The following systems arose from earlier systems, and in many cases utilise parts of much older systems. For the most part they were used to varying degrees in the Middle Ages and surrounding time periods. Some of these systems found their way into later systems, such as the Imperial system and even SI.
Before Roman units were reintroduced in 1066 by William the Conqueror, there was an Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) system of measure, of which few details survive. It probably included the following units of length:
fingerbreadth or digit
ell or cubit
perch, used variously to measure length or area
acre and acre's breadth
The best-attested of these is the perch, which varied in length from 10 to 25 feet, with the most common value (161⁄2 feet or 5.03 m) remaining in use until the twentieth century.
Later development of the English system continued in 1215 in the Magna Carta. Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588 and 1758.
From May 1, 1683, King Christian V of Denmark introduced an office to oversee weights and measures, a justervæsen, to be led by Ole Rømer. The definition of the alen was set to 2 Rhine feet. Rømer later discovered that differing standards for the Rhine foot existed, and in 1698 an ironCopenhagen standard was made. A pendulum definition for the foot was first suggested by Rømer, introduced in 1820, and changed in 1835. The metric system was introduced in 1907.
skrupel – Scruple, 1⁄12linie
linie – Line, 1⁄12tomme
tomme – Inch, 1⁄12fod
palme – Palm, for circumference, 8.86 cm
kvarter – Quarter, 1⁄4alen
fod – Defined as a Rheinfuss 31.407 cm from 1683, before that 31.41 cm with variations.
alen – Forearm, 2 fod
mil – Danish mile. Towards the end of the 17th century, Ole Rømer connected the mile to the circumference of the earth, and defined it as 12000 alen. This definition was adopted in 1816 as the Prussian Meile. The coordinated definition from 1835 was 7.532 km. Earlier, there were many variants, the most commonplace the Sjællandsk miil of 17600 fod or 11.130 km.
potte – Pot, from 1603 1⁄32foot3
smørtønde – Barrel of butter, defined as 136 potter from 1683
korntønde – Barrel of corn, defined as 144 potter from 1683
pund – Pound, from 1683 the weight of 1⁄62fot3 of water, 499.75 g
In Finland, approximate measures derived from body parts and were used for a long time, some being later standardised for the purpose of commerce. Some Swedish, and later some Russian units have also been used.
vaaksa – The distance between the tips of little finger and thumb, when the fingers are fully extended.
kyynärä – c. 60 cm – The distance from the elbow to the fingertips.
syli – fathom, c. 180 cm – The distance between the fingertips of both hands when the arms are raised horizontally on the sides.
virsta – 2672 m (Swedish), 1068.84 m (Russian)
poronkusema – c. 7.5 km – The distance a reindeer walks between two spots it urinates on. This unit originates from Lapland (i.e. Sápmi).
peninkulma – 10.67 km – The distance a barking dog can be heard in still air.
tynnyrinala – 4936.5 m2 – The area (of field) that could be sown with one barrel of grain.
In France, again, there were many local variants. For instance, the lieue could vary from 3.268 km in Beauce to 5.849 km in Provence. Between 1812 and 1839, many of the traditional units continued in metrified adaptations as the mesures usuelles.
In Paris, the redefinition in terms of metric units made 1 m = 443.296 ligne = 3 pied 11.296 ligne.
In Quebec, the surveys in French units were converted using the relationship 1 pied (of the French variety; the same word is used for English feet as well) = 12.789 inches (of English origin). Thus a square arpent was 5299296.0804 in² or about 36,801 ft² or 0.8448 acre.
There were many local variations; the metric conversions below apply to the Quebec and Paris definitions.
Up to the introduction of the metric system, almost every town in Germany had their own definitions. It is said that by 1810, in Baden alone, there were 112 different Ellen.
Linie – Line, usually 1⁄12 inch, but also 1⁄10.
Zoll – Inch, usually 1⁄12 foot, but also 1⁄10.
Fuss – Foot, varied between 23.51 cm in Wesel and 40.83 cm in Trier.
Rheinfuss – Rhine foot, used in the North, 31.387 cm
Elle – Ell / cubit, distance between elbow and finger tip. In the North, often 2 feet, In Prussia 17⁄8 feet, in the South variable, often 2+1⁄2 feet. The smallest known German elle is 402.8 mm, the longest 811 mm.
Klafter – Fathom, usually 6 feet. Regional changes from 1.75 m in Baden to 3 m in Switzerland.
Rute – Rod, Roman origin, use as land measure. Very differing definitions, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18 or 20 feet, varied between approx. 3 and 5 m.
