Constant d'Aubigné

At the table

Bread and soup as staples

Ordinary families relied on grain-based foods, with bread and soups made of bread soaked in broth, water, or vegetable mixtures providing up to 80 percent of daily calories.

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.

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.

What it cost

Cost of shoes

The cost of shoemaking, specifically a pair of shoes, ranged from 0.6 to 1.34 sols tournois during the 16th century.

Music

A popular Renaissance sung dance

The song Belle qui tiens ma vie, a well-known Renaissance piece, was originally a sung dance documented in the 1589 manual Orchésographie.

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.