The olfactory landscape

The wealthy wash themselves daily; the masses go ilthy

Popular culture would have you believe that all Elizabethans are smelly (like everyone else living before Jane Austen, except the Romans). In reality, the personal and public olfactory landscape is far more complex. At one end of the scale, if you are circumnavigating the world with Francis Drake in the years 1577–80, it is true that you will not bathe. Your hair and clothes will have lice, and you will stink to high heaven – but so will everyone else on the ship (as will the ship itself). Your breath will reek. But in the context of the psychological pressures of such a voyage, including the awareness that most of the crew will die along the way, your shipmates’ aroma is the least of your worries. At the other end of the…

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The Story of the Elizabethans (Digital) - 1 Issue, The Story of the Elizabethans 2020

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