Did medieval people sleep through the night, or did they wake up for a few hours before returning to bed? From first and second sleep to enormous beds, shared sleeping spaces and monks rising in the middle of the night, sleeping habits in the Middle Ages were more varied than we might expect.
Did medieval people sleep twice a night?
Today, most people expect to sleep for seven to nine hours without a lengthy interruption. However, historian A. Roger Ekirch has argued that before artificial lighting transformed daily routines, many people slept in two distinct periods, commonly known as first sleep and second sleep.
In his book At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, Ekirch examines historical evidence suggesting that people often went to bed relatively early, slept for several hours, woke for a period around midnight, and then returned to sleep until morning.
Ekirch explains:
Both phases of sleep lasted roughly the same length of time, with individuals waking sometime after midnight before returning to rest. Not everyone, of course, slept according to the same timetable. The later at night that persons went to bed, the later they stirred after their initial sleep; or, if they retired past midnight, they might not awaken at all until dawn.
The evidence for this practice comes from a variety of sources, including medical writings, legal records and literature.
One medieval example appears in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Squire’s Tale, part of The Canterbury Tales. Canacee goes to bed soon after evening falls and awakens following her first sleep. Her companions, who remained awake much later, continue sleeping until daylight.
References to first sleep also appear in other medieval sources. In fourteenth-century Montaillou, a village in southern France, inhabitants used the first sleep as a way of identifying particular hours of the night.
A sleeping man surrounded by birds. Image taken from L’Estoire del Saint Graal. – British Library MS Add. 10292, fol. 29
The terminology was not confined to English. Ekirch identifies expressions such as premier sommeil in French, primo sonno in Italian and primo somno in Latin.
Between the first and second periods of sleep, people might remain awake for an hour or longer. They could use this time for prayer, conversation, household tasks or sexual activity. The French physician Laurent Joubert (1529–1581) even advised couples to have intercourse during this period because “they have more enjoyment” and “do it better.”
Ekirch also found evidence that waking naturally during the night was recognised in medical advice:
Although in some descriptions a neighbor’s quarrel or a barking dog woke people prematurely from their initial sleep, the vast weight of surviving evidence indicates that awakening naturally was routine, not the consequence of disturbed or fitful slumber. Medical books, in fact, from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries frequently advised sleepers, for better digestion and more tranquil repose, to lie on their right side during “the fyrste slepe” and “after the fyrste slepe turne on the lefte side.”
The theory has attracted considerable attention because it suggests that our modern expectation of uninterrupted sleep may not reflect the full range of historical sleeping habits.
Not everyone agrees with Ekirch’s interpretation. In a 2023 article published in Medical History, Niall Boyce re-examined the evidence for segmented sleep and questioned whether the historical references necessarily demonstrate a widespread pattern of two separate periods of sleep.
Boyce suggests that expressions such as first sleep might sometimes refer to different stages of a continuous night’s rest, rather than an extended period of wakefulness.
For example, a scholar of medieval German literature told Boyce:
I was able to find some matching references in the Middle High German texts I analyzed: There are several records of a ‘first sleep’ (though none of a ‘second’ sleep). However, I used to interpret these passages with regard to the ‘common knowledge’ (which, by the way, still seems to be an issue in our days) that sleep before midnight is deeper and ‘better’ than sleep after midnight.
The scholar added:
In medieval German literature I found no references to actual periods of wakefulness that would have separated first and second sleep (apart from examples related to religious practice, i.e. if a person rises to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hour).
Ekirch subsequently responded to Boyce’s criticism, defending his interpretation and pointing to additional historical evidence, including medieval literary references and medical recommendations.
There is also evidence of similar sleeping patterns outside Europe. Ekirch cites the French priest André Thevet, who visited Brazil in 1555 and reported that the Tupinamba people sometimes rose to eat after their first sleep before returning to bed. In the early nineteenth century, observers in Muscat, Oman, likewise described inhabitants who retired early and finished their first sleep before midnight.
These accounts suggest that segmented sleep was not exclusively European. However, they do not establish how commonly the practice occurred during the Middle Ages.
