Metrology, Weights and Measures

The article is represented genesis of the coinage on the lands of the Lithuanian-Horde borderlands. Juchi coin system which had been fixed on the territories of Lower Dnieper region, gave impulse to the restoration for local coinage both in Rus’ principalities and the south-eastern part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the initial stage it became an example in the technological, iconographic and economic aspects of local land minters. Changes in political conditions influenced mainly on the external characteristics of a specific monetary material, but its metrological indicators (weight and fineness) remained practically unchanged. The explanation lies in the main purpose of a local coin issuing. It was in meeting the needs of the local market (for ordinary emissions) or emergency filling of the local treasury (military money, etc.). Traditional weight standards served as a pass for a coin into the money market. However the possibility of local minting was caused by the fact of a certain autonomy as well as the right to coin regalia. The termination of the local coins (original or imitation) minting often meant a legal loss of economic and political independence.

The article is represented genesis of the coinage on the lands of the Lithuanian-Horde borderlands. Juchi coin system which had been fixed on the territories of Lower Dnieper region, gave impulse to the restoration for local coinage both in Rus’ principalities and the south-eastern part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the initial stage it became an example in the technological, iconographic and economic aspects of local land minters.

Changes in political conditions influenced mainly on the external characteristics of a specific monetary material, but its metrological indicators (weight and fineness) remained practically unchanged. The explanation lies in the main purpose of a local coin issuing. It was in meeting the needs of the local market (for ordinary emissions) or emergency filling of the local treasury (military money, etc.). Traditional weight standards served as a pass for a coin into the money market. However the possibility of local minting was caused by the fact of a certain autonomy as well as the right to coin regalia. The termination of the local coins (original or imitation) minting often meant a legal loss of economic and political independence.

There are many references to metrological reforms undertaken in Portugal between the mid-14th century and the mid-15th century, but no detailed descriptions are known about the systems that have been adopted or the changes that have been introduced. Finally, for the reign of João II, two regiments of weights and measures are referenced, both of municipal scope, one communicated to the Porto council in 1483 and the other communicated to the Évora council in 1490. The first one reaches us through several copies, the oldest of which (1484) has already been published. However, the published copy suffers from several errors and omissions. This article includes a proposal of reconstitution of the original document based on the known copies. Most of the content of this regiment can be dated from earlier than 1455, i.e. it existed already at the beginning of the reign of Afonso V. The second regiment, which remains unpublished and largely unknown, is also published in this article. The contents of these two regiments are contextualized, analyzed and compared throughout the article. This comparison sheds much light on the final contours of the weight reform of João II (1487-1488).

Презентация доклада  Белобров В.А. на Ежегодной Всероссийской научно-практической конференции с международным участием LXXIII Герценовские чтения «География: развитие науки и образования» 2020» Санкт-Петербург, 22 апреля 2020 года (по известным причинам доклад прочитан не был)

Опубликовано в Т. 1 Коллективной монографии по материалам ежегодной международной научно-практической конференции «LXXIII Герценовские чтения 22-25 апреля 2020 года». «География: развитие науки и образования». СПб, 2020, сс. 380…385
В работе анализируются данные «Выписи из Новгородских изгонных книг» о протяженности дорог на территории бывш. Нов-городской республики. На основе этого анализа дается оценка дистанции, которую могли пре-одолеть без отдыха и кормления ямские лошади в XV…XVII вв.
Summary. This work is a continuation of [1], [2] and other works of the author devoted to the eval-uation of the Russian measures of distance, versts. The paper discusses the data "Wypis iz Novgo-rodskyh izgonnyh knig" about the length of roads on the territory of the former Novgorod Republic. On the basis of this analysis is given an estimate of the distance that post horses without rest and feeding in the XV...XVII centuries could overcome.
Ключевые слова: верста, лошадь, Новгородская республика, перегон, протяженность дорог, станция, ямская гоньба.
Keywords: versta, horse, the Novgorod Republic, peregon [stage], length of roads, stancia [point], yamskaya gon’ba [coachmen's chase].

