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Barbara Szembeck

Kraków, 1709 – Versailles, 18 May 1762

5 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

  • Born1709, Krakównot verified1 source
  • Died18 May 1762, Versaillesnot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 1709

    Born in Kraków

  2. 28 Dec 1742

    A son is born

  3. 18 May 1762

    Dies in Versailles

Family

See the tree

Partner

Children · 1

During her lifetime

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

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

The 1700s · Barbara is born in Kraków

In the news1707–1710

Plague pandemic of 1707–1710

A devastating plague pandemic swept across Poland between 1707 and 1710, claiming 9,000 lives in Poznań alone and causing the local authorities in Lublin to execute grave robbers accused of spreading the disease.

What people wore

Festive clothing regardless of heat

To manifest their status during feast days, peasants sometimes wore wadded caftans and fustian skirts even in the summer, regardless of the intense heat.

Getting around

Travel Methods for Different Social Classes

Ordinary people typically traveled by foot or in simple carts called kolasa, while the wealthy used horses, private carriages, or, by the late 18th century, stagecoaches on main routes.

The Great Northern War. Russia, Denmark and Saxony fought Sweden for the Baltic; Peter the Great won and built St Petersburg on the conquered coast.In Europe · 1700–1721

The Great Northern War. Russia, Denmark and Saxony fought Sweden for the Baltic; Peter the Great won and built St Petersburg on the conquered coast.

Imonoz · CC BY-SA 4.0

In the news1709–1710

The Great Winter of 1709

The Great Winter of 1709 brought extreme cold and severe famine to France, marking one of the century's worst economic crises.

Music

Instruments in Inns and Churches

Bagpipes were popular instruments at village and city inns, and in Żywiec, court trumpeters played music from the church tower.

Daily life

Heating and housing of the poor

Most peasant homes were simple huts, sometimes lacking chimneys, where smoke escaped through roof openings, while wealthier households used tile stoves and fireplaces for heating. Many poorer people lived in houses where they shared space with their animals, or in primitive earthen dwellings after wartime destruction.