Rosalie's Medieval Woman - Beauty and Hygiene

Medieval Beauty, Health & Hygiene

Generally, the fashionable lady's look for the bulk of the medieval period was as follows- high forehead, plucked eyebrows, small even teeth, a fair complexion, long neck, narrow chest, low sloping shoulders, high small waist and in some cases, a prominent stomach.

Women were often described as fair regardless of their natural colouring because fair was the idealised idea of beauty. Beauty and hygiene is divided into nine separate pages-

Beauty

SKINCARE
Skincare, herbal remedies for clear skin

COSMETICS
Foundation, eyeliner & eyeshadow, lip balm, rouge

HAIR STYLES
Hairstyles, braids, cornettes, ramshorns, european style, false hairpieces & wigs, hairnets, eyebrows and hairline

BODY HAIR
Body hair and what to do aboutit, the hairline, eyebrows and other hair

Health and Hygiene

CLEANLINESS
Bathing, deoderant, soap and perfume

HAIR CARE
Brushes, combs & gravours, hair balms & tonics, headlice treatments, dandruff treatments, colouring the hair

ORAL CARE & DENTISTRY
Breath freshener, tooth whitinging remedies, toothache remedies, tooth decay, dentistry, dentures

FEMININE HYGIENE
Menstruation and what to do about it, premenstrual tension, the wandering womb, feminine hygiene products

GENERAL HEALTHCARE
Headaches, weightloss remedies, dealing with worms, warts & corns, mosquito repellants, antiseptics, toilet paper

One of the first manuals of feminine beauty written at Salerno and is widely believed to be that of the lady physician and author, Trotula de Ruggiero from the 11th century. Trotula was credited to be the author of three treatises, but according to Henrietta Leyser in her book Medieval Women- A Social History of Women in England 450 - 1500, the authorship of them is doubtful.

Although Trota did write on the subject in The Practice According To Trota, it is believed that Trota herself did not write any of the works widely credited to her. Her treatise was little known in Europe and not translated into any vernacular. Henrietta Leyser goes on to explain where the texts are believed to have originated and why. Those treatises are known as- Trotula A, Trotula B (which is distinctive for its large number of cosmetic recipes for the face and hair), and Trotula C or The Book of Rota.

Shown at right is a detail from a sculpture of the Madonna and Child from approximately 1370 showing a woman possessing all the qualities of a beautiful medieval woman- eyebrows almost missing, high, rounded forehead, fair skin and rosy cheeks.

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