Cleanliness is a sin, and washing the body leads to disease? Feminine hygiene in the Middle Ages. Sanitary and hygienic facilities in ancient Russia and their use in medical practice

Victory over cold. The eastern part of Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black and Caspian Seas has been inhabited for several millennia BC. The living conditions of our distant ancestors were not homogeneous and differed greatly from those in which the ancient Greeks and Romans lived. Wide steppes in the south, impenetrable forests in the north made life not only difficult, but also dangerous. The fight against hunger, the raids of neighboring tribes and the cold were the main concern of the inhabitants of these territories.

Our ancestors lived in dugouts or huts made of branches. Somewhat later, they learned to build houses from logs. The floor in them was earthen, and the windows were cut through near the ground. A hearth was made of stones in the corner. The smoke from it left through a window or a door. These buildings have existed for many years.

The next step in the fight against "cold" was the invention of the stove. The stove differs from the hearth in that it has chimneys. The smoke does not enter the room, but is taken out. This invention was important achievement communal hygiene, not only because the air in the room became cleaner, but also because the stove made it possible to better process food, more uniform heating was created in it. This helped improve nutrition.

A log house, in which there was a hearth or stove, began to be called a hut. According to some historians, the word "hut"

Fig.1. A letter on birch bark: A - the pose of a scribe; B - birch bark with inscriptions; B wrote.

comes from the word "istba", which in the Old Slavic language arose from the word "stove". Now people could regulate the temperature in the room, which was very important for residents of areas with cold winters.

The development of writing and the solution of hygienic problems associated with writing. New discoveries often solved problems not only cultural and technical, but also hygienic. By the end of the XVI century. writing on paper was firmly established in Russia. But they wrote before, though not on paper, but on birch bark. They used writing as feathers - sharp objects with which they scratched out inscriptions. Not immediately people came to the modern way of writing - sitting at a table or standing near it. In ancient times, birch bark was held in the left hand, which rested with the elbow on the left knee (Fig. 1). Right hand letters were applied. One word was not separated from another, they often resorted to abbreviations, only at the end of the phrase they sometimes put a period, other punctuation marks were absent. Such a letter caused a number of difficulties of a purely hygienic nature. An uncomfortable posture caused a large static load in a person, and writing was a rather tedious task. In order to write or read such a text, it was necessary to expend a lot of nervous energy. The scribe and the reader were tired not only physically, but also mentally. At that time, people did not know the continuous letter (it was invented later) and wrote out each letter separately. This greatly reduced productivity.

The appearance of paper, light goose feathers and continuous writing not only accelerated the work, but also solved many hygienic issues. It became convenient to write, and this was reflected in labor productivity. An ancient chronicler, even the most qualified, could fill out 2-3 sheets in a day, 4-5 sheets was considered a record.

Sanitary and hygienic culture in Kievan Rus and Moscow principality. The development of writing contributed to the strengthening of sanitary propaganda. In the XI-XII centuries. some books appear in Russia that deal with hygiene issues. Among them are Vladimir Monomakh's Teachings and the work of his granddaughter, Princess Eupraxia, Ointment. Eupraxia lived in Kyiv, then moved to Byzantium. There she became acquainted with the works of Hippocrates and Galen, which had an effect on her. known influence. These books described the healing effect of many herbs, talked about the importance of clean air, how to maintain health in different times years, about movement and rest, food and drink, sleep and wakefulness, about the bath, about pregnancy and choosing a nurse, about caring for a newborn. The book contains many useful tips that are not outdated today.

Mongol-Tatar hordes brought a lot of trouble Slavic peoples: famine, extermination of people, numerous epidemics. After the battle on the Kulikovo field, where Dmitry Donskoy inflicted a crushing defeat on the Tatar hordes, the Russian principalities began to strengthen, among which Moscow became the most powerful.

The victory over the Tatar horde led to the rise of agriculture and the revival of crafts. The Moscow state becomes the center of Russian culture. The promotion of hygiene knowledge is also intensifying. This is evidenced by the literary monument "Domostroy" that has come down to us, in which, along with others, sanitary-hygienic and pedagogical issues are raised.

Domostroy describes in detail the methods of wet cleaning the premises, it says how to wash and scrub the floors, walls, tables and benches in the hut, how to keep the canopy and porch in order, where to lay matting, and where to pour hay so that you can wipe your feet.

The authors of "Domostroy" demanded that everyone, adults and children, wash their hands before eating, before cooking and before any work. The book contained many recipes for cooking, paid attention to the cleanliness of dishes, even reported what to give for breakfast, lunch and dinner to gentlemen, what to servants, what to eat on weekdays, and what on holidays.

The section on the storage of food, in particular fish, is interesting. Salting and freezing of products are recommended here, and many other useful recipes are given.