It is useful to break the question, concerning the origin of English Troy weight system, into four parts: What, Who, When and Why.  I judge we already have solutions to the first three parts, I outline them at length in this general account:  https://www.academia.edu/6882687

Briefly recapping, regarding What?, I judge this was solved in 1721 by George Hooper, and endorsed by John Arbuthnot in 1727.  They identify English troy as the Islamic (Kayl) system. 

Regarding Who?, in 1967 Skinner at the London Science Museum lodged strong and clear evidence in favour of an adoption of Islamic standards by Offa 757-96.

Regarding When?, numismatists have generally ignored Hooper, Arbuthnot and Skinner, but nevertheless offer us 792/3 for Offa’s crucial pennyweight (= half dirhem) reform.

Which brings us to the subject of this paper, and the final unanswered question:  Why would England, in 792/3, adopt an Oriental weight standard?  It is that problem I claim to solve in here. 

This paper represents a extension of my main 2019 coin metrology text, cited and linked above, and was published in Numismatics International January 2020 entitled Brexit, and Troy Weight (Pt. 1)

This paper studies how the reform of weights of Manuel I, king of Portugal, unfolded. Some key documents overlooked until now by the historians of metrology illuminate the early days of the reform. In a letter of May 1503, the king announced the delivery of the new standards to the municipalities and scheduled the entry into force of the new system for January 1504. Municipal documents tell us that the manueline standards were already being delivered in July 1503 and that the new system did come into force in 1504. In the following decades, as the documentation shows, the manueline rules remained in force and the regional authorities sought to ensure their application. It is also known that many municipalities have been given exemptions from having the standards, considering their smallness, poverty or lack of trade. Crosschecking the recently elaborated inventory of manueline weight piles with data from the 1527-1532 administrative and demographic survey of the whole kingdom allows for a more substantial analysis of how this process unfolded. More than the global population and size of a municipality, it was the population and importance of its chief urban center that mainly influenced on the decision of acquiring a manueline pile. Of all manueline piles with identified origin, 97% come from cities or towns, 92% come from municipalities with more than 150 households, 80% come from municipalities whose chief urban centers had more than 100 households and 75% come from municipalities with defensive buildings. The province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, the most densely populated, but where dispersed settlement prevailed, stands out due to the low density of referenced manueline piles. The number of municipalities with manueline piles may have approached 200, of which 132 are referenced.

The extant weight standard of the city of Lisbon is composed of two quintal piles, made of brass, of high artistic quality, intentionally similar. In the literature, we find only brief references to these two piles. From what is written, and especially from what is not yet written, it results that the historical importance of these piles is largely underestimated. Thus, the main objective of this article is to increase the awareness of the scientific community about the Lisbon city weight standard and to emphasize its importance in the context of Portuguese historical metrology. The article begins by clarifying the historical importance of the Lisbon city weight standard as the original Portuguese weight standard. The two quintal piles are then analyzed and characterized. It is proposed that one of them was acquired around 1685–1689, when Pedro II reformed the entire system of coin production and control, and the other was acquired when Lisbon was divided into two independent cities, Lisboa Oriental and Lisboa Ocidental, i.e. East and West Lisbon (1717–1741). In addition, information about the main secondary standards, namely the standards of the goldsmiths and silversmiths of Lisbon and the standard of the Royal Mint of Lisbon, is collected.

Доклад был сделан дважды: короткая версия - 31 октября 2019 г. на конференции в филиале ИИЕТ (СПб), а полная - 1 ноября на Факультете географии СПбГПУ им. Герцена.
История метра показана с первых научных разработок, приведших в итоге к его появлению.

Доклад был сделан дважды: короткая версия - 31 октября 2019 г. на конференции в филиале ИИЕТ (СПб), а полная - 1 ноября на Факультете географии СПбГПУ им. Герцена.
История метра показана с первых научных разработок, приведших в итоге к его появлению.

