Łukasz Mielżyński

d. 1628

Born: Poznań
Country of birth: Poland
Died: 2 Feb 1628, Gniezno

facts: 8
sources: 1
images and files: 0

Facts and their sources

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Titlecastellan of Gniezno, 1616–1628Confirmed2 competing claims1 source
Death2 Feb 1628, GnieznoProbable1 source
BirthPoznańProbable1 source
ParentWojciech MielzynskiConfirmed1 source
TitleDeputy to the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian CommonwealthConfirmed2 competing claims1 source
TitleChamberlain of KaliszConfirmed2 competing claims1 source

A life in time

1600s
Child born: Anna Miełżyńska
Birth
1616–1628
Event · castellan of Gniezno
Event
2 Feb 1628
Died · Gniezno
Death, Gniezno

What was it like?

The world around Gniezno, 1628: 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.

Łukasz was castellan of Gniezno from 1616 to 1628.

Known for

Titles held

castellan of Gniezno1616–1628
Deputy to the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Chamberlain of Kalisz

Fashion

Around 1600–1624

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 local inns and festivals

Bagpipe music was a staple of everyday life, frequently accompanying dancing at weddings and parties in both city and country inns.

Forgotten songs and dances found in manuscripts

A 17th-century manuscript discovered inside a religious book revealed over 200 long-forgotten songs and dances, including pieces like the Polonez and the Bergamask-style Pagamoszka.

Getting around

Common travel methods and daily speeds

Ordinary people traveled mainly on foot, covering 20–25 km per day, or by horse-drawn carts at 25–30 km per day. Noblemen typically traveled on horseback to show their status, achieving 30–40 km per day.

Importance of water transport

River travel was crucial for mass transportation, with large punts, barges, and rafts carrying passengers and goods across the Commonwealth.

Daily life

Cooking methods and food preservation

Cooking was a labor-intensive task using pots with three legs placed over fires or suspended cauldrons, while salt was a vital commodity for preserving meat and fish stored in barrels. Households often relied on hand mills to grind their own grain between stones to prepare bread and dishes.

Heating and smoke management in homes

Peasant homes often used central hearths without chimneys, causing smoke to escape through roof openings, though houses with chimneys also existed. Wealthier urban and noble homes used tiled stoves and fireplaces, which kept kitchens separate from living areas.

Food

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.

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.

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.

Around 1619–1627

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

Extorting peasants for gathered forest goods

Landowners sometimes exploited extreme poverty by demanding a portion of natural resources gathered by peasants, such as mushrooms, nuts, acorns, strawberries, and raspberries. These demands often began as requests but eventually became strictly enforced annual quotas.

Labor wages and strict tax deadlines

The typical payment deadline for peasant taxes was November 11, St. Martin's Day, and if a peasant failed to pay, they were given only one day to settle the debt before facing a 100% penalty. In cities, an unskilled day laborer in the 16th century earned about 1.5 to 2 grosze per day, while a week's wages could buy 100 liters of beer.

News and letters

Reliance on private messengers

Due to the instability caused by 17th-century wars, regular postal services often failed, forcing people to rely on private messengers known as kozaks to deliver letters.

Around 1600–1624

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.

During their lifetime

1569
Famine and price crisis of 1569-1574
Between 1569 and 1574, a severe famine and price crisis struck the region, causing mass death among the poorest residents, while wealthy nobles remained largely unaffected. During 1573 and 1574, a 2.2-kilogram loaf of rye bread cost an unskilled worker in Krakow between 32% and 40% of their daily wage.
1569
The Union of Lublin established the Commonwealth
On July 1, 1569, the Union of Lublin was signed, formally merging the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single Commonwealth of Both Nations. The process involved 140 senators and envoys from the Crown and 77 from Lithuania placing their seals on the act.
1625
Plague epidemic in Lublin
In 1625, an epidemic of plague broke out in Lublin, causing significant mortality among the city's inhabitants.

Family

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.