【简译】中世纪的卫生状况
People in the Middle Ages have acquired something of a bad reputation when it comes to cleanliness, especially the peasantry. However, despite the general lack of running water and other modern amenities, there were common expectations of personal hygiene such as regularly washing from a basin, especially the hands before and after eating which was regarded as good etiquette in a period when cutlery was still a rarity for most people. The better off had the possibility of more frequent baths and castles, manors, monasteries, and cities offered their residents better toilets with better drainage, and sometimes even had running water using the ancient combination of cisterns and gravity. Naturally, standards of hygiene varied over time and place, and even, of course, between individuals, just as today; what follows examines the general habits and expectations regarding hygiene in medieval Europe.
中世纪的人们，尤其是农民，在个人清洁方面的名声不太好。然而，尽管普遍缺乏自来水和其他现代便利设施，人们对个人卫生还是有着共同期望，比如饭前便后用盆子洗手，这在餐具对大多数人来说还很稀有的时代被视为一种良好的礼仪。条件较好的人可以更频繁地洗澡，城堡、庄园、修道院和城镇也为居民提供了排水系统更好的厕所，有时甚至利用古老的蓄水池与重力相结合的方式输送自来水。当然，卫生标准因时间和地点而异，甚至因人而异，就像今天一样；下文将探讨中世纪欧洲的一般卫生习惯和人们的期望。
水 源
Water was available in villages from nearby springs, rivers, lakes, wells and cisterns. Indeed, most settlements had developed where they had precisely because of the proximity of a reliable water source. Castles might be situated for the same reason and were provided with additional water from masonry-lined wells sunk into their interior courtyards, sometimes accessible from within the castle keep for extra security when under attack. Of over 420 castles surveyed in the United Kingdom, 80% were provided with a well in their interiors and one quarter had two or more. The shaft of the well could be extremely deep: the one at Beeston Castle in England measures 124 m. Some castles, such as the one at Rochester in England, even had the possibility to draw up water from the well at every level of the keep using a system of buckets and ropes which ran inside the walls. Cisterns collected rainwater or natural ground seepage and sometimes a castle might have a system of lead, wooden or ceramic pipes which carried water from a cistern to other, lower parts of the castle like the keep or kitchens, as at Chester Castle in England. Another system of supplementary water collection was to have pipes on the roofing to drain rainwater into a cistern. Finally, settling tanks were sometimes employed to improve the quality of the water by allowing sediment to settle before the cleaner water was drained off. Many monasteries would also have had some or all of these features.
村庄里的水来自附近的泉水、河流、湖泊、水井和蓄水池。事实上，大多数定居点正是因为靠近可靠的水源才得以发展起来的。城堡的选址可能也是出于同样的原因，城堡内部庭院中的砌石水井为城堡提供了额外的水源，有时还可以从城堡内部进入水井，以便在受到攻击时提供额外的安全保障。在英国调查的420多座城堡中，80%的城堡内部都有一口水井，四分之一的城堡有两口或更多水井。有些城堡，如英格兰的罗切斯特城堡（Rochester Castle），甚至可以在城墙内的每一层，使用水桶和绳索系统从井中取水。蓄水池收集雨水或自然渗出的地下水，有时城堡可能会借助铅管、木管或陶瓷管系统，将水从蓄水池输送到城堡的其他低层部分，如城堡主楼 (Keep)或厨房（例如英格兰的切斯特城堡（Chester Castle））。另一种辅助集水系统是在屋顶上安装的管道，管道将雨水排入蓄水池。有时会使用沉淀池来改善水质，让沉淀物沉淀后再排出较干净的水。许多修道院也有这些功能。
As towns grew in number and size across Europe from the 11th century CE onwards so hygiene became more and more of a daily challenge. Fortunately, many of the larger towns tended to be situated near rivers or coastlines in order to facilitate trade, so the supply of water and the disposal of waste was less problematic in these places. Canals, water conduits, wells and fountains provided (relatively) fresh water to the urban populace. These were maintained by town councils who also imposed sanitary measures on local businesses and the population in general. For example, there was often an obligation to clean the portion of the street directly in front of one's house or shop. Towns and cities might have public baths; Nuremberg, which seems to have been one of the cleanest towns in Europe thanks to its enlightened council, had 14 of them. Local authorities also undertook such emergency measures as removing the dead during times of plague.
