Rushes Floor Covering Medieval

These reed like plants were inexpensive and plentiful and when mixed with fresh herbs were a good way to cover dirt while sweetening the air.

Rushes floor covering medieval. Fresh sweet flag plants incorrectly termed rushes were periodically spread on medieval castle floors as a floor covering. This page has this to say and started off my inquiry. Rushes provided good insulation and could help to keep the floor clean. The word threshold like thresh is old english oe in origin and dates to before the twelfth century.

In this piece the author rejects the idea of loosely strewn straw like rushes in rich households because of the impracticality of the ladies of the house with their sweeping gowns navigating such domestic terrain. It makes for an attractive pleasantly scented floor covering. When she moved into a labourer s hovel near the building site ruth goodman. In a place and time when more decorative textiles would be significant monetary investments woven rush matting would provide important protection for the floors.

Wouldn t it catch in the dress. I was completely fascinated to find this page of notes about real life for the upper. Both oe words appear to relate to the movement of one s feet. Aside from the coverings on tatami mats rushes for floors can also be purchased as medieval or apple matting.

In fact i came upon it while specifically searching for information about rushes as floor covering. Everywhere in medieval life you read about rushes on the floor. I know that i often point to the secrets of the castle for examples but the archaeologists demonstrate the practicalities of medieval life so well. It is not and never has been a noun used to designate floor rushes.