William III of England

What people wore

Practical daily dress for women

Ordinary women typically wore a practical two-piece dress featuring a bodice, often stiffened with reeds or felt, over an undergarment. Their skirts were often not floor-length to remain functional during daily work, and clothing colors remained sober with black, white, red, brown, and gray tones.

Daily life

Safe drinking water alternatives and collection

Fresh water was often scarce and unreliable, so families drank small beer, which was safer because the brewing process killed harmful bacteria through heat. Wealthier households also captured rainwater on their roofs, storing it in cisterns beneath the house for cooking and washing.

Work

Memorable facts about work life

Children from poor families often began working before age ten, sometimes performing labor-intensive tasks like spinning or reeling in the textile industry. Conversely, many foreign seasonal workers traveled to the Republic annually in spring, often engaging in strikes to negotiate their piece-wages for canal and dike construction.

Music

Widespread use of cheap songbooks

Songbooks were published in great numbers and sold cheaply, allowing ordinary people to sing popular melodies at home and work despite church leaders often frowning upon secular songs.

At the table

Bread as the Dietary Cornerstone

Bread was the essential element of the diet, sometimes eaten as sop—a mixture of bread and vegetables—or as sweet treats like poffertjes and oliekoecken. Poor families often relied on dense, dark rye bread as their primary source of calories.

Getting around

Efficient Canal Travel by Trekschuit

The trekschuit (horse-drawn barge) was the most common way to travel between towns, with a trip from Delft to Rotterdam taking one hour and forty-five minutes. Passengers could choose between the cheaper hold or the more comfortable cabin, with services running on strict, reliable schedules.

What it cost

Bread as a primary expense

Bread was the cornerstone of the diet for the poor, who often spent 50 percent or more of their income on it.