Did Western Europeans really routinely go months or years without

>>2199901
I routinely go month+ without showering

>>2199901
yes
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a5239491/what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-dont-shower-for-two-days/

>>2199901
>Did Western Europeans really routinely go months or years without bathing?
No.

>>2199911
>>2200008
Dude such a nuanced conversation that's why I love /his/

I shower once a month whether I need it or not.

Washing is not the same as bathing.

Washing happened frequently. We have many surviving coroners records involving people dying or being injured while bathing. My particular favourite being one guy who was washing in a river, got out and was "showing off" to passers-by when he slipped and drowned. Basically some 14th century guy was waving his duck at passign strangers and died as a result.

Bathing was restricted to those who could afford to buy baths or pay to visit public ones.

Source: The Ties that Bound: Peasant Families in Late Medieval England

this >>2200061
washing was part of the daily routine for an agricultural laborer

I think this meme arose from the abandonment of roman steambaths

>>2199901

http://sciencenordic.com/what-vikings-really-looked

>>2200061

*"injured while washing" that should be, obviously

>>2199901
People in early Middle ages washed regularly, later when the plagues started hitting more urban areas frequently, people in those times had theories it's because of washing that caused skin to get thinner or something like that so culture of regularly washing was shaken there. And later in powdered wig Europe you had nobility that didn't wash because of demons in the air or something, so thanks to them that idea spread to whole of Middle Ages.

There's some really nice accounts by Vasari about Michelangelo's (lack of) personal hygiene.
I'd look it up and cite it here, but I'm eating right now.