It was now a matter of pride to have the bed furnished with handsome curtains and coverings. Curtains to beds were so common, that being “under the curtain” was used as an ordinary periphrasis for being in bed; but these curtains appear to have been suspended to the ceiling of the chamber, with the bedhead behind them. With regard to the bed itself, there was now much more refinement than when it was simply stuffed with straw. Beds among the rich were made with down (_duvet_); in the “Roman de la Violette” we are told of a bed made of _bofu_--perhaps of flocks. From the vocabulary composed by Alexander Neckam early in the thirteenth century, we learn that the bed was covered much in the same way as at present. First, a “quilte” was spread over the bed; on this the bolster was placed; over this was laid a “quilte poynté” or “rayé” (_courtepointe_, or counterpane); and on this, at the head of the bed, was placed the pillow. The sheets were then thrown over it, and the whole was covered with a coverlet, the common material of which, according to Neckam, was green say, though richer materials, and even valuable furs, were used for this purpose. In the “Lai del Désiré,” we are told of a quilt (_coilte_), made in checker-wise, of pieces of two different sorts of rich stuff, which seems to have been considered as something extremely magnificent-- _Sur on bon lit s’ert apuiée;_ _La coilte fu à eschekers_ _De deus pailles ben faiz e chers._ Among all classes the appearance of the bed seems to have been a subject of considerable pride, no doubt from the circumstance of the bedroom being a place for receiving visitors. There were sometimes two or more beds in the same room, and visitors slept in the same chamber with the host and hostess. Beds were also made for the occasion, without bedsteads, sometimes in the hall, at others in the chamber beside the ordinary bed, or in some other room. The plots of many mediæval stories turn on these circumstances. People therefore kept extra materials for making the beds. In the “Roman du Meunier d’Arleux,” when a maiden comes as an unexpected visitor, a place is chosen for her by the side of the fire, and a soft bed is laid down, with very expensive sheets, and a coverlet “warm and furred”-- _Kieute mole, linchex molt chier,_ _Et covertoir chaut et forré._