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Did the aristocracy really go to the toilet together? Please find some true stories about this.
Hello! Thank you for your question about the bathroom habits of the aristocracy. The short answer is that yes, bodily evacuations were not as private as they are now. Aristocrats used chamber pots in public, but it was not necessarily a social endeavor for the European aristocracy. They didn't require privacy to relieve themselves, and only a few instances specify aristocrats purposefully combining the activity with socialization. During the time period specified, notions about the privy were beginning to change. Below you will find an explanation of these hygiene practices. I have made a list at the top of stories/anecdotes that you might wish to use, and then went in more depth below.
METHODOLOGY
To research this question, I first looked into common bathroom principles and culture at the time. The sources available focus on the technology of the time and bathing practices, not specifically toilet-related. Unfortunately, not many personal or long anecdotes could be found. Most consist of only a few sentences or long descriptions of commoners' bathroom conditions. However, I did find a selection of minor anecdotes that might work well in your essay. I included the general culture and shifting views of bathroom etiquette below to give context to these stories and perhaps offer different avenues of research. The anecdotes detailed below deal mostly with chamber pots, though a few are about the public and social nature of relieving oneself before the Victorian era.
ANECDOTES
Groom of the Stool- The royals of Europe from the Renaissance onward had servants dedicated to their bodily functions. Many of the titles now in use (e.g. Lord Chamberlain) come from this time. The servants were always present for royal bathroom times, and it was a position of social importance.
10 Seat Toilet- In the 16th century, an Italian duke had a toilet facility built in his palace that was a long slab with 10 seats built in so courtiers could socialize while relieving themselves.
Burst Bladder- Some royalty in the 1600s insisted on their court requesting permission to use a chamber pot or gardroom. This story is one of a woman whose bladder burst while at court waiting for permission.
Chamber Pots for Marriage- These chamber pots were not used for bodily functions, but rather beautiful ceramics that honeymooners used to feed each other sweets. This shows the prevalence and lack of disgust surrounding bathroom technology.
Poetry: Alexander Pope wrote several pieces on bathrooms, most focusing on the sewage problems in London streets. This snippet is from the 17th century and describes a woman's prominently displayed and ornamented toilet in her bedroom while people came to visit.
Queen Elizabeth- Queen Elizabeth had a carriage devoted to her toilet facilities so it could follow her around and she would never be far from relief.
COMMON BATHROOM CULTURE
For most of the medieval age, the main method of relieving oneself in the aristocracy was via chamber pot. These vessels were transported to the individual in need by servants and then used. The convenience of having the pot come to them outweighed the desire to be alone to relieve themselves. "People relieved themselves whenever it was needed and they were not concerned about privacy." There were specific roles in the royal staff for these duties- Groom of the Stool being one title. There are historical accounts of some noble or royal households that included chamber pots "in the dining or billiard rooms" and of royals who received people "while they were 'at the stool'". For women, especially, the chamber pot could be put up between their legs so they didn't have to fight with their layers of petticoats or hooped skirts. There was such a lack of disgust surrounding chamber pots that the vessels were made out of beautiful materials and also used for other purposes- like eating honeymoon sweets.
In older castles and palaces, and in some mansions with limited room, the gardrooms or privies were rooms that opened in a straight chute to a cesspool at the base of the building and had a wooden plank on top. Holes were carved in the plank, often with multiple holes in a line so that the room could be used by more than one person at a time. One particularly notable use of this design comes from Italy in the 16th century where a noble had a toilet facility with 10 seats so his courtiers could socialize while doing their business.
One thing to consider for your question is the culture that aristocratic women had around preparing their hair and makeup. These actions that today we associate with the bathroom then took place in the bedroom. This was because their bedrooms also included mirrors, water basins, and room for servants to work. The toilet areas were generally small, narrow spaces. Women would chat with friends while applying makeup, wigs, and perfume, and if needed, use a chamber pot.
FLUSHING BATHROOMS
Private water closets came about almost a century after Queen Elizabeth's cousin invented the toilet. They became so popular that "by the end of the 19th century, every respectable house had at least one bathroom converted from an old bedroom with a water closet installed, although chamber pots were still used in the bedrooms." This change came about because of a confluence of factors and adapting societal views about cleanliness and privacy. With the separate water closets that were often installed in former servants' rooms, the mental separation of privacy began to solidify. In the Victorian era, euphemisms for the toilet began to be used and it was separated from socialization as society began to place more emphasis on morality and purity. Bathrooms as we conceive of them didn't emerge until 1880. Also, science was beginning to understand disease and germs. There were many cholera outbreaks in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries that we now know were caused by tainted water. Traditionally human effluent was emptied directly from the chamber pot into the streets. With the invention of water closets, the effluent went into cesspools that then drained into rivers. When John Snow put forward the waterborne theory of cholera in the 1850s, London and Continental Europe revolutionized their sewage systems and bathrooms. This changed people's ideas about cleanliness and how the bodily functions should be seen to in private.
CONCLUSIONS
In 18th century Europe, cleanliness and privacy had different meanings than they do today. A lack of efficient sewage systems meant human effluent was a common sight. Chamber pots were the main vessel through which aristocrats relieved themselves, and this action took place outside a specific room in the house. Privies often had more than one seat to use in castles and palaces. Royals and nobles had servants bring chamber pots to use wherever they were in the house or whomever they were seeing. It wasn't until the invention of the water closet's flushing apparatus and changes in societal views on disease and morality/purity that bathrooms came into existence as we know them today, and that people began to seclude themselves for this activity.
On a personal note, I enjoyed researching this topic as I just finished The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson that discusses London's problems with cholera and bathrooms in the 19th century. I would highly recommend it if you are interested in this topic. (Best of luck on your essay!)
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