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Anna Catherine Constance Vasa

Warsaw, 1619 – Cologne, 8 Oct 1651

11 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 1619

    Born in Warsaw

  2. 8 Oct 1651

    Dies in Cologne

Family

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Parents

Partner

During her lifetime

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

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

The 1610s · Anna is born in Warsaw

In the news1618–1648

Destruction of the Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War, lasting from 1618 to 1648, caused a demographic catastrophe where roughly one-third of urban residents and two-fifths of the rural population perished. Soldiers and camp followers frequently destroyed crops and seized food, leading to widespread famine and forcing villagers to abandon their land.

At the table

Staple foods in peasant diets

A peasant diet during this period was primarily based on rye bread, with adults consuming 0.6 to 0.9 kilograms daily, alongside porridge, peas, and cabbage.

What people wore

Peasant couple's 1613 wardrobe inventory

A 1613 record of a peasant couple's possessions lists new and worn outer garments, several shirts, sheepskin coats, headcloths, and leather shoes.

Getting around

Common means of travel between towns

People traveled mainly by horseback, in horse-drawn carriages such as the covered kocz or kolasa, or on foot. River transport was also used as a popular alternative due to the poor condition of land roads.

What it cost

Cost of Bread and Shoes

Basic items were affordable: bread cost less than one grosz, and a pair of shoes ranged from 9 to 24 grosze in the 17th century. In 1671, the price of a pair of shoes reached 19.1 grosze.

Music

Carnival sleigh rides and masked balls

Noble carnival celebrations included sleigh rides from mansion to mansion with musicians playing dance music, culminating in masked balls where noblemen dressed as peasants or Gypsies.

Daily life

Shared kitchens and street food

Cooking and heating often used the same domestic heat source, and in wealthier homes, kitchens were frequently located in separate buildings or far from living rooms to reduce heat and smoke. In cities, some households shared large kitchens, and people could buy prepared foods like fried liver or żur from street vendors.