What can be said with greater confidence is that medieval people recognised different periods of nighttime sleep and that some experienced intervals of wakefulness. Whether this was the normal sleeping pattern throughout medieval society remains a subject of debate.
What were medieval beds like?
Making a bed in a medieval manuscript
While historians debate sleeping patterns, there is considerably more evidence about the physical arrangements for sleeping.
In Night in the Middle Ages, historian Jean Verdon describes medieval beds as consisting of three principal elements: a wooden frame, bedding and, in some cases, fabric suspended around or above the bed.
The frames were generally made from oak, although pine was also used. Some consisted of wooden boards, while others employed straps that needed to be tightened periodically. Certain beds could be dismantled for transport, and smaller beds could be stored beneath larger ones and pulled out when additional sleeping space was needed.
The bedding itself varied considerably according to wealth. Straw mattresses were common, but wealthier households might use mattresses filled with wool or feathers, together with cushions, bolsters, sheets, blankets and elaborate bedspreads.
Canopies appeared during the thirteenth century, and by the fifteenth century some beds were surrounded by curtains suspended from frames. These provided protection from cold draughts, light and unwanted observation. Wealthy households might use expensive fabrics, including silk and fur-lined cloth.
Some medieval beds were remarkably large. Verdon notes that the fourteenth-century Italian merchant Francesco Datini and his wife Margherita owned a bed measuring approximately three and a half metres across. Beside it stood a step, a seat and a chest.
Such dimensions reflected a society in which sleeping arrangements could be considerably more communal than those found in many households today.
Did medieval people share their beds?
Mars and Venus are caught in bed by Vulcan, a scene frowned upon by a neighboring initial. – Bibliothèque nationale de France MS Français 24392, fol. 145v.
Sharing a bed was common in medieval society, particularly when household space was limited. Family members, servants and travellers might sleep together, sometimes with several people occupying a single bed.
Verdon cites an account by Gregory of Tours in which Saint Romain arranged a large bed so that he could sleep alongside nine people suffering from leprosy. Although an exceptional religious example, it illustrates that beds could accommodate far more than two occupants.
Documents and manuscript illustrations also show entire families sharing beds. Such arrangements could raise concerns about privacy and morality. The theologian Jean Gerson criticised the practice of brothers and sisters sleeping together, while ecclesiastical authorities in late medieval Brittany attempted to prohibit older children of different sexes from sharing beds.
However, sharing a bed was not always a matter of choice. Those who could afford greater privacy often preferred to sleep alone or with someone of their choosing. Wealthier households could provide separate beds and chambers for family members and guests, although servants might sleep in smaller beds near their employers, allowing them to respond to requests during the night.
The circumstances of poorer people were often less comfortable. Verdon describes prisoners in the Châtelet in Paris who slept directly on the stone floor, with only mats supplied by the jailer. In other prisons, inmates might have to pay extra for a straw mattress.
The bed, therefore, was not simply a place to sleep. Its size, construction and furnishings could reveal a great deal about a person’s wealth and social position.
When did medieval people go to bed?
Sleeping bishop -British Library MS Royal 10 E IV f. 241
It is difficult to establish a typical medieval bedtime. Without widespread artificial lighting, daily routines were strongly influenced by sunrise and sunset, but this did not mean that everyone retired as soon as darkness fell.
Peasants might continue working or socialising after sunset, particularly during busy agricultural seasons. Aristocratic households could remain active late into the night during feasts and celebrations. Urban inhabitants also had evening activities, although curfews and restrictions on nighttime work shaped their schedules.
Verdon is cautious about estimating how long medieval people slept:
Did people sleep a lot in the Middle Ages? It is difficult to know if the men of the time spent more time sleeping than we do.
He notes that peasants and artisans depended heavily on natural daylight for their work and had fewer opportunities to remain in bed late into the morning.
Children, however, followed different routines. A physician at the Burgundian court recommended nine or ten consecutive hours of sleep for children younger than six, suggesting that they go to bed around ten in the evening and wake between seven and eight in the morning.
