Antoni Stanisław Czetwertyński-Światopełk

What people wore

Festive Attire Regardless of Weather

Peasants often prioritized wearing their best festive clothes for Sunday church services regardless of the weather, sometimes wearing heavy wadded caftans or fustian skirts even in summer heat. These outfits served as a visual marker to distinguish sacred festive time from the everyday grind of work.

Getting around

Common modes of transportation and travel speeds

Travelers used various wheeled vehicles, such as carriages for the wealthy and simple carts called kolasa for commoners, while poorer people generally traveled on foot. In the 18th century, the expansion of the postal system allowed stagecoaches to travel 60 to 100 kilometers per day on main roads.

At the table

Preserving Cabbage in Tree Trunks

Middling townspeople often stored sauerkraut in hollowed-out tree trunks to preserve it for winter.

Music

Music for peasants and festivals

Peasants and local gentry danced at inn parties and harvest festivals to the sound of instruments like bagpipes, often performing at celebrations following the completion of agricultural work.

Daily life

Schooling for children

Formal schooling was rare for peasant children because they had to work on farms, though some attended schools in larger villages during winter. Elite boys could attend new institutions like the Collegium Nobilium, which taught natural sciences and Polish alongside Latin.

What it cost

Treasurer salary at a noble court

Around 1740, the salary for a treasurer in a noble court was 500 tynfs per year, along with clothing and food for their servant and fodder for two horses.