Wegstunde – 'Way's hour', one hours travel (by foot), used up to the 18th century. In Germany 1⁄2Meile or 3.71 km, in Switzerland 16000 feet or 4.8 km
Meile – 'Mile', a German geographische Meile or Gemeine deutsche Meile was defined as 7.420 km, but there were a wealth of variants:
Before 1541, there were no common definition for length measures in Norway, and local variants flourished. In 1541, an alen in Denmark and Norway was defined by law to be the Sjællandalen. Subsequently, the alen was defined by law as 2 Rhine feet from 1683. From 1824, the basic unit was defined as a fot being derived from astronomy as the length of a one-second pendulum times 12⁄38 at a latitude of 45°. The metric system was introduced in 1887.
sjømil – Sea mile, 4 kvartmil, 7408 m, defined as 1⁄15 Equatorial degree.
skilling – Shilling, see riksdaler and speciedaler.
ort – See riksdaler and speciedaler.
riksdaler – Until 1813, Norwegian thaler. 1 riksdaler is 4 ort or 6 mark or 96 skilling.
speciedaler – Since 1816. 1 speciedaler is 5 ort or 120 skilling. From 1876, 1 speciedaler is 4 kroner (Norwegian crown, NOK).
tylft – 12, also dusin
snes – 20
stort hundre – Large hundred, 120
gross – 144
The various systems of weights and measures used in Portugal until the 19th century combine remote Roman influences with medieval influences from northern Europe and Islam.The Roman and northern European influences were more present in the north. The Islamic influence was more present in the south of the country. Fundamental units like the alqueire and the almude were imported by the northwest of Portugal in the 11th century, before the country became independent of León.
The gradual long-term process of standardization of weights and measures in Portugal is documented mainly since the mid-14th century. In 1352, municipalities requested standardization in a parliament meeting (Cortes). In response, Afonso IV decided to set the alna (aune) of Lisbon as standard for the linear measures used for color fabrics across the country. A few years later, Pedro I carried a more comprehensive reform, as documented in the parliament meeting of 1361: the arrátel folforinho of Santarém should be used for weighing meat; the arroba of Lisbon would be the standard for the remaining weights; cereals should be measured by the alqueire of Santarém; the almude of Lisbon should be used for wine. With advances, adjustments and setbacks, this framework predominated until the end of the 15th century.
The measures of the old Romanian system varied greatly not only between the three Romanian states (Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania), but sometimes also inside the same country. The origin of some of the measures are the Latin (such as iugăr unit), Slavic (such as vadră unit) and Greek (such as dram unit) and Turkish (such as palmac unit) systems.
This system is no longer in use since the adoption of the metric system in 1864.
Cot (cubit) – 0.664 cm (Moldavia); 0.637 cm (Wallachia)
Deget (finger) – the width of a finger
Palmac – 3.48 cm (Moldavia)
Lat de palmă (palm width) – 1⁄2palmă
Palmă (palm) – 1⁄8 of a stânjen
Picior (foot) – 1⁄6 of a stânjen
Pas mic (small step) – 4 palme (Wallachia)
Pas mare (large step) – 6 palme (Wallachia; Moldavia)
Stânjen – 2 m (approximately)
Prăjină – 3 stânjeni
Funie (rope) – 20 – 120 m (depending on the place)
Verstă – 1067 m
Leghe (league) – 4.444 km;
Poştă – 8 – 20 km (depending on the country)
Prăjină – 180–210 m2
Feredelă – 1⁄4pogon
Pogon – 50000 m2
Iugăr – the area ploughed in one day by two oxen – 7166 m2 (Transylvania in 1517); 5700 m2 or 1600 square stânjeni (later)
In Sweden, a common system for weights and measures was introduced by law in 1665. Before that, there were a number of local variants. The system was slightly revised in 1735. In 1855, a decimal reform was instituted that defined a new Swedish inch as 1⁄10 foot. It did not last long, because the metric system was subsequently introduced in 1889. Up to the middle of the 19th century there was a death penalty for falsifying weights or measures.
linje – Line, after 1863 1⁄10tum, 2.96 mm. Before that, 1⁄12tum or 2.06 mm.
tum – Thumb (inch), after 1863 1⁄10fot, 2.96 cm. Before that, 1⁄12fot or 2.474 cm.
tvärhand – Hand, 4 inches.
kvarter – Quarter, 1⁄4aln
fot – Foot, 1⁄2aln. Before 1863, the Stockholmfot was the commonly accepted unit, at 29.69 cm.
aln – Forearm (pl. alnar). After 1863, 59.37 cm. Before that, from 1605, 59.38 cm as defined by king Carl IX of Sweden in Norrköping 1604 based on the Rydaholmsalnen.
^Knight, Charles (1840). The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 9. London: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. pp. 221–2. In 1758 the legislature turned attention to this subject; and after some investigations on the comparative lengths of the various standards, ordered a rod to be made of brass, about 38 or 39 inches long, graduated (measured) from the Royal Society's yard: this was marked “Standard Yard, 1758,” and was given into the care of the clerk of the House of Commons. For commercial purposes another bar was made, with the yard marked off from the same standard; but it had two upright fixed markers, placed exactly one yard apart, between which any commercial yard measures might be placed, in order to have their accuracy tested: it was graded in feet, one of the feet was graded in inches, and one of the inches in ten parts. This standard yardstick was kept at the Exchequer. In 1760, a copy of Bird's standard, made two years before, was constructed.