But instead of deterring men from relieving themselves, it just gave them something to aim for. To keep servants and courtiers from urinating on the garden walls, Henry had large red X’s painted in problem spots. Many of the rules laid down by the King indicate that his battle against the advancing grime was a losing one. READ MORE: The Mysterious Epidemic That Terrified Henry VIII The king slept on a bed surrounded by furs to keep small creatures and vermin away, and visitors were warned not to “wipe or rub their hands upon none arras of the King’s whereby they might be hurted.” “Some courtiers didn't bother to look for a chamber pot but just dropped their britches and did their business-all of their business-in the staircase, the hallway, or the fireplace.'Ī 1675 report offered this assessment of the Louvre Palace in Paris: “On the grand staircases” and “behind the doors and almost everywhere one sees there a mass of excrement, one smells a thousand unbearable stenches caused by calls of nature which everyone goes to do there every day.”Īccording to historian Alison Weir, author of Henry VIII: The King and his Court, the fastidious Henry VIII “waged a constant battle against the dirt, dust, and smells that were unavoidable when so many people lived in one establishment,” which was fairly unusual for the time. “Feces and urine were everywhere,” Eleanor Herman, author of The Royal Art of Poison, says of royal palaces. Louis XV's toilette at the Palace of Versailles.īut without a doubt, the most pressing health concern was caused by the dearth of waste disposal options in an era before reliable plumbing. And Charles II of England let his flea-bitten spaniels lie in his bed chamber, where they rendered the room “very offensive and indeed made the whole Court nasty and stinking,” according to a 17th century writer.

While paintings of Louis XIV’s opulent court at Versailles show royals clad in gorgeously embroidered garments, viewers today are missing one of the main effects of their finery: the odor of hundreds of garments that have never been washed, all in one unventilated room. Some of the most storied reigns in history, like that of Catherine the Great, took place against a backdrop of horrifying smells, overcrowded quarters, overflowing chamber pots and lice-filled furniture. READ MORE: Why Royal Women Gave Birth in Front of Huge Crowds for Centuries Though cleanliness standards were subpar throughout the Medieval, Renaissance and Regency eras, royal courts were typically dirtier than the average small cabin or home. The very crush of court members was so dense that it made a thorough house cleaning impossible-and futile. Within days of a royal party settling in one palace or another, a stink would set in from poorly discarded food, animal waste, vermin from or attracted to unwashed bodies, and human waste (which accrued in underground chambers until it could be removed.) The hallways would become so caked with grime and soot from constant fires that they were fairly black. Once the tour was over, Henry and a swelling court of over 1,000 would keep moving for the rest of the year, traveling frequently between the King’s 60 residences in a vain attempt to live in hygienic surroundings. Livestock and farmland also needed time to recover, after supplying food for so many people. Palaces-like Henry’s Hampton Court-had to be constantly evacuated so they could be cleaned of the accumulated mounds of human waste.

They weren’t just exercising their tremendous wealth: they actually needed to escape the disgusting messes large royal parties produced. While these stops were important PR events for the king, designed to spark loyalty in his subjects, royal households had another reason entirely for their constant movement. Over the next four months the massive entourage would visit around 30 different royal palaces, aristocratic residences and religious institutions. In July of 1535, King Henry VIII and his court of over 700 people embarked on an epic official tour.

Disgusting medieval foods