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Maria Maximiliana of Austria

Florence, 9 Jan 1827 – Florence, 18 May 1834

7 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 9 Jan 1827

    Born in Florence

  2. 18 May 1834

    Dies in Florence, aged 7

During her lifetime

She lived through 2 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Florence.

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

The 1820s · Maria is born in Florence

Around the world1825–1830

The first passenger railway

In England a steam locomotive pulled the first public train in 1825; within decades railways crossed every continent.

At the table

Chestnuts as a main dish

Poor Neapolitans purchased nine boiled chestnuts for one soldo and used the reddish cooking juice to soak their bread as a main meal.

What people wore

Cost of wedding attire

A wedding dress for an ordinary person usually cost up to 30 ducats, though wealthy families could spend up to 300 ducats on garments with gold and silver fabrics.

Getting around

Travel by mule and lettiga in Sicily

In Sicily, travel was often done by mule or in a lettiga, a carriage-like box without wheels carried by two mules that moved at about three miles per hour. This unconventional vehicle was notoriously noisy due to bells and prone to swaying on uneven ground.

What it cost

Food prices for daily necessities

Bread cost 6 grana per rotolo (approx. 890 grams), while beef cost 16 grana and a liter of wine was 3 grana. Pasta was a staple, with machine-made pasta costing 7 grana and finer varieties reaching 8 grana per rotolo.

Music

Music in religious festivals

Religious processions and festivals were vibrant musical events where people sang devotional songs and participated in popular theatre performances. These celebrations often merged music, dance, and collective banqueting to strengthen community bonds.

Daily life

Peasant homes in Fardella

Peasant homes in Fardella typically consisted of a ground floor for stables and storage, and a single first-floor room where families cooked, ate, and slept; they lacked both drinking water and electricity.