During the middle ages, security was always an issue. Between barbarian invasions, witch hunts and the reformation, you never knew what might be coming through your door. They couldn't install nanny cams or call Brinks, so they came up with some fairly ingenious ways of coping with security. One of these ways was with architecture.
The more important you were (or more accurately, the more money/land you had), the larger your castle/keep/home was and the more rooms it would have. They would design their dwellings so that you would have to pass from one room into another room, not down a hall with rooms leading off of it like we might have today. The most protected room in the house would be the one that was most centrally located and with the least amount of entrances. Conversely, the poorest of the communities would live in one room dwellings, where everything would be in the open and have no protection.
When applied to my humble abode, it turns out that the most sacred room is the bathroom. My modern day throne room has several important functions, which include:
1. A place to mediate between my loyal subjects (No Linus, Lily does not like it when you show her how you can put her entire head in your mouth.)
2. Reviewing correspondence (yes, I open my mail in the bathroom)
3. Education (I have a whole stack of Reader's Digest and National Geographic in there.)
4. Empowerment (We all need a place to get pretty)
5) Refuge (Calgon, take me away!)
What's in your most sacred room?
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1 comment:
This made me think of the Seinfeld "Bathroom Book" episode, and I tried to think up a funny one liner about your Reader's Digest along those lines, but was unsuccessful. You're grateful, I am sure.
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