Currencies, weights and measures

Currency and units of measurement were endlessly various and rather confusing in the pre-modern world. Here is some information about the historical units of measurement and old money that have come up in our posts.

Money

Some of the main coins used in medieval and early modern Europe shared their names with Roman currencies, although their value and the relations between the different denominations shifted regularly. Here are some of the most important coins:

A libra (lira / pound) was made of 20 solidi (soldi / shillings), and each solidus was made of 12 denarii (denari / pennies).

These were abbreviated as lbr / ll. / £ for lira / pound; s. For soldo / shilling; and d. for denaro / penny.

In Florence (and Pistoia and other cities that were under strong Florentine influence) a florin was used instead of the lira.

Weights and Measures

Units of measurement in the pre-modern world were numerous and diverse enough to cause one a rather severe headache. Units of length, weight and volume could change quite significantly from one town to the next, as well as by the nature of goods in question. They also evolved considerably over time. However, the ratios between common measurements were generally consistent.

Here is a useful list of some of these units:

Some Old Italian Measures

A Bolognese Mile is 1.9 km or 1.18 mi.
Pertica was equal to 3.8m in Bologna. Every pertica was made of 10 piedi (38cm).
A Braccio was a common measurement throughout Italy, corresponding to 0.64 metres in Bologna and 0.58 metres in Pistoia

British Imperial Measures (post-1824)

LENGTH. A foot comprised twelve inches or three hands. A yard was three feet. A chain was sixty-six feet. A mile was 1760 yards.
WEIGHT. An ounce was a sixteenth of a pound. A stone was fourteen pounds. A quarter was twenty-eight pounds. A hundredweight was 112 pounds and a ton was 2240 pounds.
VOLUME. A gill was a quarter-pint. A quart was two pints. A gallon was 8 pints.

Old Scots Measures (pre-1824)

LENGTH. A foot comprised twelve inches and a yard was three feet, though the precise length of these measures differed slightly from England. An ell was usually thirty-seven inches. A Scots mile was 5920 feet.
WEIGHT. From 1661 Scotland adopted the ‘troy’ and ‘tron’ weights in which there were sixteen drops to an ounce, sixteen ounces to a pound, and sixteen pounds to a stone. The precise quantities of these measures varied slightly but were generally larger than their imperial equivalents.
VOLUME. The ratios of gills to pints to gallons mirrored the imperial system. There were also half-pints known as chopins. The Scots pint was almost three times the size of the imperial pint at roughly 1.7 modern litres.
DRY MEASURE. This was a volumetric measurement of dry goods by which there were four lippies to a peck, four pecks to a firlot, four firlots to a boll, and sixteen bolls to a chalder. A boll was equivalent to roughly 145 modern litres.

For more Scots measures, see this useful guide from Scottish Archive Network.

Important terminology

Podestà

The podestà (from Latin potestas, power) was the head judge and administrator of communes in medieval Italy. He was a foreigner who usually served terms of six months to a year in different cities, moving from one place to another. His job was to administer, lead, and defend the city and commune (in certain cities he shared these responsibilities with the Capitano del popolo). The podesta had a 'household' (or familia) of officials; judges, notaries, knights, and soldiers, and he resided in a government palace which was often called the palazzo del podestà.

Capitano del popolo

In many Italian cities the Capitano was the head of the popolo (that is, the association of members in guilds and societies who were organised in order to maximise their political influence). Like the podestà he was also a head judge with an entourage of officials and had his own government palace, and served a 6-12 months term. He was tasked with defending the popolo (mainly against the nobles) and administering its operation as well as the city's.