrong. Really wrong. For the moment, let’s leave aside the dental hygiene with natural toothpaste that stains gums and hair care from dead lizards. Today we are talking about the bath, the soothing soap, and the soft skin
The importance of the bath
Hygiene rules
In the Middle Ages, the bath is recommended in many treatises of medicine, but also fabliaux explain that it is necessary to wash. Not just the hands and with a little straw, no-no. It takes water, soap, and rub, rub, rub.
For example, Barthélemy the English states in the thirteenth century “when the child has slept enough, it must be washed three times a day.” After each big nap of your brat, you have to wash it. Remember also that disposable diapers do not exist and that children wear swaddle, so you have to not only wash the ass but also clothes. Barthélemy, always, explains in the book of the properties of things that the bath is nourishing “It is bathed and anointed to feed the flesh clearly”.
For adults, the bath is a little less regular. Daily men and girls wash their exposed body parts, hands, face. The bath is weekly, or almost. There are in each district of the cities, ovens, or public baths. But beware, the bathwater when it is too hot can “expel the junk that nature hides by the sluices of the flesh” according to Aldébrandin of Siena.
Oven
In 1292, there are 250,000 inhabitants in Paris and there are 27 even Dijon, Rouen, Chartres, and Strasbourg are equipped with many public baths. That is to say! And the number of ovens will increase, but its price is still a little excessive. The equivalent of a big bread. Then, the rich will go to the ovens, while the less fortunate will prefer the water of the rivers. But unlike the oven, the water is cold. seriously, in the middle of winter, I’ll never go take a bath once a week in a frozen river, Ne-ver.
After the thirteenth century, we will differentiate two types of oven. Dry ovens: a closed room where hot air is sent. And the humid ovens, where steam is sent. It reminds you nothing? Like, the sauna and the hammam. The direct influence of the East after the Crusades! And there are the public baths, with bathtubs of warm water. Finally, baths … these are wooden water tubs whose interior is covered with a cloth to avoid splinters. In addition, it is practical, they are changed between each customer and lifting them, we remove all the dirt from the water. But we do not change the water, must not exaggerate.
Then the baths will be copper or brass. You can eat, have a drink, get a massage, cut your hair, beard and then the atmosphere is good and hot. And I’m not talking about water (#NSFW).
The ovens are mixed. In the twelfth century, it OK. We have no problem with nudity and then people find it normal. Then over the years, the human becomes hotter potato and prostitution becomes widespread in the oven. And the priests are not the last to go there. We find the bathroom downstairs, and the rooms upstairs. Like the bars with escorts in Spain, the bar downstairs, the rooms upstairs. Moreover, in the fifteenth century, we go more to the stove for fishing than to wash … So, we will separate men and women in some private baths. To put a little decency and call another population. And then, we will stop swimming …
Falling popularity of water
At the end of the Middle Ages, we are afraid of water. It must be said that public baths and baths are places of promiscuity, and in times of epidemics and particularly plague, you tend to avoid sticking to others. The population is afraid that the disease will slip through the dilated pores of the soaked skin. According to Houel in his treatise of the plague (BIUS) in 1573, “Public baths and ovens will be neglected then, because after the pores and small windows of the leather, by the heat of this one, are opened more easily, then the pestilent air enters it. “ Suddenly, in the 15th century, many places close their doors. Boys and girls will prefer to dress and put on perfume rather than undress and bathe. So we’re going to rub ourselves with clothes and we’re going to be perfumed, a lot. The face and hands continue to be washed regularly.
The soap
In public baths and baths, we perfume the water but we also use soap. Soap based on oil, animal or vegetable fat. Gallic soap is composed of ash and goat’s tallow. It is cheaper. A little more expensive, it is the soap of Marseilles, the one that you still have today on the edge of your washbasin. Based on olive oil and plants. There is also Aleppo soap made from olive oil. It was the Venetians who brought him to Europe. Coming from Syria, it costs the skin of the balls and few people can use it.
Since we are all broke, I suggest you create your own soap!
Recipe
Do not hesitate to protect yourself with a cotton blouse, glasses, and gloves. And above all, if there is any problem, do not say that you found the recipe here. It’s bio but not vegan.
You must :
5L of rainwater
2kg of wood center (oak is better)
1 egg
500g beef tallow or lard
1 cauldron without lid
1 stamen (this is a piece of fabric, like drape)
1 wooden spoon
1 wooden mold (or Ike’s cookie-cutter if you’re not looking at the tradition)
Fire
Important information: it takes a lot of time and patience to complete the recipe. 4h:30 for preparation time, 2h:30 for cooking time and it is still necessary to wait 24 hours before unmolding and 6 months of drying …
(I)Step One — Making Soda
You stretch your sheet flat on the ground. And you take care to protect your soil. You deposit the 5 liters of water and the 2kg of ash on it. You mix, you mix, and then you drain and you recover the liquid in your cauldron. You have to be careful because it’s corrosive. The liquid obtained is called the “Lessi”.
(II)Step Two — Focusing the Lessi
You have to heat the Lessi over low heat. For at least an hour. To be sure that it is good, take a bowl and dri-NO IT’S CORROSIVE DON’T DRINK IT! NEVER!!! You take a bowl, you let it cool and you put an egg in it. If the egg floats it’s good, you can go to the third step. Otherwise, you still have to heat a few moments.
(III)Step Three — Saponification
Once the egg floats, you add the fat, once it is completely melted you let heat on a low heat for about thirty minutes. And you mix from time to time because an orange film can be done on the top, and we do not want it.
After 30 minutes, normally, a white foam will begin to form on the surface. It’s a good thing, you have to stir, again, again, and a little longer. Normally the foam separates from the liquid. You harvest all this foam and you put it in the mold and you wait at least 24 hours before unmolding. Then you can cut it and keep it in a dry place. The idea is to dry it for at least 3 weeks. The best is six months.
And here we are. Enjoy!!!
