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Hedwig Jagiellon, Electress of Brandenburg

1513–1573

Born
25 Mar 1513, Poznań
Country of birth
Poland
Died
17 Feb 1573, Alt Ruppin
facts
8
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 · Poznań

    Birth, Poznań

  2. Child born: Elisabeth Magdalene von Brandenburg

    Birth, Cölln

  3. Child born: Sigismund of Brandenburg

    Birth, Berlin

  4. Child born: Hedwig of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

    Birth, Cologne

  5. Child born: Sophie of Brandenburg

    Birth, Cölln

  6. Died · Alt Ruppin

    Death, Alt Ruppin

What was it like?

The world around Poznań, 1513: 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.

Both men and women of various social classes followed the trend of wearing clothing with slitted sleeves, which was perceived as a touch of flirtation and intimacy. This style allowed contrasting fabrics from underneath to show through the cuts.

Fashion

Fashionable slitted sleeves

Both men and women of various social classes followed the trend of wearing clothing with slitted sleeves, which was perceived as a touch of flirtation and intimacy. This style allowed contrasting fabrics from underneath to show through the cuts.

Footwear and status of clothing

Peasant footwear ranged from simple leather forms to boots, and clothing was considered portable wealth that was often stored, inherited, or used as a pledge. Married women were expected to cover their hair with bonnets or scarves, often adding a secondary headcloth called a podwika to cover the neck and décolletage.

Music

Common musical instruments

Bagpipes, flutes, and fiddles were popular instruments, with bagpipers commonly providing music for weddings and parties at both city and country inns.

Performers in city inns

In the 16th century, musicians called igrcy sang lighthearted and sometimes ribald songs in city inns, which were heavily criticized and discouraged by the clergy.

Getting around

Common methods of travel and daily speeds

Ordinary people typically traveled on foot, covering 20–25 kilometers a day, while those with wagons or carts traveled at a slightly slower pace of 4–6 kilometers per hour.

Difficult conditions for travelers and inns

Roads were often in poor condition, and finding suitable overnight shelter was difficult, with some inns described as being little better than a cattle-shed.

Daily life

Modest wooden homes with open fires

Peasant families lived in modest wooden houses that usually consisted of a single room containing a stove for heating and cooking. Some households in Samogitia used a traditional 'numas' structure, which featured an open fireplace instead of a stove.

No formal schooling for rural children

Rural children did not attend formal schools; instead, their childhood was short and primarily focused on learning farm work through games and assisting their parents. Many children played with self-made wooden or clay toys, or simply used natural objects like sand, stones, and water.

Food

Beer soup for breakfast

Beer was the most common everyday drink, often consumed in the morning as a thick beer soup.

Daily meat consumption

An average laborer on a Polish manor consumed approximately 300g of fatty meat every day.

Prices and wages

Purchasing power of weekly wages

For one week's wages, a laborer could purchase approximately 100 liters of beer or a pair of shoes, which cost 7 to 8 grossi.

Work

Common Jobs and Labour Obligations

Peasant families frequently worked as farmers, cultivating rye, barley, and oats while raising livestock like pigs and cows. Many were required to provide compulsory labour, known as pańszczyzna, on the lord's estate for at least one to two days each week.

The Role of Landless Labourers

Landless workers known as zagrodnicy held small plots and served the manor by providing manual labour on foot. In some areas, a single day of their labour service was valued at approximately half a mark, or 24 groszy.

News and letters

Opportunistic mail delivery for commoners

Ordinary people often relied on opportunistic delivery by travelers, pilgrims, merchants, or artisans, as specialized mail services were initially costly and limited to administration. Delivery times were highly variable, with land travel from Bruges to Gdansk taking approximately five weeks.

Sending letters without modern envelopes

In the first half of the 16th century, paper was expensive and envelopes were rare, so letters were folded into an envelope shape and sealed with a paper strip and wax. Confidentiality was often ensured by adding an oral message delivered by the messenger in person.

During their lifetime

  1. 1517

    Luther posts the Ninety-five Theses

    Martin Luther sparked the Reformation by posting his Ninety-five Theses in Wittenberg, fundamentally changing the religious and social lives of ordinary people.

  2. 1520

    Poll tax established in 1520

    A poll tax was agreed upon in 1520, with nobles paying based on landholdings and tenant farmers paying 1 grosz each.

  3. 1524

    The Great Peasants' War occurs

    Tens of thousands of peasants participated in a massive uprising across the German lands, demanding the abolition of feudal burdens and serfdom.

  4. 1525

    Reformation upheavals of 1525

    In 1525, violent Reformation urban revolts occurred in Baltic ports, while rebel peasants quoted Luther during a full-scale uprising.

  5. 1534

    Public access to the postal system

    The postal system opened to the general public in the Holy Roman Empire, allowing anyone to send mail for a fee and transforming communication routines.

  6. 1543

    Cracow plague of 1543

    A plague in Cracow, following a 1540 drought, killed at least 10,000 people between July and November 1543.

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.