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Q1596573

1564–1622

Born
26 Nov 1564, Żary
Country of birth
Poland
Died
14 Mar 1622, Lübben (Spreewald)
facts
8
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

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A life in time

  1. Born · Żary

    Birth, Żary

  2. Child born: Sigismund Siegfried, Count of Promnitz in Pless

    Birth, Żary

  3. Died · Lübben (Spreewald)

    Death, Lübben (Spreewald)

What was it like?

The world around Żary, 1564: 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.

A full set of clothing for an ordinary Ukrainian peasant was valued at 26.5 zlotys for men and 52 zlotys for women, with the women's set including a shirt, skirt, and corset. Those who possessed such a complete set were considered wealthy by their community.

Fashion

Valuation of peasant clothing sets

A full set of clothing for an ordinary Ukrainian peasant was valued at 26.5 zlotys for men and 52 zlotys for women, with the women's set including a shirt, skirt, and corset. Those who possessed such a complete set were considered wealthy by their community.

Music

Bagpipes at festivals and processions

Bagpipes were widely enjoyed across social classes at inns, weddings, and parties, and they were also played during public events such as military marches and religious processions like Corpus Christi.

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.

Getting around

Daily travel speed for commoners

In the second half of the 16th century, the average speed for travelers on foot or in carts laden with goods was about 25–30 km per day.

Luxury transport for the wealthy

Wealthy individuals often traveled in covered wagons known as coaches (kocz) or cradles (kolebka), which were sometimes suspended on leather straps for comfort.

Daily life

Cooking and lighting challenges

Cooking happened in multipurpose living spaces or entryways using cauldrons suspended on complex, expensive iron hooks that allowed height adjustment over the fire. Because light was poor and candles were prohibitively expensive, many food preparation tasks were performed outdoors.

Education and literacy expectations

Schooling was highly valued by the nobility to prepare children for public service, and by the second half of the 16th century, commoners' children made up over half of the students at the Krakow Academy. For those who could not read or write, the label of idiot or simpleton was commonly used, regardless of status.

Food

Beer as a daily staple

Beer was the most common everyday drink, often served as soup with breadcrumbs or given to children and pregnant women for strength.

Around 1569–1574

Famine bread ingredients

During times of severe famine, poor people were forced to bake bread using ingredients like acorns, bran, and in extreme cases, dried tree bark and plant buds.

Prices and wages

Food affordability for workers

A worker could purchase a chicken for 1 grossus, a goose for 1.5 to 2 grossi, or a cluster of 60 eggs for 3 grossi with their daily wage.

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.

Work

Peasant wealth and long-term installments

During the mid-sixteenth century, a prosperous tenant farmer in a good year could see their disposable income rise from previous levels to between 10 and 20 zloties. Peasants often used this cash to purchase major village assets like mills or inns, paying in installments over periods as long as twenty years.

Tenant farmers and forced labour obligations

Most peasants were tenant farmers who worked their own land while also owing compulsory labour, known as panshczyzna, to their lord's estate. In some regions like Malopolska, half of these farms hired outside labour by 1590 to assist with their workloads.

News and letters

Cost of Sending a Letter

For private customers, a letter from Kraków to Venice cost 6 gr, which was equivalent to 12 hens or 50 kg of wheat.

Travel Time for Letters

A letter from Kraków to Venice took about 10 days in transit, while delivery from Kraków to Vilnius required 5 to 7 days.

During their lifetime

  1. 1569

    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.

  2. 1569

    The Union of Lublin established the Commonwealth

    On July 1, 1569, the Union of Lublin was signed, formally merging the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single Commonwealth of Both Nations. The process involved 140 senators and envoys from the Crown and 77 from Lithuania placing their seals on the act.

  3. 1572

    Banking house collapse ruins economy (1572)

    The collapse of the major merchant and banking house Loitz in Stettin in 1572 caused widespread economic turmoil throughout the region of Pomerania.

  4. 1575

    Smallpox and measles epidemic (1575)

    A widespread outbreak of smallpox and measles occurred in Holstein in 1575, severely impacting the lives of local families.

  5. 1618

    Destruction of the Thirty Years' War

    The Thirty Years' War, lasting from 1618 to 1648, caused a demographic catastrophe where roughly one-third of urban residents and two-fifths of the rural population perished. Soldiers and camp followers frequently destroyed crops and seized food, leading to widespread famine and forcing villagers to abandon their land.

  6. 1618

    The Kipper and Wipper Economic Crisis

    Between 1618 and 1623, Germany suffered the Kipper and Wipper economic crisis, where rulers debased coins by reducing silver content, causing rapid inflation. This made it impossible for people with fixed incomes, such as teachers and pensioners, to afford basic living expenses.

Family

Parents

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.