Changing castles?

Question

Not sure if this is the right catagory....but I have been reading a lot about the Tudors, and was curious as to why exactly they had to move everyone from one castle to another at different seasons. I have read it was due to smell and it just being plain dirty, and needing to be aired out and cleaned...but what in the world did they do within to make it so completely disgusting that they had to move everyone out?

Answer 1

In ancient times European didn't bath much. That's how the perfume industry got started. It hid people's smells. You have to remember people didn't understand about hygiene. There are stories of one queen (Spanish I think) who died after catching a chill after her annual bath.

And you have to remember the water wasn't necessarily clean - again, lack of knowledge.

Royal courts have always moved around. Some castles and palaces were built to withstand winter, some are in settings that take advantage of the scenery or sporting activities, or to avoid the smell. For example, Paris in summer is very hot. In the old days the sewers smelled so bad that the court moved to Versailles to escape both the heat and smell of the city.

Queen Elizabeth also moves around. Buckingham Palace is her HQ and where she maintains most of her staff. It's convenient for the government to have her just a few blocks away to consult with the PM and sign documents and receive guests. However, she spends weekends at Windsor Castle so she can enjoy the countryside and ride horses.

She spends Christmas at Sandringham which is her own estate. Then for her holidays she goes to Balmoral, again, her private property.  The Queen is essentially a country woman who likes to be outside, among nature, surrouned by horse and dogs. Scotland lets her relax for a month. For her state duties she has The Palace of Hollyrood House in Edinburgh where she hosts garden parties and greets officials.

Before the royal yacht was retired, she had that as another escape.

The Spanish Royal Family have about three official residences, plus a large yacht. Most royal families will at least have summer and winter palaces. Monaco is different because they are so small.

You should think of a summer palace as a glorified cottage - it's still a palace - but it's used like we would use a cottage.

Answer 2

It was important that the court moved after a few weeks as the palaces needed to be "aired and sweetened". Sewerage facilities were primitive and unless the palaces were cleaned after several weeks, it would become an unhygienic and unpleasant place to be. Windsor Castle, for example, was the strongest and best placed strategically to offer the best defence should enemy forces invade the country, and thus it was imperative that the Queen and court could resort there immediately should an invasion occur. Investing in expensive clothes and jewellery (to look the part, like all contemporary sovereigns), she cultivated this image by touring the country in regional visits known as 'progresses', often riding on horseback rather than by carriage. Elizabeth made at least 25 progresses during her reign.

Court was wherever the Queen happened to be and was made up of all those who surrounded the Queen from servants to the courtiers themselves. Once a year the Queen would often go on a progress to the southern counties, but most of the time, she resided in one of the great royal palaces; Whitehall, Hampton Court, Greenwich, Richmond, Westminster, St James, Windsor Castle, and towards the end of her reign, Nonsuch. The Queen would usually retire to Whitehall for Christmas, and after a few weeks would move on to another palace such as Richmond or Greenwich before moving to Windsor for Easter and the Maundy ceremony that the Queen participated in every year.

Answer 3

The King had red crosses put in areas like fire places so that men stopped peeing in them. After all who would desecrate such a  holy symbol?

Privies or Jake's (toilets to me and you)  were simply a hole in the ground. In castles these had to be emptied or they stank!

The highest ranking courtier was the groom of the stool and it was literally his job to wipe the Kings bum! It was a good job because they always had contact with the king and therefore could influence him. People would pay him to use this influence!

Answer 4

the Louis of France changed castles all the time (like two or three a week, sometimes), just on a whim, or because the decoration was such and so, or because they wanted to impress, or go hunting.  Surely those reasons came into play, as well.  

I recently watched a documentary on Henry VIII and his wives, which talks of one castle (Hampton Court, maybe?) which was being used as a staging base for a war against France.  They had to add a second floor in short order to house all of the important members of the military who needed to stay there.