Shocking facts about the life and hygiene of women in Europe in the XVIII-XIX centuries.
Sex in the Age of Enlightenment Part 1.
The Renaissance (XIV-XVII centuries) was replaced by the Age of Enlightenment ( late XVII century - the entire XVIII century), during which people enjoyed sex more than ever after the long oppression of sexuality by the church and secular authorities. Despite all the educational trends, throughout Europe this period is characterized by extreme depravity, the cult of women and pleasures.
Sex, society, religion
Many contemporaries consider the 18th century a period of sexual emancipation, when intimate desires were natural needs of both men and women. According to historian Isabel Hull, "sexual energy was the engine of society and the sign of an adult and independent person." Cultural and social changes during the Age of Enlightenment were reflected in the intimate sphere with sexual depravity due to wealth, exoticism, chic costumes and other luxury items. This mainly referred to representatives of the upper classes, who lived a carefree life, but people of the middle and lower strata did not lag behind them, although they were limited in funds. Of course, both of them took an example from the royal power, which was absolute and unshakable. Whatever reigned at court, it immediately resonated with all classes of society. If kings and queens led a wild life, they were immediately likened to the aristocracy and the common people. Imitation of court customs led to the fact that people did not live, but played with life. In public, each person posed, and all behavior, from birth to death, became a single official act. An aristocratic lady performs her intimate toilet in the presence of friends and visitors, not because she has no time, and therefore this time she is forced to ignore modesty, but because she has attentive spectators and can take the most delicate poses. A flirtatious prostitute lifts her skirts high in the street and tidies up her garter, not out of fear of losing it, but in the certainty that she will be the center of attention for a minute.
Given all of the above, it is not surprising that free love, prostitution and pornography flourished in the 18th century. Lord Molmesbury says the following about Berlin in 1772:
“Berlin is a city where there is not a single honest man and not a single chaste woman. Both sexes of all classes are distinguished by extreme moral licentiousness, combined with poverty, caused partly by the oppression that comes from the current sovereign, partly by the love of luxury, which they learned from his grandfather. Men try to lead a depraved life with only meager means, and women are real harpies, devoid of a sense of delicacy and true love, giving themselves to anyone who is willing to pay.
Despite the fact that many enlightened minds saw that such indulgence in sexual desires led to national corruption and anarchy, no steps were taken against it. Even the church, which for several centuries formed a negative attitude towards sex, was powerless. Moreover, many representatives of the church not only did not delay the development of debauchery, but directly contributed to it. All the higher clergy and pretty much certain monasteries openly participated in the general orgy of obscenity.
The moral behavior of the higher clergy, especially in France, was no different from that of the court nobility, although there is nothing surprising in the fact itself: well-paid church seats were nothing more than sinecures, with which kings rewarded their supporters. The main essence of these places is the income they deliver, and the spiritual title associated with them is only a means to disguise this income.
The reasons for the debauchery that reigned in a number of monasteries, especially women's, are also not so difficult to unravel. In all Catholic countries, it was in the 18th century that a significant number of convents appeared, which, without exaggeration, were real houses of debauchery. Severe order charters in these monasteries were often only a mask, so that they could have fun in every possible way. The nuns could indulge in gallant adventures almost unhindered, and the authorities willingly turned a blind eye if the symbolic barriers they set were openly ignored. The nuns of the monastery immortalized by Giacomo Casanova in Murano had friends and lovers, possessed keys that allowed them to secretly leave the monastery every evening and enter Venice not only to theaters or other spectacles, but also to visit the petites maisons (small houses) of their lovers. In the everyday life of these nuns, love and gallant adventures are even the main occupation: the experienced ones seduce the newly tonsured, and the most helpful of them bring the latter together with friends and acquaintances.
As can be seen, such institutions had only a name in common with monasteries, since they were in fact official temples of immorality. And this fully coincides with the changed goals that women's monasteries began to serve more and more from the 16th century. They gradually turned from shelters for the poor into boarding houses, where the upper class sent their unmarried daughters and second sons to support. It was precisely such monasteries, in which the daughters of the nobility were located, that were usually famous for the freedom of morals that reigned in them or was tolerated in them.
As for the rest of the clergy, here we can only talk about individual cases, the number of which, however, is relatively large. Celibacy now and then prompted the use of convenient chances, which the Catholic priest had more than enough.
The cult of a woman
The general culture of any historical period is always most clearly reflected in the views on sexual relations and in the laws governing these relations. The Age of Enlightenment was reflected in the intimate sphere as gallantry, as the proclamation of a woman as the ruler in all areas and as her unconditional cult. The 18th century is the classic "age of women". Despite the fact that the world was still ruled by men, women began to play a prominent role in society. This century, as they say, is "rich" in autocratic empresses, women philosophers and royal favorites, who surpassed the first ministers of the state in their power. So, for example, the reign of King Louis XV was called the "rule of the three skirts", which meant the all-powerful favorites of the king (the most productive was the Marquise de Pompadour).
The essence of gallantry lies in the fact that a woman ascended the throne as an instrument of pleasure. She is worshiped as a tidbit of pleasure, everything in communication with her must guarantee sensuality. She must constantly be, so to speak, in a state of voluptuous self-forgetfulness - in the salon, in the theater, in society, even on the street, as well as in a secluded boudoir, in intimate conversation with a friend or admirer. It must satisfy the desires of everyone and everyone who comes into contact with it. Men are ready to fulfill any of her desires or whims to achieve the ultimate goal. Everyone considers it an honor to give up his own rights and benefits in favor of her.
In the light of such a cult, a prostitute in the eyes of everyone is no longer a public girl, but an experienced priestess of love. An unfaithful wife or an unfaithful mistress becomes in the eyes of her husband or friend after each new betrayal all the more spicy. The pleasure given to a woman by the caresses of a man is aggravated by the thought that before her countless other women yielded to his desires. 
