Countess Palatine Eleonora Catherine of Zweibrücken

Getting around

Horseback travel was standard for long distances

Because roads were narrow, rocky, and often muddy, people typically traveled between towns on horseback rather than in wheeled carriages.

Daily life

Church-led education and daily labor

For ordinary children, education was primarily the responsibility of the church to enable reading the Bible and catechism, often taught by a parish clerk, as most children did not attend formal schools. In rural areas, children as young as 10-12 years old spent their days far from home herding animals or assisting parents with labor, such as fetching water and wood.

What people wore

Essential belt accessories

Women often carried keys to the farm on their belts, while both men and women kept leather pouches and knives attached to them.

Music

Wedding music outside the church

In peasant society, wedding marches were played by musicians to accompany the wedding procession to church, but they were rarely allowed to play inside the church building itself.

At the table

Everyday meals of pea soup and beer

Everyday meals often featured pea soup, bread, porridge, and boiled turnips, typically accompanied by pork or fish and plenty of weak beer. Beer was consumed in large quantities, often three to four liters per day, as it was safer to drink than the available water.