How dirty was Victorian London?
How dirty was Victorian London? In Victorian London, filth was everywhere: horse traffic filled the streets with dung, household rubbish went uncollected, cesspools brimmed with night soil, graveyards teemed with rotting corpses, the air itself was choked with smoke.
Why did medieval people not wash?
Queen Isabella's avoidance of bathing should be understood within the context of this strong Christian tradition: it did not reflect social norms, but rather the efforts of an extremely devout woman not to overindulge her body. For medieval Christians, washing oneself could be seen as evidence of excessive worldliness.