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Juan Fernández de Velasco, 5th Duke of Frías

1550 – Madrid, 15 Mar 1613

10 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

  • Born1550not verified1 source
  • TitleGovernor of Milan, 1592–1600or list of presidents of the Council of Italy (Spanish Empire), 1601–1612 · Governor of Milan, 1610–1612not verified1 source
  • Titlelist of presidents of the Council of Italy (Spanish Empire), 1601–1612or Governor of Milan, 1592–1600 · Governor of Milan, 1610–1612not verified1 source
  • TitleGovernor of Milan, 1610–1612or Governor of Milan, 1592–1600 · list of presidents of the Council of Italy (Spanish Empire), 1601–1612not verified1 source
  • Died15 Mar 1613, Madridnot verified1 source
  • FatherÍñigo Fernández de Velasco, 4th Duke of Fríasnot verified1 source
  • MotherAnna de Guzmannot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 1550

    Born

  2. 12 Mar 1585

    A daughter is born

  3. 1592–1600

    Governor of Milan

  4. 1601–1612

    List of presidents of the Council of Italy (Spanish Empire)

  5. 1610–1612

    Governor of Milan

  6. 15 Mar 1613

    Dies in Madrid

Family

See the tree

Parents

Children · 1

During his lifetime

He lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1550s · Juan is born

What people wore

Festive Accessories for Women

On feast days, rural women decorated their modest outfits with modest silver crosses, necklaces made of jet, coral, or amber, and ribbons that adorned their chests. While they often worked barefoot, these festive accessories allowed them to appear much more elegant than on regular working days.

Daily life

Food costs and daily wages

For the price of just one blanca—half a maravedí—it was possible to purchase 9 fresh or salted sardines. An average laborer earned about 17 maravedís per day.

Work

Long days and regulated wages

Agricultural laborers were required to work from sunrise to sunset, and municipalities enforced strict daily wage caps that varied by season, often ranging from 30 to 68 maravedíes.

Music

Instruments in church and processions

During Holy Week, the Church replaced bells with wooden instruments called matracas to commemorate the death of Jesus, as bells were considered the voice of Christ. Minstrels playing wind instruments like shawms, sackbuts, and flutes were also central to both sacred processions and secular street festivals.

At the table

Bread was the staple food

Bread made from grains like rye, wheat, and barley was the essential daily staple for the common people, often consumed with humble sides like fatback, legumes, or onions.

Getting around

Horses and mules for travel

Travelers relied exclusively on horses for personal transport and mules for carrying luggage, as exemplified by the Venetian traveler Andrés Navagero. Navagero noted significant expenses for purchasing mules and horses for his journey.

What it cost

Rising bread prices in the 1550s

The price of a loaf of bread in Málaga surged from 7 maravedíes in 1553 to 24 maravedíes by May 1557 due to poor harvests.