Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans

Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans was a petite-fille de France as grand-daughter of king Louis XIII, and duchess of Lorraine and Bar by her marriage to Duke Leopold. She was regent of the duchy during the minority (1729–1730) and absence (1730–1737) of her son and suo jure princess of Commercy from 1737–1744. Among her children was Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, the co-founder of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Cost of Footwear

Shoes for men were a significant expense, as they could cost twice as much as those worn by women.

Essential Women's Clothing

Urban working women typically wore a five-item ensemble: a top (casaquin or corset), a skirt (jupe or jupon), an apron for work, a shawl or neckerchief, and a cloak for cold weather.

Dancing and Music in Court Apartments

At the royal apartments in Versailles, ordinary court life included regular music and dancing in the Grand Apartment, where attendees could freely enjoy playing games, eating snacks, and dancing to violins and oboes.

Sunday Dancing and the Pipe and Tabor

In the late 17th century, peasants often enjoyed dancing to the pipe and tabor on the Sabbath, an amusement that was sometimes tolerated by church officials as a necessary relief from a week of hard labor.

Barque de poste canal travel

In 1674, the barque de poste service was introduced, allowing passengers to travel from Toulouse to Castelnaudary in one day. The journey included scheduled stops for meals and overnight rests.

Walking as common travel

Ordinary people, such as peddlers and pilgrims, typically traveled on foot at a pace of 20 to 30 kilometers per day. Walking was so common that travelers frequently wore out a pair of shoes every 15 days.

Crowded and multi-purpose living spaces

Ordinary homes were often crowded, with a single room used for cooking, eating, sleeping, and child care, requiring furniture to be rearranged throughout the day.

Demanding daily household labor

Water had to be hauled manually from fountains or courtyards, and heating required constant manual labor to manage wood, fire, and ash disposal.

Daily Bread Consumption Requirements

To meet daily calorie needs, men typically consumed three pounds of bread per day, while women consumed two pounds and children one pound.

Family Budget Spent on Bread

During the Old Regime, expenditures on bread accounted for 50 to 60 percent of a family's total budget.

Cost of shoes and bread

A servant paid 10 livres and 5 sous for a new pair of shoes in May 1703, while bread prices fluctuated significantly, such as when he paid 7 livres 9 sous 9 deniers for bread in May 1705.

Servant earnings and clothing costs

In 1692, a young servant earned 75 livres per year, but spent over 35 livres on a single wardrobe update that included a secondhand wig.

Common jobs in 17th-century France

Common occupations in 17th-century France included artisans like bakers, tailors, and masons, as well as day laborers, domestic servants, and various river workers like boatmen. These individuals often worked in small shops, homes, or on the streets rather than large centralized workplaces.

Memorable facts of everyday work life

Laborers commonly adopted coffee with milk for breakfast as an economical way to sustain energy until the evening. Additionally, many workers in that era enjoyed about 80 to 85 days of complete rest per year due to various religious and local feast days.

Daily speed of mail delivery

In the 1670s and 1680s, a mail courier typically covered only 70 km per day on the road between Paris and London.

Mail took weeks to reach the provinces

Letters sent from Paris to the Provence region typically took at least twelve days to arrive, with some journeys in more difficult conditions lasting nearly three weeks.