Let’s talk about the real plague of the Middle Ages: body odor.
We romanticize medieval Gotland — the soaring church towers, the cloaks, the candlelight… but under those layers of wool and honor?
Was sweat, dirt, and the occasional rat.
Here’s how people in 13th-century Visby actually dealt with hygiene (or didn’t):
💧 Baths, but not too often
Public bathhouses existed — and were popular until the plague made people think bathing opened your pores to death. After that, it was more of a “rinse the hands and call it a day” approach.
🌿 Birch twigs & lye soap
Gotlanders cleaned with harsh soaps made from animal fat and ash. Birch branches were used like medieval loofahs. You were exfoliated or else.
🧴 Scented cover-ups
No deodorant, but plenty of herbs stuffed into pouches. Lavender, rosemary, sage… medieval humans invented the vibe shift by smell alone.
🪥 Tooth hygiene, sort of
Charcoal, salt, and sticks. That’s it. Mint was for breath, and if your teeth rotted? You either lived with it or asked a blacksmith. (Spoiler: don’t.)
🚽 The medieval bathroom?
A wooden bench. A bucket. Maybe the town ditch.
Visby did have relatively advanced sewers for its time — but still, it’s best not to think too hard about how that worked during Medieval Week.
And the biggest hygiene flex of all?
They made it work.
No scented body wash. No toothpaste. And yet somehow… they survived.
Swedish Word of the Day: Tvål (noun) – soap 🧼
(En gång i tiden var tvål en lyx – nu är det en nödvändighet. – Once upon a time, soap was a luxury – now it’s a necessity.)
Swedish Wanderlust 