According to this very entertaining authoress, Don John was of middle height, handsome, with “a most manly countenance.” His address was polished and kindly, and he was reputed to be well learned in the arts and sciences. He “took a great pleasure in the Mathematicks.” Madrid at this time was renowned for the purity of its air and water. The water was “so good and so light that the Cardinal Infante would drink no other when he was in Flanders; and he caus’d it to be brought by Sea in Earthen Jars well stop’d.” The streets of the city were poorly paved, so that the horses often sank up to their knees and the coaches to the butts of the wheels. There were no fortifications to Madrid at this period, and the gates were not defended. Still, even at this time, there were long and wide streets and many great houses. Eating houses abounded, where the chief dishes were beans, garlic, leeks, and broth. There was very little drunkenness. Men drank less than half a pint of wine during the day, and the majority of women abstained altogether.
At this date it was the fashion to retain a large number of domestic servants. The Duchess of Osuna kept about eight hundred attendants, and every room seemed full of them. Only titled persons were allowed to drive teams of four mules. If a commoner dared to appear on the streets with such an equipage, he was liable to a fine, and the traces of his carriage would be cut. The king’s team consisted of six mules.
The daughters of high families in Madrid were often placed in a sort of service to friends of their relatives, who employed them in embroidery and other needlework, for if the young women remained at home they spent their time in idle chatter. The farthingale was worn, and it was often of a huge size, and exceedingly troublesome to the wearers and to other persons. Some women of fashion wore as many as a dozen skirts and petticoats, except in the hot months, when they contented themselves with seven or eight, some being of satin and others of velvet. As the dresses were cut low, it was the custom to rouge the shoulders as well as the cheeks.
The ladies of Madrid society used at this time to sit upon the floor, with their legs crossed in the oriental fashion. They played ombre, took but little outdoor exercise, toyed with their needles, and read very little. At Mass the women carried enormous muffs, and each one had a fan, which was used both in hot and cold weather.