The highest triumph of the dominance of women in the Age of Enlightenment was the disappearance of manly traits from the character of a man. Gradually he became more and more effeminate, his manners and dress, his needs and all his behavior became such. In the notes of the German historian Johann von Archenholz, this type, fashionable in the second half of the 18th century, is described as follows:
A man is now more than ever like a woman. He wears long, curled hair, powdered and perfumed, and tries to make it even longer and thicker with a wig. The buckles on the shoes and knees have been replaced with silk bows for convenience. The sword is put on - also for convenience - as rarely as possible. Gloves are put on the hands, teeth are not only cleaned, but also whitened, the face is blushed. A man walks and even rides in a wheelchair as little as possible, eats light food, loves comfortable chairs and a quiet bed. Not wanting to lag behind a woman in anything, he uses fine linen and lace, hangs himself with watches, puts rings on his fingers, and fills his pockets with trinkets.
About love
Love was considered only as an opportunity to experience that pleasure, which was especially appreciated by the era. And they did not think to hide it at all, on the contrary, everyone openly admitted it. A love affair becomes at this time a contract that does not imply permanent obligations: it can be broken at any time. Condescending to the gentleman courting her, the woman did not give herself entirely, but only for a few moments of pleasure, or else she sold herself for a position in the world.
This universally widespread superficial view of the feeling of love inevitably led to the conscious abolition of its highest logic - childbearing. The man no longer wanted to produce, the woman no longer wanted to be a mother, everyone just wanted to enjoy. Children - the highest sanction of sexual life - were proclaimed a misfortune. Childlessness, which back in the 17th century was considered a punishment from heaven, was now perceived by many, on the contrary, as a mercy from above. In any case, having many children seemed a disgrace in the 18th century. 
The question of how to be able to become, with dexterity and grace, a richly rewarded victim of temptation, was for a hundred and fifty years the most burning problem for female wit; the art of seducing a woman is the favorite topic of men's conversations. So, for example, prudent and prudent mothers - such, at least, their era proclaimed - took care of the intimate future of their sons in a very piquant way. They hired chambermaids and maids, and by skillful maneuvers arranged so that "the mutual seduction of young people became the simplest and most natural thing." In this way they made their sons more daring in dealing with women, awakened in them a taste for amorous pleasures and at the same time saved them from the dangers that threaten young people from descent with prostitutes.
The sexual education of girls revolved, of course, in other planes, although it had the same ultimate goal in mind. Most diligently engaged in sexual education of girls in the middle and small classes. Since in these circles every mother's most ambitious thought was her daughter's "career," the stereotypical advice was: "Let her not give herself to the first comer, but aim as high as possible."
Forms of communication between men and women had a special specificity. To treat a woman with respect, to look at her simply as a person, meant in this era to offend her beauty. Disrespect, on the contrary, was an expression of reverence for her beauty. Therefore, in dealing with a woman, a man committed only obscenities - in words or deeds - and, moreover, with every woman. Witty obscenity served in the eyes of a woman as the best recommendation. Those who acted contrary to this code were considered a pedant or - even worse for him - an unbearably boring person. In the same way, a woman was considered delightful and intelligent who immediately understood the obscene meaning of the witticisms presented to her and could give a quick and graceful answer. This is how the whole secular society behaved, and every commoner enviously turned her gaze precisely to these heights, because she had the same ideal.
Heightened sensuality found its most artistic embodiment in female coquettishness and mutual flirting. The essence of coquetry is a demonstration and posture, the ability to deftly emphasize especially valued advantages. For this reason, also, no era favored the development of coquetry so much as the Enlightenment. In no other era has a woman used this remedy with such variety and with such virtuosity. All her behavior is saturated in more or less lesser degree coquetry.
As for flirting, in the 18th century all communication between a man and a woman was thoroughly saturated with it. The essence of flirting is the same at all times. It is expressed in mutual, more or less intimate caresses, in the piquant discovery of hidden physical charms and in loving conversations. A characteristic feature of the era was that they flirted quite publicly - love also became a spectacle! 
The best embodiment of flirting in the era is the lady's morning toilet, the so-called lever, when she could be in a negligee. A woman in a negligee is a concept that was completely unknown to previous eras or known only in a very primitive form. This phenomenon refers only to the XVIII century, during which it was proclaimed the official hour of receptions and visits.
Indeed, it was difficult to find another more convenient and more favorable occasion for flirting. Negligee represents the situation in which a woman can influence the feelings of a man in the most piquant way, and this situation then lasted not a short time, and due to the complexity of the toilet, many, many hours. What, in fact, is a rich opportunity for a woman to stage a charming exhibition of her individual charms before the eyes of friends and courtship. Now, as if by chance, an arm is exposed to the very armpits, then one has to raise skirts to put garters, stockings and shoes in order, then one can show magnificent shoulders in their dazzling beauty, then flaunt breasts in a new piquant way. There is no end to the delicious dishes of this feast, the only limit here is the greater or lesser dexterity of a woman. However, this is only one side of the matter.
However, the lady received her suitors, sometimes several at the same time, not only at the toilet, but sometimes even in the bath and bed. This was the most refined degree of public flirting, since the woman thus got the opportunity to go especially far in her compliance and display her charms especially generously, and the man especially easily succumbed to the temptation to go on the offensive. When a lady took a friend in a bath, this latter, for the sake of decency, was covered with a sheet, allowing only the head, neck and chest of the lady to be seen. However, it is so easy to throw back the sheet!
Sex before marriage
The attitude towards old age is becoming different now. Nobody wanted to grow old, and everyone wanted to stop time. After all, maturity brings fruit, and people now wanted to have color without fruit, pleasure without any consequences. People love youth more and recognize only its beauty. A woman never gets older than twenty, and a man never gets older than thirty. This trend had as its extreme pole the forcing of puberty. In the most early years the child is no longer a child. A boy becomes a man at the age of 15, a girl becomes a woman at the age of 12. 