Actual practices could differ considerably. In fourteenth-century Montaillou, a twelve-year-old shepherd named Jean Maury went to bed before the family’s evening activities had finished because he needed to rise early to take sheep to pasture. Younger children might be put to bed even before the evening meal.
Putting children to sleep could be as challenging then as it is today. The fifteenth-century French play La Farce du Cuvier describes the demands of caring for a wakeful child:
At night, if the child awakes As they do in many places, You must take the trouble To get up to rock him, To walk, carry, and feed him In the bedroom, even at midnight.
Infants commonly slept in cradles positioned near their parents’ beds, allowing mothers to nurse or rock them during the night.
Wealthy families could employ nurses and attendants specifically to care for young children. Verdon notes that Burgundian princes were sometimes lulled to sleep by musicians playing instruments including harps and flutes.
How did medieval monks sleep?
Devil tempting a sleeping monk – from British Library Royal 10 E IV f. 221
Monastic communities followed particularly structured sleeping schedules, regulated by religious observances rather than personal preference. Under the Rule of St Benedict, monks were expected to rise during the night for prayers. Their schedules varied according to the seasons, with the longer winter nights allowing more time for sleep.
Verdon calculates that around the spring equinox, monks might receive approximately seven hours of sleep, retiring around seven in the evening and rising at about two in the morning.
During summer, the shorter nights could substantially reduce their sleeping time. Monks might receive only five and a half hours of nighttime sleep, sometimes supplemented by an afternoon rest.
Not all religious communities followed identical arrangements. Some monastic rules permitted a second period of sleep after nighttime prayers, while others expected monks to remain awake.
Rising from a warm bed in the middle of the night was not always easy. The eleventh-century chronicler Raoul Glaber admitted that he was tempted to remain asleep when the signal sounded for prayers. He described a demon whispering to him:
I wonder why you are so eager to jump so quickly out of bed, as soon as you’ve heard the signal, and to interrupt the sweet rest of sleep, while you could give yourself up to rest until the third signal.
Verdon recounts another incident involving Brother Alger, described by Peter the Venerable, the twelfth-century abbot of Cluny. Alger mistakenly believed he had heard the bell for nighttime prayers and went to the chapel, only to discover that nobody was there. Returning to the dormitory, he found his fellow monks still asleep. The incident was interpreted as a diabolical trick intended to make Alger disregard the real signal when it eventually sounded.
Such stories reveal that the obligation to interrupt sleep was a significant feature of monastic life, and not always a welcome one.
Did medieval people sleep naked?
Sleeping on a bed in this 14th-century manuscript – Bibliothèque nationale de France MS Latin 6749A, fol. 18r.
Sleeping without clothing was customary in parts of medieval Europe, although practices varied according to circumstances, climate and religious expectations.
Verdon notes that medieval people often removed their clothing before going to bed. Blankets, sheets and other bedding provided warmth, while those who could afford them might use fur-lined coverings during colder weather. Nightcaps were also worn to protect the head from cold air.
Monks generally followed different rules. The Rule of St Benedict required monks to sleep clothed and prepared to rise promptly for nighttime prayers. Their bedding was also subject to restrictions intended to discourage luxury.
At Cluny, mattresses were filled with straw, which could be replaced periodically. Peter the Venerable permitted monks to use two blankets but criticised the growing practice of sleeping beneath four.
The contrast between ordinary households and monastic communities demonstrates that sleeping habits were shaped not only by comfort but also by ideas about modesty, discipline and religious observance.
What disturbed medieval sleep?
Heinrich Sleeping and Hedwig Praying -Court workshop of Duke Ludwig I of Liegnitz and Brieg (Polish, 1364 – 1398)
Despite the absence of electric lights and modern technology, medieval people did not necessarily enjoy peaceful or uninterrupted sleep. Cold rooms, uncomfortable bedding, illness, noise and the demands of household life could all disturb their rest. Medieval people also experienced insomnia, nightmares and sleepwalking.