In "Domostroy" certain attention was paid to the milking of cows. Milkmaids were advised to wash their hands cleanly, rinse with warm water, and then wipe the cow's udder, milk into a clean sump and in a clean place.

Fig.2. Clothing and hats of the boyars of the 17th century: A - fur coat; B - caftan; B - "throated * hat; G - tafya; D - cap.

Fashion XV-XVII centuries. and hygiene problems. The general sanitary culture at that time remained at a rather low level. Considerations of prestige, a tribute to fashion, often turned out to be stronger than hygienic considerations and common sense. The boyars received guests in sable coats and fur hats even in summer time. Moreover, the rich boyar wore three hats at once: at the bottom there was a flat tafya hat, on it was a fur cap, on a cap with sable "throated" hat. The sleeves were made long, to the very floor (Fig. 2). In the mansions they burned hot, in order to show that the owners do not save on firewood.

Discrepancies between hygiene requirements and fashion, unfortunately, still occur today, despite the fact that the level of hygiene propaganda is now very high.

It will not be difficult to understand why the boyars placed prestige and fashion above convenience, given that wealth and luxury fenced them off from the common people, who lived in extreme poverty. Uncomfortable boyar clothes were canceled by Peter I.

Sanitary and hygienic reforms of Peter I. The growth of sanitary culture in Russia XVIII in. associated primarily with the reforms of Peter I, in which much attention was paid to sanitary legislation. Under Peter 1, decrees were issued on the protection of troops from diseases, food trade rules, it was forbidden to put fallen cattle on sale, and trade in the meat of sick animals. The pavement was improved.

Under Peter I, steps were also taken to improve hygiene propaganda among students. In 1719, the manual "Youth honest mirror, or Indications for everyday behavior", where many issues of etiquette were explained and sanitary and hygienic rules of behavior in society were reported.

Problems of hygiene in the works of M.V. Lomonosov. Under Catherine II, the first smallpox vaccine was vaccinated in Russia. The daredevil was no more than 8 years old. The queen granted him the nobility and coat of arms. However, the sanitary and hygienic culture of the common people was at an extremely low level. A threatening situation was created by infant mortality.

An important contribution to the development of hygienic science in Russia was made by M.V. Lomonosov. In the work "On the reproduction and preservation of the Russian people", published after the death of the author, the causes of diseases of children in orphanages, in the families of peasants and poor townspeople were analyzed. An abridged edition of the book appeared in 1818, a complete edition in 1871.

One of the important causes of infant mortality, according to M.V. Lomonosov, there were church rites. Lomonosov described in detail the most common and dangerous childhood diseases, their symptoms and treatment. He proposed to send this information to all parishes and orphanages so that literate people could provide assistance if necessary, since there were simply no doctors in many regions of Russia.

The sanitary and hygienic state of the army and the civilian population during and after Patriotic War 1812. Practical measures that solved many sanitary and hygienic problems in the army were associated with the activities of M.Ya. Mudrova. A long stay in European countries and a good knowledge of Russia allowed him not only to generalize previous experience, but also to come up with a number of original solutions.

The coming to power of Napoleon and the aggravation of relations between Russia and France indicated the approach of the war, which broke out in 1812. All his energy M.Ya. Mudrov directs to improve the sanitary condition of the Russian army. He studied in detail the diseases most common in the troops, and developed a system of rules to prevent them. Life in the conditions of the barracks favored the emergence of many infectious diseases. It was necessary to determine the "number of doctors and paramedics to provide assistance to various units, equip them with the necessary knowledge to control the quality of food, water, living conditions, and fight infectious diseases. M. Ya. Mudrov understood that in order to solve these important issues, it is necessary develop hygiene methods using the methods of related sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, medicine.Many of these issues were successfully resolved by him.M.Ya.Mudrov developed measures to prevent a number of dangerous diseases.Under his leadership and with his personal participation, the fight against cholera epidemics was carried out in St. Petersburg and Saratov.In 1831, in St. Petersburg, during the elimination of the cholera epidemic, he died of this disease.

Experimental direction of hygiene in Russia. With the development of capitalism in Russia, new industries are emerging, and with them the problems of labor protection are growing. In the 30-50s. of the last century, they become so acute that many progressive cultural figures draw the attention of the people to them: V.G. Belinsky, D.I. Pisarev, N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.A. Nekrasov, other raznochintsy democrats. To some extent, this was facilitated by successes in the field of military hygiene, which was continued by N.I. Pirogov and A.P. Dobroslavin.

A.P. Dobroslavin was the first in Russia to create a hygienic laboratory, where he conducted a number of experimental studies. He organized an analytical station for the study of the good quality of food products. With the name of A.P. Dobroslavin is associated with the introduction of sanitary examination. Prior to this, there was virtually no systematic sanitary supervision in the country, although attempts were made to introduce it, starting with the decrees of Peter I.A.P. Dobroslavin is the founder of the experimental direction in domestic hygiene.

