It wasn't just the streets that stank. Most people didn't think washing was good for you and might go for years without a bath!

Even rich people didn't change their clothes very often. They used lots of perfume to cover the smell.

Not surprisingly, people were crawling with fleas, lice and mites. As you will see in the section on disease, a lot of nasty illnesses like typhus and the plague were spread by these animals.