Carles de Borbó

What people wore

Aprons as Occupational Markers

On working days, both men and women typically wore aprons, which often became stained by their specific occupations, such as printing or butchery.

Getting around

Travel times between major French cities

Traveling between cities often involved water coaches (coches d'eau) for rivers or road carriages, with a journey from Lyon to Paris taking six days at a slow pace or three days at a faster pace in 1742.

At the table

Daily bread rations for a family

A weaver's family in Rouen consumed a daily bread ration of 1,222 grams for the husband, 983 grams for the wife, and 659 grams per child.

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 and irregular primary education

Primary schooling was rare, especially for girls, and often conducted irregularly by the local priest or his vicar. Education was limited to the basics of reading, writing, and the catechism.

What it cost

Worker wages in the early 1700s

In the early 18th century, a rural manual worker earned about 9 sols per day, but could only find work for about 180 days out of the year.