Claudia de' Medici

What people wore

Famine-Era Food Restrictions and Rationing

During periods of famine, authorities prohibited the baking of luxury bread and sweets to control food costs. The poorest citizens relied on state-subsidized shops that sold bread made from a mix of inferior cereals and pulses.

Daily life

Bread rationing for the poor

To prevent riots during food shortages, the state rationed bread, forcing the poor to eat smaller loaves made from pulses and low-quality cereals. Luxury bread and sweets were strictly forbidden during these times of scarcity.

Work

Barber-surgeons in Parma

Barber-surgeons were the most numerous medical workers in Parma, often performing both grooming tasks like shaving and invasive procedures such as bloodletting using razors and lancets.

Music

Domestic music in early 17th-century Austria

The Linzer Orgeltabulatur, compiled between 1611 and 1613, contains 108 pieces that were intended for domestic recreation on the regal, a small reed-organ, rather than for church use.

At the table

Rural diet of beans and chestnuts

During times of severe famine, country dwellers survived by consuming minimal food, such as beans and chestnuts, as cities prioritized their own limited grain supplies over feeding the rural population.

Getting around

Travel and Communication in the Duchy

In the early 17th century, the Via Emilia was a vital, though sometimes poorly maintained, route for transit between Piacenza, Parma, and Bologna, featuring regular services by couriers and messengers who operated on fixed schedules. Travel on this route was managed via post stations where riders could change horses to maintain efficient communication networks.

What it cost

Strict grain rationing in Parma

During the 1590-1593 famine, authorities strictly limited grain transactions, prohibiting any individual deal involving more than 4.7 kg of grain to prevent hoarding.