MEDIEVAL ENGLISH WEIGHTS

                 MEDIEVAL WEIGHTS
                Anglo-Saxon Measures 
              Lady Symonne de la Croix
                     (Corina Graham)
                             24.4.20

                




  In the middle ages a PENNYWEIGHT was literally and monetarily 1/20 of an ounce & 1/240 of a pound of sterling silver.
 The pound unit in use in England, at that time, was the TOWER POUND, equal to 7, 680 Tower GRAINS (also known as wheat grains).
  The medieval English pennyweight was thus equal to 32 Tower grains.

A TROY OUNCE is used for weighing precious metals that dates back to the middle ages. Originally used in Troyes, France. One Troy ounce is equal to 31.1034768grams, according to the UK Royal Mint. [2]

Prior to the adoption of the metric system, French born King Henry II of England adjusted the British coinage system to be more reflective of the French Troy system. The system was adjusted periodically, but the Troy weights, as we know them today, were first used in England in the 1400s.By 1527, the Troy ounce became the official standard measurement for gold and silver in Britain [3]

When TROY weights replaced TOWER weights (1527), the Troy weights were defined in such a way that the old Tower pound came out to exactly 5,400 Troy grains (also known as barleycorns), the Tower pennyweight  22 ½ Troy grains (approximately 1.46grams). After 1527, the English pennyweight was the Troy pennyweight of 24 Troy grains [1]. Thus the Troy pound,ounce and pennyweight were 1/15 or 6.667% more than the Tower equivalents. 

Some historians believe the Troy ounce had its origins in Roman times. Romans standardized their monetary system using bronze bars that could be broken into 12 pieces called 'uncia' or ounce, with each piece weighing around 31.1gms.

As Europe's economic importance grew, from the 10th century onward, it was necessary to develop a new standardized monetary weight system. Some believe the merchants of Troyes modelled this new system using the same weights as their Roman ancestors. 

The quart was originally a medieval English unit for both dry and liquid measurements that varied between 0.95 and 1.16 litres,relatively close to its modern equivalents. In Geoffrey Chaucer's "Miller's Tale" (about 1370) it was used as a measure for ale.[4]

1 grain (barleycorns)= 0.06479891 grams
1 pennyweight = 24 grains
                         = 1/20 Troy Ounce
                         = 1/240 Troy Pound
                         = 1.55517384 grams
Troy Ounce = 31.034768 grams
Troy Pound = 12 Troy Ounces
                   = 372.417216 gms

For comparison to measures found at archeological sites [5]

BIRKA
● 284 Grams = 218.46 Pennyweight or 13.6 Ora
● 226 Grams = 173.85 Pennyweight, 1 Mark or 10.865 Ora
● 70.5 Grams = 54.23 Pennyweight, or 3.39 Ora
GOKSTADT
● 819 Grams = 630 Pennyweight or 39.38 Ora
● 57.25 Grams= 44.04 Pennyweight or 2.75 Ora
● 32.65 Grams= 25.12 Pennyweight or 1.57 Ora
● 24.38 Grams= 18.75 Pennyweight or 1.17 Ora
RIAZAN, near Moscow  (11th century)
● 144.3 Grams = 111 Pennyweight or 6.94 Ora
● 56.167 Grams= 43.21 Pennyweight or 2.7 Ora
● 39.808 Grams= 30.62 Pennyweight or1.91Ora
● 39.429 Grams=30.33 Pennyweight or 1.9 Ora
● 31.177 Grams=23.98 Pennyweight or 1.5 Ora

Bibliography 
[1] Zupko, Ronald Edward. A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles. 1985
American Philosophical Society pp.280




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