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Juliana Magdalena of Palatinate-Zweibrücken

1621–1672

Born
23 Apr 1621, Zweibrücken
Country of birth
Germany
Died
25 May 1672, Meisenheim
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 · Zweibrücken

    Birth, Zweibrücken

  2. Child born: William Louis, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Landsberg

    Birth

  3. Child born: Elisabeth Christine von der Pfalz Pfalzgräfin zu Zweibrücken

    Birth

  4. Died · Meisenheim

    Death, Meisenheim

What was it like?

The world around Zweibrücken, 1621: 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.

In 1626, Bavarian law strictly forbade common people, laborers, and farmers from wearing expensive fabrics like crimson-dyed cloth, gold or silver trimmings, or silk ribbons. Farmers were instead directed to use domestic wool, sheepskin, or calfskin and were permitted only simple linen collars without lace or fringe.

Fashion
Around 1626–1626

Bavarian laws restricted everyday clothing materials

In 1626, Bavarian law strictly forbade common people, laborers, and farmers from wearing expensive fabrics like crimson-dyed cloth, gold or silver trimmings, or silk ribbons. Farmers were instead directed to use domestic wool, sheepskin, or calfskin and were permitted only simple linen collars without lace or fringe.

Everyday Women's Clothing Basics

An everyday women's outfit consisted of a white shirt, a colored bodice called a Brustlein, a skirt known as an Unterrock, and a white apron. The Brustlein was often sold as ready-to-wear, while the skirt required a tailor.

Music

Music in Homes and Religious Devotion

During the early seventeenth century, music was an integral part of home life, with keyboard tablatures enabling people to play compositions like dances or sacred works on instruments such as the organ, harpsichord, or clavichord. Meanwhile, religious life featured cradle devotions at Christmas, where music was played while rocking a cradle representing the Christ child.

Town Pipers and Their Daily Music

Town pipers, or Stadtpfeifer, were essential figures who performed at weddings, festivals, and church services using a variety of instruments like cornetts, sackbuts, and crumhorns. They also served as city watchmen, playing brass fanfares from towers to mark the time or announce events.

Getting around

Frequent settlements provided support for travelers

Travelers on foot or with pack animals often relied on a network of paths where rural settlements were frequently spaced within a 10-kilometer distance of each other.

River travel offered rapid downstream movement

Traveling downstream by boat was the fastest method, sometimes covering up to 150 kilometers in 24 hours under optimal conditions.

Daily life

Limited and seasonal schooling for children

There was no general compulsory education, and rural schools were often only attended in winter because children were required to work on farms during the summer. Instruction focused primarily on memorizing the Bible to learn how to pray and read scripture, with writing and arithmetic taught only afterward if at all.

Shared living spaces under one roof

Rural families often lived in timber-framed houses under the same roof as their livestock, sharing space with multiple generations and servants. Living areas were often dark and smoky due to open hearths without chimneys, with light provided by small windows or simple peep-holes.

Food

Daily porridge served as the staple meal

Porridge was the primary daily meal, often cooked in large batches and reheated, leading to a tough consistency. Ordinary families ate it by reaching into a shared bowl with their hands.

Around 1625–1649

Beer and Wine Instead of Water

Alcoholic beverages like beer and wine were consumed regularly instead of water, as local well water was often contaminated. Adults and children commonly drank beer, with residents of some regions consuming 2 to 3 litres daily.

Prices and wages

Cost of food and shoes

In 1620–1622, a pair of men's shoes cost 17 to 20 Schillinge, while a pound of beef or pork cost between 0.8 and 1.5 Mariengroschen.

Cost of footwear around 1620

A pair of men's shoes in 1620 Schaumburg cost 17 Mariengroschen, and in 1622 Pomerania, simple shoes cost 20 Schilling.

Work

Common roles included farmers and servants

Most people were village farmers, ranging from those owning enough land to sustain a family to smallholders who relied on additional wage labor, spinning, or weaving to survive. Others worked as life-cycle servants, such as farmhands and maids, who lived with an employer and provided labor in exchange for bed and board.

Long work days and child labor

During summer, work began by 5:00 AM or earlier, with tasks continuing until dark and minimal breaks. Children as young as five to nine years old, often called servants, contributed by herding animals, spinning, fetching water, or caring for younger children.

News and letters
Around 1625–1627

Delivering news via hand-copied sheets

In 1627, a courier requested 3 gulden for a year's service of delivering hand-copied news sheets from Gotha to a regional landowner.

Newsletter Delivery Fees in 1627

In 1627, a messenger named Anna Schmidt charged three Gulden for delivering copied newsletters from Gotha to a nearby estate.

During their lifetime

  1. 1631

    The Sack of Magdeburg

    In May 1631, the strategic city of Magdeburg was plundered and burned by Catholic armies, with most of its 30,000 inhabitants dying or fleeing. This event became a major media moment spread through over 250 newsletters, fueling intense sectarian anger and propaganda.

  2. 1654

    Demonstration of vacuum power

    Otto von Guericke demonstrated the power of a vacuum in Regensburg using sixteen horses to pull apart two sealed hemispheres.

  3. 1654

    Legally binding serfdom in Mecklenburg

    The Servants Law of 1654 legally anchored serfdom in Mecklenburg, divesting serfs of personal freedoms and allowing them to be sold with property.

  4. 1660

    Invention of the berlin carriage

    The carriage known as the berlin was developed in Berlin, quickly becoming the most popular horse-drawn vehicle of the century.

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.