Such a cult of early puberty is the inevitable consequence of the increased importance of enjoyment. A man and a woman want to have something "that can be enjoyed only once and can only be enjoyed by one." Therefore, nothing seduces him so much as "a tidbit that has not yet been touched by anyone." The younger a person is, of course, the more likely he is to be such a piece. In the foreground here is virginity. It seems that then nothing was so highly valued as she was.
Closely connected with this praise of the physical virginity of a woman is that mania for the seduction of innocent girls, which in the eighteenth century first appeared in history as a mass phenomenon. In England this mania assumed its most monstrous form and lasted the longest, but other countries did not lag behind in this respect.
Forcing the period of puberty naturally led to very early sexual relations and, of course, to no less frequent premarital sexual intercourse. At the same time, it is important to state that these premarital relationships were of a massive nature, since individual cases of this category are found, of course, in all eras. The beginning of regular sexual relations was exactly the above age, when the boy became a "man" and the girl "lady".
Another evidence of early puberty during the Enlightenment is the frequent occurrence of extremely early marriages. However, this phenomenon is observed only in the aristocracy.
Although in the middle and lower classes marriages were not so early, nevertheless, in these circles, women matured at a very young age. Gallant literature proves this most clearly. Every lower class girl saw her husband as a liberator from parental captivity. In her opinion, this liberator could not come too early for her, and if he delays, she is inconsolable. By "slow" she means that she has to "drag the burden of virginity" until the age of sixteen - or seventeen years of age - according to the concepts of the era, there is no heavier burden.
In the 18th century, there were much rarer cases of premarital sexual intercourse in the upper strata of the population. Not because the sexual morality of these classes was stricter, but because here the parents tried to get rid of their children as if they were an unpleasant burden. In France, the children of the aristocracy were given soon after birth to the village nurse, and then to various educational institutions. This latter role was played in Catholic countries by monasteries. Here the boy remains until the age when he can enter the cadet or page corps, where his secular education ends, and the girl - until marriage to her husband appointed by her parents. 
And yet it must be said that, despite such favorable conditions for the protection of girlish chastity, the number of girls who entered into sexual intercourse even before marriage was quite significant in these classes. If a girl was taken from the monastery on the eve of not a wedding, but an agreement, then, in view of the special atmosphere of the century, these few weeks or months between leaving the monastery and the wedding were enough for the seducer to anticipate the rights of her husband.
So far, we have talked mainly about premarital sexual relations of girls. You can't even talk about men. In a society where a good half of women can be assumed to have been intimate before marriage, in an era when early puberty is a common feature, premarital sex by men is becoming the rule. The only difference in this case is that not a single class and not a single stratum was an exception to this rule, but only individual individuals, and that the sons of the propertied and ruling classes here went ahead.
Marriage and infidelity
Attitude towards marriage
As we have already found out, in the ruling and propertied classes, young people entering into marriage often did not even see each other before marriage and, of course, did not know what kind of character each had. Such marriages became common in these circles in the 18th century, when young people meet for the first time in their lives a few days before the wedding, or even only on the eve of the wedding. All this suggests that the marriage was nothing more than a convention and was a simple trade transaction. The upper classes combined two names or two fortunes in order to increase family and financial power. The middle classes connected the two incomes. Finally, the common people got married in most cases because "it's cheaper to live together." But, of course, there were exceptions.
If in the ruling classes marriage was clearly conditional and children were married “at a meeting”, then the middle and small estates did not know such cynicism: in this environment, the commercial nature of marriage was carefully hidden under an ideological cover. A man here is obliged to take care of his bride for quite a long time, he is obliged to speak only about love, he is obliged to earn the respect of the girl he is wooing, and to demonstrate all his personal virtues. And she must do the same. However, mutual love and mutual respect appear for some reason only when the commercial side of the matter is settled. For this seemingly so ideal form of mutual courtship is, in the final analysis, nothing more than a way to test the correctness of a commercial transaction. 
The commercial nature of such a marriage is clearly evidenced by marriage announcements, the occurrence of which dates back to this time. They first occur in England in 1695 and go something like this: "A gentleman of 30 years of age, declaring himself in possession of considerable wealth, wishes to marry a young lady with a fortune of approximately £3,000 and is prepared to enter into a contract to that effect."
It is necessary here to mention one more conspicuous, specifically English feature, namely, the ease of marriage. No papers or any other information was needed. A simple announcement of the desire to marry, made to a priest endowed with the rights of an administrative person, was enough for the marriage to take place no matter where - in a hotel or in a church. The ease of marriage and the difficulty of legal divorce led to a terrible increase in cases of bigamy (bigamy). What is now nothing more than an individual case was then commonplace in England among the lower classes.
Since in the lower classes marriage was often nothing more than a successful means for a man to seduce a girl, hundreds lived not only in bigamy, but even in tripartism. If, therefore, bigamy was the most convenient form of shamelessly satisfying sexual needs, then it was, moreover, a source of enrichment. And one must think that in most cases it was used precisely as a means to take the condition of a girl or woman into their own hands.
adultery
In monogamy, the main problem of marriage is always mutual fidelity. Therefore, first of all, it should be noted that during the Enlightenment, adultery (treason) flourished in the ruling classes like premarital sexual intercourse. He became truly mass phenomenon and was committed by a woman as often as by a man. Obviously, this was due to the fact that adultery was not threatened main goal marriage (enrichment of the state), so she was looked at as a trifle.
Since variety is the highest law of pleasure, first of all, the object of love itself was diversified. “How boring it is to sleep with the same woman every night!” - the man says, and the woman philosophizes in the same way. If the wife did not change, then "not because she wanted to remain faithful, but because there was no opportunity to commit infidelity." Loving a husband or wife is considered a violation of good taste. Such love is allowed only in the first months of marriage, because then both parties are no longer able to give each other anything new.
