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Henri d'Angoulême

Aachen, 1551 – Aix-en-Provence, 2 Jun 1586

10 facts2 sources

Facts and their sources

  • Born1551, Aachenor Apr 1547Records disagree1 source
  • TitleGrand prior of France, 1573–1586not verified1 source
  • Died2 Jun 1586, Aix-en-Provencenot verified1 source
  • MotherJanet Stewartnot verified1 source
  • FatherHenry II of Francenot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 1551

    Born in Aachen

  2. 1573–1586

    Grand prior of France

  3. 2 Jun 1586

    Dies in Aix-en-Provence

Family

See the tree

Parents

During his lifetime

He lived through 4 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Aachen.

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

The 1550s · Henri is born in Aachen

In the news1555

Peace of Augsburg enacted (1555)

The 1555 Peace of Augsburg established the legal principle that local princes could determine the religion of their subjects as either Lutheran or Catholic. If subjects disagreed with their ruler's choice, they were granted the right to emigrate with their property and families.

Getting around

Walking as the primary mode of transport

Most ordinary people traveled on foot, often covering 20 to 30 kilometers in a day.

In the news1545–1552

Plague epidemics devastate the region

Between 1545 and 1552, plague outbreaks caused extreme hardship, leading to deserted towns and citizens walling up infected homes.

Daily life

School costs in pfennigs

Families sometimes paid quarterly school fees ranging from 12 to 18 pfennigs, while some also had to provide a log of wood during winter.

What people wore

Class-based clothing regulations and currency limits

Strict regulations controlled social class appearance; for example, commoners were forbidden from wearing gold, silver, pearls, or silk. A wife of a commoner could wear a simple gold ring worth no more than five or six guilders, without gemstones.

Music

Professional city musicians, the Stadtpfeifer

Stadtpfeifer, or city pipers, were professional musicians employed by councils to perform on towers, in dance halls, and at public festivities using instruments like shawms, sackbuts, and slide brass.

At the table

Rare Festive Pastries

For ordinary families, sweet pastries fried in fat, known as Nonnenfürzle, were rare festive delicacies served on special occasions like church festivals. They were made from choux pastry and, according to local tradition, were named for the hissing sound they made as steam escaped in the hot fat.