Book review: ‘Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities’ by Carole Rawcliffe (2013)

I’ve just finished reading ‘Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities’ by Carole Rawcliffe, Professor of Medieval History, University of East Anglia.More about the book here. If you still kind of belief medieval folks weren’t into bathing and didn’t mind living in towns were people just chucked waste into the streets, … More Book review: ‘Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities’ by Carole Rawcliffe (2013)

Medieval staircases were NOT built going clockwise for the defender’s advantage

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

List of medieval towns/villages/cities with sewer systems

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

List of medieval towns/villages/cities with water supply 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

The curious claims about James VI & I’s bathing habits

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