Development of school, social and communal hygiene in Russia. F.F. approached the solution of hygienic issues from a slightly different position. Erisman (1842-1915). The range of his interests was unusually wide: from the most general issues of social hygiene to school hygiene. Originally from Switzerland, he received an excellent education in European countries and was invited to Russia as an ophthalmologist. Here he studied the effect of tobacco and alcohol consumption on vision, studied eye diseases in high school students. The study of eye diseases and their prevention, the study of skeletal disorders in children resulting from improper sitting, led F.F. Erisman to the idea of ​​the need to create a school desk. Erisman's desks have been preserved in many schools to this day. These are familiar double benches and tables with an inclined top table, under which two niches for portfolios are made.

F.F. Erisman found that when sitting at a desk (of course, provided that the desk is matched to height), a rational posture is provided during reading, writing, lectures, which contributes to the normal development of the skeleton and muscles, prevents violation of posture and myopia in students.

Great merit belongs to F.F. Erisman in the field of social hygiene and occupational health. He studies in detail the working conditions at various enterprises in Moscow and its environs, St. Petersburg and creates the book "Professional Hygiene or Hygiene of Mental and Physical Labor". In addition, he writes a large number of accusatory articles that are used by the revolutionary press. The Academic Council of Moscow State University awards him the title of Doctor of Medicine and invites him to head the Department of Hygiene at the Medical Faculty of Moscow University. He served in this position for 14 years. In 1896, F. F. Erisman, among 42 university professors, demanded a review of the case of students expelled by the police for revolutionary activity. In response to this, the tsarist government demanded the dismissal of these professors and F.F. Erisman was forced to return to his homeland in Switzerland. Place F.F. Erisman was occupied by his student G.V. Khlopin.

Using the methods of analysis of environmental factors, G.V. Khlopin continued the research begun by A.P. Dobroslavin, and made a significant contribution to the theoretical foundations of communal hygiene. The methodology he created for studying the suitability for consumption of food products is still used today. He dealt with issues of water supply, fought against pollution of rivers by industrial waste, dealt with occupational health and nutrition problems.

The main stages in the development of hygienic science and sanitation in our country after the great October socialist revolution

Sanitary and hygienic decrees adopted with the participation of V.I. Lenin. The tsarist government left a heavy legacy to the Soviet state. About a million people died every year from epidemics, over 40% of children did not live up to 5 years. The anti-people policy of the autocracy led to a deplorable sanitary condition in many cities and villages. Hunger, devastation, epidemics, homelessness of children and adolescents, civil war and intervention were a heavy burden on the population.

In December 1917, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was issued signed by V.I. Lenin "On the appointment of a collegium in charge of the Main Military Sanitary Directorate". The task of this body included not only the organization of assistance to the wounded soldiers, but also the provision of anti-epidemic protection of the population and troops. Mass vaccinations were made against typhoid and cholera. In order to reduce child mortality, already on the 6th day Soviet power A law was passed to provide women with paid maternity leave and child benefits.

These were the first sanitary laws. In July 1918, the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR was established at the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. N.A. became the first People's Commissar of Health. Semashko. In the same 1918, the Decree on the 8-hour working day was issued.

Of great importance in the history of Soviet hygiene and sanitation was the VIII Congress of the RCP, where it was adopted new program parties. It ended with the following resolution: "As a basis for its activities in the field of protecting public health, the RCP proposes, first of all, the implementation of extensive health-improving and sanitary measures aimed at preventing the development of diseases." These measures included: improvement of populated areas (protection of soil, water, air); staging Catering on scientific and hygienic principles; organizing measures to prevent the development and spread of contagious diseases; creation of sanitary legislation; fight against social diseases (tuberculosis, alcoholism, etc.); provision of public, free and qualified medical care.

A radical restructuring of the old private medicine and the creation of the Soviet socialist health care system began. First of all, it was necessary to overcome the epidemics that affected the troops, the population of cities and villages. To this end, by the end of 1920, 300 bath-laundry and disinfection units were organized, 30 bath-trains, which could serve 130 thousand people a day. In 1919, the Decree on the Sanitary Protection of Dwellings was issued.

In April 1919 V.I. Lenin signed the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On Mandatory Smallpox Vaccination". This was the beginning of the immunization of the population. As a result, smallpox in our country was eliminated long before 1980, when the World Health Organization announced the complete deliverance of humanity from this infection. Smallpox is no longer vaccinated. However, many infectious diseases still remained, therefore, in 1958, the vaccination calendar was approved, which is valid on the territory of our country. It specifies at what age and against what diseases every child should be vaccinated in order to protect him from the most dangerous infections.

