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Maria Teresa Sobieska

1673–1675

Born
18 Oct 1673, Gniew
Country of birth
Kingdom of Poland, today Poland
Died
7 Dec 1675, Zhovkva
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 · Gniew

    Birth, Gniew

  2. Died · Zhovkva

    Death, Zhovkva

What was it like?

The world around Gniew, 1673: 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.

Seventeenth-century noblewomen's wills show that items like fur-lined coats, velvet dresses, and specific headgear such as caps and wimples were vital assets, sometimes valued higher than silver or jewelry.

Fashion

Valuable Noblewoman's Clothing

Seventeenth-century noblewomen's wills show that items like fur-lined coats, velvet dresses, and specific headgear such as caps and wimples were vital assets, sometimes valued higher than silver or jewelry.

Music

Bagpipe music at inns and celebrations

Bagpipes were common instruments for providing dance music at weddings and parties in city and country inns, enjoyed by peasants, the lower bourgeoisie, and the gentry.

Portable organ for street processions

For the Corpus Christi procession, strong men were hired to carry a portable organ, known as a pozytyw, from station to station to accompany music in the streets. In 1674, the cost recorded for carrying the pozytyw was 18 grana.

Getting around

Average daily travel distance

Travel speeds were generally slow, with people on foot covering 20–25 kilometers per day and horse-drawn carriages covering 25–30 kilometers daily.

Common methods of transport

Ordinary people traveled by walking, riding horses, or using simple horse-drawn carts such as the kolasa.

Daily life

Cooking methods and communal eating habits

Cooking took place over a hearth using suspended cauldrons or pots with three legs, with households relying on wood for heat. Food was heavily salted, and meals, which could consist of many courses, were often eaten with hands or wooden spoons from shared bowls.

Elementary schooling for all social classes

Parish schools were open to children of both genders from all social estates to learn the basics of religion, reading, and sometimes subjects like grammar or Latin. Teaching quality varied greatly as there were no established training requirements for teachers.

Food

Mandatory alcohol consumption for peasants

Common people were forced by law to buy and consume specific amounts of alcohol, such as vodka or beer, from their local lord. This practice was sometimes described as conditioning them into addiction.

Rapid inflation of food prices

Food prices rose sharply during the 17th century; for example, the price of vodka in Gdańsk increased sevenfold between 1580 and 1677, and beer prices quintupled between 1550 and 1661. Due to these rising costs, most of a family's budget was spent on food.

Prices and wages
Around 1671–1672

Meat Abundance and Pricing

Meat was often sold by the cut rather than by weight, and it was so abundant in some regions that eighty pounds of beef could be bought for one Reichsthaler.

Cost of Bread and Shoes

Basic items were affordable: bread cost less than one grosz, and a pair of shoes ranged from 9 to 24 grosze in the 17th century. In 1671, the price of a pair of shoes reached 19.1 grosze.

Work

Emergency labor sessions called tłoki

For mandatory labor during harvest or plowing, peasants were sometimes summoned to tłoki, emergency work sessions compensated only with a meal.

Serfdom workday lasting fourteen hours

A serf working on a Polish grange typically started their day at dawn and could work for up to 14 hours, with no lateness tolerated under threat of physical punishment.

News and letters

Private messengers delivered letters

Correspondence was handled by private messengers called kozaks or, for shorter distances, serf peasants. Magnates like the Radziwiłł family also employed specialized couriers, often including Tatars, to ensure their letters reached the intended recipients.

Around 1675–1699

Private messengers and high costs of mail

Ordinary people frequently relied on private messengers, such as serf peasants or specifically hired individuals called kozaks, to deliver their letters. Because these services were costly, correspondence was often delayed as people waited for cheaper or more convenient opportunities to send mail.

During their lifetime

  1. 1673

    Introduction of new poll taxes (1673)

    In 1673, the nobility enacted a new general poll tax, a burdensome levy introduced under the pressure of war with the Ottoman Empire.

Family

Parents

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.