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18th Century Desperation - From the History Books


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I remember reading somewhere - and I can't back this up at all so maybe it was BS - that back in Versailles times female courtiers used to just find a secluded hallway in which to basically wet themselves rather than try to remove their ridiculous dresses, on account of the lack of plumbing. This was apparently just considered normal and the place smelled like pee real bad for a while; servants would just have to be around to mop up.

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  • 7 months later...
On 10/2/2017 at 5:18 PM, MasterOptometrist said:

I remember reading somewhere - and I can't back this up at all so maybe it was BS - that back in Versailles times female courtiers used to just find a secluded hallway in which to basically wet themselves rather than try to remove their ridiculous dresses, on account of the lack of plumbing. This was apparently just considered normal and the place smelled like pee real bad for a while; servants would just have to be around to mop up.

Yes! That seems the consensus of Versailles in numerous histories.

I found this story- as corroborated in period texts- particularly interesting:

"Th ruthlessly honest Duc de Saint-Simon once said of the Princesse d'Harcourt that she would often urinate while walking making her hated by the many servants who had to clean up after her."

http://thisisversaillesmadame.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-lack-of-toilets.html?m=1

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Why does this semi-clinical older style of writing get me almost immediately wet?

5 hours ago, themerger said:

Yes! That seems the consensus of Versailles in numerous histories.

I found this story- as corroborated in period texts- particularly interesting:

"Th ruthlessly honest Duc de Saint-Simon once said of the Princesse d'Harcourt that she would often urinate while walking making her hated by the many servants who had to clean up after her."

http://thisisversaillesmadame.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-lack-of-toilets.html?m=1

 

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There is a now decades old book "Life On Man" which has a chapter that describes one of the Kings of England, a king Richard I think who so loved hunting (actually chasing after captive foxes) that he would be out all day with his hunting party and never dismount (Quoted from memory so may not completely accurate) "leaving a fine mess for his (servants? I forgot the exact word) to clean up"

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Combining several of the prior ideas, I've read that Louis XIV (builder of Versailles and an outright tyrant) loved hunting, and would have his wife, mistress, and other women along in a carriage while he rode horseback, and he would refuse to stop even to let them out to pee... even when his wife was pregnant! That must have led to some frantic times or some wet seats or both. 

The same book said that Louis was alone for only two hours in his entire life. His courtiers would compete to bring him the chamber pot every morning. I guess when you're king, everything's awesome and nothing is shameful, so no need for privacy.  

I don't have the book any more but it was a book by Robert Massie on Peter the Great (Louis XIV just got a chapter, but it certainly caught my attention). 

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