> Alcoves were hygienically problematic, as the straw was sometimes only rarely changed, ventilation was poor and food supplies were often stored under the alcoves in farmhouses. To combat tuberculosis, the Baupolizei [government institution in germany responsible for building codes] took action against alcoves from the end of the 19th century. In the Free State of Oldenburg, the health insurance companies paid 100 Reichsmark per removed alcove in 1926.
Source: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkoven_(Bettnische)
I would assume that in other european countries the situation was similar.
Several people sharing a closed space for sleeping seems to be the perfect way to spread diseases as well as parasites.
Suddenly I want something like this again.
When I visited my brother this Christmas, he pointed out that this is an almost universal behaviour in young kids, which suggests that at some point in our evolutionary history we faced predators that specifically targeted small children.
They mentioned hooded chairs and bed canopies: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/restoring-the-old-...
Might be a fun project.
Maybe we read a different book though. I remember Patterns about properly designing parks and communities, and even some on house design but none of them seemed expensive.
They were not as luxurious as our modern living but people still did their best to make their living spaces comfortable. They didn't just sit in windy castles freezing their butts off every day. Most of the huge stone rooms we see now were actually separated into smaller wooden chambers that were much easier to heat.
Not a history buff, wouldn't know where to start looking...
https://archive.org/details/bf-skinner-his-own-best-subject-...
I would need to be able to sit up in my bed and get in/out without bumping my head. An integrated light would be nice- for reading, along with some chargingp ports and integrated shelving along with a built-in central air unit with a heater/airco for the hot + warm nights would save a ton of electricity in the extreme seasons.
And if you live in a home with others, a fair bit of privacy is always lovely.
I'm shocked this isn't a thing yet.
The downside is that you can run out of air, especially if someone is very flatulent.
The medieval period normally ends at around 1500. There is like one 13th century source in the article, the rest hat NOTHING to do with the medieval period at all.
Not to mention these beds seem to have been mostly popular in Britain and maybe some parts of continental Europe and are absolutely not typical for how medieval people slept in most of Europe.
Also the whole lacking space and multiple people sleeping together in one bed for lack of it thing: yes Victorian era maybe, in the Middle Ages with low population density, surely not typical.
This is absolutely bogus science and BBC should be ashamed writing such crap.
- air quality (especially if closed off), less air volume means the air gets bad faster
- air humidity, raises faster through sweat in a cupboard setup, for the same reason the inner tent of good tents tends to be made of a fabric which allows air humidity to go out of the inner tent (I think, haven't bought a tent forever)
- fungus mainly due to the higher humidity/reduced ventilation the chance to have a fungus infection in your box (and also/especially the bottom of you mattress)
All of this where issues back then too, just so much smaller then the risk of freezing.
A risk we currently tent to not have in apartments due to better heating, insulation (even on non insulated housed due to better closing windows and better thermal isolating glass). Not being in a short little ice age also helps.
Capsule hotels are somewhat of an modern version of this. They tend to have some form of AC in every capsule to fix the air quality issue and hugely reduce the humidity and in turn fungus issue
If you are stuck in a situation where idk. heating is broken and its dam cold creating a similar setup by e.g. butting a tend on your bed can still be a grate idea.
Imagine a large American 2 story house, where the "Owners Retreat" is on the first floor, a single bedroom, bathroom, multiple cosets sometimes with a small separate kitchenette, laundry, and reading/tv/living space.
How?? Are they sleeping on top of each other?
Ever had rats? Fuckers will climb literally anything and get into literally everything. "Roof rats" are a thing.
Elevation does not deter any pest I'm aware of (bears maybe). Your bed will get bedbugs same as a futon, but in the case of rodents their droppings always fall downward. Keeping stuff off the ground keeps it away from filth.
Don't know if the latter is true. But doesn't seem too implausible - life back then was generally less healthy & more dangerous.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15650465/
Big fluffy beds way off the floor are bad. It's interesting to note that the above finds it most effective for women. The below is most effective for men.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10105021/
It shouldn't actually matter your sex.
To add, buddhist monks must sleep on the ground and lay followers are expected to sleep on the ground on occasion.
> https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15650465/
This was published by the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, which has also published articles on how homeopathy is effective. I don't know that I would consider it a high quality source.
I did get downvoted badly. I was not aware the NIH was so untrustworthy. People usually accept them as a source.
I will now question the NIH. Thanks for telling me about the NIH.
...and then that episode came on.
Most awkward family night ever.
If not, you can look at the pictures at the time stamp. It should be self-explanatory. I sadly don't have good English-speaking sources at hand right now. The problem is that most pop science articles are horribly wrong. Here is one about general castle myths that is OK-ish: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/myths-about-medieval-cas...
I mostly learned that stuff from taking courses in university. The difference how the academic mainstream sees the medieval period vs pop culture is super crass.
Thank you.
This makes a lot more sense for what I'm planning to build. We're used to calling it "Master bedroom" where I'm from, but I always imagined I'd want some sort of suite or apartment, separate from the rest of the house.
It's not great.
https://modernfarmer.com/2022/04/farming-made-our-ancestors-...