Stinky Times in Historical Romances?
Though Kelley Heckart resides on the earthly realm with her husband and two dogs, she always has one foot firmly planted in the otherworldly realm of mystical creatures, fierce warriors and magic. A psychic once told her she has an old soul and this comes across in her tales of long ago places. An avid reader, she turned her lifelong passion for Celtic mythology into a way to express herself through writing.
In her free time, she enjoys playing her bass guitar, writing poetry/lyrics, hiking, watching sunsets/sunrises and horseback riding.
I write romances set in Dark Age Scotland or in ancient Greece. These time periods just happen to be my favorite settings. Occasionally I come across reader comments—they say they can’t read historical romance because they can’t get over the stink factor in any time period before running water. I hope to enlighten some of these ill-informed people.
Sure, there were some really smelly people back then, but there are some really smelly people now. Not everyone has the same level of hygiene even in these modern times with easy access to clean water and soap. In the Late Middle Ages when cities became overcrowded and the rivers polluted with sewage, I agree that things got considerably malodorous all around. But even in the truly stinky times there had to be some people that were fastidious about keeping themselves clean.
One thing modern people tend to overlook is that before electricity people were around fires all day and all night. They smelled like smoke and smoke is a natural deodorizer that absorbs sweat in clothes. In areas where there was 
plenty of water people enjoyed bathing in water scented with rose petals, heather, lavender or any other native herb that added a pleasant fragrance. The ancient Celts invented soap (a mixture of ashes and animal fat) so people bathed with soap and water. In areas where water was scarce people bathed with scented oils. Egypt was one place where people used fragrant oils. There were also ways to brush teeth—with green hazel twigs, or by chewing on mint or parsley.
And when all else fails, I have a ploy for making sure my two main characters smell nice before they engage in any romantic activities. My female characters have a need for cleanliness. Today this is known as a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This behavior makes my heroines a bit quirky, but at least they smell nice and they make sure their mates smell nice too.
Here’s something to think about when reading or deciding to read a historical romance—ancient/medieval people didn’t necessarily stink, they just smelled different than modern people—with a hint of smoke, herbs or fragrant oils. And they might be compulsive about bathing—at least in my books.
Kelley Heckart
‘Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic’
April 29, 2011
Posted in: Guest Blogs
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7 Responses
One thing I have heard is that there was a time period where bathing was considered bad for your health. I seem to recall it was during one of the times of the Black Death. Have you heard of that?
If the people bathed in oil they no doubt wouldn’t have the dry skin problem that many people have in the current times.
Up until quite recent times bathing was considered necessary on only a weekly schedule. The Saturday night bath, you know. I’m fairly certain our ancestors tolerance for body odor was much higher than ours.
This is something I heard and I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard that some early Christians didn’t like to bathe often. Don’t know why. I was thinking that in Britain where goddesses were believed to live in springs and lakes, maybe these early Christians believed that demons lived in the water. And there was an early, I’m thinking 9th, 10th century English queen who didn’t like to bathe. I have the info on her somewhere if I can find it.
As far as the Black Death, I’m not familiar with that time period, but maybe people thought they would catch the plague in the water. And in the later Middle Ages when the water ways were polluted, people probably avoided water.
Twenty or so years ago, on my first trip to the UK, we went to York, one of the most fascinating cities in England. There’s a place called the Jorvik Viking Centre, a reconstruction of the Viking community that was there, right down to the awful smells. I suspect the people were pretty aromatic but their surroundings were worse so they didn’t knock each other over.
Kelley, what a great topic—thank you for being my guest
Hi Lelia,
Thanks for having me here.
I used to visit my uncle’s farm each summer as a kid and the farm smells were horrible, especially in the heat. But the smells didn’t bother the people that lived there all the time. It must be the same for people who didn’t bathe often–they got used to the smell.
Having just visited Dublin and learning about the Vikings, they were especially noted for their cleanliness. =D
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