Eric XIV of Sweden

Getting around

Travel by foot, horse, and winter sledge

In the 16th century, common modes of transport included walking, traveling on horseback, or using sledges in winter, with water routes often preferred over land for their speed. A day's journey could cover 30–40 km on foot, 50 km on horseback, or 70–80 km by sledge during winter.

Daily life

Cramped shared living spaces with livestock

Most rural homes were single-room cottages serving as both kitchen and bedroom, where families often lived in cramped conditions alongside livestock like calves, sheep, and pigs during winter.

What people wore

Practical Daily Countryside Clothing

Ordinary country peasants typically wore practical, homemade clothing crafted from wool and linen. Men often wore a knee-length kirtle or frock with woollen leggings, while women dressed in a long, coarse linen chemise covered by a woollen surcoat.

Music

Popular instruments of the time

Common instruments included the flute, drum, fiddle, and jaw harp. Bagpipes were also popular, though they were sometimes depicted in church art as sinful or associated with the devil.

At the table

Two daily meals of porridge and soup

Ordinary families typically ate two meals a day, consisting mainly of porridge, bread, pea soup, and root vegetables like turnips. During the Catholic period, the religious fasts meant that meat, eggs, and dairy were often avoided on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and during long fasting periods before Christmas and Easter.