July 5, 2010
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How many baths did France's King Louis XIV take during his long life?
Three: the first when he was baptized, the second when a mistress insisted - and the third when a doctor lanced a sore on his bottom and ordered him to soak the wound in a tub of water.
[Louis XIV also suffered from phimosis - an abnormal growth of foreskin - which made erections painful and intercourse impossible. After refusing to have an operation on religious grounds, Louis eventually consented to a simple surgery and his marriage was consummated (after seven years) on his 23rd birthday.]
[Trivia: During the Middle Ages bathing was rare in Europe, largely because it was considered a sin to expose the body - even to oneself! (Soap was not made in England until 1641.)]
Louis XIV ["Le Roi Soleil"], (1638-1715) French monarch, king of France (1643-1715) [noted for his reign during the Golden Age of French culture, for his glittering court at Versailles (which attracted writers and artists from all over France), and for his revocation of the Edict of Nantes (guaranteeing toleration to France's Protestants, 1685)
ps - You can read this, too.pps - I can't vouch for the veracity of all this.
Comments (4)
When I saw those people sit down at the table I couldn't believe it. What a brilliant scene. Really shocking, much more than any horror movie. I have to have a bath every day, I don't know what I would have done back in the olden times.
This reminds me I haven't seen a Buñuel movie in quite some time. There's so much crapola (no pun intended) on tv these days.
It was interesting viewing this video after viewing the Roman toilet one. Genial social-analysis film-making versus pipi-caca-crotte adolescent humor. The latter never makes me laugh, for some reason I know also related to social analysis and which I don't care to elaborate upon.
I bought another piece of potica and this time I took some pics. This version may be more like your mother's fancy than the one I had bought elsewhere many months ago, which looked more like a jellyless jelly roll. And, contrary to those companies who say that our opinion counts but don't mean a word of it, your opinion does count to me, at least as per potica goes.
(and also if it should be "for me" instead of "to me").
Amnesty International popped back to my mind the other day when I stumbled on an American mediatic mention of "Le Comité International de la Croix-Rouge". You just won't believe how they pronounce it.
Let's just say that "Firanku Sinatura" is candy in comparison. 
Here we just say CICR. C'est plus facile.
ps - The target market for "Horrible Histories" is kids, so no one should be surprised that the humour can be adolescent at times.
(I _love_ HH. It's full of stuff I don't know.)
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