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Filipe da Espanha

1792–1794

Born
28 Mar 1792, Aranjuez
Country of birth
Spain
Died
1 Mar 1794, Madrid
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 · Aranjuez

    Birth, Aranjuez

  2. Died · Madrid

    Death, Madrid

What was it like?

The world around Aranjuez, 1792: 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.

Filipe was born around the same time as Ferdinand Raimund, Nicola Vaccai, and Luigi Legnani.

Born around the same time

  • Ferdinand Raimund

    1790 · Austrian dramatist, actor and writer (1790-1836)

  • Nicola Vaccai

    1790 · Italian composer (1790-1848)

  • Luigi Legnani

    1790 · Italian musician (1790-1877)

  • John Tyler

    1790 · president of the United States from 1841 to 1845

  • Alphonse de Lamartine

    1790 · French author, poet and statesman (1790-1869)

  • Jean-François Champollion

    1790 · French classical scholar (1790-1832)

Fashion

Clothing as a rare, valuable commodity

Clothing was a valuable asset; poor individuals often had only two outfits, and even rags full of lice were carefully recorded to be sold at public auctions after their death.

The essential Spanish national costume

Women of all social classes wore a black skirt called a basquiña and a head-covering shawl called a mantilla when going out in public or to church, removing them immediately upon entering a home.

Music

Guitar and Castanets in Popular Life

The guitar was the most popular instrument among ordinary people, frequently used to accompany singing and dancing at home, in streets, and at festivals. Dancers often played simple castanets held in their palms to accompany themselves during performances.

Home Parties and Popular Dances

Seguidillas and fandangos were iconic dances often held in private homes during informal parties called bailes de candil. These lively gatherings featured music from guitars, violins, and bandurrias, providing entertainment for neighborhoods.

Getting around

Long carriage journeys required mule rest

In 1786, a four-passenger carriage pulled by seven mules took 14 days to travel from Barcelona to Madrid, including a mandatory day of rest for the mules in Zaragoza. Travelers often paid for coaches and used multiple mules to navigate the journey, as was customary for longer trips.

Carriages and mule travel options

A traveler seeking economy might hire a light carriage called a volante, paying about six to nine livres per day for the machine and a mule to travel eight to ten leagues daily. Alternatively, those crossing bandit-prone areas could ride on a mule with common carriers, occupying the space otherwise used for a bale of goods.

Daily life

Cooking and food reliance in modest homes

Cooking in humble homes was typically performed in a multi-use kitchen area equipped with straw chairs, a wooden table, and basic cooking utensils. Bread and wine were the primary staples, and because many poor households lacked space or fuel, people often relied on buying prepared food from vendors, such as fried fish, fritters, or chickpeas.

Dark homes and low-quality lighting

Ordinary homes were dark and often lacked glass windows, which were expensive; many families covered small window openings with oiled paper for light. Illumination at night relied on candles, which in poor households were low-quality and produced unpleasant odors and health risks.

Food

Diet of the Laboring Poor

Poor laborers often ate soup with oil or cornmeal porridge in the morning and legumes or salted sardines at midday. Wine was considered expensive, so these families typically drank it only on feast days, sometimes to excess.

Around 1800–1824

Meat was for special occasions

Meat was consumed only on special occasions, as livestock like chickens were kept primarily for eggs and were only eaten when they were too old to lay.

Prices and wages

Domestic servant wages and perks

In the late 18th century, a maid working for a family typically earned 24 reales per month in addition to her meals and chocolate.

Food prices for ordinary families

Food prices varied significantly; for example, a chicken cost 8 reales, while a pound of beef or mutton cost 2 reales.

Work

Common jobs for ordinary people

Common jobs for ordinary people included day laborers, domestic servants, and various tradespeople like shoemakers, weavers, and masons. Women frequently worked as street vendors, laundresses, and embroidery workers to support their families.

Irregular working lives and low wages

Workers often faced irregular, intermittent schedules with jobs performed in the streets rather than fixed hours. A domestic servant might only receive eight maravedís daily for food, and some laborers consumed wine to cope with their difficult, insecure lives.

News and letters

Variable costs for letters

Mail delivery costs were not uniform; the recipient paid based on the weight of the letter and the distance it had traveled.

Around 1800–1800

Mail took half a month to arrive

In 1800, mail traveling from Madrid to Monforte de Lemos took half a month to arrive.

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.