In the fourteenth century, that is. I’m reading The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England, which is turning out much better than its title would suggest. The gimmick is to try to bring the period to life by focusing on the things we would be confused or puzzled by, whether because our stereotypes are off-beam or simply because things were done really differently.

Which brings me to the pigs. Apparently London was so filthy (ditches but no sewer system; slaughtering of animals all over the city; bucket-based toilets for much of the populace) that it was infested not just with rats but also with dogs and pigs. The first in a succession of moves to clean up the city is “the establishment of a mechanism for appointing official swine killers, who are paid 4d for every pig they remove.” (And in 1311 “the flaying of dead horses is prohibited within the city walls”, which I imagine improved the atmosphere.)

In closely related news, very likely the first thing you would notice on arriving in fourteenth-century London would be your nose shutting down in protest. Or possibly falling off.