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Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken

Strasbourg, 9 Mar 1721 – Darmstadt, 30 Mar 1774

8 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 9 Mar 1721

    Born in Strasbourg

  2. 1751–1757

    4 children are born

  3. 30 Mar 1774

    Dies in Darmstadt, aged 53

During her lifetime

She lived through 6 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Strasbourg.

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

The 1720s · Countess is born in Strasbourg

In the news1720–1721

The Great Plague of Marseilles

The Great Plague of Marseilles, the last major plague epidemic in France, devastated the region between 1720 and 1721.

Getting around

Travel by mule

A trip between San Remo and Genoa over 90 miles could take three days on muleback due to narrow, rugged mountain paths.

At the table

Wine and Cider Over Water

Water was often considered unsafe to drink, leading people to favor wine or cider. Cider was a popular, less-taxed alternative, though it had to be consumed quickly before it spoiled in the spring.

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

What people wore

Origin of the term Grisette

The term grisette described poor working-class women, named after the simple gray woolen cloth used to make their dresses.

Music

Teaching Dance via Written Notation

Dance masters used specialized choreographic notation created by Raoul Auger Feuillet to distribute and teach new dance steps between Paris and the provinces. By 1721, collections contained dozens of dances composed by masters like Pécour and Balon for the French court.

Daily life

Limited schooling for rural children

Many rural parishes lacked schools entirely, and for those that existed, instruction was often limited to basic reading, writing, and the catechism. It was common for the local parish priest to conduct classes, though schooling for girls was significantly rarer than for boys.