Well; despite was written by a Latino (I guess..) I have lots of doubts.. Yes, some are known to be true, but there is a sense of exaggeration and deliberate defaming the European cultures in general..!!
Disposal of Human waste and defections was; and widely still a great challenge.. Everywhere perfumes were inspired by the bad body odors; which were interpreted in various forms and rituals.. Most of Nomads and Bedouins are living away from water resources to clean themselves; and became natural for them not-bathing for long times..
Till date; in some parts of Asia, Africa and Arabia the phenomenon spread; which municipal authorities work hard to resolve.. However, one third of the urban human population has no proper sanitation of fresh water to enjoy...!
LOVE AND HYGIENE IN THE 1600S AND 1700S.
When visiting the Palace of Versailles in Paris, one can see that the lavish palace has no bathrooms.
In the Middle Ages, there were no toothbrushes, perfumes, deodorants, and much less toilet paper. Human excrements were thrown out of the palace windows.
On a holiday, the palace kitchen could prepare a feast for 1500 people, without the slightest hygiene.
In today's movies we see the people of that era shaking or fanning...
The explanation is not in the heat, but in the bad odor emitted under the skirts (which were purposely made to contain the odor of the intimate parts, as there was no hygiene). It was also not customary to shower due to the cold and the almost non-existence of running water.
Only the nobles had lackeys to fan them, to dispel the bad odor they exhaled the body and mouth, as well as to repel the insects.
Those who have been to Versailles have admired the enormous and beautiful gardens that, at the time, were not only contemplated, but used as a toilet in the famous ballads promoted by the monarchy, because there were no bathrooms.
In the Middle Ages, most weddings took place in June (for them, the beginning of summer). The reason is simple: the first bath of the year was taken in May; so in June, the smell of people was still tolerable. However, as some odors were already beginning to annoy, the brides wore bouquets of flowers near their bodies to cover the stench. Hence the explanation of the origin of the bride bouquet.
The baths were taken in a single huge bathtub filled with hot water. The head of the family had the privilege of the first bath in clean water. Then, without changing the water, came the others in the house, in order of age, women, also by age, and finally, children. Babies were the last to bathe. When her turn came, the water in the bathtub was so dirty it was possible to kill a baby inside.
The roofs of the homes had no sky and the wooden beams holding them up were the best place for animals—dogs, cats, rats and beetles to stay warm. When it rained, leaks forced the animals to jump to the ground.
Those who had money had tin plates. Certain types of food oxidized the material, causing many people to die from poisoning.
Let's remember that hygiene habits back then were terrible. Tomatoes, being acidic, were considered poisonous for a long time, tin cups were used to drink beer or whiskey; this combination, sometimes, left the individual "on the floor" (in a kind of narcolepsy induced by the mixture of alcoholic beverage with tin oxide). Anyone passing by would think he was dead, so they picked up the body and prepared for the funeral. Then the body would be placed on the kitchen table for a few days and the family would watch, eat, drink and wait to see if the dead man would wake up or not. Hence the one that the dead are seen (candle or vigil), which is the vigil next to the coffin.
England is a small country, where there wasn't always room to bury all the dead. The coffins were then opened, the bones were extracted, placed in ramps and the grave was used for another corpse. Sometimes, when opening the coffins, you could notice that there were scratches on the lids inside, indicating that the dead man had, in fact, been buried alive.
Thus, when closing the coffin, came the idea of tying a strip of the deceased's doll, pass it through a hole made in the coffin and tie it to a bell. After the burial, someone stayed on duty by the grave for a few days. If the individual woke up, the movement of his arm would make the bell ring. And it would be “saved by the bell
which is popular expression used by us to this day.
What we do today by tradition, we do without knowledge.
And we only follow traditions if sense.
Like carnival, Halloween, etc
Sometimes the best ally to get out of ignorance is reading.
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