Ritual surrounded
every aspect of the monastic life,
including grooming.
As a group of
educated men and women, monastics understood the need for sanitation
and
cleanliness well before science ‘discovered’ bacteria as a primary
source of
contagion.
Smell was long understood to
carry contagion, and even the generals of ancient
Rome
understood that communal latrines must be dug far away from sources of
clean
water.
Personal cleanliness in a
monastery included the everyday
washing before meals and other ceremonial or official activities,
Saturday foot
washing, barbering (shaving), bathing (four time each year), and
toileting. Washing before the communal
meal was done right outside the dining room (called the frater or
refectory)
where a sink flowing with water (heated in winter) also included clean
sand
where the monks could wash their knives (the primary eating utensil of
the
middle ages) before heading in to their meal. A
cupboard (aumbry) near the sink held clean linen towels.