Rope bed

A rope bed is a type of platform bed in which the sleeper (and mattress) is supported by a lattice of rope, rather than wooden slats.

A rope bed without its mattresses etc.

In cold climates, a rope bed would be topped with one or more insulating palliasse or bedticks, which would traditionally be stuffed with straw, chaff, or down feathers. It might also have a canopy hung with warm curtains.[1][2] Modernly, they may be topped by a thin futon (a form of bedtick) or other roll-up mattress[3] (see mattress topper).

In the sixteenth century (England?), bedmats of woven or plaited rush were often laid on the widely-spaced ropes, and the bedticks were laid on the mats. This stopped them from bulging between the ropes.[4]

Rope beds need to be tightened regularly (with a bed wrench, and sometimes with wedges) as they sag. They must also be re-strung occasionally; re-stringing reduces sag and evens out wear.[5][3][6] When fully or partly unstrung, rope beds can be packed flat for transport.[3] This has been said to be the origin of the English phrase "sleep tight", [4] but some etymologists disagree.[7]

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  Medieval-reconstruction rope beds (circa 1465); note loops of rope protruding from side boards
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  A rope bedframe thought to have belonged to William Shakespeare
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  Bedclothes pulled back to show the bedcords of the Great Bed of Ware