Charlotte of the Palatinate

What people wore

Dutch Women's Headwear Traditions

In the early 17th century, a woman's hair was typically hidden under a small cap; she first wore an under-cap directly on her hair, followed by an ornamental cap on top.

Daily life

Strict Classroom Discipline

Basic school rules strictly prohibited students from throwing fleas, lice, or snot at classmates, with punishments including being whipped with a stick or hit with a paddle.

Work

Common roles and seasonal labor

Common jobs included printers, bookbinders, carpenters, bricklayers, and textile workers, with many families running small businesses together. Seasonal labor was also vital, with workers migrating to dig peat, harvest grain, or work on dikes and canals.

Music

Penalty for refusing to play music

In Dutch music inns, a capable musician who refused to play for patrons was required to buy a round of drinks for the whole tavern as a penalty.

At the table

Bread as the staple food

The daily diet was centered on bread, often supplemented with porridges or stews like hutspot, which were cooked in a single pot over an open fire. Poor families relied on dark, nutritious rye or coarse-grain bread, sometimes consuming up to five pounds daily for a family of four.

Getting around

Forcing a boat departure with money

Before the major canal network expansion in the 1630s, travelers between cities often used small, irregular ferries where boatmen would only depart once they had collected enough cargo or passengers were willing to pay the difference to force an immediate departure. Early efforts to regulate this, such as a 1605 ordinance in Delft, required passengers to pay 24 stuivers for a one-way trip to force a boat to leave.

What it cost

Cost of bread and beer

In 1620, a 12-pound loaf of rye bread cost 6.5 stuivers, while a tankard of beer cost only 0.5 stuivers.