At Least You Don't Live in Medieval Times (not safe for work)

[catcul]

The Chive has posted two entries showing how bad some of our ancestors lived in the bad old days.

Medical drawings
Lack of hygiene

[wolfie]

I recall reading something about how Vikings differed from a lot of cultures in their time period in that they bathed once a week. For a lot of other cultures, it was unheard of to bathe that frequently.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I recall reading something about how Vikings differed from a lot of cultures in their time period in that they bathed once a week. For a lot of other cultures, it was unheard of to bathe that frequently.

IIRC, back in Elizabethian England the aristocracy would take to the baths once a year.

Could you imagine attending a court function back in those days? No A/C, probably no fresh air circulating and all that stench. P-Yew.

[dalesys]

In days of old
When knights were bold
. And toilets weren't invented
They dropped their load
In the middle of the road
. And strode away contented

[Marmalady]

I remember a version of that rhyme from my childhood, dalesys! Only ours was slightly different - the second half used to read;

'They dug a hole
In the middle of the road
And sat there quite contented.'

Isn't it nice to know that our nations are united by toilet humour?

[dalesys]

... and all the king's horses and all the king's men
couldn't put Dumpty back together again...

We had a followup to the the first:
"He's a poet but he doesn't know it his feet show it: They're Longfellow's."

[notalwaysright]

A little late to this, but it reminded me of a Cracked article, where it says that people did bathe regularly until the Black Death. Since they had no idea why everyone was dying, they decided it was because bathing opened your pores and let in the disease. So everyone stopped taking baths. I know, my source is Cracked, but it's an interesting thought, right?

[flyonthewall]

Well, look on the bright side- everyone reading this has superior germ fighting material because their ancestors survived living in that shithole called the Middle Ages.

[lordlundar]

At least it showed more scientific thought that other things occurring at the time like tomatoes being poisonous.

[wolfie]

Actually, the "tomatoes are poisonous" bit does show scientific thought. Tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, and in virtually all members of this family (IIRC, tomatoes and eggplant are the only exceptions) the berries are poisonous.

[Pixelated]

I recall reading something about how Vikings differed from a lot of cultures in their time period in that they bathed once a week. For a lot of other cultures, it was unheard of to bathe that frequently.

One of the theories I heard was that religion was involved ... bathing was considered "vanity." I suspect a lot of it was practical as well: you had to drag in all that water, heat it, take your bath, and by the time you'd dragged all the dirty water out, you were totally sweated up again. Not to mention you'd be putting on clothing that only got washed when you fell into a river ...

And medieval medicine was so gawdawful in part because nobody had a clue how bodies worked ... dissection and autopsies were absolutely forbidden (religion again, if I'm not mistaken).

Incidentally, the guy wearing the weird beaky mask? He's actually a doctor, and that outfit was supposed to protect him from the plague. The "beak" was stuffed with herbs because plague was believed to be caused by "bad air" and the herbs would purify the air he breathed.

Oh, and he was wearing WAXED pants. Or they were soaked in camphor oil. This again was believed to create a barrier between the doctor and the "bad air."

Found all that great info here.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I recall reading years ago that there was a theory that the Black Death was caused by fleas on rats, but it was rejected because, "How could such a great evil be caused by such a small creature?"

[wolfie]

Ridiculous! Only a "round-earther" would believe that fleas on rats cause the Black Death.

[dalesys]

They were right. The fleas *on* the rats were no problem. It was the ones that jumped ship.

[lordlundar]

Actually, the "tomatoes are poisonous" bit does show scientific thought. Tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, and in virtually all members of this family (IIRC, tomatoes and eggplant are the only exceptions) the berries are poisonous.

Granted, but the reasoning was "tomatoes start off green so they are poisonous" not that they're a member of the nightshade family. To add, it's not just Tomatoes and eggplant. There are a LOT of fruits under the family under different genus including potatoes (which is probably where the green=poison myth came from) and peppers.