Technikatörténeti szemle 10. (1978)

A MÉRÉS ÉS A MÉRTÉKEK AZ EMBER MŰVELŐDÉSÉBEN című konferencián Budapesten, 1976. április 27–30-án elhangzott előadások II. - Zupko, R. E.: Angol súlyok és mértékek

hamlets and watched over their flocks in nearby fields. Their crafts were primitive compared to those of the Romans and their trade—always local in nature—consisted principally in the exchange of foodstuffs and raw materials. They had no written, codified law and no professional class of judges. The witans—their councils of wisemen who advised tribal chiefs in matters concerning war, peace, and marriage alliances—were their only assemblies. This was a warrior society, one that was distinguished by its constant mobility, by its perpetual military activity, and by its never-ending search for new land. Because of their overriding concern for migration and war, they were by nature politically unstable and economically underdeveloped. But even if the Anglo-Saxons had possessed institutional equilibrium with their Mediterranean neighbors, they would have found it impossible to maintain intact that System of metrology inherited from the Romans because of the radically different political, economic, and social conditions of the Early Middle Ages. Until a temporary unification of Britain was achieved in the early ninth century, conditions here, as well as in the rest of Western Europe, were abnormally chaotic and violent. Early medieval man witnessed the complete breakdown of Roman solidarity and the embryonic beginnings of feudalism. In place of an internationally cohesive Roman government, there now existed a potpourri of Germanic kingdoms, each of them exercising political and military power over a very small area. Europe was evolving from a southern Latin orientation to a northern German one. Isolation and seclusion became the principal ingredients of the world north of the Alps. Merchant caravans virtually ceased traveling over the commercial highways since protection could no longer be afforded them. Regional and interregional trade dwindled and the urban centers lost their most energetic and dynamic elements. Local affiliations—temporarily stultified under Roman rule—reasserted themselves. The industrial, commercial, and monetary empire of Rome gave way to a landlocked, agricultural environment in which local exchange in kind and services sufficed for most people's needs. Consequently, Roman metrology—like most other aspects of Roman civilization— was far too sophisticated and advanced for the demands of this new age. Like the Celts, the Germanic tribes—both on the continent and in Britain—used weights and measures which were based on simple, primary standards. The North German foot—the standard for linear measurement—was defined as the length of 12 thumbs or of 36 barleycorns laid end to end. All other linear measures were expressed in fractions or multiples of this foot. The palm, consisting of 3 thumbs or 9 barleycorns, was 1/4 foot. For building purposes there was a cubit of 2 feet. Four feet or 2 cubits made the cloth-elne, the customary width of woolen and other cloths woven on the hand looms of the period, while 15 of these feet made the rod for land surveying and agricultural measurements.

7 Both the Roman and German feet were used in Britain during the Early Middle Ages but by the end of the period, or prior to the Norman Conquest, the German foot had emerged as the primary unit and would become the standard for all English linear measures after 1066. One of the principal reasons for this was that the AngloSaxons continued to employ their traditional agricultural field divisions after their arrival in Britain and superficial measures have always depended on the standard of linear measurement. In fact, the Roman foot was relegated almost immediately to the construction crafts while the German foot became the standard for all other pursuits. In plowing operations Saxon peasants worked a section of land that con-