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Fryderyk Proński

d. 1555

Country of birth
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, today Lithuania
Died
1555, Vilnius
facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Titlevoivode of Kyiv, 1544–1555Confirmed1 source
  • Death1555, VilniusProbable1 source
  • UnionFedora BohowitynConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. Event · voivode of Kyiv

    Event

  2. Child born: Aleksander Proński

    Birth

  3. Died · Vilnius

    Death, Vilnius

What was it like?

The world around Vilnius, 1555: 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.

Fryderyk was voivode of Kyiv from 1544 to 1555.

Known for

Titles held

  • voivode of Kyiv1544–1555
Fashion
Around 1525–1549

The affordable everyday suknia dress

A simple dress, known as a suknia, was a common garment for townswomen and even affluent peasant women, with a basic version costing around 1.5 Lithuanian groschen.

Around 1525–1549

The practical jermiak overcoat

The jermiak was a popular, light, and unlined overcoat for ordinary city residents, often made of grey or black home-made kersey fabric.

Music
Around 1546–1546

Rewarding a traditional rural singer

In 1546, a performer named Andrius, associated with the noble Mikalojus Radvila, was rewarded for singing traditional rural laments.

Around 1522–1549

Church music education and training

By the 16th century, cathedral schools in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania taught choral singing and music, establishing the cantorship position at Vilnius Cathedral in 1522.

Getting around
Around 1525–1549

Slow travel pace for pedestrians and carts

Traveling by foot or with a cart full of goods was slow, typically covering only about 25 km per day.

Around 1525–1549

Travelers avoided moving at night

Travelers generally avoided moving at night because of the high risk of getting lost or driving off the road.

Daily life
Around 1525–1549

Limited schooling for peasant children

Children from lower-class families were usually illiterate, as parents often needed them for daily agricultural work and parish schools were sparse due to a lack of funding.

Around 1525–1549

Modest wooden homes with stoves

Peasant families typically lived in modest wooden houses that contained a stove, although some in the Samogitia region utilized a building called a numas equipped only with a fireplace.

Food
Around 1525–1549

Beer as the primary beverage

Beer was the most widely consumed everyday beverage because water was often considered dirty and unsafe to drink.

Around 1525–1549

Main staple foods for peasants

Peasants primarily relied on rye, peas, vegetables, dairy products, and bacon, with meat being consumed more frequently by wealthier families.

Prices and wages
Around 1543–1546

Honey cakes as a luxury treat

For special occasions, honey cakes were purchased for the royal court at a price of 8 to 14 groschen each.

Around 1543–1546

Rye bread for service staff

While the royal table enjoyed luxury breads, service staff were typically fed rye bread that cost as little as one denarius per loaf.

Work
Around 1546–1548

Exotic Court Jobs: Lion Taming

The royal court employed diverse specialists, including a lion tamer who arrived in Vilnius in 1546 with his animal.

Around 1525–1549

Intensive Seasonal Communal Labor

Beyond regular labor, peasants and craftsmen participated in talka, an intensive communal work obligation during peak seasons like haymaking and harvesting.

News and letters
Around 1525–1549

High Cost of Sending Letters

Sending a single letter weighing up to 12.67 grams cost six groschen, which was roughly equivalent to the price of nearly an entire bushel of rye or two full caps (120 units) of eggs.

Around 1525–1549

Messengers and Castle Routes

While official mail routes like Krakow to Vilnius were established later in 1562, letters in the early 16th century were carried by personal messengers who often traveled from castle to castle.

During their lifetime

  1. 1514

    Lithuanian Victory at Battle of Orsha 1514

    The Battle of Orsha on September 8, 1514, saw a Lithuanian army of 30,000 men defeat a 40,000-strong Moscow force, a major event in the ongoing 1512–1522 war.

  2. 1528

    Grand Duke Orders Military Census 1528

    In 1528, Grand Duke Sigismund the Old ordered a census of all horsemen in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to evaluate the state's total military potential of 5,730 servicemen.

  3. 1537

    Peace Treaty Ends Muscovite War 1537

    The war with Moscow, which began in 1534, ended with a peace treaty signed in Moscow on February 18, 1537, following a stalemate and state treasury shortages.

  4. 1549

    Customs Lease Granted in Kremenets 1549

    On January 13, 1549, Mikhail Skuibeda, a townsperson of Kremenets, was granted a one-year lease on the town's customs duties by Queen Bona Sforza.

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.