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Weights and Measure S NOTES trn T(tF. WEIGHTS AND MEASURE S OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAN D Dy ti`l . H . Pstott ABBREVIATIONS . The following abbrevations are used in the text und fout-notes . A88 . Pond. Mens . = Assise de Ponderibus et Mensuris . C . C . R. = Calendar of Close Rolls , C . P . R. = Calendar of Patent Rolls . C. R. = Close Rolls . C. S. = Camden Society Publications . C, Vcn . S . P. = Calendar of Venetian Slate Papers , E . D. S . = English Dialect Society Publications . R. E. T. S . = Early English Text Society Publications . N. E. D. = New English Dictionary . T. R. Il. S. = Transactions of the Royal Historical Society . R. S. = Rolls Series . S. S. = Surtees Society Publications . V. C . R. = Victoria County History . CONTRACTIONS . Contractions for the Principal Authorities referred to in this Work . A . Part. Scot . = Acts of the Parliament of Scotland . Cely Papers = Malden, H . E . ed ., Ccly Papers (C . S . 3rd Series, vol . I). Chadwick = Chadwick, H . M ., Studies in Anglo-saxon Institutions, 1908 . Chisholm = Chisholm, H . W ., The Science of Weighing and Measuring (Natur e Series), 1877 . Chron . de Bello = Chronicon Monasterii de Bello (Anglia Christiana Society Publication), 1846 , NULL . DU CANCI) . 192/s 78 W . ti. P11I :Oli . Corr. Lest Book = Harris, M. D . ed., Coventry Lect Book (E. E . T . S . Origina l Series), 1907 . Cast . Roff . = Thorpe, J . ed ., Custumale Ro/tense . London, 1788 . Dom. S . Paul's = Hale, W . H . ed., Domesday of S . Paul s (C, S .), 1858. Ducange = Ducange, Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinilatis . Dugdale = Dugdale, Sir W ., Monasticon Anglicanunr . Ed. Coley, Ellis and flan- dinel, 1817-1830 . Durham Ace . Rolls = Extracts from time Account Rolls of the Abbey o/ Durham , 3 vols . (S . S .), 1898-1900 . Pieta = Meta sea Comnmentarius Juris Anglicani sic nuncupatus sub Edenardo Rege primo .. London, 1647 . Guilhiernzoz Guilhiormoz, Note sur les Poids du Moyen Age . 13iblioth5gao d e 1')cole clos Chartes, LXVII, 1906, p . 161-233, 402450 . Lecke = Lenke, Historical Account o/ English Money, 3rd ed . 1793 . Lib. Alb. = Riley, H . T. ed., Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis, I and III . Liber Allas (R . S .) . Lib . Cast . = Riley, H . T. ed., Munimenta Gildha/.lam Londoniensis . Il . Libre ('us- tumarum (R. S,) , Liebermann. = Liebermann, F . ed., Dic Gesetze der ,ringelsaehsen . Halle, 141113 . Macpherson _ Macpherson, Annals of Commerce . it vols ., 1805 . Maitland = Maitland, F . W ., Domesday Book and Beyond, 1007 . Reg. Worcester = Hale, W. II . ed., Register o/ Worcester Priory (C . 8 .), 1865 . Robertson = Robertson, E . William, historical Essays, 187(3 . Rogers = Rogers, J . E . T ., History of Agriculture and Prices in England, 18(16 - 1887 . Rymer = Rymer, T ., Foedera, Conventiones, .. inter rages Angllac, et a/nos rluus- vis iuperatores, .. London, 170 14-1735 . Seebohm = Seebohm, Frederic, Customary Acres, 1914 . Spellman = Spelman, H ., Glossarium. are/saiologicunm, 16(14 . Star Chamber, Cases = Leadam, I . S . ed., Select Cases before the King's Counci l in. the Star Chamber, 1477-1509 (Selden Soc . Publication) , Stal. at Large = Hawkins, W ., The Statutes at Large from Magna Chnrla to 1,/r e seventh year o/ King George the Second . London, 1735 . Stat . Realm = Statutes of the Realm, 1810 . Thom . of Walsingham. = Riley, H . T . ed ., Thomas of Walsingham . historia Anglicane (R. S .). Walter of Henley = Lomond, E . ed., Walter o/ hanky's husbandry, etc . London , 1890 . Wardrobe Book = Topbam, J. ed ., Wardrobe Book of Edward I. 1299 and 1300 . Pub, 1787 . NOTES ON 'rrlP; WhIG11'rS AND MEASURES OF MEDIEVAL ENaLAND , CHAPTER L SYSTEMS AND STANDARDS . Peoples, in an early stage of civilisation, have always base d their nioaHUrenrents on natural units, generally with some refe- rence to averages, as in Scotland, where the standard foot was to he that of the middle-sized man of three, according to the Assize of King 7)cr.a'id l . The medieval systems of weights and measures form one phase in the development of scientific from natura l units. The legal standards of weight were based upon the system s of classical antiquity as they were handed down through th e Roman imperial system . Thus, the .Mina, of Greece and Asia is the couinuua ancestor of the various pounds used in medieval an d modern Europe ; and M . Guilhiermoz has collected much evidenc e in support of his theory, which derives the numerous medieva l pounds from those of the Roman Empire 2 . In England, at the time of J)omesdaì, Jiook, the pound know n as the Saxon or Tower pound was in general use as a monetar y pound of account ; it was composed of 20 shillings of 12 pence of 32 wheat, grains (lite penny being equal to 22 . 