The state of hygiene and sanitation during the Great Patriotic War and in subsequent years. The Great Patriotic War was a severe test for our state, for everything Soviet people. However, if during the First World War and civil wars people died not only from bullets and shells, but also from infections, then during the Great Patriotic War these losses were incomparably smaller. Even in besieged Leningrad, the sanitary service was at such a high level that there were no epidemics. Managed to overcome another danger: beriberi. During the First World War, many soldiers died from scurvy and civilians. During the Great Patriotic War, the army and the civilian population did not suffer from a lack of vitamin C. They boiled nettles, made infusions of needles and ate them. These simple means made it possible to obtain the necessary doses of vitamin C that people could not get from traditional foods.

Sanitary legislation in the USSR. In the post-war period, hygiene becomes a diversified science. In addition to social, communal and personal hygiene, food hygiene, occupational hygiene, hygiene of children and adolescents, hygiene physical culture and sports, and then space and radiation hygiene.

At the same time, sanitary legislation is being improved. The first resolution on the establishment of sanitary authorities was adopted in 1927, since 1933 the sanitary inspection begins to operate, and since 1939 sanitary and epidemiological stations (SES) have been created. They operate in all republics, regions, cities, district centers. There are also branch stations, for example, SES of water transport. In 1969, the Fundamentals of the legislation of the USSR and the Union republics on health care were approved. This document states that all enterprises and institutions are obliged to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population, to carry out activities aimed at eliminating and preventing pollution natural environment improvement of work and life of the population, prevention of diseases. A special item provides for the expansion of activities that introduce the population to a sanitary culture.

attention to environmental issues is also preserved in the 1987 resolution "On the main directions of the development of public health protection and the restructuring of public health in the USSR in the twelfth five-year plan and for the period up to 2000". This is no coincidence. The power of modern industry is such that it can disrupt the ecological balance created by millennia of evolution. The resolution emphasizes that this contradiction can only be resolved through the organization of nature management on scientific basis. The solution of departmental tasks without taking into account environmental consequences has led and continues to lead to major mistakes, which are extremely difficult to correct. Even such a harmless, it would seem, technological process, like floating timber with individual logs, causes serious changes in the aquatic environment, which ultimately affect the health of the population. With this method of floating timber, part of the logs sinks. They start to rot. Decay products, including phenols, enter the water. They poison the fish: red spots appear on the skin of the fish, their subcutaneous vessels burst, and the gills turn yellow. Lost not only marketable condition fish, but also its nutritional value. Cheap timber rafting then requires a lot of money to fish out the sunken logs and somehow clean up the rivers. Valuable species of fish are being lost, which cannot enter polluted rivers to spawn.

Scientific nature management requires the joint work of specialists from many fields, including hygienists, who can determine how certain production processes will affect the health of the population in the future. This is a very difficult task, because you have to foresee the consequences that may come in many years.

It is planned to organize preventive work in a fundamentally different way. Usually a person goes to the doctor when they feel unwell, often when the disease is advanced and it is difficult to treat it. The resolution outlines a plan for the transition to a general medical examination of the population. This means that every year each person will be examined by doctors of various specialties in order to identify diseases as early as possible and, if necessary, provide timely assistance. Employees are now undergoing medical examination chemical industry, mines, metallurgical plants, the population of large cities. Gradually, medical examination is expected to cover all residents of the country. However, the success of this event will depend not only on doctors, but also on the consciousness of the population.

In the resolution, a special paragraph emphasizes the importance of health education, without which it is impossible even to talk about healthy way life. Is it possible to build stadiums, is it useful to discover if no one visits them?

A lot has been written about the benefits of movement, hardening, proper nutrition, the dangers of smoking and drinking alcohol. Many people know about it, but not everyone follows useful recommendations.

But just knowing is not enough, you must be able to carry out the planned program. Of course, everyone will have their own, but if it is built taking into account sanitary and hygienic recommendations, then success will come. health clubs, purchase expensive exercise equipment.

In the age of scientific and technological progress, the role of hygiene is increasing. It is forced to solve many environmental issues related to the protection of nature throughout the globe. The problem of "Man and the biosphere" turned out to be in the center of her interests. Its essence is to save life on Earth.

Hygiene develops measures that can no longer be useful if carried out in only one country, even in the most powerful. Only through the efforts of many countries, of all mankind, it is possible to preserve and improve the conditions necessary for the existence of life on our planet.

Different eras are associated with different scents. the site publishes a story about personal hygiene in medieval Europe.

Medieval Europe, deservedly smells of sewage and the stench of rotting bodies. The cities were by no means like the clean Hollywood pavilions in which costumed productions of Dumas' novels are filmed. The Swiss Patrick Suskind, known for his pedantic reproduction of the details of the life of the era he describes, is horrified by the stench of European cities of the late Middle Ages.

