A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle AgesWright, Thomas
History
A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages
Wright, Thomas
England -- Social life and customs -- 1066-1485
The mouldings of the _faldestol_ in the cut No. 66 will be recognised
as exactly the same which are found on old furniture of a much more
recent period, and which, in fact, are those which offer themselves
most readily to ordinary turners. The same ornament is seen on the
chair represented in our cut No. 67, taken from the same manuscript
as the last, in which two men are seated, in a very singular manner.
It was not uncommon, however, to have seats which held several persons
together, such as the one represented in an Anglo-Saxon illumination
given in a former chapter (p. 31), and such as are still to be seen in
country public-houses, where they have preserved the Anglo-Saxon name
of _settle_. One of these is represented in our cut No. 68. The persons
seated in it, in this case, are learned men, and the cross above seems
to show that they are monks. One has a table-book, and two of the
others have rolls of parchment, which are all evidently the subject of
anxious discussion.
[Illustration: _No. 68. An Anglo-Norman Settle._]
Chairs, and even stools, were, as has been already observed, by no
means abundant in these early times, and we can easily suppose that
it would be a difficult thing to accommodate numerous visitors with
seats. To remedy this, when houses were built of stone, it was usual
to make, in the public apartments, seats, like benches, in recesses
in the wall, or projecting from it, which would accommodate a number
of persons at the same time. We find such seats usually in the
cloisters of monasteries, as well as in the chapter-houses of our
cathedral churches. In the latter they generally run round the room,
and are divided by arches into seats which were evidently intended to
accommodate two persons each, for the convenience of conversation.
This practice is illustrated by our cut No. 69, taken, like the
preceding one, from the Cambridge Manuscript; it represents a group
of seats of this kind, in which monks (apparently) are seated and
conversing two and two.
[Illustration: _No. 69. Seats in the Wall._]
CHAPTER VI.
THE NORMAN HALL.--SOCIAL SENTIMENTS UNDER THE
ANGLO-NORMANS.--DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS.--CANDLES
AND LANTERNS.--FURNITURE.--BEDS.--OUT-OF-DOOR
RECREATIONS.--HUNTING.--ARCHERY.--CONVIVIAL INTERCOURSE AND
HOSPITALITY.--TRAVELLING.--PUNISHMENTS.--THE STOCKS.--A NORMAN
SCHOOL.--EDUCATION.
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