Читать книгу Medicine in the Middle Ages. Extracts from "Le Moyen Age Medical" by Dr. Edmond Dupouy; translated by T. C. Minor онлайн

38 страница из 45

According to the proclamation of Etienne Boileau, Mayor of Paris in the reign of Louis IX., barber bath keepers were forbidden to employ women of bad reputation in their shops in order to carry on under cover, as in the massage shops of the present day, an infamous commerce, on penalty of losing their outfit—seats, basins, razors, etc.,—which were to be sold at public auction for the profit of the public treasury and the Crown. But we know full well that the Royal Ordinance of 1254, which had for its object the reformation of public debauchery, was only applied for the space of two years, and that the new law of 1256 re-established and legalized public prostitution which offered less objectionable features than clandestine prostitution.

The use of public baths and hydrotherapy lasted until the sixteenth century. At this epoch, and without any known reason, the public suddenly discontinued all balneary practices, and this was noticeable among the aristocratic class as among the common people. A contrary evil was developed. “Honest women,” says Vernille, “took a pride in claiming that they never permitted themselves certain ablutions.” Nevertheless, Marie de Romien, (Instruction pour les Jeunes Dames) in her classical work for the instruction of young women, remarks: “They should keep clean, if it be only for the satisfaction of their husbands; it is not necessary to do as some women of my acquaintance, who have no care to wash until they be foul under their linen. But to be a beautiful damoyselle one may wash reasonably often in water which has been previously boiled and scented with fragrants, for nothing is more certain than that beauty flourishes best in that young woman who not only looks but smells clean.”