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Katharina of Poland, Countess of Montfort

1503 – 1548

7 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 1503

    Born

  2. 1548

    Dies

Family

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Parents

During her lifetime

She lived through 5 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1500s · Katharina is born

In the news1507

Great plague of 1507

A major plague struck Poland in 1507, causing many peasants to flee their farms and leading to widespread abandonment of rural sites.

Getting around

Common methods of travel and daily speeds

Ordinary people typically traveled on foot, covering 20–25 kilometers a day, while those with wagons or carts traveled at a slightly slower pace of 4–6 kilometers per hour.

In the news1509

New 1509 customs duties introduced

The 1509 Sejm imposed new customs duties on the export of oxen, horses, and leather to address the kingdom's financial shortages.

Daily life

No formal schooling for rural children

Rural children did not attend formal schools; instead, their childhood was short and primarily focused on learning farm work through games and assisting their parents. Many children played with self-made wooden or clay toys, or simply used natural objects like sand, stones, and water.

What people wore

Fashionable slitted sleeves

Both men and women of various social classes followed the trend of wearing clothing with slitted sleeves, which was perceived as a touch of flirtation and intimacy. This style allowed contrasting fabrics from underneath to show through the cuts.

Music

A cross-European dance hit

A dance title recorded in 1540, Zakłułam się cierniem (I pricked myself with a thorn), was so popular it appeared in musical tablatures across Western Europe.

At the table

Daily meat consumption

An average laborer on a Polish manor consumed approximately 300g of fatty meat every day.