The first piece of advice given to a young woman by her friend is, "My dear, you must take a lover!" Sometimes even the husband himself gives his wife this excellent advice. There is only one difference between a husband and a benevolent girlfriend in this respect. If the latter appeared with her advice already in the first weeks of married life, then the husband gave it only after he “finished” with his wife, as he “finished” in turn with all the women who were his temporary mistresses, and when he again had desire to look into someone else's garden. "Visit society, get yourself lovers, live as all women of our era live!" 
And just as a husband has nothing against his wife's lover, so she has nothing against her husband's mistresses. No one interferes in someone else's life, and everyone lives in friendship. The husband is the friend of the wife's lover and the attorney of her former sympathies; the wife is the friend of her husband's mistresses and the comforter of those to whom he has resigned. The husband is not jealous, the wife is freed from marital duty. Public morality requires only one thing from him and from her, mainly, of course, from her - the observance of the external decorum. The latter does not at all consist in feigning fidelity in front of everyone, but only in not giving the world any clear evidence to the contrary. Everyone has the right to know everything, but no one should be a witness.
However, the most ingenious consequence that followed from this worldly philosophy was that "legitimized" infidelity to the husband required fidelity to the lover. And in fact, if then it was possible to meet fidelity, then only outside of marriage. But even in relation to the lover, fidelity should never extend so far that he was advanced, so to speak, to the rank of husband.
In England, it was completely in the order of things if a husband kept his mistress right in his house next to his lawful wife. Most husbands kept mistresses in one form or another. Many even placed them in their home and forced them to sit at the same table with their wife, which almost never led to misunderstandings. Often they even went out for a walk with their wives, and the only difference between them was that usually the metresses (mistresses) were more beautiful and better dressed and less stiff.
Mutual indulgence of spouses in the upper strata of the population very often turned into a cynical agreement regarding mutual infidelity. And no less often one becomes an ally of the other in this respect. The husband provides his wife with the opportunity to move freely in the circle of his friends and, in addition, introduces into his house those who please the wife. And so does the wife towards her husband. She enters into friendship with those ladies whom her husband would like to have mistresses, and deliberately creates such situations that would allow him to achieve his goal as soon as possible.
In the lower classes, stricter morals prevailed, and adultery was a much rarer phenomenon. In any case, adultery here was not a mass phenomenon and usually led to tragic consequences.
Favorites and favorites
Since in the 18th century intimate relationships were built exclusively on sensual pleasure, the metressa imperceptibly turned into the main figure in the center of everyone's attention. It was not a woman who was generally enthroned by the era, but a woman as a metress.
The age of gallantry rested on variety and diversity. The Institute of Metress made it possible to solve both of these problems. You can change mistresses, if you like, every month and even more often, which you cannot do with your wife, just as you can have a dozen mistresses or you can be the mistress of many men. Since the institute of metresso successfully solved the problem of chivalry, the society sanctioned it: no shameful stain lay on the metres. This is just as logical as the fact that the ruling classes saw this institution as their exclusive privilege. Since in this era everything was centered around the absolute sovereign, he had a special right to keep his mistresses. A sovereign without a mistress was a wild concept in the eyes of society.
The elevation of the sovereign's mistress to the rank of the highest deity was expressed by the honors that were necessarily given to her. This is how the metressa en titre or the official mistress appeared, who appeared, as an equal, next to the legitimate empresses in society. Since her beauty and love deserved royal attention, she herself became "God's grace." There was a guard of honor in front of her palace, and often she had honorary ladies-in-waiting at her service. Even the sovereigns and empresses of other countries exchanged pleasantries with the official favorite. Neither Catherine II, nor Frederick II, nor Maria Theresa considered it below their dignity to send kind letters to the idol of Louis XV, Madame Pompadour.
Since subordination to the will of a woman in this era found its highest expression in subordination to the will of the metress, then becoming a favorite was then the most profitable and therefore very desirable profession for a woman. Many parents raised their daughters directly to this calling. The highest ideal achievable for a woman was, of course, to become the sovereign's maitre. 
However, even here it is necessary to take into account deeper motives. It would be a mistake to consider this fight for the position of the royal concubine as a simple personal matter. Since the maitre was powerful, well-known political groups always stood behind each of these ladies. The faction that sought to seize power wanted to have the favorites of their man in place. In other words: behind the harem quarrels often hide the political strife of the era.
In an era when most women are corrupt, naturally, a man is no less corrupt. And therefore, in the 18th century, next to the institution of metres, there is another characteristic and extremely common phenomenon - a husband who, out of material considerations, agrees to such a role as a wife.
Many households were built on the corruption of a wife and mother, but more often it served as an auxiliary tool that allowed the family to spend more than it could. The lover dressed his petress, brought her jewelry that gave her the opportunity to shine in society, and under the guise of a loan, the return of which neither side thought of, he, in addition, paid for the love services rendered to him in cash. It is all the less surprising that in that era a professional adventurer, gambler and swindler in every possible way was a common figure who traded in his wife, and when she got too old for this, then in the beauty of her daughter.
From all this came the inevitable consequence. The legalization of the metress as a public institution also legitimized the cuckold. The title of cuckold became a kind of typical profession of the era.
It is also necessary to dwell on one more typical male figure of the era - on a man in the role of a metress. A woman, especially in her mature years, when her beauty alone could no longer seduce a man, also bought love. For many men, the exploitation of this source of livelihood was the most profitable profession they could think of. Women paid lovers no worse than men paid mistresses. Women who had political influence paid, in addition, positions and sinecures. In Berlin, the functions of a male meter were especially often performed by officers. The meager salaries received by the Prussian officers made them strive for such a position.
A lover in a woman's retinue marks the moment of her supreme dominance in the 18th century.
