When it comes to France, perfume and the Palace of Versailles must be indispensable, which are all related to him - Louis XIV.
Louis XIV, the Bourbon king of France and King Navada, and one of the longest-reigning monarchs, is judged to be one of the greatest kings of all time, and his lifelong achievements are great but he has a habit of not loving bathing.
Did Louis XIV really not like to bathe?
Louis XIV lived for 77 years, but bathed only 7 times in his lifetime. This discouraged many women who admired him, but did Louis XIV really not like to bathe? If it is true then why doesn't he love to bathe?
The source of the rumors of Louis XIV's stink came from his favorite mistress, Madame de Montess. She once mentioned that the smell of Louis XIV's body was disgusting and disgusting ten steps away, and the smell of ten meters away was stinking.
Later, it was constantly reported that the maid who had served Louis XIV also testified, and Louis XIV was so smelly that he stood next to him, and it was almost difficult to swallow.
Perhaps the testimony of others may be adulterated, but as the pillow person of Louis XIV, the revelation of Madame Munsterbang is fatal, which is also the most powerful evidence that many people believe that Louis XIV did not bathe, and it is precisely because he does not like to bathe that he stinks.
In addition, there is evidence that Louis XIV did not bathe: a medical record of Louis XIV, circulating after the death of Louis XIV, clearly records that Louis XIV bathed only once in 64 years from 1647 to 1711.
It can be seen that the rumor that Louis XIV did not like to bathe has human and physical evidence, and it can be preliminarily concluded that the rumor that Louis XIV only took a bath 7 times is true.
So in the end, why does Louis XIV not like to bathe, as the ruler of a country, it is impossible to be a person who lacks that little bath water, in fact, as far as the environment is concerned, Louis XIV's failure to bathe is just an act of European social customs.
Perhaps Louis XIV, who took a bath seven times, was already a clean-loving existence in Europe, because at that time the whole of Europe generally did not bathe, and even some people did not necessarily take a bath once in their lives, and they were proud not to bathe.
Reasons for not bathing
Louis XIV and Europeans have three main reasons for not bathing for a generally similar reason. One is that when it was a European religion, Louis XIV had a church faith.
And in the church faith, there is a general understanding that not bathing is the best way to get close to The Gods, and that the dirtier the body, the better it is to get to God.
This is now considered inconceivable and even absurd to us to say that it is true, and is regarded by Europeans as a rule that must be followed.
It is rumored that there was once a European who did not bathe or wash his feet for 50 consecutive years, and as a result, he was not only not rejected, but also respected as a saint by the locals, who was considered to be of noble status and worthy of respect.
The second was economic reasons, which might not have been applicable to Louis XIV, who was a monarch, because he had a large amount of wealth and a large number of servants.
But for the average person of that century, taking a shower was actually a luxury. The first was that hundreds of years ago, there was no ready-to-use tap water and a complete drainage system as it is now.
So at that time, bathing became very inconvenient, often taking a bath is not like we now in order to remove sweat, cool off the heat, eliminate fatigue, etc., but a large amount of firewood and water, as well as the loss of soap needed for cleaning, especially the latter, the expensive price is often prohibitive, and then gradually do not bathe to become a way to save the city.
Third, there is the cause of the disease, which is also an important reason why Louis XIV did not bathe. In the time of Louis XIV, plagues were rampant in Europe, especially the Black Death, and everyone smelled discolored.
How terrible was the Black Death? In just three months, the Black Death spread throughout Europe, with nearly 25 million deaths at its worst.
Now we know that the Black Death is actually what we call the plague, a fairly old bacterial infectious disease, and the most frightening thing is its extremely high fatality rate and strong contagiousness. However, the plague is not as terrible as imagined, and the plague is also a disease that can be prevented, controlled and treated, and controlling the source of infection is the key to it.
During the period of Louis XIV, the Black Death was a disease that far exceeded its medical level. Coupled with the influence of religious beliefs, bathing naturally becomes a pot-backer.
Doctors at that time believed that hot water would stimulate the expansion of human pores, which would cause viruses and bacteria to take advantage of the opportunity to enter the human body, so people would get sick, so doctors recommended taking less bathing, and doing a good job was not to take a bath.
Of course, in addition to the doctor's advice, the fatality rate of the Black Death at that time was almost 100%, whether not bathing could prevent the Black Death, at least it could become a temporary psychological comfort for people. The combination of religious belief and the ravages of the Black Death was the reason why Louis XIV did not bathe.
Because I don't like to take a bath, I have set off a tide of perfume
Imagine how a person who does not take a bath for decades can not have a strange smell. In fact, the smell of Louis XIV's body may not only come from his failure to bathe, because not only Louis XIV stinks, but the Palace of Versailles where he lives also stinks. Maybe this is different from what most people think.
But that is the Palace of Versailles, the most prestigious palace in Paris, and even the Forbidden City on the mainland; Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom; The White House in the United States and the Kremlin in Russia, known as the world's five largest palaces, are still places where many people want to see the real face, how can it stink?
In fact, this is not nonsense, the Palace of Versailles is a historical treasure, in the era of Louis XIV, he also expanded the Palace of Versailles, the entire palace covers an area of 1.11 million square meters, with more than 1,300 rooms, luxurious decoration, everywhere highlights the splendor, luxury is extraordinary.
Even according to historical records, in the heyday of Versailles, there were more than 36,000 people living in the palace, from high princes and nobles to low-level slaves, such a large number of palaces, luxury is extremely luxurious, but in that era, the toilet may be a not simple problem.
There is still a controversy on the Internet, that is, whether there is a toilet in versailles, the answer is of course yes, there must be a toilet, and even divided into two types, private for the use of princes and nobles, public is used by slaves, and the shortage of supply has led to the smell of the palatial Palace of Versailles.
On the other hand, in order to cover up the smell of the body, Louis XIV set off a perfume boom, and it is precisely because of Louis XIV's love that French perfume technology and perfume industry have developed rapidly.
end
While analyzing a person, it is necessary to pay a little attention to the historical period in which he is living, and it is not comprehensive enough to talk about the reasons regardless of the background. What do you think about Louis XIV's non-bathing, welcome to leave a message in the comment area,