SpaceAce

If anyone is interested, here is the page Burtman copied this all from (word-for-word I might add):
http://historymedren.about.com/libra.../aa042202c.htm

He is quoting no less a historical authority than about.com

Before you spend your time pretending to great knowledge on a subject and deriding other people's posts, do a little research. Regular bathing was not a staple of western cultures even into the 1700s. This was not as true for the wealthier classes but for the majority of people, fears of disease and superstitions about water caused them to avoid what they considered excessive washing. When small numbers of Westerners started mingling with Japanese culture in the late 1600s they were amazed at the fastidious cleanliness of the Asians. In fact, <B>to this very day</B> many Japanese believe westerners do not bathe regularly and smell bad. Read accounts of any American who has traveled to Japan or ask someone you know who has gone there; they all report the wrinkled noses and people avoiding sitting near them on public transportation and in public areas.

During medieval times (still on western cultures, here, say... England) and going forward, regular bathing was <B>not</B> common among the common people. Basic scrubbing up with a washcloth, yes, actual bathing, no. We are talking about people who dumped raw sewage outside their front doors and let it run in the street which facilitated numerous terrible disease outbreaks. Even allowing that they didn't have better ways to take care of their waste, even basic hygiene would have helped but instead people died by the tens of thousands. These were not people obsessed with cleanliness.


Again, if you're going to use someone else's words at least do a little research. The article you quoted (without giving credit) does <B>not</B> make any statement that the people would bathe regularly, just that it would be more than once a year. Also, the term "washing" is used. You can "wash" with a piece of cloth and some sand to get the worst of the grime off you but it doesn't necessarily count as bathing.

I followed the link to the page claiming that medieval man "loved" to bathe (which it states means they "probably" bathed more than they did in the 19th century - whoop de do) and it sounds like about as much bullshit as the yearly bath theory. The people probably didn't bathe once a year and they almost certainly didn't spend all their time idling in public baths either, as that page seems to claim.

SpaceAce