Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

Elżbieta Radziwiłł

1550 – 1591

6 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

  • Born1550not verified1 source
  • MarriedMikołaj Mieleckinot verified1 source
  • Died1591not verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 1550

    Born

  2. 1591

    Dies

Family

See the tree

Partner

Children · 1

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 1550s · Elżbieta is born

In the news1558

First postal service and industrial growth

In 1558, the first Polish postal service was established, significantly improving communication infrastructure for the country. This period also saw the development of local artillery manufacturing, with 178 workshops employing 1,100 craftsmen.

At the table

Beer as a daily staple

Beer was the most common everyday drink, often served as soup with breadcrumbs or given to children and pregnant women for strength.

What people wore

Valuation of peasant clothing sets

A full set of clothing for an ordinary Ukrainian peasant was valued at 26.5 zlotys for men and 52 zlotys for women, with the women's set including a shirt, skirt, and corset. Those who possessed such a complete set were considered wealthy by their community.

Getting around

Luxury transport for the wealthy

Wealthy individuals often traveled in covered wagons known as coaches (kocz) or cradles (kolebka), which were sometimes suspended on leather straps for comfort.

What it cost

Everyday costs for workers

A pair of shoes cost 7 to 8 grosze, which represented about four days of work for an unskilled laborer. Meat was more expensive, with a large portion of pork costing 18 to 20 grosze, or nearly two weeks of work.

Music

Bagpipes at festivals and processions

Bagpipes were widely enjoyed across social classes at inns, weddings, and parties, and they were also played during public events such as military marches and religious processions like Corpus Christi.

Daily life

Modest wooden peasant homes

Peasant homesteads were modest wooden houses, often with a single stove and no chimney, sometimes using oiled paper or animal bladders for windows. In some regions like Samogitia, families still lived in traditional numas with central fireplaces.