The Great Bed of Ware

For much of human history, sleeping arrangements were very informal. You heaped a pile of straw or leaves on the floor, covered it with animal skin or a large linen cloth, and tucked yourself in with a cloak or a blanket. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that people started to afford a bit of luxury. Mattresses were stuffed with feathers, wool, or horse hair, depending on the level of comfort desired, with feathers being the softest and the costliest of stuffing. Considerable attention was given to the bedstead too. Made of wood, they were decorated with inlaid, carved, and painted ornamentation. Upon these the mattress was laid and cushions with embroidered coverlets were propped up. The world’s largest bed, the Great Bed of Ware, at Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Photo: Paul Gravestock/Flickr By the 14th century, beds became one of the most valuable things a homeowner possessed. Consequently, some beds were made solely to impress. The best bed in the household was kept downstairs, in the living room, where it could be marveled by visitors. Richly decorated with silk, velvet, fur and even cloth of gold, this bed was reserved for important visitors, but in practice it was hardly slept upon. When William Shakespeare died, he famously left his “second-best bed” to his wife Anne Hathaway. While some may perceive this unusual bequest in the will as an insult to the wife, by “second-best bed” the great playwright was most certainly referencing his actual marriage bed which he shared with his wife, and therefore was associated with the most tender memories. It was during the 14th century that four poster bed made its first appearance. These beds have four vertical columns, one in each corner, that support an upper panel called the tester.