Maria Teresa Sobieska

At the table

Cossack dietary staples and habits

Cossack soldiers typically ate simple, communal meals like salamakha, a liquid dish made from boiled millet and flour water, often served from small wooden troughs using wooden spoons. When possible, they supplemented their diet with pork scraps, boiled fish, and various cereals like teterya cooked with milk or fat.

What people wore

Cost of Peasant Clothing

In the 17th century, a complete set of Ukrainian peasant clothing—including a shirt, wide trousers, a coat, and a sheepskin jacket—was valued at approximately 26.5 zlotys. Women's clothing, often more elaborate, was typically valued at nearly double that amount, around 52 zlotys.

Getting around

Memorable Aspects of Travel

Traveling in the Commonwealth was challenging, as there was a lack of quality inns, and journeys were often crowded with people and goods like goose fat and cracklings in wagons. Wealthy nobles displayed their status by traveling with large processions that could include hundreds of horses and servants, and occasionally even camels.

What it cost

Cost of Bread and Shoes

Basic items were affordable: bread cost less than one grosz, and a pair of shoes ranged from 9 to 24 grosze in the 17th century. In 1671, the price of a pair of shoes reached 19.1 grosze.

Music

Professional guilds and instruments

Professional musicians organized into city guilds, which were legally supported by decrees to provide music for celebrations, ceremonies, and military events. Musicians played instruments like the violin, dulcimer, bagpipe, and drum at festive gatherings.

Daily life

Sleeping and eating habits

Until the end of the 18th century, beds were rare in peasant households, with most people sleeping on long benches or straw spread directly on the floor. While forks were known, they did not come into general use until the 18th century, so most people ate with their fingers and wooden spoons.