Bathing
| Bathing was labor intensive and expensive (it
cost nearly a weeks wages for a bath.) Water had to be drawn from the well (remember
it was precious) and carried bucket by bucket to the heating area and then to the
bath. You also had to account for the expense of wood to heat the water, bath oils,
and soap. Bathing was seldom done even among royalty. I found a few sources that says King John only bathed only once a month. Bathing was most likely even more rare through out the winter months. Commoners perhaps bathed one a year in the spring. Also smells did not seem to as annoy folk as it does as it does today. Why worry about bathing and smelling fresh when you keep your finer clothes in the garderobe (toilet room)? People hung clothes there as the smell stopped moths from eating them. |