Queen of Spain Isabella of Castile (end of the 15th century) admitted that she washed herself only twice in her life - at birth and on her wedding day.

The daughter of one of the French kings died of lice. Pope Clement V dies of dysentery.

The Duke of Norfolk refused to bathe, allegedly out of religious beliefs. His body was covered with ulcers. Then the servants waited until his lordship got drunk dead drunk, and barely washed it.

Clean healthy teeth were considered a sign of low birth

In medieval Europe, clean healthy teeth were considered a sign of low birth. Noble ladies were proud of bad teeth. Representatives of the nobility, who naturally got healthy white teeth, were usually embarrassed by them and tried to smile less often so as not to show their "shame".

In a courtesy guide published in late XVIII century (Manuel de civilite, 1782), it is formally forbidden to use water for washing, "because it makes the face more sensitive to cold in winter, and to heat in summer."

Louis XIV bathed only twice in his life - and then on the advice of doctors. Washing brought the monarch into such horror that he swore never to take water procedures. Russian ambassadors at his court wrote that their majesty "stinks like a wild beast."

The Russians themselves were considered perverts throughout Europe for going to the bathhouse once a month - outrageously often (the common theory that Russian word“stink” and comes from the French “merd” - “shit”, for the time being, however, we recognize it as overly speculative).

Russian ambassadors wrote about Louis XIV that he "stinks like a wild beast"

For a long time, the surviving note, sent by King Henry of Navarre, who had a reputation as a burnt Don Juan, to his beloved, Gabrielle de Estre, has been walking around anecdotes for a long time: “Do not wash, dear, I will be with you in three weeks.”

The most typical European city street was 7-8 meters wide (this is, for example, the width of an important thoroughfare that leads to the cathedral Notre Dame of Paris). Small streets and lanes were much narrower - no more than two meters, and in many ancient cities there were streets as wide as a meter. One of the streets of ancient Brussels was called "Street of one person", indicating that two people could not disperse there.

Bathroom of Louis XVI. The lid on the bathroom served both to keep warm, and at the same time a table for studying and eating. France, 1770

Detergents, as well as the very concept of personal hygiene, did not exist in Europe until the middle of the 19th century.

The streets were washed and cleaned by the only janitor that existed at that time - rain, which, despite its sanitary function, was considered a punishment from the Lord. The rains washed away all the dirt from secluded places, and stormy streams of sewage rushed through the streets, which sometimes formed real rivers.

If in countryside cesspools were dug, then in the cities people defecate in narrow alleys and courtyards.

Detergents did not exist in Europe until the middle of the 19th century.

But the people themselves were not much cleaner than city streets. “Water baths insulate the body, but weaken the body and enlarge the pores. Therefore, they can cause illness and even death, ”says a 15th-century medical treatise. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that contaminated air could penetrate the cleansed pores. That is why public baths were abolished by royal decree. And if in XV - XVI centuries wealthy townspeople bathed at least once every six months, in the 17th-18th centuries they stopped taking a bath altogether. True, sometimes it was necessary to use it - but only for medicinal purposes. They carefully prepared for the procedure and put an enema the day before.

All hygienic measures were reduced only to light rinsing of hands and mouth, but not of the entire face. “In no case should you wash your face,” doctors wrote in the 16th century, “because catarrh may occur or vision may deteriorate.” As for the ladies, they bathed 2-3 times a year.

Most of the aristocrats were saved from dirt with the help of a perfumed cloth, with which they wiped the body. Armpits and groin were recommended to moisten with rose water. Men wore bags of aromatic herbs between their shirt and vest. Ladies used only aromatic powder.

Medieval "cleaners" often changed their underwear - it was believed that it absorbs all the dirt and cleanses the body of it. However, the change of linen was treated selectively. A clean starched shirt for every day was the privilege of wealthy people. That is why white ruffled collars and cuffs came into fashion, which testified to the wealth and cleanliness of their owners. The poor not only did not bathe, but they did not wash their clothes either - they did not have a change of linen. The cheapest rough linen shirt cost as much as a cash cow.

Christian preachers urged to walk literally in rags and never wash, since it was in this way that spiritual purification could be achieved. It was also impossible to wash, because in this way it was possible to wash off the holy water that had been touched during baptism. As a result, people did not wash for years or did not know water at all. Dirt and lice were considered special signs of holiness. The monks and nuns gave the rest of the Christians an appropriate example of serving the Lord. Cleanliness was viewed with disgust. Lice were called "God's pearls" and considered a sign of holiness. Saints, both male and female, used to boast that the water never touched their feet, except when they had to ford a river. People relieved themselves where necessary. For example, on the front staircase of a palace or castle. The French royal court periodically moved from castle to castle due to the fact that there was literally nothing to breathe in the old one.

