Hungary Water

Hungary water (sometimes called "the Queen of Hungary's Water") was the first (European) alcohol-based perfume, claimed to date to about the late 14th century. According to legend it was first formulated at the command of a Queen of Hungary, sometimes identified as Isabella but usually as Elisabeth (historically the name Isabella was a variant of Elisabeth, and in the period in question the two were sometimes interchangeable), or in one document "Saint Elisabeth, Queen of Hungary" (this may be a conflation of multiple individuals). These legends, and the documented references to this preparation, mostly date to the early to mid-17th century, so the details may have become confused in the intervening centuries.