Verdon discusses several examples of these problems, including one particularly dramatic case recorded in the fourteenth century. Pierre de Béarn, a nobleman, reportedly developed a serious sleeping disorder after killing an exceptionally large bear in hand-to-hand combat:
He would get up at night, even though he was asleep, take hold of a sword, and wield it in the empty air. If he did not find a sword, he would make such an uproar “that all the devils in hell seemed to be with him.”
His behaviour was so disturbing that his wife and children eventually left him.
Medieval medical and theological writers were familiar with similar phenomena. A text compiled around 1200, known as the Questions de maître Laurent, asked why some people rose while asleep, took up weapons or staffs, or even mounted horses. The author also considered possible remedies. These accounts show that sleepwalking was recognised centuries before the modern medical terminology developed.
Other forms of disturbed sleep were also familiar. Anxiety, sorrow and illness could make it difficult to fall asleep or remain asleep. Medieval writers discussed nightmares and troubling dreams, sometimes interpreting them through religious beliefs about supernatural influences.
Ekirch likewise demonstrates that pre-industrial sleep was frequently interrupted by physical discomfort, illness, insects and the noises of household life. His evidence comes principally from the early modern period, but it helps challenge the assumption that sleeping before the Industrial Revolution was necessarily more restful.
For medieval people, as for us, a good night’s sleep was not guaranteed.
Sleeping in the Middle Ages
The evidence suggests that there was no single medieval sleeping pattern. Some people experienced periods of wakefulness between two stretches of sleep, while others slept continuously. Monks followed religious schedules, children had their own routines, and the wealthy enjoyed sleeping arrangements very different from those available to poorer households.
Even the bed itself could reveal considerable differences in medieval society, from elaborate curtained furnishings to a simple straw mattress or a place on the floor.
What emerges from the historical sources is a picture of sleep shaped by the rhythms of daylight, the demands of work, religious obligations and the practical realities of medieval households. Although some of these customs seem unfamiliar today, the problems of getting enough rest, caring for wakeful children and struggling to leave a comfortable bed were very much the same.
Further Readings:
Boyce, Niall. “Have We Lost Sleep? A Reconsideration of Segmented Sleep in Early Modern England.” Medical History 67, no. 2 (2023): 91–108.
Ekirch, A. Roger. At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.
Ekirch, A. Roger. “Reflections on ‘Have We Lost Sleep?’” Medical History.
Verdon, Jean. Night in the Middle Ages. Translated by George Holoch. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002.
Did medieval people sleep through the night, or did they wake up for a few hours before returning to bed? From first and second sleep to enormous beds, shared sleeping spaces and monks rising in the middle of the night, sleeping habits in the Middle Ages were more varied than we might expect.
Did medieval people sleep twice a night?
Today, most people expect to sleep for seven to nine hours without a lengthy interruption. However, historian A. Roger Ekirch has argued that before artificial lighting transformed daily routines, many people slept in two distinct periods, commonly known as first sleep and second sleep.
In his book At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, Ekirch examines historical evidence suggesting that people often went to bed relatively early, slept for several hours, woke for a period around midnight, and then returned to sleep until morning.
Ekirch explains:
Both phases of sleep lasted roughly the same length of time, with individuals waking sometime after midnight before returning to rest. Not everyone, of course, slept according to the same timetable. The later at night that persons went to bed, the later they stirred after their initial sleep; or, if they retired past midnight, they might not awaken at all until dawn.
The evidence for this practice comes from a variety of sources, including medical writings, legal records and literature.
One medieval example appears in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Squire’s Tale, part of The Canterbury Tales. Canacee goes to bed soon after evening falls and awakens following her first sleep. Her companions, who remained awake much later, continue sleeping until daylight.
References to first sleep also appear in other medieval sources. In fourteenth-century Montaillou, a village in southern France, inhabitants used the first sleep as a way of identifying particular hours of the night.
The terminology was not confined to English. Ekirch identifies expressions such as premier sommeil in French, primo sonno in Italian and primo somno in Latin.
Between the first and second periods of sleep, people might remain awake for an hour or longer. They could use this time for prayer, conversation, household tasks or sexual activity. The French physician Laurent Joubert (1529–1581) even advised couples to have intercourse during this period because “they have more enjoyment” and “do it better.”
