Cleanliness In Medieval Times

The Cleanliness of Medieval People
The Medieval period was a time of filth, squalor and high mortality rates due to the lack of technology and access to clean water during the time. Peasants in the medieval ages did not live good lives at all. Most of the peasants worked as farmers getting little to no pay and they worked very strenuously every day in order to survive. Cleanliness was the least of their worries since every day was a struggle to survive. Bathing on a regular basis was considered a delicacy and luxury that mostly only the upper class had access to. Disease was a normal part of life and was a big reason for death in the medieval times. Death at a young age was the norm especially for peasants because of the lack of medicine,

Many people could not afford their own private bath tub in their home because of the expenses and the amount of time that it took up so public bath houses were popular. The wealthier people would have their own private bath tubs and would bathe more often since the wealthy kept themselves cleaner. But a lot of people, especially men would abstain from bathing as a whole since there was a widespread belief that water could carry diseases and the diseases could get into your body through the pores of your skin (insert citation here). So besides bathing being too expensive and time consuming for some, it was also often avoided since there were believed dangers that came with it. Most people were alright with smelling terrible because terrible smells were all that they knew, especially for farmers, which there were a lot

Besides for the black plague which wiped out about one third of the world 's population, other diseases such as dysentery, typhoid, ergotism, diphtheria, syphilis and gonorrhea were widespread diseases that would kill people regularly. Dysentery and typhoid are both diseases that are caused by fecal matter getting into food and water. People then drink the infected water and then get fevers, cramps, abdominal cramps and bloody stool. Both of these diseases are very painful and would affect thousands of people. Other diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis are both sexually transmitted diseases that were widespread in the medieval era (insert citation here). Without any form of safe sex besides abstinence, gonorrhea and syphilis would be spread like wildfire causing painful urination and aching genitals. Ergotism is the poisoning from a fungal infection of grain and that would degenerate the nervous system and cause hallucinations and convulsions. It was more common in kids than in adults. Another disease that was common during the medieval era was diphtheria which is a highly contagious bacterial disease that causes major respiratory issues. Diseases were everywhere in the medieval era because of the awful living conditions and lack of cleanliness in the