There was not a single toilet in the Louvre, the palace of the French kings. They emptied themselves in the yard, on the stairs, on the balconies. When “needed”, guests, courtiers and kings either squatted on a wide window sill at the open window, or they were brought “night vases”, the contents of which were then poured out at the back doors of the palace. The same thing happened at Versailles, for example, during the time of Louis XIV, whose life is well known thanks to the memoirs of the Duke de Saint Simon. The court ladies of the Palace of Versailles, right in the middle of a conversation (and sometimes even during a mass in a chapel or a cathedral), got up and naturally, in a corner, relieved a small (and not very) need.

There is a well-known story that once the ambassador of Spain came to the king and, going into his bedchamber (it was in the morning), he got into an awkward situation - his eyes watered from the royal amber. The ambassador politely asked to move the conversation to the park and jumped out of the royal bedroom as if scalded. But in the park, where he hoped to breathe fresh air, the unlucky ambassador simply fainted from the stench - the bushes in the park served as a permanent latrine for all courtiers, and the servants poured sewage there.

Toilet paper did not appear until the late 1800s, and until then, people used improvised means. The rich could afford the luxury of wiping themselves with strips of cloth. The poor used old rags, moss, leaves.

Toilet paper only appeared in the late 1800s.

The walls of the castles were equipped with heavy curtains, blind niches were made in the corridors. But wouldn't it be easier to equip some toilets in the yard or just run to the park described above? No, it didn’t even cross anyone’s mind, because the tradition was guarded by ... diarrhea. Given the appropriate quality of medieval food, it was permanent. The same reason can be traced in the fashion of those years (XII-XV centuries) for men's pantaloons consisting of one vertical ribbons in several layers.

Flea control methods were passive, such as comb sticks. Nobles fight insects in their own way - during the dinners of Louis XIV in Versailles and the Louvre, there is a special page for catching the king's fleas. Wealthy ladies, in order not to breed a "zoo", wear silk undershirts, believing that a louse will not cling to silk, because it is slippery. This is how silk appeared. Underwear, fleas and lice really do not stick to silk.

Beds, which are frames on turned legs, surrounded by a low lattice and always with a canopy in the Middle Ages, acquire great importance. Such widespread canopies served a completely utilitarian purpose - to prevent bedbugs and other cute insects from falling from the ceiling.

It is believed that mahogany furniture became so popular because it did not show bed bugs.

In Russia in the same years

The Russian people were surprisingly clean. Even the most poor family had a bathhouse in her yard. Depending on how it was heated, they steamed in it “in white” or “in black”. If the smoke from the furnace got out through the pipe, then they steamed “in white”. If the smoke went directly into the steam room, then after airing the walls were doused with water, and this was called “black steaming”.

There was another original way to wash -in a Russian oven. After cooking, straw was laid inside, and a person carefully, so as not to get dirty in soot, climbed into the oven. Water or kvass was splashed on the walls.

From time immemorial, the bathhouse was heated on Saturdays and before big holidays. First of all, the men with the guys went to wash and always on an empty stomach.

The head of the family cooked a birch broom, soaking it in hot water, sprinkled kvass on it, twisted it over hot stones until fragrant steam began to come from the broom, and the leaves became soft, but did not stick to the body. And only after that they began to wash and bathe.

One of the ways to wash in Russia is the Russian oven

Public baths were built in cities. The first of them were erected by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. These were ordinary one-story buildings on the banks of the river, consisting of three rooms: a dressing room, a soap room and a steam room.

They bathed in such baths all together: men, women, and children, causing amazement of foreigners who specially came to gawk at a spectacle unseen in Europe. “Not only men, but also girls, women of 30, 50 or more people, run around without any shame and conscience the way God created them, and not only do not hide from strangers walking there, but also make fun of them with their indiscretion ”, wrote one such tourist. Visitors were no less surprised how men and women, utterly steamed, ran naked out of a very hot bathhouse and rushed into cold water rivers.

The authorities turned a blind eye to such folk custom, albeit with great displeasure. It is no coincidence that in 1743 a decree appeared, according to which it was forbidden for male and female sexes to bathe together in trading baths. But, as contemporaries recalled, such a ban remained mostly on paper. The final separation occurred when they began to build baths, which included male and female sections.

Gradually, people with a commercial streak realized that bathhouses could become a source of good income, and began to invest money in this business. Thus, the Sandunovsky baths appeared in Moscow (they were built by the actress Sandunova), the Central baths (belonging to the merchant Khludov) and whole line others less famous. In St. Petersburg, people liked to visit the Bochkovsky baths, Leshtokovy. But the most luxurious baths were in Tsarskoye Selo.

