If you ever find yourself whisked back to the Middle Ages, you’ll want to pack a nose plug. The everyday reality of medieval England was a relentless assault of filth, thanks to a complete lack of modern sanitation. Below are 10 truly disgusting facts that show just how nasty life could get.
10 Truly Disgusting Facts About Medieval England
10 People Piled Garbage And Feces In Front Of Their Homes
When a typical English household filled its chamber pots and accumulated rotting food, the law demanded they haul the whole mess beyond the city limits. In theory, that sounded reasonable, but in practice most families simply dumped the filth onto the street right outside their doors rather than make the trek.
Consequently, the sidewalks became a chaotic mosaic of chicken bones, empty pots, and other refuse. Folklore even claims that men were expected to let women walk on the inner side of the pavement so that any rain‑washed dung would land on the gentleman’s head instead of the lady’s.
King Edward II finally tried to curb the chaos in the 14th century, issuing a decree that required all filth deposited before houses to be removed within a week and ordered pigs to be kept off the streets. The law did little to stop the piles, so the wealthy resorted to perfumed handkerchiefs to mask the stench while the crown hired workers to clear the roads.
9 The Sewers Flooded When It Rained
Even on a typical day the streets reeked, but a storm turned them into a nightmare. Medieval roads were built of dirt and cobblestones that sloped toward a central rain‑water ditch meant to divert water away from foot traffic.
Unfortunately, townsfolk used those ditches as a convenient trash can, stuffing everything from broken pottery to discarded food into them. When heavy rain finally arrived, the clogged channels couldn’t handle the flow, spilling over and dragging months of accumulated waste into the streets.
When the clouds cleared, the thoroughfares were left slick with wet debris and slowly drying feces, turning the whole town into a foul, soggy mess that lingered for days.
8 Doctors Would Pee On Your Wounds
If a soldier was cut in battle, a doctor would often reach for a surprisingly familiar antiseptic: fresh urine. Following the advice of the king’s personal surgeon, physicians would urinate directly onto the wound, believing the ammonia would stave off infection.
The practice wasn’t limited to simple cuts. Medieval medics used urine to treat burns, bites, and a host of other ailments, trusting its chemical properties to disinfect. Though it sounds revolting, the method sometimes succeeded in preventing gangrene.
One of the most bizarre accounts involves Italian physician Leonardo Fioravanti, who, after a soldier’s nose was severed, scooped up the organ, dusted it with sand, and then peed on it before stitching it back on. The soldier survived and could smell again—thanks to a very unconventional treatment.
7 People Thought Bathing Made Them Sick
During most of the medieval period, citizens actually visited public baths fairly regularly and kept themselves reasonably clean. That changed dramatically after the Black Death swept across Europe.
Doctors, desperate to explain the catastrophe, blamed frequent washing for opening the pores and weakening the body, making people more vulnerable to the plague. They issued edicts forbidding bathing, even warning patients not to wash their faces.
Consequently, many townsfolk abandoned personal hygiene altogether, believing that water itself was a disease‑spreading agent. The sudden shift turned once‑clean public spaces into grimy, unsanitary zones.
6 Male Fashion Showed Off The Bulge
By the 14th century, modesty had taken a back seat in English fashion. Men began wearing a tiny doublet called a courtpiece that hung only a couple of inches below the belt, leaving the lower half essentially exposed.
To accentuate the effect, they paired the short jacket with the thinnest, tightest leggings possible, designed to make the male bulge as visible as a flag on a battlefield. The goal was clear: flaunt what nature gave you.
As the trend evolved, codpieces grew larger and more padded, serving as both a fashion statement and a status symbol. Knights even incorporated massive metal codpieces into their armor, turning the crotch area into a conspicuous, often pointed, protrusion.
These exaggerated accessories served no practical purpose beyond bragging rights, essentially shouting, “I’m armed, I’m proud, and I’m not going anywhere.”
5 Families Slept On Filthy Dirt Floors
For most commoners, a proper wooden floor was a luxury. Instead, homes featured compacted earth covered with rushes, herbs, and grass to provide insulation.
While the plant layer helped retain warmth, it also trapped food scraps, vomit, and other waste, creating a perfect breeding ground for rats and insects. Residents rarely gave the rushes a deep clean; they would simply replace the top layer, leaving the grimy, decades‑old base untouched.
A Dutch visitor once described English homes as “harboring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale dropping, scraps of fish and other abominations not fit to be mentioned.” With no beds, families slept directly on this filthy floor, pressing their faces into a crust of old vomit and droppings every night.
4 Doctors Spread Dung On Expecting Mothers
Childbirth in the Middle Ages was a perilous affair, and physicians had few effective remedies. Many turned to prayer, magic, and, oddly enough, animal waste.
Monks and midwives would gather around a laboring woman, invoking divine assistance, while some practitioners covered the expectant mother in eagle’s dung, hoping the strange mixture of vinegar, sugar, and feces would somehow protect her and the unborn child.
When mystical methods failed, nobles sometimes relied on relics, such as a sacred girdle kept by a Yorkshire abbey, believed to possess life‑saving powers. Despite these efforts, roughly one‑third of children died before age five, and about 20 percent of mothers perished during childbirth.
3 Aborted Fetuses Were Used As A Contraceptive
Before modern birth‑control, women seeking to avoid pregnancy turned to folk practitioners who sold unsettling charms. These amulets contained a bizarre blend of weasel testicles, a child’s tooth, and a severed finger from an aborted fetus.
The logic was that such grotesque components would ward off conception. In addition, these “love potions” often incorporated extracts from aborted babies, which customers would drink, believing the macabre brew would prevent pregnancy.
While the methods were undeniably disturbing, they likely succeeded in keeping many women from conceiving, simply because the concoctions were so repulsive that few would want to become pregnant while using them.
2 Everyone Was Infested With Lice
Lice and fleas were a universal nuisance across medieval England, affecting both the rich and the poor. Families often gathered in circles to pick the parasites from each other’s hair and clothing.
Travelers, especially crusaders, praised the skill of laundry women who could not only wash garments but also “pick fleas” with the efficiency of apes. The problem intensified among the lower classes and spread beyond England’s borders.
English pilgrim Margery Kempe wrote home about German peasants who, after a day’s work, stripped naked and sat in a ring, methodically removing vermin from one another’s bodies. The infestation was a constant, gritty reality of medieval life.
1 The River Thames Was Full Of Rotting Meat
Perhaps the most nauseating sight in medieval London was the Thames itself, choked with rotting animal carcasses. Butchers routinely bundled unsold, spoiled meat and hurled it over the bridge into the river.
The practice was so common that a particular crossing earned the nickname “Butcher’s Bridge,” its stonework forever stained with dried blood and entrails spilling from carts.
Although a law in 1369 attempted to stop the dumping, the river remained a dumping ground for centuries. Complaints persisted, with locals lamenting that the filth made the water uninhabitable. It wasn’t until the 19th century that concerted efforts finally cleared the Thames, ending five hundred years of putrid pollution.