What is Medieval System of Measurement?

Answer 1

Simply put, all medieval systems of measurement were confusing.

In the Middle Ages, different countries had different systems of measurement, derived from ancient Roman and Germanic systems in the West, or Greek and Slavic in the East. The English system can be used as an example, under some of the more commonly used units of length are:

• line, a quarter of the length of a barleycorn
• inch, 12 lines, or the length of 3 barleycorns
• span, width of the palm plus the length of the thumb, 6 inches
• foot, the length of a large foot, originally 13 inches, but changed to 12 after the Norman Invasion
• cubit, length from finger tip to elbow, settled at 18 inches
• yard, 36 inches, or 3 feet
• fathom, widest length between fingertips of outstretched arms, 6 feet
• rod, the combined lengths of the feet of 20 men, established at 16.5 feet
• chain, length of any old chain one wanted to use, established at 66 feet or 4 rods
• furlong, length of a normal furrow in an ordinary field, established at 660 feet
• mile, 5000 feet, changed to 8 furlongs, or 5280 feet, in 1572
• league, distance a person walked in an hour, 3 miles

The units of volume are more confusing because they depend on what is being measured. Dry items were measured with units with the same names as liquid, but the actual volumes were different. And in the case of liquids, the basis for the actual volume might depend on the liquid, so a barrel of beer was not the same size as a barrel of wine.

Similarly, units of weight varied. The actual weight of an ounce of gold or silver was a bit more than the actual weight of an ounce of iron or lead. But the pound of gold only had 12 ounces, while the pound of lead had 16, so a pound of gold was quite a lot lighter than a pound of lead. In case you are wondering, the standard for lead and feathers is the same, so a ton of feathers weighs the same as a ton of lead.

Money had the same story. The Roman denarius was standardized by a number of countries, but each in its one way. The denarii were grouped into larger units of differing size, and there were many of these, with many odd denominations. The English pound of 20 shillings coexisting with the guinea of 21 is reminiscent of these. They had farthings, pence, groats, shillings, florins, crowns, nobles, angles, marks, and pounds. For most of the Middle Ages, there were units which were said to be "of account," meaning they were only for accounting purposes, and coins of that denomination were never minted. One such denomination was based on the standard wage of a lawyer for a particular task.

Interestingly, units for time and measures of angles dated back to Babylon. And unlike other medieval measurement systems, they persist today despite attempts to create a ten day metric week or replace the degree of angle with the metric grad.

Answer 2

off shot of the Roman System