Charles Stuart, Duke of Cambridge

What people wore

Identical left and right shoes

Women's shoes had no distinction between left and right feet at this time. Both were identical.

Daily life

Few children could afford school

Many children in the 1640s did not go to school, and families often could not afford it; many adults also could not read or write. Where schooling happened, girls often attended only until about age 10, while boys might continue to grammar school if their parents could pay.

Work

Equal Pay for Identical Tasks

While men typically earned more, women and men could sometimes receive the same daily wage for performing identical agricultural tasks.

Music

The Popularity of the Viol

The viola da gamba, a fretted instrument with six strings played with a bow, became very popular for domestic music-making because of its shimmering sound and relative ease of learning.

At the table

Ordinary diets centered on pottage

For poorer people, pottage (a thick vegetable stew) was a main food, alongside bread and vegetables. This diet left many lacking vitamins and iron, and hard times meant hunger when prices rose.

Getting around

Carriages stuck in the mud

Carriages sometimes required a team of sturdy laborers on both sides to prop them up so they would not overturn in deep mud.

What it cost

Typical food prices in England

When bread cost a penny a pound, cheese cost threepence a pound, and butter cost fivepence to sixpence a pound.