Bathing Rituals

When I think of Medieval Europe, I have been conditioned to think of dirty, nasty, stinky people.  The lack of personal hygiene is generally thought to have been appalling.  In some cases, this is entirely correct.  However, there is an entire world of tradition (and history) wherein this was not the case.  Public bathhouses were popular in Europe prior to the High Middle Ages when they got some interesting ideas about the spread of disease and what it meant to be clean.  Honestly, it seems that people were at their nastiest during the Renaissance.  My Fantasy world may be comprised of all sorts of cultures and traditions, so I needed to explore a little bit regarding how people dealt with the bath.
    In ancient Rome, bathing was one of the most common daily activities and easily within the budget of most free Roman men.  In 354AD, 952 bathing facilities of various sizes were identified in Rome.  Three thousand bathers could be accommodated in the Baths of Diocletian.  These facilities were not for bathing alone, but included a wide variety of leisure time pursuits, including exercise, food, drink, music, and massage.  The goal of the Roman bath was to induce sweating.  The bather would start with a cold water dip and then go through a series of incrementally warmer rooms reaching around 100 degrees F (and 100% humidity).  Dirt was removed from the skin by applying oil and scraping with metal tools.  Early bathing facilities had separate sections for men and women, but mixed bathing was common by the First Century AD.  The Romans carried their love of bathing throughout the Empire and exploited natural mineral baths wherever they found them.  
    The traditional Turkish bath is similar in design to the Roman ones (crossing cultures and all), but focuses more on water than on steam.  As you might imagine, coming from an Islamic culture, these baths are separated by gender.  After the hot room comes the wash and massage, followed by a vigorous scrubbing and rinse in cold water (as opposed to the Roman where you start with the cold).  Then you may relax and take refreshment in the cool room before carrying on with your day. 
    The Russian bath is called a banya.  The basic banya has three rooms.  The entrance room has benches for resting and pegs to hang your clothes.  The washing room has a hot water tap (heated from the steam room) and cold water to mix for appropriate washing temperatures.  Temperatures in the steam room may reach 200 degrees F.  Special felt hats are typically worn to protect the head.  In a traditional banya, once a good sweat is induced, patrons may go outside to cool off, jump in an icy lake, or what have you, before returning to the heat.  After the first sweat, patrons will strike themselves with bunches of soaked tree branches (making them pliable) to improve circulation (in upscale places today, you can pay people to do it for you). 
    Bathing in Japan is an important part of everyday life.  However, baths are for relaxing, not for cleaning.  It is important to clean yourself before entering the bath, because the bath water will be used by the entire family (when one is available in the home) or other members of the community.  Parents may bathe with children and colleagues may bathe together at an onsen (geothermal) resort.  Japanese tubs are generally deeper than western ones, allowing the user to soak up to the chin.  The water is also much hotter than westerners are used to encountering.  Public bath houses either had a deep pool for bathing or were primarily steam baths.  Separating by gender began in the 17thC, but they went back and forth on this.  Prostitution was apparently a bit of an issue with the yuna (hot water women), who later were relegated to the red light districts. 
    There are loads more traditions that deal with bathing, especially in religious rituals.  Maybe I'll discuss that some other time.  The presence of bathhouses in your fantasy world could have a variety of impacts.  It may be an interesting setting for a business meeting.  Spa towns are hardly new inventions, maybe there is something screwing with the water supply that your hero needs to deal with.  Baths are a great place to invent ritual or to release tension after a long day of adventuring.  The rules that govern your baths probably say a fair amount the local views on sexuality as well as other cultural touchstones.  The history of bathing is lengthy and diverse.  We all do it, so it's important to know how your characters feel about it.  What is their tradition?  Such simple explorations can open up worlds of detail in your work and depth for your characters.
   


Jewish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Roman_bathing
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/roman/day.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_bath
http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/02/hammam-turkish-bath-explained
http://www.wittistanbul.com/magazine/what-to-expect-when-visiting-a-turkish-bath-or-hamam/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banya_%28sauna%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette_in_Japan#Bathing
http://www.rothteien.com/topics/japanesebath.htm