Ekirch also found evidence that waking naturally during the night was recognised in medical advice:
Although in some descriptions a neighbor’s quarrel or a barking dog woke people prematurely from their initial sleep, the vast weight of surviving evidence indicates that awakening naturally was routine, not the consequence of disturbed or fitful slumber. Medical books, in fact, from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries frequently advised sleepers, for better digestion and more tranquil repose, to lie on their right side during “the fyrste slepe” and “after the fyrste slepe turne on the lefte side.”
The theory has attracted considerable attention because it suggests that our modern expectation of uninterrupted sleep may not reflect the full range of historical sleeping habits.
Was segmented sleep universal?
Not everyone agrees with Ekirch’s interpretation. In a 2023 article published in Medical History, Niall Boyce re-examined the evidence for segmented sleep and questioned whether the historical references necessarily demonstrate a widespread pattern of two separate periods of sleep.
Boyce suggests that expressions such as first sleep might sometimes refer to different stages of a continuous night’s rest, rather than an extended period of wakefulness.
For example, a scholar of medieval German literature told Boyce:
I was able to find some matching references in the Middle High German texts I analyzed: There are several records of a ‘first sleep’ (though none of a ‘second’ sleep). However, I used to interpret these passages with regard to the ‘common knowledge’ (which, by the way, still seems to be an issue in our days) that sleep before midnight is deeper and ‘better’ than sleep after midnight.
The scholar added:
In medieval German literature I found no references to actual periods of wakefulness that would have separated first and second sleep (apart from examples related to religious practice, i.e. if a person rises to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hour).
Ekirch subsequently responded to Boyce’s criticism, defending his interpretation and pointing to additional historical evidence, including medieval literary references and medical recommendations.
There is also evidence of similar sleeping patterns outside Europe. Ekirch cites the French priest André Thevet, who visited Brazil in 1555 and reported that the Tupinamba people sometimes rose to eat after their first sleep before returning to bed. In the early nineteenth century, observers in Muscat, Oman, likewise described inhabitants who retired early and finished their first sleep before midnight.
These accounts suggest that segmented sleep was not exclusively European. However, they do not establish how commonly the practice occurred during the Middle Ages.
What can be said with greater confidence is that medieval people recognised different periods of nighttime sleep and that some experienced intervals of wakefulness. Whether this was the normal sleeping pattern throughout medieval society remains a subject of debate.
What were medieval beds like?
While historians debate sleeping patterns, there is considerably more evidence about the physical arrangements for sleeping.
In Night in the Middle Ages, historian Jean Verdon describes medieval beds as consisting of three principal elements: a wooden frame, bedding and, in some cases, fabric suspended around or above the bed.
The frames were generally made from oak, although pine was also used. Some consisted of wooden boards, while others employed straps that needed to be tightened periodically. Certain beds could be dismantled for transport, and smaller beds could be stored beneath larger ones and pulled out when additional sleeping space was needed.
The bedding itself varied considerably according to wealth. Straw mattresses were common, but wealthier households might use mattresses filled with wool or feathers, together with cushions, bolsters, sheets, blankets and elaborate bedspreads.
Canopies appeared during the thirteenth century, and by the fifteenth century some beds were surrounded by curtains suspended from frames. These provided protection from cold draughts, light and unwanted observation. Wealthy households might use expensive fabrics, including silk and fur-lined cloth.
Some medieval beds were remarkably large. Verdon notes that the fourteenth-century Italian merchant Francesco Datini and his wife Margherita owned a bed measuring approximately three and a half metres across. Beside it stood a step, a seat and a chest.
Such dimensions reflected a society in which sleeping arrangements could be considerably more communal than those found in many households today.
Did medieval people share their beds?
– Bibliothèque nationale de France MS Français 24392, fol. 145v.
Sharing a bed was common in medieval society, particularly when household space was limited. Family members, servants and travellers might sleep together, sometimes with several people occupying a single bed.