Personalities
Louis XIV, also known as the "Sun King" (1638-1715) - the king of France and Navarre, was an obvious erotomaniac who saw only sex in a woman and who therefore liked every woman. He had many favorites, the most famous of them: Louise-Francoise de La Vallière, the Duchess de Fontange and the Marquise de Maintenon, who even became his secret wife. Apparently, the passion for debauchery was passed on to him with genes, since his mother, Queen Anna of Austria, until her advanced age was very accessible to the courtship of courtiers devoted to her. Moreover, according to one version, the father of Louis XIV is by no means Louis XIII, who was distinguished by homosexual inclinations, but just one of the courtiers, Count Riviere
Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764) - the official mistress of the French king Louis XV. Pompadour played a prominent role not only in France, which was entirely in her hands, but also in Europe. She directed the outer and internal politics France, delving into all the little things public life patronizing science and art. The depraved king, fascinated by her at first, soon cooled towards her, finding that there was little passion in her, and calling her an ice statue. At first she tried to entertain him with music, art, theater, where, speaking herself on stage, she always appeared to him in a new, attractive form, but soon resorted to more effective means - she introduced young beauties to the court. Especially for this, Pompadour created the Deer Park mansion, in which Louis XV met with numerous favorites. Basically, there were girls 15-17 years old, who, after they annoyed the king and got married, received a decent dowry.
Catherine II the Great (1729-1796) - Empress of All Russia. She combined high intelligence, education, statesmanship and commitment to "free love". Catherine is known for her connections with numerous lovers, the number of which reaches 23. The most famous of them were Sergei Saltykov, Grigory Orlov, Vasilchikov, Grigory Potemkin, Semyon Zorich, Alexander Lanskoy, Platon Zubov. Catherine lived with her favorites for several years, but then parted for a variety of reasons (due to the death of a favorite, his betrayal or unworthy behavior), but none of them was disgraced. All of them were generously awarded with ranks, titles, money and serfs. All her life, Catherine was looking for a man who would be worthy of her, who would share her hobbies, views, etc. But she, apparently, did not succeed in finding such a person. However, there is an assumption that she secretly married Potemkin, with whom she maintained friendly relations until his death.
When writing this article, material from the book was used
Something the giraffe Marius remembered today :(
fox toss
Throwing a fox was a common competitive pastime (bloody sport) in some parts of Europe in the 17th and XVIII centuries and consisted in throwing live foxes and other animals as high as possible into the sky. Throwing usually took place in the forest or in courtyard castle or palace, on a round platform, enclosed by a stretched canvas.
Two people stood at a distance of six or seven meters from each other, holding on to the ends of the sling, which was laid out between them on the ground. Then the beast was released into the arena. When he ran between the players, they pulled the ends of the sling with all their might, throwing the animal into the air. The victory in the competition was awarded for the highest throw. The height of the throws of experienced players could reach seven meters or more. It happened that several slings were laid out in parallel at once, so that several teams could participate in a row in throwing one animal.
For a thrown animal, the outcome, as a rule, was tragic. In 1648, in Dresden, at a competition organized by the Elector of Saxony, August the Strong, 647 foxes, 533 hares, 34 badgers and 21 forest cats were thrown and killed. August personally took part in the competition. According to stories, demonstrating his strength, he held his end of the sling with one finger, while on the other hand it was held by two of the strongest servants.
Rat-baiting
Rat-baiting was especially popular in the UK and only disappeared in the early 20th century. The fashion for this fun appeared thanks to an act of Parliament in 1835, which introduced a ban on baiting bears, bulls and other large animals.
The persecution took place in the arena, fenced with a barrier. Spectator seats were placed around the amphitheater, at first five rats were launched into the arena for each participating dog.
Bull Terrier Jacko set several records - 100 rats in 5 minutes 28 seconds, 1000 rats in less than 100 minutes.
The last public persecution took place in 1912. The disappearance of bloody fun was largely facilitated by Queen Victoria's love for animals and the change in attitude towards dogs to a more humane one.
Cock tossing
"First Stage of Cruelty", engraving by William Hogarth (1751)
The fun was that the audience threw sticks at a potted rooster until the bird breathed its last. Usually this action took place on Fat Tuesday (carnival time). In some cases, the bird was tied to a log, or those throwing sticks were blindfolded. In Sussex, the bird was tied to a peg with a line five or six feet long, so that it could peck at a sluggish bully.
Unlike cockfighting, rooster throwing was common among the lower classes. When in 1660 the authorities of Bristol tried to ban this entertainment, apprentices rebelled in the city. Some wits wrote that the rooster in this game symbolizes the ancient enemy of the British - France (the rooster is one of the national symbols of France).
During the Enlightenment, this activity was ridiculed in the press as a relic of medieval barbarism and, as a result, gradually faded away.
stretching goose
A blood sport that was widespread in the Netherlands, Belgium, some areas of Germany, Great Britain and North America during the period from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century.
The meaning of this fun was as follows: a live goose with a well-greased head was tied by the legs to a horizontal pole, located at a sufficiently high height and attached to two vertical poles that formed a gate-like structure. The man had to ride a horse at full gallop through these "gates" and be able to grab the goose by the head, thereby tearing it off. It was quite difficult to do this due to the grease on the goose's head and the fluttering of the bird; sometimes additional elements of complexity were introduced in the competitions - for example, a person with a whip was sometimes placed near the “gate”, which was supposed to frighten the approaching horse with his blows. The prize for winning the competition was usually the goose itself, sometimes small sums of money collected from the audience, or alcoholic beverages.
Stretching Goose Fun Today, Belgium. Video
China is an ancient state with original culture, positioned as a kind of standard that needs to be imitated. For many centuries, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire have formed their own views on sex and erotica, as evidenced by old manuscripts and accompanying drawings.
Entertainment of wealthy Chinese women
Wealthy chinese women invented their own rather strange way of meditation. To do this, they were looking for young guys, always innocent, who were not yet eighteen years old. For a solid monetary reward, rich ladies offered young men to indulge in love joys with them. A fair question arises: what is strange and shocking here? What followed was the most brutal part of their sexual perversion. Innocent guys who agreed to take part in the entertainment of rich ladies were placed in the water so that only their head and neck remained at the top. Young men were fixed to pre-prepared devices that were installed in the water right above the head of the unfortunate guy. The ladies sat on the installation from above so that their naked genitals were above the face of a young innocent man. According to ancient manuscripts, such a strange and cruel perversion of rich Chinese ladies gave them pleasure.