自公元11世纪起，随着欧洲城镇数量和规模的不断增长，卫生问题逐渐成为一项日常挑战。幸运的是，为了促进贸易，许多较大的城镇往往靠近河流或海岸线，因此这些地方的供水和废物处理问题较少。运河、水渠、水井和喷泉为城市居民提供（相对）淡水。这些设施由市镇委员会负责维护，市镇委员会还对当地企业和普通民众实施相应的卫生措施。例如，人们通常有义务清扫自家房屋或商店门前的街道。城镇可能会有公共浴池；纽伦堡似乎是当时欧洲最干净的城镇之一，这要归功于其开明的议会，纽伦堡有14个公共浴池。地方当局还采取了一些紧急措施，如在瘟疫期间清理死者遗体。
个人卫生
As running water was very rare, and considering it took such a physical effort to get one bucketful from a well or nearby water source, it is perhaps not surprising that taking a full bath every day was not a feasible option for most people. Indeed, with baths seen as a luxury given the cost of fuel to heat the water, monks, for example, were typically prohibited from taking more than two or three baths in a year. For those who had a bath, it most often took the form of a wooden half-barrel or tub. Even then it would not have been filled very much but most of the 'bathing' was done using a jug of heated water poured over the body rather than a full immersion. A lord might have a padded bath for extra comfort and he usually travelled with one, such was the uncertainty of finding the convenience on one's travels. The vast majority of people, though, would have made do with a quick swill using a basin of cold water. As 80% of the population did physically demanding jobs working the land it is likely that washing of some kind was done on a daily basis.
鉴于自来水（活水，流动的水）非常稀缺，并且考虑到从井或附近水源打水需要耗费很多体力，因此对于大多数人来说，每天洗个完整的澡不是一个可行的选择也就不足为奇了。事实上，由于加热水的燃料费用昂贵，洗澡被视为一种奢侈，例如，修士们通常被禁止在一年中洗澡超过两到三次。对于那些有浴室的人来说，浴室通常是一个木制的半桶或浴缸。即使是这样，浴缸也不会装得很满，但大多数人“洗澡”都是用一壶加热的水浇在身上，而不是完全浸泡在水中。领主可能会有一个带垫子的浴缸，以增加舒适度，他通常会带着一个浴缸旅行，因为在旅行中很难找到这种方便的浴缸。不过，绝大多数人都会用一盆冷水快速洗个澡。由于80%的人从事的都是体力活，因此他们可能每天都会以某种方式洗澡。
Medieval peasants have long been the butt of jokes regarding hygiene, which goes back to medieval clerical tracts which often described them as little more than brutish animals; however, it was common practice for just about everyone to wash the hands and face in the morning. An early wash was also desirable because fleas and lice were a common problem. Rarely-changed straw bedding was a particular paradise for vermin even if some preventative measures were taken such as mixing herbs and flowers like basil, chamomile, lavender and mint into the straw.
中世纪农民的卫生状况一直是人们的笑柄，这可以追溯到中世纪的教士小册子，这些小册子经常把农民描述成野蛮动物；然而，几乎每个人都有在早上洗手洗脸的习惯。因为跳蚤和虱子是常见的问题，所以早洗也是可取的。即使采取了一些预防措施，如在稻草被褥中掺入罗勒、洋甘菊、薰衣草和薄荷等草药和鲜花，但很少更换的稻草被褥也是害虫的天堂。
As most people ate meals without knives, forks or spoons, it was also a common convention to wash hands before and after eating. Soap was sometimes used and hair was washed using an alkaline solution such as the one obtained from mixing lime and salt. Teeth were cleaned using twigs (especially hazel) and small pieces of wool cloth. Shaving was either not done at all or once a week unless one was a monk, in which case one was shaved daily by a brother. As medieval mirrors were still not very large or clear, it was easier for most people to visit the local barber when required.
由于大多数人吃饭时不用刀叉或勺子，因此饭前便后洗手也是一种惯例。有时他们使用肥皂或碱性溶液（例如通过混合石灰和盐获得的溶液）洗头。用树枝（尤其是榛子）和小块羊毛布清洁牙齿。剃须要么根本不剃，要么一周剃一次，除非是修道士，在这种情况下，修道士每天都要剃须。由于中世纪的镜子还不是很大，也不是很清晰，所以大多数人在需要的时候去当地的理发店理发会比较方便。
The ordinary peasant was probably more concerned with getting rid of the day's grime when they washed but for an aristocrat there were a few more details to be attended to in order to gain favour in polite society. Social occasions like meals, when one might get up close and personal to one's peers, warranted particular attention to hygiene and there were even rules of etiquette produced as helpful guides for the unimaginative diner, as here from the Les Countenance de Table:
…and let your fingers be clean, and your fingernails well-groomed.