Verdon cites an account by Gregory of Tours in which Saint Romain arranged a large bed so that he could sleep alongside nine people suffering from leprosy. Although an exceptional religious example, it illustrates that beds could accommodate far more than two occupants.
Documents and manuscript illustrations also show entire families sharing beds. Such arrangements could raise concerns about privacy and morality. The theologian Jean Gerson criticised the practice of brothers and sisters sleeping together, while ecclesiastical authorities in late medieval Brittany attempted to prohibit older children of different sexes from sharing beds.
However, sharing a bed was not always a matter of choice. Those who could afford greater privacy often preferred to sleep alone or with someone of their choosing. Wealthier households could provide separate beds and chambers for family members and guests, although servants might sleep in smaller beds near their employers, allowing them to respond to requests during the night.
The circumstances of poorer people were often less comfortable. Verdon describes prisoners in the Châtelet in Paris who slept directly on the stone floor, with only mats supplied by the jailer. In other prisons, inmates might have to pay extra for a straw mattress.
The bed, therefore, was not simply a place to sleep. Its size, construction and furnishings could reveal a great deal about a person’s wealth and social position.
When did medieval people go to bed?
It is difficult to establish a typical medieval bedtime. Without widespread artificial lighting, daily routines were strongly influenced by sunrise and sunset, but this did not mean that everyone retired as soon as darkness fell.
Peasants might continue working or socialising after sunset, particularly during busy agricultural seasons. Aristocratic households could remain active late into the night during feasts and celebrations. Urban inhabitants also had evening activities, although curfews and restrictions on nighttime work shaped their schedules.
Verdon is cautious about estimating how long medieval people slept:
Did people sleep a lot in the Middle Ages? It is difficult to know if the men of the time spent more time sleeping than we do.
He notes that peasants and artisans depended heavily on natural daylight for their work and had fewer opportunities to remain in bed late into the morning.
Children, however, followed different routines. A physician at the Burgundian court recommended nine or ten consecutive hours of sleep for children younger than six, suggesting that they go to bed around ten in the evening and wake between seven and eight in the morning.
Actual practices could differ considerably. In fourteenth-century Montaillou, a twelve-year-old shepherd named Jean Maury went to bed before the family’s evening activities had finished because he needed to rise early to take sheep to pasture. Younger children might be put to bed even before the evening meal.
Putting children to sleep could be as challenging then as it is today. The fifteenth-century French play La Farce du Cuvier describes the demands of caring for a wakeful child:
At night, if the child awakes
As they do in many places,
You must take the trouble
To get up to rock him,
To walk, carry, and feed him
In the bedroom, even at midnight.
Infants commonly slept in cradles positioned near their parents’ beds, allowing mothers to nurse or rock them during the night.
Wealthy families could employ nurses and attendants specifically to care for young children. Verdon notes that Burgundian princes were sometimes lulled to sleep by musicians playing instruments including harps and flutes.
How did medieval monks sleep?
Monastic communities followed particularly structured sleeping schedules, regulated by religious observances rather than personal preference. Under the Rule of St Benedict, monks were expected to rise during the night for prayers. Their schedules varied according to the seasons, with the longer winter nights allowing more time for sleep.
Verdon calculates that around the spring equinox, monks might receive approximately seven hours of sleep, retiring around seven in the evening and rising at about two in the morning.
During summer, the shorter nights could substantially reduce their sleeping time. Monks might receive only five and a half hours of nighttime sleep, sometimes supplemented by an afternoon rest.
Not all religious communities followed identical arrangements. Some monastic rules permitted a second period of sleep after nighttime prayers, while others expected monks to remain awake.
Rising from a warm bed in the middle of the night was not always easy. The eleventh-century chronicler Raoul Glaber admitted that he was tempted to remain asleep when the signal sounded for prayers. He described a demon whispering to him:
I wonder why you are so eager to jump so quickly out of bed, as soon as you’ve heard the signal, and to interrupt the sweet rest of sleep, while you could give yourself up to rest until the third signal.
