In ancient my country, bathing was a very particular thing, especially in the imperial palace. Before going to bed with the emperor, the concubines would bathe and change clothes. During the bath, they would also put flower petals in the water, in order to be tainted with the fragrance of the petals and please the emperor.
But in Europe, Louis XIV, who once ruled the French Bourbon dynasty, didn't like bathing very much. Rumor has it that Louis XIV lived for 77 years and only took 7 baths. His mistress recalled that there was a stench ten meters away. What is the reason for this? Good European king, why is he so unkempt?
In the ancient history of Europe, Louis XIV is a legendary existence, because he has a similar life trajectory to the Kangxi emperor of my country's Qing Dynasty . Both lost their fathers at a young age. Louis XIV took charge of the government when he was young and became the king of the Bourbon dynasty.
Louis XIV was the king of the Bourbon dynasty for 72 years. He was diligent, pragmatic and decisive every day. He was one of the longest reigning monarchs in Europe. Neither Louis XIV's son nor his eldest grandson lived as long as him, and Louis XV, who succeeded the next monarch, was his great-grandson.
There are many interesting things about Louis XIV. It is said that he also "invented" high heels. Louis XIV was less than 1.55 meters tall, which made him a short man for Europeans, so he asked the shoemaker to put thick high heels on the heels of his shoes.
Another theory is that in order to prevent the maids from sneaking over the wall to dance at night, Louis XIV ordered a shoemaker to make shoes that could restrain the maids' movements, that is, to raise the heels of their shoes so that they would make a crisp sound when they walked, attracting the attention of other palace maids.
However, what I didn’t expect was that after wearing these high-heeled shoes for a period of time, the palace maids got used to them, and they also learned how to dance on high heels. They even found that dancing in these shoes made their legs look better, so they became popular. After Louis XIV learned about it, he also began to wear such high heels, because not only was he not tall, but he also loved dancing very much.
Madame Montespan was the mistress of Louis XIV. According to her, Louis XIV stank to the sky ten meters away. It's even so severe that "it makes you sick just by smelling it". According to "The Age of Louis XIV", Louis XIV lived for 77 years and only took 7 baths. As a monarch of a dynasty, it is really difficult to understand that he is so distasteful of cleanliness. What is the reason for this?
Although Louis XIV was a king, he also had his own beliefs. He was also a spiritual practitioner. The religion he believed in believed that keeping the body clean was not taking a bath, but taking a bath would desecrate the purity of the soul. Therefore, Louis XI rarely took a bath. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would take an unprecedented bath. So in those 77 years, he only washed it 7 times.
In addition, due to the Black Death in the West at that time, many people were superstitious that not taking a bath could prevent infection, so Louis XIV did not like to take a bath. In order to cover his body odor, he also loved to spray perfume. In fact, perfume was first invented to cover people's body odor.
In fact, Louis XIV’s approach has no scientific basis. We should not be blindly superstitious, but should believe in science and correct our mentality. However, it is understandable that in ancient times when science and medicine were underdeveloped, the ancients could not solve the fear caused by black disease at that time and had no way to prevent it, so they blindly tried various methods. What do you think about this?