Once a morsel has been touched, let it not be returned to the plate.
Do not touch your ears or nose with your bare hands.
Do not clean your teeth with a sharp iron while eating.
It is ordered by regulation that you should not put a dish to your mouth.
He who wishes to drink must first finish what is in his mouth.
And let his lips be wiped first.
Once the table is cleared, wash your hands, and have a drink.(Singman, 154)
普通农民可能更关心的是如何在洗漱时除去一天的污垢，但对于贵族来说，要想在彬彬有礼的社会中获得青睐，还需要注意一些细节。在用餐等社交场合，人们可能会与同伴近距离接触，因此需要特别注意卫生，甚至还有一些礼仪规则，为缺乏想象力的用餐者提供有益的指导，如《餐桌礼仪》（Les Countenance de Table）：
......手指要干净，指甲要修剪整齐。
一旦咬过食物，就不要再放回盘子里。
不要用手触摸耳朵或鼻子。
吃饭时不要用餐具清洁牙齿。
按规定，不得将盘子放在嘴边。
想喝酒的人，必须先把嘴里的东西吞咽完。
首先擦拭嘴唇。
收拾好餐桌后，洗净双手，然后喝一杯。
Monks had their own special areas for washing, including at Cluny Abbey in France which had a lavabo or large basin where hands were washed before meals. We know from records that they had towels, which were changed twice a week while the water was changed only once a week. The Great Hall of a castle or manor typically had a similar large basin for visitors to wash their hands.
修士们有自己专门的盥洗区，在法国的克吕尼修道院，有一个盥洗室或大水盆，他们在饭前要洗手。我们从记录中得知，通常备有毛巾，每周更换两次，而水每周只换一次。城堡或庄园的大厅通常也有一个类似的大盆，供访客洗手。
In summary, then, it is safe to say that the common presentation in modern films and books of filthy medieval peasants who regarded washing as some form of torture is perhaps not quite accurate and people of all classes did keep themselves as clean as their circumstances permitted. Nevertheless, it is also true that when medieval Europeans, even those of the higher classes, made contact with other cultures such as the Byzantines or the Muslims during the Crusades, the Europeans often came off second best in the hygiene stakes.
总而言之，现代电影和书籍中常见的中世纪农民视洗漱为某种酷刑的肮脏形象也许并不十分准确，各阶层的人们确实在条件允许的情况下尽量保持清洁。尽管如此，当中世纪的欧洲人，甚至是那些较高阶层的欧洲人，与其他文明，如拜占庭人或十字军东征期间的穆斯林接触时，欧洲人在卫生方面的表现往往相形见绌，但这也是事实。
厕 所
In villages or on manor estates the peasantry used a cesspit for their own waste, which might then be taken and spread on the fields as a fertiliser. In some cases a small hut provided some privacy and a wooden bench with a hole in it some comfort (as well as reducing the chances of falling into the cesspit). Chamber pots were used at night and then emptied into the cesspit. Without toilet paper, or really paper of any kind, people had to make do with a handful of hay, grass, straw or moss.
在村庄或庄园里，农民将粪便收集起来倒入田里作为肥料。在某些情况下，一间小木屋可以提供一些隐私，一张有洞的木凳可以提供相对舒适的环境（同时也减少了掉进粪坑的几率）。人们在夜里使用尿壶，然后将其倒入粪坑。由于没有卫生纸或其他物品，人们只能用干草、青草、稻草或苔藓将就一下。
The toilets in a castle, also known as privies or latrines, were much the same as everywhere else although the waste was channelled down a hole into a cesspit at the foot of the castle walls or into the moat itself (an added defensive feature not much talked about in military history). Sometimes there were two toilets next to each other and these might empty into a channel which was regularly flushed with water from a diverted stream. The same arrangement was common to monasteries where toilets were clustered together. There were 45 such cubicles at Cluny Abbey which also boasted a bathhouse with twelve tubs. Castles might also have triangular-shaped urinals, especially in the tower of the circuit walls.
