Swimming in the Middle Ages (2023)

FAQs

Could people swim in medieval times? ›

By the medieval period, the majority of Western Europeans who were not involved in harvesting aquatic resources had forgotten how to swim. Swimming itself was not forgotten – but the ability to do so hugely decreased. Bodies of water became sinister 'otherworlds' populated by mermaids and sea monsters.

The Middle Ages saw a resurgence in bathing, both in indoor bathhouses and open air, and was largely still without clothing. Contemporary illustrations depict men and women bathing together, either nude, or with cloth wrapped around the groin. The end of the era saw more restrictions placed on bathing attire.

Some people in the 1400's could, and did, swim but many did not including many sailors. Columbus had grown up by the sea so he probably had plenty of opportunities to learn how to swim and he must have been a strong swimmer. The distance from his ship to the shore must have been daunting.

In the middle ages there were a lot of bandits along the roads looking for wealthy travellers without guards so going to the beach was too expensive or too risky.

Ships were big, bulky, and slow; turning them around took way more effort than they were willing to expend. Chances were if you fell overboard or sank, it wasn't worth the agony to prolong the inevitable—so not learning to swim and drowning quickly was actually nicer than struggling for hours.

Laborers, who made up most of the population, probably used ewers and shallow washbasins. Castle dwellers might have access to a wooden tub, with water heated by a fire. And yes, they used soap—in fact, soap was often made at home and widely available as a trade good as early as the 9th century in Europe.

A team of Austrian archaeologists has discovered four bras from the 1400s. It reveals that women wore the garment some 500 years before fashion historians thought it was invented.

—Brides carried bouquets of flowers at their weddings in order to cover up their body odor. (No stories about how grooms might have covered up their own stench.) —At most, people only bathed twice per year in the middle ages — May and October.

It wasn't just diseases from the water itself they were worried about. They also felt that with the pores widened after a bath, this resulted in infections of the air having easier access to the body. Hence, bathing, particularly at bathhouses, became connected with the spread of diseases.

Still made using animal fats, soap during the Middle Ages in Europe actually had an unpleasant smell. But better smelling cleansing soap began to arrive from Islamic lands, which incorporated olive oil and sometimes lime.

What was hygiene like in the 1400s? ›

People would usually wash their hands and face regularly, but full-body bathing was not a daily occurrence. Instead, people would take a weekly bath in a communal bathhouse or wash in a nearby river. These bathhouses were also used for socializing and were a place to meet and gossip.

Germany has a long and rich history with swimming, but it wasn't always legal to do so. In order to protect the environment, it was illegal to swim in rivers and streams from 1884-1933. What is this? During this time, many people drowned because they didn't know about the law or were unaware of its existence.

Most beaches get their sand from rocks on land. Over time, rain, ice, wind, heat, cold, and even plants and animals break rock into smaller pieces. This weathering may begin with large boulders that break into smaller rocks. Water running through cracks erodes the rock.

While I personally think the evidence from literary sources has been overstated in scholarship, it's pretty clear that people in the Middle Ages viewed the ocean as dark, forbidding, and dangerous, even apocalyptic. A whale washed up on a Dutch beach in 1522, and Martin Luther believed it was a sign of the apocalypse.

Yet the earliest humans from over 100,000 years ago taught themselves how to swim, for food and for pleasure. There is a long history of human swimming for utility and leisure, amply recorded in pictures from the earliest cave drawings and folk narratives.

Yet the earliest humans from over 100,000 years ago taught themselves how to swim, for food and for pleasure. There is a long history of human swimming for utility and leisure, amply recorded in pictures from the earliest cave drawings and folk narratives.

This could be fresh running water, a spring or, in many cases, wells. All of these could easily provide fresh, disease- and impurity-free water; the idea that water from these sources would be the causes of disease and so had to be made into ale or beer is fanciful.

Still, if you assume that the sagas are reasonable approximations of what Viking-era Norsefolk used to do, then they almost certainly did swim well. Swimming (sund) is often listed as one of the standard skills that warriors commonly learned.

In some castles, the cisterns were located at a high elevation in the castle complex, which allowed lead pipes to be connected to the cistern so there could be running water in various rooms in the castle, but such a luxury was rare.