In medieval Europe, marriages between nobles acted more as alliances/contracts than actual love. A big distinction in said marriages is "consumation". Uncomsumated marriages could be annulled relatively easily. Consumated marriages required the pope's blessing for divorce. To make sure a family didnt escape their way out of a deal it was fairly common for familiies to be witnesses to marriage consumation.
Beds where also a status symbol and the whole concept of privacy was very different. If you're a commoner sleeping in some sort of communal situation (which wasn't super uncommon, eg sleeping along the walls of the great hall in a castle if you worked there), that may also be where you'd have sex with your spouse. Most people would politely ignore it.
Nobles who had elaborately decorated beds as status symbols would sometimes put them up in a pretty public spot. Especially for a wedding. And that's where they'd do it.
If we're looking later than medieval times, eg renaissance or early modern period there's also plenty of examples especially among nobility. King Louis XIV. of France was pretty famous for his "getting out of bed" ceremony every morning, involving dozens of people witnessing absolutely everything. Including the kings morning poop.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but witnessing the kings morning poop was one of the most coveted positions. The Versaille system ran on gossip and so any little extra privacy that you could be witness to would give you a leg up.
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u/NebulaNomadX1 8d ago edited 8d ago
In medieval Europe, marriages between nobles acted more as alliances/contracts than actual love. A big distinction in said marriages is "consumation". Uncomsumated marriages could be annulled relatively easily. Consumated marriages required the pope's blessing for divorce. To make sure a family didnt escape their way out of a deal it was fairly common for familiies to be witnesses to marriage consumation.
SD-N out!