Queen Maria Isabel of Spain

Music

Regulation and costs of festival music

Under a 1766 regulation, professional music directors were required to pay one tostão for every festival they directed. They also had to submit annual reports detailing the number of singers and instrumentalists involved and the amount each was paid.

Daily life

Rural living and animal cohabitation

In rural homes, families sometimes lived in a single room where they slept and ate alongside their domestic animals.

What it cost

Ox meat prices in Porto

In Porto, the price of ox meat rose from 36 réis per arrátel in 1780 to 47 réis by 1783, eventually reaching 63 réis by 1798.

What people wore

Wide dresses required sideways movement

Women's gala dresses in the mid-18th century could reach four meters in width due to wide hoops, forcing women to turn sideways to pass through doorways.

Getting around

Introduction of the Mala-posta Stagecoach

In 1798, a new public stagecoach service known as the mala-posta was established between Lisbon and Coimbra to improve travel for people and mail.

At the table

Poor families shared one sardine

For many poor families, a typical dinner consisted only of bread, potatoes, and a single sardine, with the mother often eating the head and dividing the rest among her children.