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Brites de Castro-Osorio, 6.Condesa de Lemos

d. 1570

Country of birth
Crown of Castile, today Spain
Died
21 Nov 1570, Valladolid
facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

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A life in time

  1. Died · Valladolid

    Death, Valladolid

What was it like?

The world around Valladolid, 1570: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Poor rural laborers often owned only one set of clothing, sometimes in such disrepair that it barely covered their bodies. This clothing was a valuable asset often included in wills and dowries, and even used to pay funeral taxes.

Fashion

Clothing as a Valuable Asset

Poor rural laborers often owned only one set of clothing, sometimes in such disrepair that it barely covered their bodies. This clothing was a valuable asset often included in wills and dowries, and even used to pay funeral taxes.

Costly and Heavy Headpieces

In the 16th century, women in some regions wore elaborate, heavy headpieces made of linen or crepe that were so costly and uncomfortable they petitioned for them to be reformed. These headpieces were so large and oddly shaped that observers likened them to baskets of cherries or ships sailing with full wind.

Music

Home music and the vihuela

The vihuela was a widely played instrument at home, and seven printed songbooks published between 1536 and 1576 contain hundreds of secular works including ballads, sonnets, and villancicos. These books were instrumental in spreading music beyond elite courtly circles into ordinary households.

Instruments in church and processions

During Holy Week, the Church replaced bells with wooden instruments called matracas to commemorate the death of Jesus, as bells were considered the voice of Christ. Minstrels playing wind instruments like shawms, sackbuts, and flutes were also central to both sacred processions and secular street festivals.

Getting around

Daily travel distances on horseback

Travelers typically covered four to six leagues per day on horseback, with exceptional days reaching seven or eight leagues. A league was a unit of distance used in Spain during this period.

Horses and mules for travel

Travelers relied exclusively on horses for personal transport and mules for carrying luggage, as exemplified by the Venetian traveler Andrés Navagero. Navagero noted significant expenses for purchasing mules and horses for his journey.

Daily life

Cooking and dining in the kitchen

The kitchen was the heart of the home, where families gathered around a low fireplace to cook, eat, and socialize. Food was often handled with fingers as forks were not yet in general use.

Food costs and daily wages

For the price of just one blanca—half a maravedí—it was possible to purchase 9 fresh or salted sardines. An average laborer earned about 17 maravedís per day.

Food

Bread was the staple food

Bread made from grains like rye, wheat, and barley was the essential daily staple for the common people, often consumed with humble sides like fatback, legumes, or onions.

Meat was a rare luxury

Meat was a luxury rarely eaten by the poor, and consuming it was a symbol of wealth and power, often reserved for special occasions or festivities.

Prices and wages

Gender wage gap in 1553 agriculture

In 1553 Requena, male field workers earned between 34 and 68 maravedíes per day depending on the month, while women earned a fixed rate of only 17 maravedíes per day.

Rising bread prices in the 1550s

The price of a loaf of bread in Málaga surged from 7 maravedíes in 1553 to 24 maravedíes by May 1557 due to poor harvests.

Work

Long days and regulated wages

Agricultural laborers were required to work from sunrise to sunset, and municipalities enforced strict daily wage caps that varied by season, often ranging from 30 to 68 maravedíes.

Morning hiring and harsh labor control

Laborers often gathered at a designated plaza before dawn to be hired, and municipal authorities sometimes threatened strikers or those refusing to work with imprisonment.

News and letters

Weekly Mail Between Seville and Medina

From 1560, a weekly ordinary mail service ran between Seville and Medina del Campo, typically costing one real per letter. Transit usually took about eight days, though it could range between seven and fifteen days depending on conditions.

High Costs for Private Mail

For private individuals, the cost of sending mail was high, as a simple letter from Madrid to Seville cost one real, which was paid by the recipient. Receiving large volumes of correspondence could be financially ruinous.

During their lifetime

  1. 1512

    Castilian invasion of Navarre begins

    Castilian troops led by the Duke of Alba invaded Pamplona on July 25, 1512, beginning the conquest and incorporation of Navarre into the Crown of Castile.

  2. 1516

    Forced conversion or expulsion of Muslims

    Following the Spanish decree of 1502, the Muslim community in Navarre was forced to leave or convert by a decree issued on May 1, 1516, leading to the abandonment of Morería neighborhoods.

  3. 1521

    Defeat at Battle of Esquiroz

    On June 30, 1521, a Franco-Navarrese army of 12,000 was defeated at the Battle of Esquiroz near Pamplona, resulting in more than 6,000 deaths and the capture of their general.

  4. 1540

    Demographic and economic recovery

    Following a period of war, the mid-16th century saw a demographic recovery, with the population reaching approximately 32,000 households and Pamplona hitting 10,000 inhabitants.

Family

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.