Antonio Manrique de Vargas

What people wore

Costs of Fashionable Accessories

In 1680, a yard of the popular thin, black smoke cloak worn by women was valued at seven and a half reales. Meanwhile, a fashionable hand fan in the summer could cost as much as six escudos.

Daily life

Nightly waste disposal and street hygiene

To maintain hygiene, residents often threw waste from their homes onto the streets at night, leading to the famous cry of "agua va" to warn passersby. This practice contributed significantly to the extreme filth and foul odors reported by foreign travelers in cities like Madrid.

News and letters

Secret notes hidden in objects

People used small, secret notes called billetes, which were sometimes hidden in everyday objects like conservation boxes or inside water jugs to maintain privacy.

Music

The controversial zarabanda dance

The zarabanda was a popular but controversial dance known for its lascivious movements, often accompanied by singing, guitar, tambourine, and castanets.

At the table

Survival diet using chestnuts and nuts

In some northern regions of Spain, when grain was scarce, families survived for six months or more by eating chestnuts, nuts, and various wild fruits and herbs. This reliance on non-grain staples was a common adaptation to regional food shortages.

Getting around

Fast travel via relay horses

Travel via the post system was the fastest method, with royal mail and some travelers using relay horses to reach speeds covering 150 to 200 kilometers per day. A trip from Seville to Madrid, for example, was expected to be completed in two days and eighteen hours.

Work

Wages for field laborers and servants

Farm laborers working as live-in servants often earned an annual salary of up to 32 reales, while daily field workers typically earned between 30 maravedíes and 3.5 reales per day plus wine.