5 grains Troy), or, alternatively, of 1.2 ounces of 20 such pennyweights . The Stilling or Solidus was the most common unit of account in Saxo n England ; its value is hard to determine precisely, for documen- tary evidence gives it dilterent values in various districts 8 . Later, the Saxons used the North European system of the Mark and it s eighth part, the Ore . Old English scribes were apt to confuse th e word mark in its Latin form Marca with the Manca, or Mancusa which was the usual weight for gold in pre-Conquest England , as in the Leges Henrici Primi; and this error was followed b y Ducang e 4 . The Maracas is defined by Aelfrie as equal to 30 pence : « thrittig penega [genaacjast] aênne naancas 5 » . In earlier docu- ments it always has the saine value . It seems to have been the 1. A . Parc. Sea6 ., I, p . 309 . 2. Gullhicruioz, pp . 1e1-2:33, rt02-zi5ll . :3. Lieberman, pp . 19, 59, 176, 462463, 600, 565, 609 ; Chadwick, pp . it, 15, 18-20 . ti . Guilhiertuoz, p, 222, noto ; Damage, 49a n crtsa ; Robertson, p . ti2. 5 . lupitzu, J . ed ., .Aelpic 's Dialogue, p. 290 . 80 w . n . raioa . gold equivalent of an ox i . English references to the mucus as equal to 30 pence do not occur before the time of Aethelstan, bu t there is evidence for this value on the Continent in 8162 . The great variation in the weight of coins which have survive d must mean that the Saxon pound had no single fixed wcight 3. Similarly, the ore was a variable unit, the silver equivalent of a certain amount of gold, rather than a fixed weight itself '& . After the Norman Conquest the system of weights and measure s can b'e traced more definitely, although historians disagree as to tll c identity of the different systems . The divisions of the pound int o shillings and pence, and ounces and pence, worn retained ; thoso units served as weights and money of account . In the thirtoonth century, a new unit, the wheat-grain, appeared, and this becam e the basis of the system . It was probably introduced from .F'i'aneu , where the denier was valued at 2lß grains' . The use of the grai n as a weight seems to have been adopted in the reign of Edward 1~f1 , for the two-grain weight discovered in the Pyx Chamber appa- rently dates from that time . Previously, the silver farthing had been the smallest actual Weight' . The pound defined by Fleta is known as the Saxon pound , although there is no sure evidence of its use in England before the eleventh century. It is thus described : « Per denarium An- gliae qui sterlingus appellatur, et sit rotundus, qui (lebet ponde- rare triginta duo grana frumenti medioeria, et unde viginti denari i faciunt unciam, et duodecim unciae faciunt libram viginti Solido - rum in pondere et numero 7. » This Saxon or Tower pound wa s used as a money of account in England for the greater part o f the later Middle Ages, but the number of wheat-grains in the penny sterling of currency was reduced to 24 in the time o f Edward III s . The Troy system came into use in England .in the fourteent h 1. Liebermann, p . 175 . 2. Chadwick, p. 23-24 . 3. Ibid., p. 33 . 4. Ibid., p . 44-46. 5. Chisholm, p. 56-57 . 6. Ibid ., p, 57 . 7. Fleta, p . 72-73, II, c . 12, ê 1 . 8. Red Book o/ the Exchequer (IL S .), p . 993 ; Guilbi.ermoz, p, 1.82 . NOTES ON THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND . 81 century, possibly during the French wars of Edward III 1 . It is Brat, mentioned in an inventory of the first year of the reign of Henry V 2. The English Troy pound contains '12 ounces of 20 pen- nyweights of 24 Toy grains. In Scotland, as on the Continent , the Troy pound was composed of 16 ounces . The earlier Scottis h system was apparently based upon Caithness weight, a heavie r system analogous to that of the Northmen, with a pound of 1.6 ounces :3 . Customary measures were generally larger in Scot- land than in England, probably through the influence of the Caithness standard. Besides the Tower and Troy pounds of 12 ounces, there was a pound of 1.5 ounces ; Meta refers to it as Libra Mercatoria 44 . Each syste►n had its special uses ; the Tower pound was the monetar y pound, the Troy pound was used for weighing bullion, preciou s stones and spices, and the, merchant pound for other goods, like wool. In the fourteenth century, small goods sold by weight were known as Els, et'depoys, and in this way the term came to be applied to the weight standard, until, by the reign of Henry VII I the old Libra Met'eatoria had become the a laufull weighte called habei'depu7/ez 0 » . Some time during the sixteenth century befor e the reign of Elizabeth, perhaps in 1 .526, the pound cwerdepoys was raised to '16 ounces ; it has been adopted as the legal stand- ard for commercial purposes, and retains its old name in th e corrupt form, avoirdupois .
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