bestunknownfacts.comThe Middle Ages weren’t exactly known for cleanliness or hygiene. People had significantly shorter lifespans than today, largely due to poor medical knowledge, minimal hygiene practices, and substandard food quality compared to modern standards. It’s challenging to fully comprehend just how unsanitary daily existence was during this period that ended several centuries ago. The conditions were far worse than most of us can imagine!
In this collection, we’ll examine the actual living conditions of medieval commoners. Their existence was harsh, their labor was grueling, and their moments of happiness were few and brief. And cleanliness? Almost non-existent! Let’s explore the disgusting realities of Middle Ages hygiene…
1. Bathing Was a Luxury
Elite members of medieval society typically had access to personal tubs for bathing with water. However, even those we might consider middle-class by today’s standards often didn’t have this privilege. And for the poor? It was virtually unheard of.
Peasants relied on infrequent access to public baths if they were fortunate, but most weren’t so lucky. Instead, they had to manually transport heavy containers of murky river water or illegally obtained well water to their homes. Then they’d attempt to bathe using this unheated, contaminated water. Conservation was crucial since water was scarce—containers were small, and there were no faucets or pipes for easy refills.
Those fortunate enough to live near rivers or lakes simply immersed themselves daily when bathing was necessary. While convenient, this method carried its own risks. The untreated water often harbored various germs and parasites.
Most peasants had no access to soap (let alone shampoo!) during this era. Their “bathing” merely removed accumulated dirt and grime after long days of hard physical labor. The cycle repeated endlessly: sleep, wake, work, minimal cleaning, repeat. Those without access to water bodies bathed even less frequently, and some never bathed at all. The odor must have been overwhelming!
2. Primitive Toilet Facilities
Wealthy individuals living in castles and estates used benches with holes as primitive toilets during medieval times. Common folk, however, lacked even these basic facilities. Instead, they relied on communal outhouses at best.
Most commonly, they used chamberpots or waste buckets. When nature called, they used these small containers and somehow had to prevent the stench from permeating their tiny dwellings. When chamberpots filled, they had to carefully remove them without spilling the contents on their possessions.
The situation gets worse. Without modern sewage systems, peasants had only two disposal options for their waste. The first was the local river—yes, the same river they drew bathing water from or used for bathing. Appalling!
The second option was the street. Peasants would simply take their chamberpots outside, turn them over, and empty the contents onto the cobblestones. During this period, people believed disease came from the smell of waste rather than germs. Their priority was eliminating the odor as quickly as possible. If only they understood the actual problem…
3. Clothing Cleanliness Challenges
Wealthy medieval people wore multiple clothing layers, partly to avoid frequent washing of outer garments. Peasants, however, couldn’t afford multiple outfits and typically wore the same clothes day after day.
Interestingly, etiquette books from the period actually recommended regular clothing washing and daily underwear changes. While peasants couldn’t read these books, cultural practices did somewhat influence them. This sounds less disgusting than expected, but reality was far from ideal.
As mentioned, most peasants only had regular water access if they lived near rivers or lakes. They would visit these water sources approximately once weekly to attempt cleaning their filthy garments. The fortunate ones had lye soap; the unfortunate majority—which was most people—could only use the contaminated river water. As we’ve seen, this water contained numerous harmful bacteria.
Beyond natural contaminants, rivers were severely polluted by upstream waste disposal. Downstream, peasants were forced to wash their clothing in this same contaminated water. Imagine wearing those “cleaned” garments afterward!
4. Parasite Problems
During medieval times, head lice and fleas were simply unavoidable. These parasites were everywhere because shampoo didn’t exist and soap was inconsistently available. The dirty river and lake water used for “bathing” offered minimal cleanliness benefits.
Comb makers adapted to these conditions by creating designs with increasingly fine teeth. Medieval peasants’ hair was so infested with lice that these tightly-spaced combs could physically remove them. Of course, sleeping in filthy conditions meant the lice returned immediately, but at least they tried!
Eventually, peasants developed delousing techniques for themselves and others. These delousing gatherings became so important for health maintenance and socially enjoyable that they evolved into social activities! While modern social outings might involve restaurants, sports events, or entertainment venues, medieval people spent social time helping delouse each other to achieve some level of cleanliness.
Women skilled in delousing even created side businesses, charging military groups and other organizations to professionally delouse large groups. Entrepreneurship has always found a way!
5. Communal Waste Disposal
In our modern era, we flush toilets, wash hands, and continue with our day. In medieval times, peasants shared community cesspits. When chamberpots filled with waste, peasants transported them to local cesspits where everyone collectively dumped their waste.
People also disposed of food scraps, spoiled produce, and other garbage in these pits. The stench must have been unbearable. Worse still, these cesspits inevitably leaked into the ground, contaminating groundwater and surrounding soil across considerable areas.
The most concerning aspect was how contamination quickly reached water bodies, including rivers and lakes. Water naturally flows to the lowest point, carrying waste along with it. Imagine an expansive area on a city’s outskirts where everyone carelessly disposed of human waste. They’d also dump animal waste from horses and livestock. Disgusting, right?