Women were pleased that the innocent young man did not have the opportunity to take his eyes off the picture that opened before his eyes and they had no choice but to "see what was happening."
Although these facts do not have scientific confirmation, but, analyzing the style of modern perversions, we can conclude that the homeland of most of them is China or Japan.
Shocking perversions of wealthy Chinese men
In their many palaces, the emperors with their courtiers arranged sexual orgies, indulging in various bizarre pleasures. And they explained such fun by the fact that in this way they contribute to the harmony between female (yin) and male (yang) energy.
Entertainment of ancient Chinese rulers
A prime example of the customs of the imperial court is King Zhou Xin of the Yin Dynasty. Regular exercise and participation in fights allowed him to keep himself in excellent physical shape.
But not only martial arts with wild animals and fights with the best warriors interested the royal person. The queen, three main wives, wives of the second and third ranks (nine and twenty-seven, respectively), and numerous concubines lived in the Zhou Xin palace. In addition, the staff of the royal palace consisted of about three thousand girls who took part in festive events and feasts, where they were given the opportunity to show what virtues and skills they possess.
The king lined up courtiers around the perimeter of the arena, where he demonstrated his sexual exploits to them. He could walk around the arena with a roasted veal leg in one hand and a two-liter bronze goblet full of wine in the other.
Meanwhile, in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, there was a naked girl, straddling his manhood. The woman moved up and down his erect cock, she moaned and made voluptuous sounds. This picture brought the audience into indescribable delight.
Love pleasures of the Chinese emperors of our era
However, the luxurious life of ancient Chinese rulers cannot be compared with the way of life of some emperors who lived in a later time.
One of them is Emperor Yandi, who belonged to the Sui dynasty. He was born in 581 and died in 618 AD. He began his reign with the construction of one of the greatest palaces in the world, for which about two million workers were recruited from all over the empire. Outside, the palace was finished with the best marble of the most different colors. And its interior decoration was striking in its luxury. The Imperial Palace was located in a walled area of the park, the area of which was 120 square kilometers. In the center of the park there was an artificially created lake, along the banks of which sixteen palaces for concubines and court ladies were built. Emperor Yandi preferred to engage in amorous pleasures in boats, swaying smoothly on the waves. The emperor went for walks in the park, accompanied by thousands of court girls. Throughout the park, at a short distance from each other, there were pavilions enclosed by a low fence.
Emperor Yandi's sexual desire could suddenly arise, and then he chose several girls to make love to them in one of the pavilions. All the other women settled around, humming and playing tunes that pleased their master.
As soon as the palace was completed, the emperor began the construction of the Great Canal, connecting north with south along the waterway. Palaces were also built on the banks of the canal, where Yandi stayed during water travels. The imperial fleet included junks, in which about a thousand wives and numerous concubines followed the emperor.
The tireless ruler, who adored love joys on the waves, wanted to feel something similar on land. For this, a circular road with a wavy surface was built. The wagon, passing over such a surface, swayed, which brought even greater pleasure to people who indulged in love pleasures in it. By order of the emperor, "seven wonderful chariots" were built. Outwardly, the chariot looked more like a coffin. In each of them was a concubine, waiting for the overlord to pay attention to her. The emperor liked to go for a walk in a chariot early in the morning to enjoy sexual games with his concubines. Throughout the day, he made love to every girl he chose.
Conclusion
China is one of ancient states in the world, which has its own original culture, which is fundamentally different from the culture of the West. This is clearly seen in such an important and intimate area. human life like erotica. Based on the above, it can be seen that Chinese men and women have been looking for new ways of sexual pleasure since ancient times. Sometimes these were cruel entertainments and shocking ordinary people with their perversity.
Modern people are so quickly accustomed to the various benefits of civilization that it is now difficult to imagine how they used to do without them. About what health and hygiene problems arose among people of the Middle Ages, is widely known. But the most surprising thing is that these problems remained relevant for European women until the middle of the 19th century! Just a century and a half ago, menstruation was considered a disease during which mental activity was contraindicated, it was a difficult problem to overcome the smell of sweat, and frequent washing of the genitals was called the cause of infertility in women.
The critical days at that time were indeed very critical. No personal hygiene products yet existed - they used pieces of cloth, reusable. In England during the Victorian era, it was believed that the condition of a woman during this period worsens mental activity, so reading was forbidden. And the American scientist Edward Clark generally argued that higher education undermines the reproductive capacity of women.
Washed in those days extremely rarely and reluctantly. Most people believed that hot water allowed infections to enter the body. German doctor, author of the book "The New Natural Treatment" Friedrich Biltz at the end of the 19th century. I had to persuade people: “There are people who, in truth, do not dare to swim in the river or in the bath, because since childhood they have never entered the water. This fear is unfounded. After the fifth or sixth bath, you can get used to it.”
Slightly better was the case with oral hygiene. toothpaste Italian manufacturers began to produce in 1700, but only a few used it. The production of toothbrushes began as early as 1780. The Englishman William Addis, while serving a prison sentence, came up with the idea of drilling holes in a piece of bone and passing tufts of bristles through them, fixing them with glue. Once free, he took up the production of toothbrushes on an industrial scale.
The first real toilet paper began to be produced in England only in the 1880s. The first serial production of roll toilet paper started in 1890 in the USA. Until now, improvised means, mainly newspapers, have been used as toilet paper. In this regard, it was joked that Johannes Gutenberg was the official inventor of the printing press and the unofficial inventor of toilet paper.
A breakthrough in the field of personal hygiene occurred in the middle of the 19th century, when an opinion appeared in medicine about the relationship of bacteria with infectious diseases. The number of bacteria on the body after washing was significantly reduced. The English women were the first to achieve success in maintaining the cleanliness of the body: they began to take a bath daily using soap. But until the beginning of the twentieth century. it was believed that frequent washing of the genitals in women can lead to infertility.
