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Ranuccio I Farnese

Parma, 1569 – Parma, 1622

12 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

  • Born1569, ParmaRecords disagree1 source
  • Titleregentor duke, 1592–1622not verified1 source
  • Titleduke, 1592–1622or regentnot verified1 source
  • Died1622, ParmaRecords disagree1 source
  • FatherAlexander Farnesenot verified1 source
  • MotherInfanta Maria of Guimarãesnot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 1569

    Born in Parma

  2. 1592–1622

    Duke

  3. 1612–1618

    3 children are born

  4. 1622

    Dies in Parma

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 3

During his lifetime

He lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Parma.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1560s · Ranuccio I is born in Parma

In the news1562

Capital moved to Turin

The capital of the Duchy was transferred from Chambéry to Turin in 1562, leading to the eventual marginalization of the Savoyard lands.

Getting around

Network of roads and mule tracks

The region relied on a network of paths and roads, including the major Via Emilia that connected Parma and Piacenza, while others like the route to Spezia were mountain mule tracks. Carriageable roads existed for local travel, such as the route between Piacenza, Rivergaro, and Travi.

In the news1561

Mandatory salt tax introduced

In 1561, the Duke imposed a mandatory salt tax requiring every person to purchase about 11.4 kilograms of salt annually, with the poor exempted.

Daily life

New schools and limited formal education

Duke Pier Luigi Farnese initiated the opening of numerous schools in the Duchy to teach medicine, law, and classical Greek and Latin literature. However, formal schooling remained primarily accessible to the wealthy, while peasant children were typically trained at home or through labor.

What people wore

Everyday village clothing for women

In the sixteenth-century villages of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, women's daily attire consistently included a shirt (camicia), a dress (veste), a veil, a cap (scuffia), and an apron (scossale).

Music

Choir Training at the Steccata Church

In 1565, a small seminary for twelve boys was established at the Steccata church in Parma to provide instruction in both plainchant and polyphonic singing.

At the table

Daily Meat and Friday Fish Habits

Ordinary families frequently consumed meat, which they bought daily, while adhering to the religious practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays by eating freshwater fish like frogs, crayfish, eels, tench, carp, and pike.