glass windows in houses

The wealthier part of the population discovered the advantages of glass windows compared to the customary materials for closing off windows.

The majority of people still lived in houses lacking any form of window openings, or closed off windows with wooden shutters, oiled linen, parchments, fish bladders or whatever else might be available.

In the course of the Middle Ages, glass windows were used increasingly and, by about 1300, these were in place not only in churches, castles and town halls, but also in large farmsteads.