Is it true that Queen Elizabeth I only bathed once a month?

Question

Is it true that Queen Elizabeth I only bathed once a month?

Answer 1

Back then it was not uncommon. Bathing was considered injurious to the health

Answer 2

They bath few times a year. But they do clean themselves with wet towels

Answer 3

Probably something like that. Back then, people didn't really have the means to bathe too often. Also, everyone had wigs which made bathing a bit difficult.

Answer 4

yes in tudor england over bathing was thougth to be unhealthy nobels etc bathed abotu once a month peasants would have been more like once every few months.  

Answer 5

lmao! r u serious?

Answer 6

I believe it was actually less often, I remember that Tudor monarchs had to bathe once a year whether they needed to or not. :-)

Regular baths/showers are a relatively recent phenomenon.  

Answer 7

Well, Queen Elizabeth had bathrooms in her palaces, with plumbing, so it seems rather unlikely that she would have used them only once a month.  In fact, it does seem as though interest in bathing declined during the early modern period (interest in bathing was at a low point during the 17th/18th centuries, it didn't really catch on in American for instance until after the Civil War.)  

The common people would probably have bathed less often than royalty because most houses did not have indoor plumbing, so preparing a bath was hard work. People would be more likely to wash themselves a bit at a time rather than taking a bath. But for royalty bathing would have been a much more frequent occurence.

Answer 8

you'd have to send a webcam back in a time machine to know for sure - but it's likely that although she was regarded as very fastidious and fussy, she bathed less often that 21st century people do.

Elizabeth was known to be very vain about her beautiful skin and lovely colouring - she certainly washed her face and other accessible bits several times a week, as the makeup she wore later in life was applied to a clean skin daily.

The rumour about bathing once a month may have related to certain other monthly events after which many women bathed - particularly certain religious groups.

All in all, I doubt the perfectionist Elizabeth I would have allowed herself to get dirty!

Answer 9

she bathed four times a year actually...they thought baths were unhealthy