От дълго време схващането за съществуването на стоково-парична икономика в Севтополис получаваше подкрепа изключително от широката циркулация на местните бронзови монети, сечени от основателя на града Севт III. Дискутираните тук за първи път съставни елементи на мерителни везни (тежест, блюда от везни, кобилица и фрагменти от верижки за прикачане) ясно подкрепят идеята, че такива инструменти са били в употреба не спорадично, а в по-широк пространствен периметър в рамките на тракийския град. Най-високата концентрация на такива артефакти е засвидетелствана на агората и в близост до Сграда № 10, намираща се в централната част на града, в близост до агората, както и в Къщи № 1 и № 2. Очевидно е, че по-голям брой жители на града участват в търговски операции на дребно. Въз основа на предложения анализ на нумизматичния и археологически материал, произхождащ от Сграда № 10, тя може да бъде по-категорично определена като обществен търговски център, допълвайки с нови данни хипотезата за нейния търговски
характер, изказана още от проучвателите на Севтополис. Същевременно археологическите данни поне от някои къщи предполагат съществуването и на специални помещения, комуникиращи и отворени към трафика на прилежащите улици, може би функциониращи като улични магазини по подобие на по-добре документирания модел в Олинт. Накратко, идентифицираните мерителни инструменти от Севтополис значително обогатяват нашите представи за икономическия живот на града, особено по отношение на мащабите на съществуващия пазар на стоки на дребно.

В статье собрана и проанализирована информация о так называемых "бытовых" мерах длины, применявшихся русскими.
Под "бытовыми" понимаются меры, которые не входили в официальные системы мер, не имели строго установленных размеров и эталонов.
В основу статьи положены две работы Г.Я. Романовой: "Наименование  мер  длины  в  русском  языке" и "Объяснительный  словарь  старинных  русских  мер".
15.09.2019: статья немного дополнена

Abstract: The administration of the rights of weights and measures in the councils of the kingdom of Galicia in Early Modern History became not infrequently the focus of disputes between administrators and administrators, basically because of the different burdens that the former had to satisfy the latter. However, he also confronted the latter, often several jurisdictional lords, because in the same way that they fought in a general way for the stately spaces also fought specicifically for the ownership of one of the rights that this public responsibility entailed: the one of weights and measures.
Keywords: History of the Administration, Historical Metrology, weights and measures, Kingdom of Galicia, Early Modern History

Resumen: La administración de los derechos de pesos y medidas en los concejos del reino de Galicia en la Edad Moderna se convirtió en no pocas ocasiones en el foco de disputas entre administrados y administradores, básicamente por las distintas cargas que los primeros debían satisfacer a los segundos. Pero también enfrentó entre sí a estos últimos, a menudo varios señores jurisdiccionales, pues de la misma forma que luchaban de manera general por los espacios señoriales también luchaban de manera particular por la titularidad de uno de los derechos que conllevaba dicha responsabilidad pública: el de pesos y medidas.
Palabras clave: Historia de la Administración, Metrología Histórica, pesos y medidas, Reino de Galicia, Edad Moderna.

This book explores the reasons for which weights and scales were used to measure goods in Early Mesopotamia (ca. 3,200-2,000 BCE). The vast corpus of cuneiform records from this period sheds light on the various mechanisms behind the development of this cultural innovation. Weighing became the means of articulating the value of both imported and locally-produced goods within a socioeconomic system that had reached an unprecedented level of complexity. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of this cultural and economic phenomenon, which simultaneously reflected and shaped the relationships between individuals and groups in Mesopotamia throughout the third millennium BCE.

You may order a free copy if you intend to review the book for a scholarly journal here: https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/review-copy-order/order-review-copy
Please contact the author if you have any questions or remarks concerning the book and its topic: vitali.v.bartash@gmail.com

In the scope of an important charter reform, Manuel I of Portugal was particularly careful regarding weights, distributing bronze standards to a significant number of municipalities. The existence of these standards, which are in the form of nesting weight piles and are dated of 1499, is well known. However, there isn't an exhaustive inventory of the extant standards and it remains largely unknown which counties actually acquired such standards. We begin by presenting a brief synthesis on the manueline reform of weights. The general characteristics of the manueline standards are identified and the chronology of their production is discussed. Based on literary sources, including the reports of the evaluations carried out in 1857-1860, and direct search in museums, it was possible to identify the existence of 128 manueline nesting weight piles and, for 73 of them, the municipalities to which they belonged. It was also possible to gather evaluations for 265 weight pieces from 42 piles. Based on these evaluations, an estimate of the manueline arratel was computed. The manuelin reform of weights is unparalleled in its time in Europe in which concerns the number of distributed piles, the large size of the piles and the elaborate decoration.