The people of medieval Europe have traditionally been seen as uninterested in cleanliness and hygiene, but modern research has shown that this is largely a myth. According to historian Eleanor Janega, most medieval towns in Europe had at least one public bathhouse, which often offered both full-immersion baths and—more affordably—steam baths. While such amenities were available mainly to town dwellers, regular bathing in rivers and streams or daily sponge baths at home were common practices throughout medieval Europe.