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Archduchess Barbara of Austria

Innsbruck, 10 May 1539 – Ferrara, 29 Sep 1572

9 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 10 May 1539

    Born in Innsbruck

  2. 29 Sep 1572

    Dies in Ferrara, aged 33

Family

See the tree

Parents

During her lifetime

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

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

The 1530s · Archduchess is born in Innsbruck

In the news1539

Record of food prices in Linz

By 1539, the price of food was recorded in Linz as 5 pfennigs for a pound of beef and 4 pfennigs for a pound of mutton.

Getting around

Fast travel via river boats

Travelers used rivers for faster journeys, covering up to 150 kilometers in 24 hours when moving downstream by boat.

In the news1535

Currency reform introduces the gulden

A currency reform in 1535 introduced the gulden, which was worth 60 kreuzers or 240 pfennigs.

Daily life

Dark and smoky homes

Homes were dark, cold, and smoky, often featuring very small windows that provided little daylight and lacking chimneys for the open fires used for cooking.

What people wore

Strict dress codes regulated social classes

Common citizens and artisans were legally prohibited from wearing luxury items like velvet, silk, pearls, or gold; their wives were limited to a gold ring worth no more than five or six guilders. Jewish people were forced to wear a yellow ring on their jackets or caps to ensure they were publicly recognizable.

Music

Rules for Dancing and Singing

In 1533, the Strasbourg city council permitted round dances but specifically prohibited the singing of shameful songs while dancing. Singing in a round was a common practice, as shown by the dance song Ich spring an disem ringe.

At the table

Staple diet of ordinary people

Ordinary families relied on staples like soup, porridge (made from oats, barley, or legumes), cabbage, turnips, and bread. Meat was a luxury for commoners, reserved primarily for festive occasions like the slaughtering of pigs or geese.