[Sca-cooks] Measures

[Terry Decker]

The original form is avoir-de-peis (Norman French).  Later changed to avoir-du-pois (Parisian French).  The term refers to goods sold by weight and originated in the wool trade.  Rather than different systems, they represent evolution of the original system, which was in use prior to the 14th Century.

The original English codification occurs in the first quarter of the 14th Century (1303, 1324, IIRC), what the authors call Avoir-du-pois.  The system was re-codified under Henry VIII and completed by Elizabeth I (Avoirdupois).  The basis for U.S. weights  and measures is the Elizabethan system.

The Weights and Measures Act of 1824 marks the beginning of converting Avoirdupois to Imperial Measure.

My initial interest was in why the Winchester bushel was preferred by bakers (simple answer, it was a heaped bushel, providing an extra gallon of grain, the full answer is a little more complex).  This article is a nice addition to the information I have.

Bear

On 2/14/2021 2:40:27 PM, Laureen Hart <lhart at graycomputer.com> wrote:
That is a lot of information to collate!
And it is interesting that Avoir-du-pois and Avoirdupois are 2 different systems.
I would have thought them just name variations.

Randell Raye

________________________________ 
From: Sca-cooks on behalf of Sam Wallace
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2021 12:28 PM
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] (no subject)

All,

I thought this was an interesting article concerning measurements in
medieval England. Of particular note is the timeline illustrating when
different measurement systems were in use. Here is the abstract:

The present paper deals with an analysis of medieval culinary and medical
recipes. A major feature which will be of interest is the use of measure
terms. The research has been based on material from 14th and 15th century
recipe collections. First, the major weight and measure systems which were
used in the Middle English period will be presented. Then, the measure
terms used in the analysed texts are collected and categorised into three
groups: specific, non-specific, and container-related terms. The study,
apart from showing the variety of measure terms used at the time, also
compares two types of recipes, i.e., medical and culinary.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318187958_Measures_in_Medieval_English_Recipes_-_Culinary_Vs_Medical

- Guillaume
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