Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Erfurt Latrine Disaster

Episode Date: January 8, 2021

In the year 1184 in the Dutchy of Thuringia, in what is today the country of Germany, a conflict raged between the Count of Thuringia and the Archbishop of Mainz. To resolve this dispute, the German King Henrich VI called the parties to the city of Erfurt to settle their outstanding issues. Things did not go as anyone planned. Learn more about the Erfurt Latrine Disaster on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the year 1184 in the Duchy of Thuringia, in what is today the country of Germany, a conflict raged between the Count of Thuringia and the Archbishop of Mans. To resolve this dispute, the German king Heinrich the 6th called the parties together to the city of Erfurt to settle their outstanding issues. Things did not go as planned. Learn more about the Airfort-Latrine disaster on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? throughline is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed.

It effectively turned day into night and how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the Thurline podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by audible.com. My audiobook recommendation today is Medieval Europe by Chris Wickham. Tracking the entire sweep of the Middle Ages across Europe, Wickham focuses on important changes century by century, including such pivotal crises and moments as the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Charlemagne's Reforms, the Feudal Revolution,

the Challenge of Heresy, the Destruction of the Byzantine Empire, the rebuilding of the late medieval states, and the appalling devastation of the Black Death. You can get a free one-month trial to Audible and two free audiobooks by going to Audibletrial.com slash everything everywhere, or by clicking on the link in the show notes. The story of what happened in the town of Ayrford in the year 1184 is odd. Yet, it wouldn't be implausible for something like this to happen in the 21st century,

albeit under very different circumstances. The event started with a land dispute between members of the nobility. Thuringia is a state in central Germany. Back in the 12th century, the entire region was divided into a patchwork of duchess principalities and other land claims between various aristocrats and the church. There were almost always competing land claims, as so many of the land titles had ancient origins, and everything became confusing and disputed over time. In this particular instance, the two aggrieved parties were the Count of Whistlebach,

Conrad I, who also happened to be the Archbishop of Mans, and Ludwig III, the landgraf of Thuringia. The dispute went back to a Duke, Henry the Lion, who hadn't supported the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa sufficiently, so he was tried in abstentia, and his land was taken from him. It was this land that was the core of the dispute. However, there was a lot more to it, including an anti-Pope. None of that's really relevant to what this story is about, however. Suffice it to say, there was a land dispute. Enter Heinrich the 6th of the Hosenstaufen dynasty.

He was the king of Germany, son of Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, and would one day be the Holy Roman Emperor himself. Both parties and the land in question were under the domain of the Holy Roman Empire. So, the Emperor Frederick decided to resolve the decision. between them once and for all. His son was on the way to Poland and was passing through Thuringia and used this opportunity to take care of business. To this end, he ordered the parties to assemble in the town of Erford in Thuringia for a Diet where the issue would be settled. The issue wasn't just between the two men in question, however. There were a whole bunch of other landowners

and other minor nobility who had an interest in one side of the dispute or another. Moreover, when the future emperor is coming to town, everyone wants to be on the guest list. On July 25, 1184, the parties assembled at the Petersburg Citadel in Erfurt, the largest city in Thuringia. The citadel got its name because it was a fortification on top of a hill, but it was also a monastery, and the monks would be playing host for the event. It's at this story I need to go in a totally different direction to provide some of the background. In most medieval castles, the toilet was a small alcove that protruded from the main building. There would be a seat with a hole that would drop directly outside the walls of the castle. If you go to visit any castle in Europe, you can usually see them if you look closely.

In the monastery, they had a slightly different setup. They had a latrine. Today, a latrine is just considered a synonym for a toilet, often with a military connotation. However, there is a specific meaning to the word. A latrine is a communal toilet. The seats are usually ringed along the side of the wall, and there is absolutely no privacy. In the case of the monastery, the latrine was situated above a. cesspool, a great big hole that just filled up over time. In the case of this particular monastery,

the cesspool was made extra large, so the monks wouldn't have to empty it out frequently, because it was a really crappy job. The meeting with King Heinrich, the bishop, and the count, and all the other nobles took place in a room which was situated above the latrine. Over a hundred nobles of various rank were assembled in the room, along with the major parties in the dispute. As the room reached its peak capacity, the floor collapsed. It might have been rotten wood or it could have been poor engineering. It's really hard to know because in the 12th century they didn't have building codes. When all of the people, the furniture, and the heavy wooden beams of the upper floor fell into the latrine, the floor of the latrine collapsed as well, sending everyone

and everything into the cesspool, which I have to mention at the time was near capacity. Everything and almost every one was in a deep pool of liquid human excrement. Many people were killed in the initial collapse. Many more who survived the collapsed ended up drowning in the cesspool. It's estimated that between 60 to 100 people died in the disaster. King Heinrich and Count Ludwig did not fall into the latrine. They were both sitting on chairs and alcoves with a separate stone floor. However, when the floors gave way, they were stranded in their seats,

watching the horror unfold two stories below them. Bishop Conrad was on the floor with everyone else, but amazingly survived. Not only did he survive the fall and didn't drown, but he also didn't get any subsequent infections. Eventually, both the king and the count were rescued when ladders were brought in to get them down. Once he was safe, the king left Ayrfurt immediately. He knew he wanted to make a splash in Ayrford, but not like this. It isn't known if the land dispute was ever settled. Over 900 years later, the Airfort Latrine disaster remains the number one, number two disaster in human history.

Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James McAlla. The associate producer is Thor Thompson. Remember to leave a five-star review to get your review read on the show. They can be left at Apple Podcasts, Podcasts, Podcast Republic, or wherever you listen to the show. Also, you can help support the show over at patreon.com. Patrons can get merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies, as well as having direct access to provide suggestions for future episodes.