Tag: French peasants

Tuesday – Time Travel

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Imagine a time when food was scarce. We could learn from our ancestors. If you were a hungry peasant trudging through the marshes of northwest France in 1650, you might look at cattails as dinner.  The shaggy green spears of cattails could be dinner, dessert, mattress stuffing, and roofing shingles—all in one plant. Cattails (Typha … Continue reading Tuesday – Time Travel

Throwback Thursday – Feast or Famine

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We are so spoiled! The amount of work that went into providing food for a peasant family in 1650 is daunting by today's standards. The typical seigneurial system in France granted 1-3 acres to a family to farm. A family of five would need two acres of rye to provide bread for a year. Their … Continue reading Throwback Thursday – Feast or Famine

Thursday Throwback

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French peasants in 1650 played a game similar to modern bowling. Skittles or nine-pin (quilles in French) was played outside a tavern or in a barn on hard-packed earth. The nine skittles were set up in a diamond or square pattern.  The wooden ball and skittles were carved from  hardwood – oak or beech.  My … Continue reading Thursday Throwback

Mystery Monday – A Peasant’s View of Life

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Peasants of 1650 in France had many mysteries in their lives. The most bewildering mysteries came from the ranks of the nobility and the royal class. Noble intrigues were more than court gossip and conspiracies. Peasant heard the rumors and saw them as mysteries of power. They spilled over into peasant life in very real … Continue reading Mystery Monday – A Peasant’s View of Life