Being
Privy to Tudor Privies
By
Wendy Dunn
If I
ever find a time machine (other than my own imagination) to take me back to
Tudor times I know one sure thing - I would be very cautious whilst walking
mornings down narrow streets of any Tudor city or township. For early mornings
saw many good Tudor housewives emptying their family's chamber pots out windows
of their homes. Actually, methinks I would be tempted to apply my cautiousness
to all times of the day.
When
people of this time had to go they mostly found a suitable corner and just went-
the fact that women wore no underpants probably made it easier to discretely
lift their skirts from the ground, squat a little and do.
Even at
the beautiful palaces of this period there were 'pissing areas' allotted for
members of the court. In their first weeks at the court of Henry VII, it shocked
Catherine Aragon's Spanish ladies, and no doubt sixteen year old Catherine
herself, to witness courtiers attending to their bodily needs when and wherever
necessary. (I)
The
huge fireplaces of the times seemed a popular choice for men to urinate in, but,
as the years went closer to the ascension of James I, such behaviour began to
upset people more and more. In 1573, Thomas Tusser wrote in his 'Five hundreth
Goode Pointes of Husbandrie:
Some
make the chimnie chamber pot to smell like Filthie stink, Yet who so bold, so
soone to say, fough, how These houses stink? (ii)
Cringing? Remember that the people of Tudor England- despite their own human
complexity- lived in a simpler time. Plumping in houses- if it did exist- was
very primitive, though most homes of the well to do did provide a type of inside
toilet. Probably based on the same principle found in castles, a narrow,
cell-like room was situated against the outer wall of a house. Found inside this
room- called, amongst other things, the 'jakes' or garderobe- was a seat with a
hole, placed over an internal shaft. The shaft was angled in such a way that
human waste went down to an outside cesspool. (iii)
The
monarch's 'Privy Chamber' is thought to come by its name because of its
proximity to the royal 'privy, ' their 'little room' enclosing a 'close stool, '
a boxed seat containing a fitted chamber pot. When Elizabeth I ventured out into
her kingdom on one of her progresses, she took not only her portable bath but
also her 'portable' loo, a closed stool, covered with lush, red velvet,
befitting her rank of Queen-. Her father also possessed a liking to have his
'latrines' velvet covered, his chamber pot or 'jordan' enclosed in a close-
stool covered with black velvet, decorated by ribbons, fringe and a few
glint-headed nails- two thousand to be exact! (iv)
To be
attendant to this very necessary royal function was considered one of the
important roles of the bedchamber. The maids who took care of the cloths
Elizabeth used during mensuration were in the position of being bribed by not
only foreign dignitaries, but also men part of the "Privy Council.' Cecil
himself kept himself informed about this very intimate part of Elizabeth's life;
the knowledge she did indeed function like a normal woman made him confident she
could provide the country with an heir.
Toilet
paper was unknown during these years. The expense of paper simply made it not an
alternative. Tudor people used salt water and sticks with sponges or mosses
placed at their tops, (v) while royals probably used the softest lamb wool and
cloths.
Returning back to the Tudor habit of using their fireplaces as chamber pots.I
doubt very much that this happened at Elizabeth's court. Despite the fact she
could swear, spit and swill beer with the best of them, men were very respectful
of her as their queen, and a virgin one at that. One man was so embarrassed he
had farted in her presence he chose self-exile for seven years, causing her to
remark with an amused glint on his return: 'My lord, I had forgot the fart.'
(vi) But -putting aside the fact the Elizabeth did not take kindly to particular
smells- Elizabeth had a strong code of personal cleanliness for this period,
liking to bathe at least once a week. She encouraged similar behaviour in her
courtiers- she didn't hesitate to tell them that they stank.
In the
closing years of her reign, her godson Sir John Harrington designed an early
flush toilet. Elizabeth had one installed at Richmond palace, but most English
people did not think much of the idea, and it was many, many years before
English homes included such a thing. .( vii)
*
(i)
The writer's guide to everyday life in Renaissance England, page 54.
(ii)
Christopher Hibbert, The English, page 201.
(iii) The writer's guide to everyday life in Renaissance England, page 54.
(iv)
Christopher Hibbert, The English, page 200. (v) The writer's guide to everyday
life in Renaissance England, page 54. (vi) Alison Weir, Elizabeth the Queen,
page 257.
(vii) Christopher Hibbert, The English, page 200.
References:
The
writer's guide to everyday life in Renaissance England,
Christopher Hibbert, The English;
Alison Weir, Elizabeth the Queen
Contents
Home
|