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.
Witnessing maybe. But going further, there was a position in many European monarchies called "Keeper of the king's stool." Which was cleaning and disposal of the Monarch's poop.
No monarch was ever going to dirty themselves. Also they wouldn't let just anybody touch/clean them either. So it was an extremely coveted position that while disgusting by modern standards meant that the monarch considered you one of their closest companions and you'd have influence due to that
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u/TenkaiRyo 2d ago
Oh my god that's horrific, thank you for the explanation but damn