The first deodorant appeared in 1888, before that the fight against the problem of sweat odor was very ineffective. Perfume interrupted the unpleasant smell, but did not eliminate it. The first antiperspirant, which reduced the ducts of the sweat glands, eliminating the smell, appeared only in 1903.
Up until the 1920s. removal of body hair among women was not practiced. The hair was washed with regular soap or a homemade cleanser. Shampoo was invented only at the end of the 19th century. Frequent problem there was pediculosis, and they fought lice with very radical methods - they were removed with mercury, which at that time was considered a cure for many diseases.
During the Middle Ages, taking care of yourself was an even more difficult task:
History: 18th century entertainment
Carnival and masquerade processions
Peter's time was distinguished not only by cruelty, bloody reprisals against thieves and bribe-takers, but also by the diversity and brightness of all kinds of festivities.
On the same Trinity Square, where there was a place of execution, in September 1721, a carnival procession took place in honor of the end of the Northern War, which lasted 21 years. The area was full of all kinds of costumes and masks. The sovereign himself acted as the ship's drummer. His wife was dressed as a Dutch peasant woman. They were surrounded by trumpeters, nymphs, shepherdesses, buffoons. The ancient gods Neptune and Bacchus were accompanied by satyrs.
Bacchus under Peter I was on place of honor among other ancient gods. The king loved mead and beer, and was very angry when someone in his presence refused a cup. The offender was treated to a huge “Big Eagle Cup”, which contained about two liters of wine. I had to drink to the bottom. After taking the cup, a person usually fell down.
Sometimes funny characters appeared in carnival processions. Riders rode, sitting backwards in their saddles, old women playing with dolls, dwarfs next to tall peasants who took them in their arms. These figures symbolized various vices.
Before Peter I, buffoons were persecuted in Rus'. In young St. Petersburg, they took part in festivities at Shrove Tuesday and on Trinity Day. In addition to winter festivities were organized in the spring for Easter. For this, Tsaritsyn Meadow and Admiralteyskaya Square were allotted. It was large and occupied vast territory from the Admiralty to the end of the current Palace Square. Booths, roller coasters, carousels were built here.
During numerous festivities, fireworks were arranged, which Peter loved so much. The Peter and Paul Fortress and some houses near it were illuminated in the evening. Mica kerosene lanterns burned on the gates and roofs. On such days, a flag was raised on one of the bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress and cannon shots thundered. They were also distributed from the royal yacht Lisetta.
1710 was a record year for the number of holidays. In November, two dwarfs drove around St. Petersburg in a three-wheeled carriage and invited guests to the wedding. In mid-November, the wedding procession began. In front was a dwarf with a staff. Seventy dwarfs followed him. The wedding feast took place in the house of Governor Menshikov, which at that time was located on the embassy (later Petrovskaya) embankment. Peter I himself was the best man of the dwarf bride.
Dwarfs danced. The rest of the guests were spectators.
Dancing
They came into fashion under Peter I. In 1721, there was a ball in the house of Golovkin, the tutor and associate of the sovereign, who was located not far from Peter's house on the Posolskaya embankment. The dances were accompanied, as the fashion of that time demanded, by frequent kisses of the ladies. The Prosecutor General of the Senate, Yaguzhinsky, was especially distinguished.
The assemblies instituted by Peter I are widely known. At first they were held in the gallery of the Summer Garden. Later, every noble person was obliged to arrange an assembly at his place during the winter. The dancing at these assemblies was highly ceremonious. A man who wanted to dance with a lady had to approach her three times, making bows. At the end of the dance, the man kissed the lady's hand. With one gentleman, a lady could only dance once. These stiff rules were brought by Peter from abroad. Soon he realized that this etiquette was terribly boring and came up with a new rule for assembly dances.
It was borrowed from the old German dance "grossvater". To the sounds of sadness and solemn music couples moved, slowly and importantly. Suddenly there was cheerful music. Ladies left their gentlemen and invited new ones. Former gentlemen grabbed new ladies. There was a terrible crowd.
Peter himself and Catherine participated in similar dances. And the laughter of the sovereign sounded louder than all.
Instantly, at the given sign, everything again came into order, and the couples continued to move sedately in the same rhythm. If any slow gentleman found himself without a lady as a result of a dance construction, he was fined. He was offered the “Big Eagle Cup”. At the end of the dance, the offender, as a rule, was carried away in his arms.
Games
Back in the 16th century, such games as grain (dice), checkers, chess and cards were known in Rus'. Especially at that time, the game of grain was widespread. The bones had white and black sides. Winning was determined by which side they fell when they were thrown. The mention of maps is found in 1649 in the code of laws of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Along with theft, playing a card game for money was equated with serious crimes. For this they could beat him with a whip, and put him in prison, and cut off his ear. But at the beginning of the 18th century, in many houses, people played cards openly, without fear of punishment.
Peter I was not fond of cards, preferring chess to them. In his youth he was taught this game by the Germans. The emperor most often spent his leisure time with a mug of beer and a pipe at the chessboard. He did not have many worthy opponents. Only Admiral Franz Lefort managed to win against Peter. He did not get angry for it, but on the contrary, he praised it.
In 1710, the king banned the game of cards and dice on ships, and eight years later issued a decree banning card games during hostilities. However, this did not apply civilian population. What card games were in Peter's time?
They played ombre, mariage and the game of kings brought from Poland. It was most common in the family circle. The loser paid all kinds of fines, which were appointed by the winning "king".
Because of this game, the wife of the famous great-grandfather of Pushkin, the black man Ibragim Gannibal, suffered. In 1731, Captain Hannibal, together with his wife Evdokia, lived in the city of Pernov. At Easter, Evdokia visited, where she was offered to play cards. Among the guests was an experienced womanizer, a certain Shishkov. Having won and being in the role of "king", he appointed Evdokia a fine in the form of a kiss. With this kiss they began love story. Ibrahim Petrovich soon found out about her. The ardent and jealous great-grandfather of Pushkin punished his unfaithful wife in his own way - he exiled her to a monastery.
