# Beds during early middle ages



## Bearman1 (Jul 24, 2014)

Hi All, 

I have a character waking up in an inn during my WIP. I want to give a brief description of how poor the room.

The world is set in the equivalent of about the 11th century AD.

I thought a good way to do this would be to describe the materials of the bed and how low quality they are. 

Only thing is .. I don't know what materials would be used for a bed. I am inclined to think wool for the sheet, and straw in the mattress. But honestly I have no idea what a bed consisted off during this time period. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


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## Fyle (Jul 24, 2014)

I'm no expert but 

- wood frame 
- blankets
- straw/hay 
- a pillow if you weren't completely poor

Wiki it, "beds medieval times" or something


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## skip.knox (Jul 24, 2014)

Poor would mean a pallet on the floor. That's it. An actual bed would be stepping up in the world. Also, not to get too pedantic, the 11thc is not early MA, it's high MA. Or central MA, depending on one's preferences.


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## Graylorne (Jul 25, 2014)

About straw and straw beds:

Straw mattresses, chaff beds, palliasses, ticks stuffed with leaves


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## SeverinR (Jul 25, 2014)

Rope Bed - Mogh Roith Living History Group

Straw on a wooden frame with rope suspension.  That is where the "sleep tight" comes in.  You regularly had to tighten up the ropes of the bed.


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## Shreddies (Jul 25, 2014)

SeverinR said:


> Straw on a wooden frame with rope suspension.  That is where the "sleep tight" comes in.  You regularly had to tighten up the ropes of the bed.



I was going to use something like that for my world. Do you know which era they were being widely used in?


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## Bearman1 (Jul 25, 2014)

Wow! Thanks for all the info guys! 

I hadn't even heard of a rope bed before, so you have all been really insightful.


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## SeverinR (Jul 25, 2014)

Canopy beds and rope beds  16-17th century.
Beds didn't change much, rope beds were used in colonial period of USA.
The Bed. Part 2  this one is pretty good at "making the bed."


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## skip.knox (Jul 26, 2014)

Not to pound a point, but the beds in those illustrations were for wealthy people. Also, 16thc (though those illos were more like 17thc or later). OP asked about 11thc. 

He did specify an inn. Few of those in 11thc, but given one, those beds were still awfully fancy. Much more common were pallets or piles or piles of straw, and multiple people crammed into the same room.


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