Mattias de' Medici

What people wore

Passing Down Heirloom Clothing and Textiles

Clothing and accessories were historically valued as tools for social integration and communication, and they were commonly passed down from one generation to the next. Items were analyzed in archives through inventories, jewelry lists, and fabric samples that documented how people dressed.

At the table

Strict bread rationing for the poor

To ensure urban stability during food shortages, authorities strictly rationed bread, forcing the poor to eat smaller loaves made from a mixture of less valuable cereals and pulses. In contrast, fine flour bread was reserved exclusively for city residents.

News and letters

Letter travel time: Turin to Paris

During the early seventeenth century, a letter typically took about a week to travel between Turin and Paris, although this was subject to weather conditions across the Alps.

Getting around

Travel and Communication in the Duchy

In the early 17th century, the Via Emilia was a vital, though sometimes poorly maintained, route for transit between Piacenza, Parma, and Bologna, featuring regular services by couriers and messengers who operated on fixed schedules. Travel on this route was managed via post stations where riders could change horses to maintain efficient communication networks.

What it cost

Soaring wheat prices in Parma

The controlled price of wheat in Parma's public market rose sharply from 117 soldi in 1588 to a peak of 402 soldi in 1592 during a major subsistence crisis.

Daily life

Cooking with a swivel arm and alcoves

In the rural Apennines, families cooked using a swivel arm called a cadnil to hold pots over an open fire, often inside a large wooden hood. Wealthier families built alcoves into the wall beside the hearth where they could rest in the warmth.

Work

Paying rent with capons

Rural tenants often paid their rent in the form of a pair of capons, which were required to be delivered within a week of Saint Martin's Day on November 11.