How often did people bathe in the 1600s?

Most people would bathe only once a year. The royalty bathed a little more often, about once every six months or so. Queen Elizabeth I was noted for her particular concern for hygiene, boasting that she bathed every three months, whether she needed it or not.

It should also be noted that just because people did not bathe often does not mean that they were unkempt. People would of course clean themselves up when needed, royalty especially, so things were not quite as bad as they might at first sound. Having said that, we pay more attention to our cleanliness than the majority of past generations.