Verdon recounts another incident involving Brother Alger, described by Peter the Venerable, the twelfth-century abbot of Cluny. Alger mistakenly believed he had heard the bell for nighttime prayers and went to the chapel, only to discover that nobody was there. Returning to the dormitory, he found his fellow monks still asleep. The incident was interpreted as a diabolical trick intended to make Alger disregard the real signal when it eventually sounded.
Such stories reveal that the obligation to interrupt sleep was a significant feature of monastic life, and not always a welcome one.
Did medieval people sleep naked?
Sleeping without clothing was customary in parts of medieval Europe, although practices varied according to circumstances, climate and religious expectations.
Verdon notes that medieval people often removed their clothing before going to bed. Blankets, sheets and other bedding provided warmth, while those who could afford them might use fur-lined coverings during colder weather. Nightcaps were also worn to protect the head from cold air.
Monks generally followed different rules. The Rule of St Benedict required monks to sleep clothed and prepared to rise promptly for nighttime prayers. Their bedding was also subject to restrictions intended to discourage luxury.
At Cluny, mattresses were filled with straw, which could be replaced periodically. Peter the Venerable permitted monks to use two blankets but criticised the growing practice of sleeping beneath four.
The contrast between ordinary households and monastic communities demonstrates that sleeping habits were shaped not only by comfort but also by ideas about modesty, discipline and religious observance.
What disturbed medieval sleep?
Despite the absence of electric lights and modern technology, medieval people did not necessarily enjoy peaceful or uninterrupted sleep. Cold rooms, uncomfortable bedding, illness, noise and the demands of household life could all disturb their rest. Medieval people also experienced insomnia, nightmares and sleepwalking.
Verdon discusses several examples of these problems, including one particularly dramatic case recorded in the fourteenth century. Pierre de Béarn, a nobleman, reportedly developed a serious sleeping disorder after killing an exceptionally large bear in hand-to-hand combat:
He would get up at night, even though he was asleep, take hold of a sword, and wield it in the empty air. If he did not find a sword, he would make such an uproar “that all the devils in hell seemed to be with him.”
His behaviour was so disturbing that his wife and children eventually left him.
Medieval medical and theological writers were familiar with similar phenomena. A text compiled around 1200, known as the Questions de maître Laurent, asked why some people rose while asleep, took up weapons or staffs, or even mounted horses. The author also considered possible remedies. These accounts show that sleepwalking was recognised centuries before the modern medical terminology developed.
Other forms of disturbed sleep were also familiar. Anxiety, sorrow and illness could make it difficult to fall asleep or remain asleep. Medieval writers discussed nightmares and troubling dreams, sometimes interpreting them through religious beliefs about supernatural influences.
Ekirch likewise demonstrates that pre-industrial sleep was frequently interrupted by physical discomfort, illness, insects and the noises of household life. His evidence comes principally from the early modern period, but it helps challenge the assumption that sleeping before the Industrial Revolution was necessarily more restful.
For medieval people, as for us, a good night’s sleep was not guaranteed.
Sleeping in the Middle Ages
The evidence suggests that there was no single medieval sleeping pattern. Some people experienced periods of wakefulness between two stretches of sleep, while others slept continuously. Monks followed religious schedules, children had their own routines, and the wealthy enjoyed sleeping arrangements very different from those available to poorer households.
Even the bed itself could reveal considerable differences in medieval society, from elaborate curtained furnishings to a simple straw mattress or a place on the floor.
What emerges from the historical sources is a picture of sleep shaped by the rhythms of daylight, the demands of work, religious obligations and the practical realities of medieval households. Although some of these customs seem unfamiliar today, the problems of getting enough rest, caring for wakeful children and struggling to leave a comfortable bed were very much the same.
Further Readings:
Boyce, Niall. “Have We Lost Sleep? A Reconsideration of Segmented Sleep in Early Modern England.” Medical History 67, no. 2 (2023): 91–108.
Ekirch, A. Roger. At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.
Ekirch, A. Roger. “Reflections on ‘Have We Lost Sleep?’” Medical History.
Verdon, Jean. Night in the Middle Ages. Translated by George Holoch. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002.
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