Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum

At the table

A Breakfast of Warm Spiced Beer

Every morning, men and women typically drank a warm mixture of beer, ginger, egg yolks, and sugar. This served as their breakfast, as they rarely ate traditional morning meals.

What people wore

Valuable Noblewoman's Clothing

Seventeenth-century noblewomen's wills show that items like fur-lined coats, velvet dresses, and specific headgear such as caps and wimples were vital assets, sometimes valued higher than silver or jewelry.

Getting around

Magnate processions traveled slowly to show wealth

Magnates traveled in grand processions with dozens of wagons and hundreds of horses to display their wealth and status. The travel pace for such a group was typically around 25 to 30 kilometers per day.

What it cost

Wages for Workers in 17th Century Warsaw

An ordinary worker in Warsaw earned 3 to 4 grosze per day, while a bricklayer, considered elite, could earn up to 16 grosze daily.

Music

Harvest Festival Music and Processions

During harvest festivals, processions carried elaborate wreaths decorated with grain, flowers, and sometimes live roosters to the church, singing traditional harvest songs while hoping for future abundance.

Daily life

Memorable costs of spirits and meat

Brandy, known as grzolka, was so popular that one merchant in Zolkiew paid 3,000 Reichsthaler for the exclusive annual license to distill it for the town and surrounding villages. In Mlava, 80 pounds of good beef could be purchased for only one Reichsthaler.