For some weird reason some people seem to think that Europeans didn’t care about personal hygiene till relatively recently, others even believe that Europeans never bathed or washed and still don’t.Yes, I’m serious, there are really folks out there who believe this. So on this page I’m going to simply collect a list of links … More History of personal hygiene in Europe
I love history books that are all about a specific subject, it shows that a historian has become obsessed about one thing and that they’ve likely spend more time than is healthy researching it.Which is of course a good thing because it can result in the ultimate publication on the topic and I think that’s … More Book review: ‘The medieval pig’ by Dolly Jørgensen
On the 29th of May 1969 a young student called Bruce Baruch Mayrock set himself on fire on the lawn of the United Nations headquarters in New York.A sign he left on the grass said: “You must stop genocide – please save 9 million Biafrans.” and “Peace is where there is an absence of fear … More This is not Bruce Mayrock
This story has been making the rounds on the internet with a claim that you’ve probably been told during visits to castles, but, there’s no evidence for it whatsoever. In short the idea is that it’s easier for a right-handed soldier or knight to fight in a spiral staircase that is built going clockwise when … More Medieval staircases were NOT built going clockwise for the defender’s advantage
This story has been quite popular on social media for a while now but is there any truth to it?Here is the claim with the picture most often accompanying it: For starters the story makes little sense.Husbands tend to notice when they keep feeling a bit under the weather after each breakfast, don’t ask me … More NOT medieval women poisoning their husbands
Most people know that the Romans had sewers to transport waste out of their cities and towns.But what is relatively unknown is that these didn’t abruptly vanish when the Roman Empire slowly withdrew, people continued to find ways to get rid of their filth away from where they lived during the middle ages. Because not … More List of medieval towns/villages/cities with sewer systems
Most people know that the Romans used aqueducts and such to transport water into their cities and towns.But what is relatively unknown is that this didn’t abruptly stop when the Roman Empire slowly withdrew, people continued to find ways to get water brought to where they lived and worked though conduits, canals, pipes but even … More List of medieval towns/villages/cities with water supply systems
For some strange reason there are a lot of rather peculiar stories going around about famous historical figures having very odd bathing habits that generally involve them not bathing very much.I’m not sure why this is, I’ve dealt with the general myths about common people never bathing in the past (they did) but the stories … More The curious claims about James VI & I’s bathing habits
Doctor Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831 – 1895)was a physician, nurse, author and the first African-American woman to become a doctor of medicine in the United States in 1864.Unfortunately no photograph of her survives, as far as I know, which unfortunately has resulted in people who, rightfully, want to honour her, do so by using photos … More NOT Doctor Rebecca Lee Crumpler
This photo went viral online, supposedly showing a magnificent Art Nouveau building in Bucharest. The picture is wonderful, this mysterious villa is a superb example of Art Nouveau architecture and yes, I too would love to visit it. But it doesn’t exist. It was created by an artist using artificial intelligence software called Midjourney. By … More Not an Art Nouveau house in Bucharest
Fake History Hunter 