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Sophie Magdalene of Legnica-Brzeg

1624–1660

Born
14 Jun 1624, Brzeg
Country of birth
Poland
Died
8 Apr 1660, Oława
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 · Brzeg

    Birth, Brzeg

  2. Died · Oława

    Death, Oława

What was it like?

The world around Brzeg, 1624: 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.

Wealthy townspeople owned multiple żupans, often valued between 20 and 50 złotys, with the most expensive pieces reaching up to 300 złotys.

Fashion

Expensive żupan costs for wealthy burghers

Wealthy townspeople owned multiple żupans, often valued between 20 and 50 złotys, with the most expensive pieces reaching up to 300 złotys.

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

Bagpipes at festivals and inns

During festivals and weddings, the bagpipe was a popular instrument played at inns, while gentry and noblemen also enjoyed dancing to it in a spirit of native tradition.

Carnival sleigh rides and masked balls

Noble carnival celebrations included sleigh rides from mansion to mansion with musicians playing dance music, culminating in masked balls where noblemen dressed as peasants or Gypsies.

Getting around

Average daily travel distances

Travel was slow, with people on foot covering 20–25 km per day and carriages covering 25–30 km per day. Large magnate processions were similarly slow, often traveling only 25–30 km daily.

Common means of travel between towns

People traveled mainly by horseback, in horse-drawn carriages such as the covered kocz or kolasa, or on foot. River transport was also used as a popular alternative due to the poor condition of land roads.

Daily life

Home-based nobility education

Children of the nobility were often educated at home, with lessons sometimes including physical training like throwing spears or archery, while girls were trained in household management, sewing, and embroidery to prepare for their future roles as wives and mothers. Formal education was often tailored to the child's age, and parents were warned against using excessive force, as it could cause the child to lose their presence of mind.

Modest wooden peasant homes

Peasant homes were modest wooden farmhouses, with some in Samogitia using a numas with an open central fireplace for cooking and heating. Others used stoves, sometimes without chimneys, which released smoke directly into the living space.

Food
Around 1625–1625

Peasant stored meat and fat

A 1625 record from the Brest region documented that a peasant's stores included processed pork products like fat, sausages, hams, and smoked goose meat.

Around 1629–1629

Prisoner rations in 1629

Prisoners in the 1629 Gdansk Forced Labour House received weekly rations of 1.5 pounds of bread, 0.5 pounds of meat or 0.25 pounds of fat, and small amounts of cheese and butter.

Prices and wages

Food consumed most of a worker's wages

In the first half of the 17th century, daily nutrition costs rose significantly, consuming between 60% and 80% of a worker's total wages.

Cost of poultry in Warsaw markets

In 1619 Warsaw, a well-fed capon cost 10 grosze, while a fat goose reached up to 20 grosze.

Work

Mandatory serfdom labor requirements

Peasants were required to perform compulsory serfdom labor on noble estates for two to three days each week.

Peasant work days far exceeded urban crafts

Peasant workers in rural Malopolska were required to work approximately 300 days per year, which was 110 days more than those employed in urban crafts.

News and letters

Cost of sending private mail

To send private mail from Kraków to Vienna in the late 16th century, customers were charged 3 groschen per 12.672 grams of weight, an amount equivalent to the value of 2 hens or 60 eggs.

Use of private messengers

Nobles often relied on private messengers called kozaks to deliver letters, as official postal services were not always available and could be unreliable due to 17th-century wars.

During their lifetime

  1. 1625

    Plague epidemic in Lublin

    In 1625, an epidemic of plague broke out in Lublin, causing significant mortality among the city's inhabitants.

  2. 1630

    Deadly plague in Lublin

    A severe plague outbreak in Lublin in 1630 claimed the lives of approximately 5,000 residents.

  3. 1648

    Khmelnytsky Uprising causes economic crisis

    The start of the Khmelnytsky Uprising in 1648 led to severe economic crisis, food shortages, and starvation in the Lublin province.

  4. 1652

    First use of the liberum veto (1652)

    In 1652, the deputy Władysław Siciński used the liberum veto for the first time, breaking a session of the Sejm and signaling the start of political paralysis.

  5. 1653

    Plague epidemic in Gdańsk (1653)

    A devastating plague struck Gdańsk in 1653, killing approximately 11,600 people, which represented 17.9% of the city's population.

  6. 1655

    Kraków pays massive war contribution (1655)

    In 1655, Kraków was forced to pay a massive contribution of 600,000 złotys during the Swedish occupation.

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.