Billiards appeared in St. Petersburg in the 1720s. It was brought here by the French. The first billiard table was placed in the Winter Palace of Peter, which was located approximately at the place where the Hermitage Theater is now.
Peter was fond of playing billiards. When it huge growth and with a steady hand, he easily learned how to put the balls accurately into the pockets. Soon, many courtiers also knew how to play billiards. Billiards were ordered from France by nobles, and then by the owners of taverns. Most likely, billiards stood in the "Austeria" often visited by the tsar near the Ioanovsky bridge leading to the Peter and Paul Fortress. In the book of F. Tumansky “Description of St. Petersburg” (1793), one can read: “Austeria was called Solemn, because the sovereign sent all the celebrations and fireworks on the square in front of it. On holidays, Tsar Peter the Great, leaving the Mass of the Trinity Cathedral, went with noble persons and ministers to this Austeria for a glass of vodka before dinner.
Jesters
Little Peter had two dwarf jesters, given to him by his elder brother Fyodor Alekseevich. One was called Komar, the other - Cricket. The latter soon died, and Komar, whom the sovereign loved very much, lived until the death of Peter I. In the Winter Palace on the Palace Embankment, Peter was surrounded by two more jesters: the legendary Balakirev and Akosta.
Jesters at court played a certain role, ridiculing ancient customs and prejudice. Sometimes they could report to Peter about his subordinates, and they complained to the king about his jesters more than once. Peter, as a rule, answered with a grin: “What can you do? After all, they are fools!” Balakirev stayed with Peter for no more than two years, but left a memory behind. His name is known as the author of witty answers and anecdotes.
In books about these anecdotes, legends are interspersed with reality. One of the cases, perhaps, which took place in life, we will cite.
Once, when asked by Peter what people in St. Petersburg say about St. Petersburg itself, Balakirev answered:
- The people say: on the one hand the sea, on the other mountain, on the third moss, and on the fourth "oh"!
- Lie down! - Peter shouted and began to beat the jester with a club, sentencing. - Here is the sea for you, here is grief for you, here is moss for you, but here is “oh” for you!
During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the “Queen of the Terrible Vision”, the attitude towards jesters was even more cruel. Suffice it to recall the story of the ice house built on the Neva at the end of 1739 for the jester's wedding of M. A. Golitsin and A. I. Buzheninova, where they were ordered to spend their wedding night.
Anna Ioannovna surrounded herself with trickster women. And dwarfs, and freaks. For her jesters, the empress herself invented costumes. They were sewn from multi-colored patches. The suit could be made of velvet, and the pants and sleeves could be made of matting. Caps with rattles flaunted on the heads of jesters. Balls and masquerades in the third Winter Palace, which was built by F. Rastrelli in the 1730s, approximately on the site where the current Winter Palace stands, followed one after another. At masquerade balls, everyone had to wear masks. By dinner, the order was heard: “Masks down!” and then all those present revealed their faces. The empress herself usually did not wear either a costume or a mask. Balami disposed of, as vrochem and everything else, her favorite Biron.
The balls ended with a sumptuous dinner. Anna Ioannovna did not like wine, and therefore at dinner they ate more than they drank. Jesters were not allowed at balls and masquerades. Sometimes the Empress took them with her for a walk and hunting. Despite her fullness, she was a good rider and accurately shot a gun. On the square in front of the Winter Palace, a corral for various animals was built. Anna Ioannovna could grab a gun in the middle of the day and fire right out of the windows of the palace at a bird flying by.
Whims of Elizabeth Petrovna
While still a princess, Elizabeth had a huge staff of servants: four valets, nine ladies-in-waiting, four governesses, a chamber junker, a lot of lackeys. Becoming empress, she expanded her staff several times more. With her were musicians, songwriters who delighted her ears.
The number of servants included several women who at night, when the empress did not sleep, and this happened often, scratched her heels. At the same time, they were allowed to conduct a quiet, in an undertone conversation. Sometimes carders managed to whisper two or three words into Elizabeth's ear, rendering their protégé a generously paid service.
Inherited from her father, Elizabeth inherited a love of changing places. Her travels were like a natural disaster. When she moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a real commotion began in both capitals. Persons managing the Senate and the Synod, the treasury, the court office, were to follow her. Elizabeth Petrovna loved fast driving. Twelve horses were harnessed to her carriage or cart, equipped with a special firebox. Rushed to the quarry.
The splendor of balls and masquerades under Elizabeth Petrovna surpassed everything that was before. The Empress had an excellent figure. She was especially beautiful in men's suit. Therefore, in the first four months of her reign, she changed the uniforms of all the regiments. In general, the Empress loved dressing up. Her wardrobe consisted of a fabulous number of the most diverse outfits that the daughter of Peter I ordered from abroad. One day, the Empress ordered that all the ladies at the ball in the Winter Palace (this temporary Winter Palace was located on the corner of Nevsky and Moika) appeared in men's suits, and all men in women's. On dog hunting, Elizabeth also went out in a man's suit. For the sake of hunting, the Empress, who loved to sleep, got up at 5 o'clock in the morning.
Of course, in this essay we could not tell about all the amusements of old Petersburg, in particular about those that were under Catherine II. More on this later. It is important to note that the city, both during the reign of Anna Ioannovna and during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, changed, grew.
Under Anna Ioannovna, Alekseevsky and Ioannovsky ravelins of the Peter and Paul Fortress appeared, named after the grandfather and father of this cruel ruler. When she was organized, the Commission on St. Petersburg buildings, which disposed of the construction of new buildings.
Under Elizabeth Petrovna, Petersburg finally received the status of the second capital, and the Anichkov Palace, the Stroganov Palace (Nevsky, 17), the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery, the Winter Palace (fifth in a row), which still flaunts on Palace Square, were built.
