Medieval Associations of Smells

We share the same genetic code with people from the Medieval past, and the basic way our brains take in sensory information is also the same. However, the cultural lens of the Middle Ages differs so greatly from our own that Medieval people interpreted the physical world in a vastly different way. This is true even for the way smells were registered.

Humans have considered some smells consistently across time. For instance, bad smells have included rotting flesh, and good smells have been associated with fragrant flowers. But scents took on a theological meaning in the Middle Ages which is alien to us today. For example, many texts describing miraculous visitations – say, by angels – also record their accompaniment with sweet odors and perfumes. On the other hand, if demons made an appearance, a fetid stench would give away the evil nature of the apparition.

This was the case of the poor widow Ermine de Reims (d. 1396), who was visited in the last phase of her life by many devils, who beat her, tempted her, and tried to trick her by disguising themselves as holy figures. The beleaguered woman constantly struggled to determine whether her supernatural guests were from the realms of the holy or the damned. But smells were the ultimate litmus test. When one demon appeared to her, its mouth had a stink like “all the garbage of the entire world” resided in it. Another devil tempted Ermine to stop listening to the Catholic clergy, but its bad breath gave it away.

Unfortunately, for Medieval people the association of rotting flesh could also signify a belief in the basically sinful nature of humanity. Thus, one devil deliberately pressed a decaying male corpse onto the body of the holy woman Francesca Romana, who was horrified. Afterwards, she was completely rid of any sexual temptation, because every male body took on the same rotting stench.