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At the table

Family Budget Spent on Bread

During the Old Regime, expenditures on bread accounted for 50 to 60 percent of a family's total budget.

What people wore

Essential Women's Clothing

Urban working women typically wore a five-item ensemble: a top (casaquin or corset), a skirt (jupe or jupon), an apron for work, a shawl or neckerchief, and a cloak for cold weather.

Getting around

Walking as common travel

Ordinary people, such as peddlers and pilgrims, typically traveled on foot at a pace of 20 to 30 kilometers per day. Walking was so common that travelers frequently wore out a pair of shoes every 15 days.

What it cost

Medical treatment cost versus cutlery price

A medical enema in the 17th century cost 15 sous, which was the same price as a gross of small whistle knives.

Music

Sunday Dancing and the Pipe and Tabor

In the late 17th century, peasants often enjoyed dancing to the pipe and tabor on the Sabbath, an amusement that was sometimes tolerated by church officials as a necessary relief from a week of hard labor.

Daily life

Demanding daily household labor

Water had to be hauled manually from fountains or courtyards, and heating required constant manual labor to manage wood, fire, and ash disposal.