Carl XII of Sweden

At the table

Salt-heavy diet and high beer consumption

Ordinary people ate a diet based on salt-preserved foods such as herring, meat, and pork, often supplemented by bread, porridge, peas, and butter. Because the food was heavily salted, they drank large quantities of diluted beer, sometimes exceeding five liters per person daily.

What people wore

Strict fashion laws for commoners

During the 1600s, Swedish commoners were strictly forbidden from using silk fabrics or other exclusive materials in public, with violators facing fines or imprisonment on bread and water.

Getting around

Winter Sled Travel

Travel was significantly faster and more common in winter, as people used sleds to travel across frozen lakes and rivers. In some coastal regions, travelers could cover 7 to 9 mil (approximately 70 to 90 kilometers) in a single day.

What it cost

Value of clothing items

Stolen trousers were valued at 6 or 8 öre, reflecting the high cost of clothing items in the 16th century.

Music

Minuet dancing in Stockholm, 1676

In 1676, a poem written for a Stockholm wedding documented that guests knew and danced the minuet, which was already well-known in the city.

Daily life

Living in small, dark, shared wooden homes

Rural homes were often small, dimly lit, unpainted wooden houses with turf roofs, where one main room served as living, sleeping, and cooking space for the whole family and sometimes their livestock during winter.