Medieval weights and measures


The following systems arose from earlier systems, and in many cases utilise parts of much older systems. For the most part they were used to varying degrees in the Middle Ages and surrounding time periods. Some of these systems found their way into later systems, such as the Imperial system and even SI. There were several types to measure that is

English system

Before Roman units were reintroduced in 1066 by Norman William the Conqueror, there was an Anglo-Saxon system of measure based on the units of the barleycorn and the gyrd. The systems partly merged.
Later development of the English system continued by issuing measurement standards from the then capital Winchester in about 1215. Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588 and 1758.
The last Imperial Standard Yard in bronze was made in 1845; it served as the standard in the United Kingdom until the yard was internationally redefined as 0.9144 metre in 1959.
Much of the units would go on to be used in later Imperial units and in the US system, which are based on the English system from the 1700s.

Danish system

From May 1, 1683, King Christian V of Denmark introduced an office to oversee weights and measures, a justervæsen, to be led by Ole Rømer. The definition of the alen was set to 2 Rhine feet. Rømer later discovered that differing standards for the Rhine foot existed, and in 1698 an iron Copenhagen standard was made. A pendulum definition for the foot was first suggested by Rømer, introduced in 1820, and changed in 1835. The metric system was introduced in 1907.

Length

The Dutch system was not standardised until Napoleon introduced the metric system. Different towns used measures with the same names but differing sizes.
Some common measures:

Weight

In Finland, approximate measures derived from body parts and were used for a long time, some being later standardised for the purpose of commerce. Some Swedish, and later some Russian units have also been used.
In France, again, there were many local variants. For instance, the lieue could vary from 3.268 km in Beauce to 5.849 km in Provence. Between 1812 and 1839, many of the traditional units continued in metrified adaptations as the mesures usuelles.
In Paris, the redefinition in terms of metric units made 1 m = 443.296 ligne = 3 pied 11.296 ligne.
In Quebec, the surveys in French units were converted using the relationship 1 pied = 12.789 inches. Thus a square arpent was 5299296.0804 in² or about 36,801 ft² or 0.8448 acre.
There were many local variations; the metric conversions below apply to the Quebec and Paris definitions.

Length

Up to the introduction of the metric system, almost every town in Germany had their own definitions. It is said that by 1810, in Baden alone, there were 112 different Ellen.

Length

Before 1541, there were no common definition for length measures in Norway, and local variants flourished. In 1541, an alen in Denmark and Norway was defined by law to be the Sjælland alen. Subsequently, the alen was defined by law as 2 Rhine feet from 1683. From 1824, the basic unit was defined as a fot being derived from astronomy as the length of a one-second pendulum times at a latitude of 45°. The metric system was introduced in 1887.

Length

The measures of the old Romanian system varied greatly not only between the three Romanian states, but sometimes also inside the same country. The origin of some of the measures are the Latin, Slavic and Greek and Turkish systems.
This system is no longer in use since the adoption of the metric system in 1864.

Volume

See:

Length

There were several variants. The Castilian is shown.

Length

In Sweden, a common system for weights and measures was introduced by law in 1665. Before that, there were a number of local variants. The system was slightly revised in 1735. In 1855, a decimal reform was instituted that defined a new Swedish inch as foot. It did not last long, because the metric system was subsequently introduced in 1889. Up to the middle of the 19th century there was a death penalty for falsifying weights or measures.

Length