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Aleksandra Chodkiewicz

Died 1570

6 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 1570

    Dies

Family

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Parents

Partner

Children · 2

During her lifetime

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1570s · Aleksandra dies

In the news1569–1574

Famine and price crisis of 1569-1574

Between 1569 and 1574, a severe famine and price crisis struck the region, causing mass death among the poorest residents, while wealthy nobles remained largely unaffected. During 1573 and 1574, a 2.2-kilogram loaf of rye bread cost an unskilled worker in Krakow between 32% and 40% of their daily wage.

At the table

Everyday drinks and home brewing

Beer was a primary everyday beverage, often brewed within the household using large tubs and cauldrons, while mead was also a common drink.

What people wore

Women's Wardrobe Value

Women's clothing was often twice as expensive as men's, with a set including a shirt, skirt, and corset reaching a value of 52 gold coins.

Getting around

Common modes of travel and transport

People traveled by foot, horseback, or in horse-drawn vehicles like simple carts and covered carriages; rivers were also used for transport.

What it cost

Wages and shoe prices in Kraków

In the first half of the 16th century, an unskilled daily worker in Kraków earned approximately 2 grossi per day, while a pair of shoes cost about 7 to 8 grossi.

Music

Carnival sleigh rides and masquerade balls

During the carnival season, the Polish gentry organized festive sleigh rides from mansion to mansion, accompanied by musicians playing dance music, which often culminated in a masquerade ball where nobles dressed as peasants, Jews, or Gypsies.

Daily life

Peasant home layouts and heating

Most peasant families lived in modest wooden houses featuring a stove, though some people in the Samogitia region used a numas, a building type with a central open fireplace.