The provinces also tried to keep up with the capitals. Almost each of the more or less large cities had their own "Sanduns".

Yana Koroleva

AT recent times a bunch of texts and pictures spread on the Internet on the topic of how dirty, smelly and homeless people were in medieval Europe. Some also with a “patriotic” message, something de but in Russia once a week they went to the bathhouse and were clean. Well, after that, about the obscurantist churchmen who forbade people to wash and about the streets of cities, flooded knee-deep with sewage.

Let me tell you a little about how it really happened.

Naturally, modern hygiene standards, such as showers twice a day, were not applied then. Note that even now not everyone observes them, even residents civilized countries. In ancient times, most ordinary people, both in Russia and in Europe, washed about once a week.

To begin with, we note that a healthy person who does not have the habit of regularly drunkenly wallowing in his own vomit and urinating in his pants, even with a washing regimen once a week, does not smell of anything particularly terrible and disgusting. Everyone who has ever gone on more or less long hikes knows this very well. There is a slight smell of old sweat, which is only noticeable if you sniff it, because it is almost completely clogged with the smell of smoke that eats into clothes and hair.

They smelled about the same simple people in Europe for hundreds of years. An open fire in the hearth was a constant companion of life, clothes were dried over the fire, people gathered around the fire in the evenings. The hood was imperfect, houses heated "by black" - i.e. without a chimney, just with a hole in the ceiling above the hearth, were typical until the 19th century, so the smoke was the main "human" smell and deodorant at the same time.

As for washing itself, ordinary people washed about once a week. Washing technology, I believe, is known to many readers, at times of seasonal shutdown of hot water: pots of hot water, a basin and a ladle. Not much has changed here in a thousand years :)

Illustrations:
Medieval miniature:

Engraving:

And a painting by Edgar Degas

Representatives of the wealthier classes could afford to take a bath. In the absence of running water, it was a troublesome business and you can’t do without servants - you need to heat the water, drag it into the bath, and then scoop out the bath with the same buckets and pour out the water.

Wiping with a wet cloth was a common routine of daily hygiene. This procedure remained popular even later - until the 18th century (yes, those same "powdered awnings" took care of their hygiene in this way.

Another hygienic procedure that came from antiquity and remained popular in some regions of Europe until the 17th century is the smearing of the body with oil with special additives and the subsequent scraping off of this mass with a scraper. Such an ancient analogue of modern spa treatments :)

in general, there are so many images of washing and bathing in miniatures, paintings and engravings of that time, as well as references to them in ballads and other folklore, that it is possible to think that it was something exceptional and "people washed once in a lifetime" can only be completely ignorance.

Now about the "obscurantist churchmen." One of the most common myths is the story that, at the initiative of the church, public baths in cities were closed, and therefore everyone went dirty. Those who tell this do not take into account that these baths really were, um .. a hotbed of vice, and they did not go there at all to wash themselves. Well, just like now, “sauna with girls” is by no means a hygienic event. And it is unlikely that a person who does not go to the sauna regularly will now be considered “dirty”.

Public bath. German engraving from the 16th century

But there is another aspect, much less obvious to people unfamiliar with history. The case concerns the issues of confrontation between Christianity and Judaism. A fair number of Jews lived in Europe, and many of them, in order to avoid persecution and infringement of their rights, were formally baptized, but continued to secretly practice the religion of their ancestors. From the point of view of Christian theologians, such behavior was classified as heresy and was strongly discouraged and persecuted. One of the rituals of Judaism is ritual washing through immersion in water to cleanse from ritual impurity. - mikveh. It is clear that the encrypted Jews tried to disguise this rite as household hygiene procedures. And that is why washing by immersion, especially of several people in the same water, aroused very strong suspicions about the possible ritual nature of these actions, and the zealots of Christian piety considered it necessary to play it safe just in case.
It is with this that the often quoted (without indicating the source and without understanding the essence) refusals of the Spanish kings and queens from washing in the bath / pool are associated. This is not a hatred of hygiene, but a refusal to perform one specific action - complete immersion in water.
However, public baths have flourished throughout European history.

Another myth concerns the horrendous unsanitary conditions of medieval cities. Like, the streets are knee-deep in sewage, chamber pots pour out directly from the window on the heads of similar people, etc.
This is also a strong exaggeration. Indeed, in medieval cities, the drainage system was open - along the edges of the streets there were gutters designed to drain rainwater. Often they swam and any garbage. Well, it is clear that individual citizens sometimes urinated in them.

Actually the toilets were arranged according to the principle of a village toilet. Cesspools were cleared by sewers, who removed this very thing from the city at night. Occupation, of course, not entirely honorable, but necessary, and in medieval cities, representatives of this profession united in guilds, according to the same principle as representatives of other professions. In some regions, sewers were called quite poetically "night master".

