The Dawn of Garderobes: Early Medieval Restrooms
When one thinks of the Middle Ages, sanitation rarely comes to mind. However, the evolution of garderobes, the medieval restrooms, is a riveting slice of history. Far from the contemporary toilets we’re accustomed to, garderobes were dedicated hygiene spaces, built into castle walls.
The Strategic Design of Garderobes
Contrary to popular belief, these restrooms weren’t mere holes in the ground or basic outbuildings. The affluent had the luxury of using a garderobe, a small room abutting the castle walls. The term “garderobe” stems from the French “wardrobe,” referring to an astonishing practice: occupants would hang their clothing in this shaft to rid them of fleas, using the ammonia from urine.
Toilets with Multiple Roles
The design of these medieval restrooms harbored another purpose. Occasionally, daring soldiers would try infiltrating castles through garderobe shafts. Thus, these toilets turned out to be strategic defense points, but also vulnerable zones. History even records several renowned figures meeting their demise on the loo, ambushed from below.
Transitioning to Modernity
While the concept of flushing toilets might seem ancient, the first modern restroom wasn’t introduced until 1596 by Sir John Harrington. Despite this groundbreaking invention, it would take nearly another 250 years for the idea to gain widespread adoption.
Conclusion
Garderobes, testaments to medieval ingenuity, remind us that innovation isn’t a recent phenomenon. Whether for hygiene or defense strategy, these medieval toilets showcase the creativity of our ancestors. For creative, innovative and useful products, visit www.lalema.com
Keywords: Garderobe, medieval toilets, castles, Middle Ages, Sir John Harrington, modern restroom, history of toilets, medieval defense, Middle Ages sanitation.
If you take a tour of Roman Pompeii then be sure to look in the inside corners of the ruined buildings of that town. There you will see in places terracotta down pipes. These led from toilets on the upper floors of the building down to septic tanks underneath the floor of the buildings. The Romans had invented and extensively used waterproof cement by the time of Pompeii’s heyday, and the system in use was simple and effective.
One used the upstairs toilet normally. This would be periodically flushed either by rain from the roof, or from a bucket of water kept handy. The town was supplied with a copious amount of water by aqueducts that ran day and night into troughs throughout the town; these generally overflowed at night and helped keep the streets cleaner; people still used stepping stones to cross the roadways though.
Once the septic tank reached a set level, it would overflow into the city street. The internal down pipes were set so as to project down under the surface of the liquid in the tank to minimise bad odours in the toilet.
When a septic tank became overfull of solids, a nocturnal crew mostly of slaves had the appalling task of levering up a slab of the sidewalk path and bailing out first the liquid contents (straight onto the street) then shoveling out the solids into a waiting cart. This was then spread on agricultural fields as fertiliser.
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