Mediaeval Suspended Carriages

Throughout the Middle Ages the preferred method of travel was on horseback, and in the fourteenth century persons unable or unwilling to ride — invalids, children, and ladies — commonly made use of litters as more comfortable than chariots. By the end of the seventeenth century, however, the situation was reversed; carriages were incomparably the favorite vehicle, litters obsolete, and horseback a strenuous mode of travel. Fundamental to this change was an improvement in the design of carriages, and paramount in this superior construction was the widespread adoption of suspension.