>>84877126my bad then, thought the further reading section was sources
that being said, here's a quote about the King writing to the city complaining about streets so filled with manure that streets and lanes were obstructed:
"The king, detesting the abominable smell abounding in the said city more
than in any other city of the realm from dung and manure and other filth
and dirt wherewith the streets and lanes are tilled and obstructed, and
wishing to provide for the protection of the health of the inhabitants and
of those coming to the present parliament, orders them to cause all the
streets and lanes of the city to be cleansed from such filth…"
from this paper:
https://dolly.jorgensenweb.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Jorgensen-Medieval-sense-of-smell.pdfthere are other examples in there, as well as pointing out how people attempted to address these issues whenever the smell got unbearable, but generally speaking it seems dumping waste into the nearest river or street was common enough for all these records of trying to fix those issues to survive historically
yes there were probably clean cities, but i doubt the average city would be considered clean by today's standards.
hmm they should add a pooping system for farm animals and NPCs and players themselves next time and see how fast waste builds up
