People in the Tudor Era smelled magnificently bad.
And it is because of famously bad medical beliefs. Thomas Moulton once said:
‘Also use no baths or stoves; nor swet too much, for all openeth the pores of a manne’s body and maketh the venomous ayre to enter and for to infecte the bloode.’
The short explanation: they believed bathing and showering was bad. They thought that germs entered through the skin and that by washing your body, you exposed yourself to the possibility of those germs entering.
Their way of staying clean revolved around having clean clothes on, not actually cleaning your body. (source: Getting Clean, the Tudor Way. Goodman, Roth)
Which, although a good step in overall cleanliness, is kind of like putting the cart before the horse.
Their beliefs were a bit backwards. They also advised that you avoid areas where the air didn’t move a lot, such as swamps. That was due to a fear of sickness caused in those areas, which was more likely due to mosquitoes.
In any event. People from the Tudor era had terrible hygiene. They dressed up in fancy dresses and suits and gathered in ballrooms to celebrate their antiquity, and whill doing so, they smelled to all hell.
I’m going to be honest:
The first thing I thought of in this story is how bad it would smell to have sex with someone who hadn’t showered in months.
Or worse, if you put your face down near their private areas…
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