城堡中的厕所（也称为盥洗室或原始厕所 (Latrine)）与其他地方的厕所大致相同，但排泄物会顺着一个洞流入城堡城墙脚下的粪坑或护城河中（这是一项新增的防御功能，但在军事史中却鲜有提及）。有时，两个厕所相邻，这些厕所的粪便可能会排入一条定期用引流溪水冲洗的渠道。同样的设施在修道院也很常见，那里的厕所都集中在一起。克吕尼修道院有45个这样的隔间，该修道院还拥有一个有12个浴缸组成的浴室。城堡也有三角形的小便池，尤其是在围墙的塔楼上。
In towns, the well-off had their own privy in a back-yard or even in the house itself with a channel or chute to drain off waste into the yard. Where the poorer classes lived in greater concentrations households often shared a single outside toilet or a number of toilets with their waste leading to a communal cesspit. Lined with stone, the cesspits also received any other household rubbish and were regularly emptied by a professional labourer dedicated to that specific and unenviable job. There were regulations prohibiting the tipping of waste into the street but these were often ignored and a spell of heavy rain or, even worse, floods, could cause havoc with the town's sanitation system and contaminate the water supply. With towns also packed with horses and donkeys, and farm animals being transported elsewhere or to the butchers, the streets were usually filthy and this combined with the ever-present rats, mice and other vermin meant that urban centres became the ideal breeding grounds for disease.
在城镇里，富裕人家在后院甚至在房子里都有厕所，厕所里有一个管道或槽，可以把排泄物排到院子里。在贫困阶层居住较为集中的地方，家家户户往往共用一个或多个室外厕所，这些粪便被排入公共粪坑。粪坑用石头铺成，也收集其他生活垃圾，由专门从事这项艰巨工作的专业工人定期清掏。有规定禁止向街道倾倒垃圾，但这些规定经常被忽视，一场大雨或更严重的洪水就会给城镇的卫生系统造成严重破坏，并污染水源。由于城镇里还挤满了马和驴，以及被运往其他地方或屠宰场的农畜，街道通常都很肮脏，再加上无处不在的老鼠和其他害虫，这意味着城市中心成了疾病的理想滋生地。
鼠疫与疾病
The Black Death, which peaked from 1347 to 1352 CE, was just one (albeit the deadliest) of many waves of plagues and diseases which hit medieval Europe. Carried by fleas on rats, the bubonic plague killed anywhere between 30% and 50% of the population wherever it took hold. The low standards of medieval hygiene certainly helped it along although there were other factors such as a complete lack of understanding of what caused it and the absence of effective quarantines. It is also important to note that many medieval locations such as Milan and Bohemia survived relatively unscathed, so it is not quite so simple to attribute the spread of plague solely to a lack of hygiene and proper sanitation.
黑死病的高峰期是公元1347年至1352年，它只是袭击中世纪欧洲的众多瘟疫和疾病中的一种（尽管是最致命的一种）。鼠疫由老鼠身上的跳蚤传播，所到之处30%到50%的人死于鼠疫。中世纪的低卫生标准无疑助长了鼠疫的蔓延，尽管还有其他一些因素，如完全不了解鼠疫的病因和缺乏有效的隔离措施。同样重要的是，许多中世纪地区，如米兰和波西米亚，都相对安然无恙，因此不能简单地将鼠疫的传播完全归咎于缺乏卫生和适当的防护设施。
Besides terrible plagues and epidemics that seemed to spring out of nowhere with alarming regularity, there were often equally deadly dangers lurking in everyday places. Poor food preparation and storage was a particular area of health risk. Epidemics of diarrhoea (ergotism), known in medieval times as Saint Anthony's Fire, were caused by eating rye that had been poisoned by fungi. Skin diseases were particularly prevalent, too, although they may have been caused just as much by poor diet as by uncleanliness.
除了可怕的瘟疫和流行病似乎经常突然出现之外，日常生活中也经常潜伏着同样致命的危险。食物制作和储存不当是健康风险的一个特殊领域。腹泻（麦角中毒）流行病在中世纪被称为“圣安东尼之火”，是由食用被真菌毒害的黑麦引起的。皮肤病也特别流行，尽管它们可能是由不良饮食习惯和不洁造成的。
参考书目：
Blockmans, W. Introduction to Medieval Europe 300-1500. Routledge, 2017.
Creighton, O.H. Castles and Landscapes. Equinox Publishing Limited, 2004.
Gies, F. Life in a Medieval City. Harper Perennial, 2016.
Gies, F. Life in a Medieval Village. Harper Perennial, 2016.
Gies, J. Life in a Medieval Castle. Harper Perennial, 2015.
Pounds, N.J.G. The Medieval Castle in England and Wales. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Singman, J.L. The Middle Ages. Sterling, 2013.
原文作者：Mark Cartwright
驻意大利的历史作家。他的主要兴趣包括陶瓷、建筑、世界神话和发现所有文明的共同思想。他拥有政治哲学硕士学位，是《世界历史百科全书》的出版总监。
原文网址：https://www.worldhistory.org/Medieval_Hygiene/
