The box bed

 

THE MEDIEVAL BOX BED

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The box bed, sometimes known by its French name of lit clos, is a bed built into a piece of furniture.

600 years ago this kind of bed was very popular, and it is making a comeback today.

As its name implies, the box bed is completely contained within a wooden box.

There were a lot of variations in design – some had curtains for privacy, while others were completely closed off with sliding wooden doors.

They could be built in a number of ways to utilize the space available – some were freestanding and could be moved, but others were built into recesses of a room.

Its roots come from Medieval Brittany.

By the 16th Century, examples of box beds could be found across Europe.

As they became more popular, more commonplace designs advanced and in the 18th Century box beds could be quite sophisticated and cleverly designed, to blend into the room and look like inconspicuous cabinets.

Many families slept in the same room, and poorer families often lived in dwellings with only one room, particularly in rural communities.

The beds meant that people were able to retreat to a private part of the room, and have their own space.

Furthermore, as the beds were built in boxes which were usually raised off the ground, they also provided storage space.

They usually had a large bench in front of them, which could be used as seating.

The drawers under the bed or bench were sometimes pulled out to use as a bed for younger family members or guests.

It is also noteworthy that a lot of surviving examples, and the regions where the box bed prevailed the longest, are in regions such as Scandinavia, which are mercilessly cold during the winter.

The enclosed nature of the box bed means they are very warm and keeping warm could be a matter of life or death in medieval times.

After a period of several hundred years, the box bed is starting to make appearances in homes across the world again.

The cramped living conditions and prevalence of studio apartments, mean that they are once again a handy solution to the problem of privacy in a single room living situation.

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https://www.ancient-origins.net/.../medieval-box-bed...

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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18th century box-bed in Austria ~ Volkskundemuseum Dietenheim, South Tirol.

Photo by Wolfgang Sauber CC BY-SA 3.0