Cseri Miklós, Füzes Endre (szerk.): Ház és ember, A Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum évkönyve 12. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 1998)

ZENTAI TÜNDE: A földön alvás szerepe az újkori népi lakáskultúrában

BED AND SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR IN RURAL HOMES OF MODERN TIMES The author has examined the development of the oldest sleeping habit i. e. the sleeping on the floor in Hungarian rural dwellings in the course of the 16th—20th centuries. Making use of the available data, she describes the attributes of the home interiors in each century and she tries to answer the question, in which period the practice constitutes pertaining part of living conditions and from when it has to be considered merely as a social problem. The nature of the researched subject requires the linking of this analysis with the history of the bed. The custom of sleeping on the floor is in modern times already the other side of the use of bed: a consequence of the lack of beds, which were known and possessed by many in those days. Tünde ZENTAI used for the research and assessment of the subject not only ethnographic, historical, literary and linguistic material but exploited new, respectively hardly examined sources as well. The records of the proceedings of the nearly 2000 witch trials between 1529 and 1768 provide essential contribution to the knowledge of the circumstances in the 16th—

18th centuries. The witch trials have not been studied yet from the point of view of indoor life and furnishings. The reconstruction of the way of life and sleeping habits in the 19th-20th centuries is mainly based on the material of two surveys. In 1973 Klára K. CSILLERY sent out questionnaires about „room interiors " and Tünde ZENTAI launched in 1996 her inquiries about the sleeping culture of the population. The introductory chapter of the study treats the semantic development of the word bed. The original meaning of the word bed was - in the Hungarian language as well as in other European languages - bedding and the word in this sense was still used in the 1970s here and there in the countryside. The introduction is followed by a general survey at the end of the Middle Ages, which is a brief summary of the average characteristics of the rural houses and their furnishings before the Turkish occupation (1529-1686). At this time wellto-do serfs used to live in 2-3 room houses with stoves stoked from outside. They had already feather beds and a kind of bedstead. The bed was a simple platform raised above floor level as well as a boarded coach or trestle bed. According to the monography of Klára K. CSILLERY on the development of folk house interiors, probably only one such bed stood in each house of the ordinary people. Unfortunately, due to the inadequacy of written sources, pictured illustrations and material remains, it is not possible to assess how widespread the use of beds was in the Middle Ages fulfilling the function of furniture for sleeping. However, we cannot be wrong when supposing that in the Middle Ages considerable masses used to sleep on the floor, which practice was partly survival of the oriental tradition from before the conquest of Hungary (896), partly a specific feature of the modest furnishing of the lower orders both in Hungary and in Europe. The chapter Culture of sleeping at the beginning of modern times deals with the circumstances in the 16th— 17th centuries. This was the time of the Turkish occupation in the major part of Hungary, the country suffered from permanent wars, which affected adversely the development of living conditions. We know from archaeological research that architecture was in a state of stagnation and decline. Most probably, this applies to the interiors as well. However, we are not able to carry out an authentic comparison due to lack of data from the Middle Ages. Considerably more written data are at our disposal from the early modern times. We learn from them that sleeping on the floor as well as on benches and ovens was very widespread among the people. At the same time, we conclude from data on „high beds" with legs and headboard that the bed was a symbol of a desired life quality. The practice of sleeping on the floor shrinks in the 17th century. Most of the data mention exceptional (sickness, dying) and occasional cases (guests) in winter. In summertime, however, sleeping on the floor of the kitchen, of the porch or in the yard is still very common. The author analyses in the chapter People sleeping in bed and without bed in the 18th century the fast development of the reviving and repopulated country after the wars. The 18th century represents a turning point. In its second half we witness a renewal of the buildings, a change in the building materials and techniques of farmhouses. We find less wooden structures and chimneys become widespread. The houses of wellto-do serfs have two rooms, one of which functions often as „clean room" for visitors furnished with more valuable and decorated furniture. More and more joiners, cabinet-makers produce painted, carved furniture, carrying out farmer's orders. They make beds of different quality and shape, of which the most decorative pieces are the beds with high headboards and the four-poster beds. The oldest remaining farmer's beds date from this period (1713, 1759, 1783, 1795). The sources mention many kinds of feather bedding. The most beautiful pieces are piled up in the beds as if displaying them to visitors. More modest pillows, mattresses and eiderdowns are used when sleeping but people cover themselves even with coats, furs and woven blankets. Most of the households possess one or two beds for use, but several family members sleep on benches. However, in the 18th century sleeping on the floor increasingly becomes