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Toilets in 12th c England?
May. 30th, 2007 01:24 pmFrom Daily Living in the 12th century which is partly based on the works of Alexander Neckham:
The note says, "Sor re rebe li atacoient Torques d'estrain que il faisoient Por cou ke on se gabast de lui. -- Life of Saint Dominic vv. 2161-63. The gomph stick is discussed in histories of sanitation." (I need to get a translation of the statement which seems to confirm 'wiping' with wisps of straw or hay. I wonder whether there's any evidence in the latrine digs.
"Gomph" or "gomphus" doesn't appear in the OED. I've also seen it spelled "Gompf" but I'm really begining to doubt its documentability. I'm wondering where this item was first described.
In a larger donjon . . . there would be several small rooms on each floor in addition to the principal hall. On the main floor one of these would be a room for storing garments or other equipment; another would be a treasure room; stil another would be a longaigne or toilet. . . The longaigne, or latrine, might open directly into the ditch, wet or dry, if a donjon were built against the outer curtain wall, and not in the center of the courtyard. Such an opening was dangerous in time of siege, as it could be shot at or used as an entrance by the opposing forces. The men of Philip Augustus got into Richard's Chasteau-Gaillard by this route. A basket of torche-culs made of straw would always be at hand in a longaigne. For those who desired it, a curved stick (gomphus) was provided for the same purpose.
The note says, "Sor re rebe li atacoient Torques d'estrain que il faisoient Por cou ke on se gabast de lui. -- Life of Saint Dominic vv. 2161-63. The gomph stick is discussed in histories of sanitation." (I need to get a translation of the statement which seems to confirm 'wiping' with wisps of straw or hay. I wonder whether there's any evidence in the latrine digs.
"Gomph" or "gomphus" doesn't appear in the OED. I've also seen it spelled "Gompf" but I'm really begining to doubt its documentability. I'm wondering where this item was first described.
