Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Joanna of Savoy

1532–1568

Born
1532, Annecy
Country of birth
France
Died
15 Jul 1568, Nomeny
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Annecy

    Birth, Annecy

  2. Child born: Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur

    Birth, Nancy

  3. Died · Nomeny

    Death, Nomeny

What was it like?

The world around Annecy, 1532: 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.

Peasant women in the countryside wore a simple cloth over their heads to protect against bad weather, often folding it to create a hood under the chin.

Fashion

Peasant women's head covering

Peasant women in the countryside wore a simple cloth over their heads to protect against bad weather, often folding it to create a hood under the chin.

Around 1500–1524

Essential tool pouches on belts

Peasant men wore belts with pouches to carry essential tools, such as sharpening stones or sewing implements.

Music
Around 1525–1530

Chapel music and singer wages

Choral singers at the Saint-Georges collegiate church in Nancy were well-compensated, with annual wages reaching ninety-six francs. By 1530, the ducal chapel included regular performances of the Passion mass, which the Duke had founded to be celebrated every Friday.

Around 1523–1523

Lute player's house and title

The lute was a successful and frequently used instrument at the ducal court, and in 1523, the ducal lute player Loys Ogier was granted the official title of master lute player. That same year, the prince gifted him fifty francs to help him purchase a house.

Getting around

Daily distance for pack animals

In level country, pack animals carrying heavy loads typically covered 15 to 25 miles in a single day.

Slow and uncomfortable carriage travel

Wheeled carriages were used, though they were often uncomfortable and slow as they lacked advanced suspension systems before the late 16th-century development of swaying carriages.

Daily life

Limited Availability of Primary Schooling

Primary education was rare and highly localized, often funded by individual patrons or local church officials; for instance, a school in Bauzemont was supported by an annual endowment of four résaux of wheat. Instruction was not widespread, and specialized secondary or higher education usually required travel outside the duchy, such as to Paris.

Typical Lorraine Home Layout and Facilities

Lorraine homes of this period typically featured a central hallway, a windowless kitchen with a floor-level fire, and a single heated bedroom for the family. Livestock were often sheltered within the same building, and the attic served as a hayloft.

Food

Standardized bread weights in 1532 Lorraine

In 1532, bread prices in Nancy were set by weight, where a one-denier loaf weighed 5 ounces and a four-sol loaf, the largest, weighed 24 pounds.

Diet of poor vs. wealthy peasants

While wealthier peasants had access to various meats and fruits, poorer families primarily relied on a basic diet of soup, bread, and cheese. They often drank a local beverage known as picotte instead of wine.

Prices and wages
Around 1540–1549

Meat prices from 1540 to 1549

Between 1540 and 1549, the average price of a pound of beef in the region was 5.5/6 deniers stebler, while veal and mutton cost 5.5/12 deniers stebler per pound.

Cost of shoes

The cost of shoemaking, specifically a pair of shoes, ranged from 0.6 to 1.34 sols tournois during the 16th century.

Work

Common jobs in the Duchy of Lorraine

In the Duchy of Lorraine, common occupations included farming, textile work like drapery, tanning, shoemaking, and rural industries such as mining, glassmaking, and paper production.

Guild fees and hereditary membership

Craft guilds in the region required masters to pay a fee, known as the right of hart, to gain a monopoly, and membership often tended to become hereditary.

News and letters

Royal postal service remained restricted

In sixteenth-century France, the royal postal service was restricted to officials, and Francis I prohibited private networks, often forcing private users to rely on unofficial or informal channels.

Messengers carried letters and private goods

Couriers, known as messengers, often carried letters in tied packets and were responsible for their safety, sometimes supplementing their meager wages by carrying private goods.

During their lifetime

  1. 1545

    Famine causes bread prices to soar

    In 1545, war-related famine caused bread prices in the region to multiply by five compared to 1540-1541 levels.

  2. 1545

    Plague epidemics devastate the region

    Between 1545 and 1552, plague outbreaks caused extreme hardship, leading to deserted towns and citizens walling up infected homes.

  3. 1562

    French Wars of Religion begin

    The French Wars of Religion broke out in 1562, leading to immense loss of life through violence, famine, and disease that lasted until 1598.

  4. 1562

    Recurring subsistence crises

    During the wars, periodic subsistence crises occurred in 1562–1563, 1565–1566, 1573–1574, 1586–1587, and 1590–1592, causing high prices and food shortages.

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.