Chamber pots poured directly from the window on the heads of passers-by, as a rule, only when these passers-by got the inhabitants of the house with noise under the windows. In other cases, for such things you could get trouble from the city authorities and a fine. In general, in many cities the homeowner was responsible for the cleanliness of the street in front of his house.

As for the cited descriptions of utter filth and stench, they refer mainly to Paris in the 15th and 16th centuries. Then it really was a huge (by the standards of that time) overpopulated metropolis, and the usual measures to restore order and cleanliness there, apparently, were insufficient. But the mere fact that this detail occurs so often in the descriptions of Paris at that time by contemporaries allows us to conclude that Paris was an exception, and in other cities it was much cleaner - otherwise this detail would not deserve special mention.

So the stories about Europeans overgrown with mud, living in the middle of a sea of ​​sewage, are still myths. I wonder why these myths are so popular.

PS: Most of the illustrations are taken from the diary

Cleanliness and care for one's body were not always welcomed. Often this was considered demonic and soulless occupation. This pattern was clearly seen in the Middle Ages. According to some opinions of that time, after washing, the pores of the body could get evil spirits. And there is nothing strange in this, since people could wash in dirty water. At the same time, the whole family washed in the same water, and after the servants and slaves. However, gradually the attitude towards cleanliness changed. Therefore, it will be interesting to follow some facts from history in relation to cleanliness and washing.

Purity in the Middle Ages

If we talk about bathing traditions, they go back far into past centuries. For example, in Russia the bath was held in high esteem. Those who did not like the bath were considered strange. For example, Dmitry the Pretender was not a supporter of the bath, so he was considered non-Russian. But if you look deep into history, you can see that for the Slavs, the bath was not just a means of hygiene, they found a certain sacred meaning. Without fail, people had to visit the bathhouse twice a week, as it was believed that in it they could wash away their sins.

In Europe, by comparison, the bath was viewed with suspicion. Then they believed that washing a person at baptism was enough.

The reasons that people were afraid of water lie in the current belief that the plague is spread through water. In fact, this could be so, because they did not take hot baths, but warm ones, using water several times. Of course, in such an environment, diseases could develop.

Isabella of Castile in the 15th century proudly said that she washed herself only twice in her life - at baptism and before the wedding.

Another interesting case, recorded in history, occurred with Louis XIV. Throughout his life, he bathed only twice, and then for medical purposes. And yet he was in pain every time. Based on this and other similar cases, it becomes clear that cleanliness and hygiene faded into the background.

When underwear began to be used in the 13th century, there was no question of mandatory bathing at all. Underwear was easier and cheaper to wash than outerwear made from expensive fabrics. Thus, the body did not come into contact with the upper dress. To escape from ticks and fleas, the nobility wore silk underwear.

Attitude to hygiene in ancient Rome and Paris

If you look into history ancient rome, here the attitude to cleanliness and washing was so exalted that they made a cult out of it. Every day, the Roman baths were visited for taking bath procedures. In these rooms, not only washed, but also went in for sports, artists were invited there. It was truly a cultural event.

These rooms had toilets. They were located around the perimeter of the room, so people could communicate normally with each other. In the IV century AD. Rome had 144 public toilets.

If you look in Paris, here the picture was quite the opposite. As contemporaries said, there was a terrible stench here. Toilets were not built here, so the faeces from the pot could be poured directly out of the window. It was from here that the fashion of hats with wide stripes began, so as not to stain your expensive clothes. After a while, a law was introduced that required a warning before pouring the pot with the exclamation "Caution, water."

Russia and hygiene

Compared to this attitude to cleanliness in Europe, Russian customs were strange. After all, it was in our country that baths were widespread. As evidenced historical facts, Louis XIV sent spies to find out what they do in Russian baths. And this is not surprising, because it did not fit in his head that you can wash regularly. But, despite this attitude to cleanliness, there was an unpleasant smell on the streets, because the sewerage system in the 18th century was only in ten percent of Russian cities.

From everything, the conclusion follows that in the Middle Ages in Europe, cleanliness and hygiene were not particularly friendly. As for Russia, she was able to get rid of the plague only thanks to the Russian baths.

Until 1743, women and men bathed in the baths at the same time. In the same year, a decree was issued prohibiting this. But far from being observed everywhere!

Those foreigners who lived in Russia for a long time brought the custom of the bath to Europe. They appreciated all its advantages. Gradually in European countries attitude towards cleanliness and hygiene has reached a new level.

If we recall the years already close to us, then in the USSR they were engaged in hygiene at the state level. Television led active propaganda even among children. It is worth at least remembering the well-known cartoon "Moidodyr".