A four-poster bed features a headboard, or dressing room, with a tall post at each corner at least four feet high that supports a removable fabric covering. It is still found in many homes today and is popular in resorts and hotels for its romantic appeal.
The term canopy chamber from 14th century France. the french word pavilion which means bed curtain goes back to the latin word canopy and before that, of the Greeks konopeion, a sofa with mosquito nets. They were all derived from konopsa gnat or gnat.
Regarded today as elegant, four-poster beds have a completely ordinary and unremarkable origin. You might be interested to know that canopy beds evolved from a box bed, an ordinary wooden box that encloses a bed.
The first houses during the Middle Ages did not have insulation that could really provide warmth and protection. The houses during those days were made of adobe and mud with thatched roofs. The doors and windows provided an annoying obstruction to the wind. They only filter the snow from the wind as it passes the house. It was so cold that even if you bundled up in bed with lots of blankets, it wasn’t very hot.
With this need, the box bed with a door that closes was designed. In fact, it really helped to keep the wind off the bed, as the bed was actually inside the wooden box, thus trapping hot air around it. The cold breeze coming through the house might not be strong enough to pass through your wall. If you were afraid of enclosed spaces, the box bed was really claustrophobic.
Those who can afford it use fabrics to maintain body heat around the bed. Only the super-rich could buy enough cloth to cover a bed. Those who have less in life found satisfaction inside a wooden box. With the bed on the floor, they placed it in the corner of the room so that only the top and both sides were covered.
Another reason for the creation of the box bed was the fall of objects from the ceiling. Thatched roofs were home to caterpillars and other insects that often fell off and caused a disturbance to those sleeping below. For people who can afford the cloth, poles were erected at the top to catch any stubborn pests. In fact, four-poster beds were a necessity in those days.
Landlords living in castles had other reasons for using four-poster beds. In early European castles, the lord, his family, and his servants slept in one large room. They used canopy beds to allow a bit of privacy. When castles offered separate bedrooms, four-poster beds were still used to provide warmth.
Today four-poster beds are no longer a necessity but simply a desire in France and old England; however, in many parts of the world, they are still considered a must. Where there are mosquitoes, there are nets on the four poster beds.
Canopy beds have come a long way from an extremely conventional box bed to the ever-stylish and always-desired bedroom furniture. It comes in many different styles and fashions, from carved wood to ornate cast iron. People who love magnificence prefer four-poster beds adorned with matching canopy and luxurious linens. The canopy bed was here centuries before and will be here forever.
