Elizabethan Hygiene

When was the Elizabethan Era?

The Elizabethan Era was between the years 1558-1603. Queen Elizabeth the First was the monarch of England during this time, Thus the name The Elizabethan Era.

Our presentation will be about hygiene during the Elizabethan Era.

What is hygiene?

Hygiene is defined as principles and practices of health and cleanliness.

Common Hygiene

In England, a commoner would have one of two

toilets; a toilet inside was called a privy and had four legs. On top of the four legs was a board over the top with a hole in it. There was a bowl under the privy for waste.

The second type was an outside toilet. There was only a hole in the ground.

Bathing was not thought of often in a commoner's life. The reason for this could be that soap was expensive. If you were a peasant you would probably have a bath once a year. The water could be from anywhere, anywhere from a grungy river to a warm bath.

Upper Class Hygiene

The level of hygiene in the late 1500's depended on how wealthy you were. If an individual was rich they would bathe around once a week, in a tub or large bowl.

Soap was invented before the Elizabethan Era, but the cost was exceedingly high so very few people could afford it.

A castle or a great Tudor house usually had something that was referred to as a "jakes", and was basically a stone seat that was part of the wall and it had a hole in it and waste fell into a pit under the jakes. The pit would normally be emptied by a commoner and was carted away.

The first ever toilet with plumbing was invented by a man named Sir John Harrington, who was Queen Elizabeth's godson. Sir John invited Queen Elizabeth to his house in Somerset to test his new revolutionary invention, which he cleverly named the "Ajax". Queen Elizabeth loved the Ajax so much that she asked for it to be installed in all of her palaces.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, hand washing was a very important but because it was also a way of showing that an individual was clean, they washed their hands in public so people would think that the person was very clean and was nice smelling.

Hygiene is more than just being clean. It is defined as the many practices that help people be and stay healthy. Practicing good personal hygiene is smart for two reasons. First, it helps prevent people from catching and spreading illness and disease. Second, it helps people feel good about themselves and their bodies.

The last thing we will be discussing is what and how hygiene affected a persons health, and what precautions a medical physician would take before a surgery.

During the mid 1500's surgeons became more aware of new methods to treat and disinfect. wounds. Cauterizing the wound was still very effective, it healed the wound faster and got rid of the majority of the bacteria.

Not to long after in the mid-1500s Ambroise Paré, a French war surgeon, popularized the use of ligatures to control bleeding after amputation. He also used bandages to cover wounds.

A simple explanation for ligatures is a string or chord

that was tied around a part of someones body to block all flow of liquids, germs, etc...

Soon after that medical physicians started to use

bandages efficiently and stopped blood lose with them.

This "cleaned-up", the use of all

objects used during surgery. Surgeons started to sterilize the equipment more frequently with more effective disinfectant chemicals such as rubbing alcohol.

During the Elizabethan Era hygiene was very

important in order to be looked at as a wealthy person or a commoner. It helped not only identify your social status but also kept you healthy both mentally and physically.

Web Pages

• http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
• http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/tudors/dailylife.htm
• http://www.gprc.ab.ca/employees/homepages/ghanna/life/html

Books

Horrible Histories Even More Terrible Tudors by Terry Deary. Pages 78-84

By: Alex Small and Max Sovereign

Elizabethan Hygiene