Filipe da Espanha

What people wore

The universal male cloak

Regardless of wealth, men almost universally wore a cloak as an essential outer layer, even over French-style clothing, and it was often used for multiple purposes including as a mattress or blanket.

Getting around

Road upgrades reduced travel time significantly

Road improvements around 1780, such as the new route between Madrid and Andalusia through the Despeñaperros pass, featured a ten-meter-wide paved road that reduced travel time by three days. Despite these advances, the heavy reliance on oxen for hauling cargo meant that long-distance freight travel remained slow, often limited by the animals' need to graze.

At the table

Diet of the Laboring Poor

Poor laborers often ate soup with oil or cornmeal porridge in the morning and legumes or salted sardines at midday. Wine was considered expensive, so these families typically drank it only on feast days, sometimes to excess.

Music

Music in Religious Contexts

Although secular music thrived, religious authorities like Charles III eventually prohibited dancing and playing instruments during religious acts in 1780. Despite this, music remained part of wedding processions and romerías (pilgrimages), which allowed for more musical freedom than church services.

Daily life

Difficult access to water supplies

Water was a daily constraint for ordinary people who lacked piped access and often fetched it from public fountains or bought it from water carriers. To supplement supplies, households collected rainwater in cisterns or relied on local wells, requiring significant manual labor to provision for drinking, cooking, and cleaning.

What it cost

Food prices for ordinary families

Food prices varied significantly; for example, a chicken cost 8 reales, while a pound of beef or mutton cost 2 reales.