Olbracht Gasztołd

What people wore

Carrying Essentials Without Pockets

Because ordinary clothing lacked pockets, both men and women carried small, pouch-shaped leather purses attached to their belts to keep needles, threads, and other small essentials.

Daily life

Modest wooden peasant homes

Peasant homesteads were modest, typically consisting of a wooden dwelling house, a granary, and a cattle-shed. Some peasants in Samogitia lived in a numas, a structure with a central fireplace rather than a stove.

Work

Taxes Paid in Kind

To meet royal tax requirements, holdings were obligated to provide specific goods in kind, such as one hen and ten eggs from every holding, or a cow from every thirty holdings. These payments could sometimes be commuted for cash at fixed rates.

Music

Festivals and funeral feasting customs

Folk festivals and life-cycle celebrations like weddings and births were marked by feasting, mead drinking, and merry-making. During funeral rituals, families visited ancestral graves in forests to feast and leave offerings to honor the spirits.

At the table

Grain was the main staple food

Ordinary families relied on grain-based foods like rye bread and porridges as their primary staples, while meat and dairy products were considered luxuries consumed less frequently.

Getting around

Common transport and horse traction methods

Transport relied on wooden four-wheel carts and horse-drawn sledges, with sledges sometimes being preferred even in summer in wet regions. Because roads were not stone-paved, horses were not typically shod with iron horseshoes, but instead used iron thorns nailed into hooves for better traction on ice.

What it cost

Cost of fur garments

In the ruler's court, fox fur garments for attendants were valued at prices ranging from 22 to 100 groshi, depending on quality.