In larger cities, the situation worsened. Residents would empty chamberpots from second and third-story balconies directly onto the streets below! This inevitably attracted rodents and vermin, not to mention creating an offensive odor and dangerous splatter zones around the waste.
6. Unhygienic Sleeping Conditions
The typical medieval peasant slept on straw bedding—some used hay or other materials. While this seemed preferable to sleeping directly on the floor, it introduced major problems. Though peasants gained comfort and insulation from cold, they shared their beds with rats, mice, and countless invisible pests including bedbugs, fleas, and lice!
Medieval people lacked understanding of germ theory and weren’t motivated to eliminate these pests. Their main hygiene effort involved using scented flowers and herbs to create an illusion of cleanliness—similar to how we might use air fresheners today. However, this did nothing to eliminate the infestation!
Other issues plagued medieval sleeping arrangements. Peasants commonly shared beds with family members, either for warmth or because they couldn’t afford multiple beds. Many simply lacked space for additional bedding in their tiny homes.
This meant illness spread rapidly among household members. Even minor sickness immediately transmitted to everyone. Imagine the consequences during seasonal illness outbreaks with such shared sleeping arrangements! The thought alone makes one reach for vitamin supplements!
7. Women’s Hygiene Struggles
If you believe all peasants suffered equally regarding Middle Ages hygiene, consider this: women endured significantly worse conditions. Women historically faced greater challenges, and the medieval period was no exception. Regarding this topic, menstruation presented particularly difficult hygiene challenges.
Modern feminine hygiene products didn’t exist then. Instead, women resorted to alarming alternatives to manage menstrual blood. Many used dirty cloth scraps. Others wrapped cloth around small twigs as makeshift tampons. Some even used absorbent moss as primitive pads. Yes—sticks, twigs, and moss served as menstrual products.
Religious authorities viewed menstruation as shameful and disgusting, adding psychological burden to physical discomfort. Many medieval women felt pressured to conceal their monthly cycles from men. Many carried scented herbs and flowers to mask odors so men wouldn’t notice.
Remember that women’s lives were extremely difficult and their health generally poor during the Middle Ages. Many likely experienced irregular or missed periods due to poor nutrition and harsh living conditions. While this might have temporarily relieved them from managing menstrual flow and masking odors, it indicated serious health problems. Women truly suffered more severely than men during this era in numerous ways—with menstrual management being particularly challenging.
8. Basic Dental Practices
Toothbrushes didn’t exist during the Middle Ages. A necessary aspect of the lack of Middle Ages hygiene. Without proper tools for teeth cleaning, peasants used twigs to remove food particles—at least those they could reach. Concepts like plaque and gingivitis remained unknown. Some peasants placed wool over their teeth before rinsing them with water.
Those with access to salt created primitive pastes using salt and sage to freshen breath and somewhat whiten teeth—”whiten” being relative given the poor state of dental care.
Despite these primitive methods, peasants’ dental health wasn’t completely terrible. This was largely because sugar was absent from their diets. They couldn’t afford imported sugar (which was rarely available anyway). Without sugar, their teeth remained in better condition than expected.
However, tooth extraction was barbaric. Anesthesia didn’t exist. Dental practitioners weren’t trained medical professionals but essentially butchers. Peasants often drank excessive amounts of alcohol before extractions to dull the pain. This rarely provided adequate relief.
9. Alcoholic Medical Treatments
Alcohol wasn’t only used before dental procedures. Wine served as a medical treatment for various ailments and as a primitive anesthetic. Most peasants believed prayer was the primary solution to health problems.
With minimal education and the church’s dominant influence, religious remedies seemed most logical. However, scientific and medical knowledge gradually spread across Europe, manifesting in some unusual (but somewhat rational) practices.
Consider using wine to clean wounds. In primitive medieval hospitals, physicians discovered alcohol’s effectiveness for wound cleaning. They also learned to cauterize surgical incisions for closure. Medieval operations typically involved wine dousing followed by burning to seal wounds.
Predictably, many people died from infections since hygiene concepts remained unknown. At least patients might experience intoxication while bathing in wine before succumbing to infection!
10. Handwashing Was Actually Common
Perhaps most surprisingly, many medieval peasants regularly washed their hands! Hand cleanliness was considered an important medieval custom, demonstrating personal pride and proper etiquette. Though ignorant about invisible germs and bacteria, people maintained clean hands to display civility. And they did so consistently!
Several handwashing practices existed. People washed their hands and faces with available water upon waking. Throughout the day, they continued washing their hands at various intervals. After work and before meals, they often washed their hands to ensure cleanliness for dining.
This was particularly crucial since eating utensils were uncommon. Almost everyone during the Middle Ages—certainly all peasants—ate with their hands, typically taking food with their fingers from shared bowls or dishes. In such situations, everyone’s handwashing habits directly affected everyone else!
The Bottom Line
These medieval period facts about Middle Ages hygiene paint a vivid picture of just how different (and difficult) life was before modern sanitation. While we might romanticize certain aspects of medieval life, the hygiene realities certainly give us reason to appreciate our modern conveniences!