Françoise de Lorraine

Getting around

Travel speeds and horse relays

Early public carriages were slow, covering only about 48 kilometers in a day. Wealthy travelers or officials could pay to use the royal horse relay system to travel at a much faster gallop.

Daily life

Common dining habits and wine consumption

People generally ate from trenchers—plates made of wood, metal, or bread—as forks were rare in popular classes and only slowly adopted by the nobility. To drink, wine was almost always diluted with water because it was considered too heavy and thick.

What people wore

Standard peasant wear in Saumur region

A 16th-century peasant from the Saumur region wore a felt hat with a turned-down brim, a sayon tunic to the mid-thigh, a blue jerkin, and a country-style coat called a balandras.

Music

One-man band instruments for dancing

For informal settings, many people used the pipe and tabor, as a single musician could play both instruments simultaneously to accompany dancing.

At the table

Meat was rare for the poor

Meat was rare in the diets of the poor, who consumed very little due to high costs and limited preservation methods caused by salt shortages.