In Support of Naturism
J.C. Cunningham notes that "there is nothing in the present rubrics of the Roman rite against doing this today. In fact, in the Eastern rites the rubrics even state the option of nude adult baptism."
156. Nudity was common and accepted in pre-medieval (circa 6th century) society, especially in places like Great Britain, which had been "barbarian" lands only a few hundred years before.
E.T. Renbourn notes that nudity was widespread throughout Ancient Britain and northern Europe, in spite of the climate. Even as late as the 17th century, travellers such as Coryat and Fynes Moryson found the Irish people living nude or semi-nude indoors. He writes that Moryson, in his Itinery (circa early 17th century), found Irish gentlewomen "prepared to receive visitors and even strangers indoors when completely unencumbered by clothing."
The high-ranking nobles of Edward IV's court were permitted by law to display
their naked genitals below a short tunic, and contemporary reports indicate
that they did so. Chaucer commented on the use of this fashion in The
Parson's Tale, written about 1400. Many men's garments, he wrote, were
so short they "covere nat the shameful membres of man." Between the
14th and mid-17th centuries, and especially during the reign of Louis XIV,
women would often leave their bodices loose and open or even entirely undone,
exposing the nipple or even the whole of the breasts, a practice confirmed
by numerous historical accounts. The Venetian ambassador, writing in 1617,
described Queen Anne of Denmark as wearing a dress which displayed her bosom
"bare down to the pit of the stomach." Aileen Ribeiro writes that in the
early 15th century, "women's gowns became increasingly tight-fitting over
the bust, some gowns with front openings even revealing the nipples.
. . . In 1445 Guillaume Jouvenal des Ursins became Chancellor of
France and his brother, an ecclesiastic, wrote to him urging him to tell
the king that he should not allow the ladies of his household to wear gowns
with front openings that revealed their breasts and nipples."
158. Even in the Victorian era, before the invention of bathing suits, swimming nude in the ocean was commonplace; and music halls often featured nude models as living "sculpture."
159. Few people realize that swimsuits, as we know them today, are a relatively recent concept. The idea of wearing special clothing to swim in is barely a century old.
160. Skinnydipping, in the local river or farm pond, is well-documented as an important historical part of our national heritage.
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J.C. Cunningham notes that "there is nothing in the present rubrics of the Roman rite against doing this today. In fact, in the Eastern rites the rubrics even state the option of nude adult baptism."
156. Nudity was common and accepted in pre-medieval (circa 6th century) society, especially in places like Great Britain, which had been "barbarian" lands only a few hundred years before.
E.T. Renbourn notes that nudity was widespread throughout Ancient Britain and northern Europe, in spite of the climate. Even as late as the 17th century, travellers such as Coryat and Fynes Moryson found the Irish people living nude or semi-nude indoors. He writes that Moryson, in his Itinery (circa early 17th century), found Irish gentlewomen "prepared to receive visitors and even strangers indoors when completely unencumbered by clothing."
| 157. Nudity was fairly common in medieval and renaissance society, especially in the public baths and within the family setting. Havelock Ellis records that "in daily life . . . a considerable degree of nakedness was tolerated during medieval times. This was notably so in the public baths, frequented by men and women together." Lawrence Wright observes that nudity was common in the home, too: "The communal tub had . . . one good reason; the good reason was the physical difficulty of providing hot water. No modern householder who . . . has bailed out and carried away some 30 gallons of water, weighing 300 lb., will underrate the labour involved. The whole family and their guests would bathe together while the water was hot. . . . Ideas of propriety were different from ours, the whole household and the guests shared the one and only sleeping apartment, and wore no night-clothes until the sixteenth century. It was not necessarily rude to be nude." |
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158. Even in the Victorian era, before the invention of bathing suits, swimming nude in the ocean was commonplace; and music halls often featured nude models as living "sculpture."
159. Few people realize that swimsuits, as we know them today, are a relatively recent concept. The idea of wearing special clothing to swim in is barely a century old.
160. Skinnydipping, in the local river or farm pond, is well-documented as an important historical part of our national heritage.
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