Early medieval Europe, inheriting the traditions of Rome, was surprisingly clean.

People, if not daily, still made efforts to bathe often, and public baths were built. In any case, they were quite diligent about hygiene.

But everything changed after the Black Death struck.

I don’t know exactly why the Black Death happened, but because so many people gathered in public baths, the plague spread widely, and the chances of contracting the disease increased.

The primitive people of the Middle Ages believed that being too clean made one more susceptible to illness.

Ignorant people, when faced with bad outcomes, tend to make foolish mistakes.

If I understand this, I should make use of it myself.