Nudity Was Terrifying
The church wanted people to remain prude. In fear that members of communities would engage in premarital sex if they saw themselves naked, people were encouraged to not bathe to keep their chastity intact. Women would hide potpourri in their bosoms, and men would pad their stockings with flowers and grass clippings to mask the stench of nasty human body odor.
The Cat's Away, The Rats Will Play
In the beginning stages of the bubonic plague in Europe, the pope believed that the disease was caused by witchcraft practiced by... cats. So, all the cats were slain in England. Then, since the cats were dead, the rats ran free and infected hundreds of thousands of people with an incurable disease.