William II, Prince of Orange

What people wore

Cost of lace for shirts

In 1625, Maria van Nesse paid 6 guilders for lace to decorate six linen shirts, highlighting the investment in undergarments.

Daily life

Strict Classroom Discipline

Basic school rules strictly prohibited students from throwing fleas, lice, or snot at classmates, with punishments including being whipped with a stick or hit with a paddle.

Work

Wages and benefits in stivers

A skilled worker around 1600 earned roughly 14 stivers per day, while an apprentice might receive only 6 stivers per week. Employers sometimes provided bonuses like a pair of new shoes or a hat at the end of an apprenticeship.

Music

Church music and folk dance customs

Organists played for up to an hour after Sunday and Wednesday church services, sometimes using the organ to help the congregation practice the melody and tone for the psalms. During festive seasons, commoners participated in the traditional egg dance, which required dancers to maneuver around eggs on the ground without breaking them.

At the table

Bread as the staple food

The daily diet was centered on bread, often supplemented with porridges or stews like hutspot, which were cooked in a single pot over an open fire. Poor families relied on dark, nutritious rye or coarse-grain bread, sometimes consuming up to five pounds daily for a family of four.

Getting around

Forcing a boat departure with money

Before the major canal network expansion in the 1630s, travelers between cities often used small, irregular ferries where boatmen would only depart once they had collected enough cargo or passengers were willing to pay the difference to force an immediate departure. Early efforts to regulate this, such as a 1605 ordinance in Delft, required passengers to pay 24 stuivers for a one-way trip to force a boat to leave.

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.