One
of the most persistent myths about the Middle Ages is that people did
not bathe regularly and went around dirty and stinking. This is
demonstratively not true. The Medievalists.net have published a good and
lengthy post on the topic (Bathing in the Middle Ages),
which provides a great deal of documentation and detail. In this entry, Dr. Schrader does not recount or compete with that or other sources, but rather focuses on the unique traditions of "Outremer" or the Crusader States.
All the Crusader States established in the course and subsequent to the First and Third Crusades
were in locations that had been under Greek influence since Alexander
the Great at the latest. They had also been part of the Ancient and
Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empires before coming under Arab and Turkish influence from the 7th to 11th centuries AD. This means that for the native population
the predominant traditions with respect to personal hygiene came not
from the Germanic tribes, Vikings or Celts, but from Greece, Rome,
Egypt, and Arabia.
Whereas bathing in Western Europe is usually depicted in small, wooden tubs with curtains over them...
..the baths of any Roman town were gracious, spacious and elegant, often open to the skies in a series of atriums surrounded by colonnades.
They were public spaces in which men conducted business and politics.
The baths of Turkey and Arabia, on the other hand, while darker and more
inward-looking, nevertheless were sumptuous with domed roofs and elegantly furnished with marble floors, benches, and fountains. They were less important for business and politics but all the more important culturally because of the emphasis Islam places on personal cleanliness. Both the Greco-Roman and Arab/Turkish traditions
shared the principle of having both hot rooms for steaming/sweating
(like a sauna) and cold rooms for washing off. Both also integrated massages with fragrantly scented oils into the bathing experience.
When
the crusaders arrived in Outremer they found a large number of
functioning bathhouses, particularly of the later (Turkish/Arab) type,
already in place. Far from scorning, abandoning, dismantling or altering their function, the Frankish settlers adopted them readily -- rather like ducks to water, one might say. Indeed, they started building their own, and archaeologists
have identified a number of Frankish baths. These include baths in the
Hospitaller and Templar headquarters in Jerusalem, at or near the
monastery on Mt.
Zion, at Atlit, a bathhouse on the Street of Jehoshaphat near the
convent of St. Anne, and another in the Patriarch's quarter. (For more
details I recommend Adrian J. Boas' excellent works Jerusalem in the time of the Crusades and Crusader Archaeology.)
The Frankish settlers in Outremer adopted some of the bathing customs as well. Thus, while men and women bathed jointly in Western Europe, they probably bathed separately (either in separate spaces or at different times) in Outremer, although this is not 100% certain. The crusaders certainly adopted the custom of massages with scented oils stored in lovely glass vessels produced locally.
The Frankish settlers in Outremer adopted some of the bathing customs as well. Thus, while men and women bathed jointly in Western Europe, they probably bathed separately (either in separate spaces or at different times) in Outremer, although this is not 100% certain. The crusaders certainly adopted the custom of massages with scented oils stored in lovely glass vessels produced locally.
It wasn't only the bathhouses that the Frankish settlers of Outremer inherited from their predecessors. They also inherited Roman aqueducts and sewage systems. The Greeks (both Ancient and Byzantine) and Romans were famous for building very sophisticated and extensive networks for bringing fresh water to the public fountains of their cities, often from many miles away. The Franks followed this example and built a number of their own. Thus while cities dating from the Roman period or earlier had Roman aqueducts that the crusaders merely needed to maintain, the construction of new castles, new towns or water-intensive industry such as sugar plantations, brought forth new aqueducts that clearly date from the crusader period.
In crusader times, the city of Caesarea was served by no less than three Roman aqueducts. All photo copyrights: www.romanaqueducts.info |
Likewise,
the ancient cities were served by extensive (and again very solid and
sophisticated) sewage systems. These consisted both of stone-faced
drains and stone or pottery pipes. The Byzantines, for example, used pottery pipes to bring sewage down the outside of their residences from upper stories to underground sewage systems.
Frankish castles had extensive latrines with sewers that emptied well
below the level at which people lived. While rooftop cisterns and tanks
provided the means to flush out these latrines with water (as we know castles in England did a hundred and fifty years later), the archaeological evidence is insufficient to verify the practice in the Holy Land. Archaeological evidence of highly sophisticated drainage systems to divert underground streams, however, have been uncovered, and the level of engineering skills available to the Frankish settlers of Outremer should not, therefore, be under-estimated.
To conclude, there may be a direct link between the hygienic conditions in Outremer and the hot-and-cold running water of Edward III and the Black Prince. The bulk of the crusaders, including Richard the Lionheart and Edward I of England, returned home, and by the time they went home they had probably become fond of the higher standards of hygiene enjoyed by the Frankish settlers -- the very standards that had induced the crusaders to ridicule the native "poulains" initially. (See Clash of Cultures) The large number of crusaders returning particularly to France, Germany, and England may, in fact, explain the fact that Western Europe saw a flourishing of "bathhouse culture" in the 12th - 14th centuries.
To conclude, there may be a direct link between the hygienic conditions in Outremer and the hot-and-cold running water of Edward III and the Black Prince. The bulk of the crusaders, including Richard the Lionheart and Edward I of England, returned home, and by the time they went home they had probably become fond of the higher standards of hygiene enjoyed by the Frankish settlers -- the very standards that had induced the crusaders to ridicule the native "poulains" initially. (See Clash of Cultures) The large number of crusaders returning particularly to France, Germany, and England may, in fact, explain the fact that Western Europe saw a flourishing of "bathhouse culture" in the 12th - 14th centuries.
Throughout Dr. Schrader's award-winning "Jerusalem" trilogy and her newer books the lifestyle in Outremer -- from hygiene to hospitals -- is realistically depicted. Enjoy!
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