Historical units of measure Dutch units of measurement

1 historical units of measure

1.1 weight
1.2 length
1.3 area
1.4 volume

historical units of measure

when charlemagne crowned holy roman emperor in 800 ad, empire included of modern-day western europe including netherlands , belgium. charlemagne introduced standard system of measurement across domains using names such pound , foot . @ treaty of verdun, empire divided between charlemagne s 3 grandsons , lothair received central portion, stretching netherlands in north burgundy , provence in south.

further fragmentation followed , various parts of empire modified units of measures in manner suited local lord. start of religious wars, territories made netherlands, still part of holy roman empire, had passed lordship of king of spain. each territory had own variant of original carolignian units of measure. under treaty of westphalia in 1648, 7 protestant territories owed nominal allegiance prince of orange ceded holy roman empire , established own confederacy each kept own system of measures.

weight

scales @ town hall (and former weighhouse) in bolsward

pond

pond (pound) (amsterdam) – 494.09 g (1.0893 lb) (with variations, 500 g)


a pond divided sixteen ons. pond same size modern pound. around 480 grams, there variation region region. commonly used measure of weight amsterdam pound.






one amsterdam pound (scale weight) (amsterdams pond – waaggewicht) 494.09 grams,
one gorinchem pound (gorinchems pond) 466 grams,
one utrecht heavy pound (utrechts zwaar pond) 497.8 grams.






after metric system introduced in 1816, word pond continued used, 1 kilogram. doubling in size of pond in 1 fell swoop created deal of confusion. name kilogram adopted in 1869, pond eliminated formal unit of measurement in 1937. pond still used today in everyday parlance refer 500 g, not far historical weight. word pond used when referring pound used in english-speaking countries.

ons

ons, once (ounce) – 1/16 pond = 30.881 g (1.0893 oz) (with variations, 100 g)




an ons 1/16 of pond. ons around 30 grams, there variation. figures provided above weight of various pounds used in netherlands can divided 16 obtain weights of various ounces in use. after metric system introduced, word ons continued used, 100 g. ons eliminated formal unit of measurement in 1937, still used today in everyday parlance refer 100 g. in netherlands today word ons not commonly refer historical weight of around 30 g (the exact weight depending on were), 100 g.

last or scheepslast

scheepslast – 4,000 amsterdam pond = 1,976.4 kilograms (2.1786 short tons; 1.9452 long tons)


meaning literally load , last equivalent of 120 cubic feet (3.398 m) of shipping space. last in dutch east india company (voc) in 17th century same 1,250 kg, becoming later as 2,000 kg.


in dutch fishery, last measurement of fish loaded various types of fishing boat in use (e.g. bomschuit, buis, sloep or logger). last of these take 35 40 last of fish, exact amount depending on location. in south holland fishing villages of scheveningen , katwijk, amounted 17 crans (kantjes) of herring; in vlaardingen 14 packed tons. cran (kantje) held 900 1,000 herring. in flanders last 1,000 kg of herring. term fell out of use when herring fishery disappeared.

apothecaries system

in netherlands (as in english-speaking countries) there apothecaries system of weights.


length

mijl

mijl (mile) = 5 km (with variations)




the hollandse mijl hour s walk (één uur gaans) makes equivalent english league – 3 english miles or 5 kilometres, though exact distance varied region region. other equivalents of various miles in use french lieu marine (5,555 m), 20,000 amsterdam feet (5,660 m) or 20,000 rijnland feet (6,280 m). between introduction of dutch metric system (nederlands metriek stelsel) in 1816 , reforms in 1869, word mijl used refer kilometre. word mijl has since fallen disuse except when referring mile used in english-speaking countries.

roede

the roede (literally, rod ) smaller english rod, 16.5 feet (or 5.0292 metres). however, length of roede, , number of voeten in roede, varied place place. there anywhere 7 21 voeten in roede. roede used in netherlands measurement of long distances rijnland rod. other rods included:






one rijnland rod (rijnlandse roede) (= 12 rijnland feet) 3.767 m
one amsterdam rod (amsterdamse roede) (= 13 amsterdam feet) 3.68 m
one bloois rod (blooise roede) (= 12 feet) 3.612 m
one s-hertogenbosch rod ( s-hertogenbosche roede) (= 20 feet) 5.75 m
one hondsbos , rijp rod (hondsbosse en rijp roede) 3.42 m
one putten rod (puttense roede) (= 14 feet) 4.056 m
one schouw rod (schouwse roede) (= 12 feet) 3.729 m
one kings rod (in friesland) (konings roede) (= 12 feet) 3.913 m
one gelderland rod (geldersche roede) (= 14 feet) 3.807 m






today word roede not in common use in netherlands unit of measurement.

el

the length represented dutch ell distance of inside of arm (i.e. distance armpit tip of fingers), easy way measure length. dutch ell , varied town town (55 – 75 cm), shorter english ell (114.3 cm). section of measurements given below:






one hague ell or standard ell (haagse of gewone el) = 69.425 cm
one amsterdam ell (amsterdamse el) = 68.78 cm
one brabant ell (brabantse el) = 69.2 cm or 16 tailles
one delft ell (delfsche el) = 68.2 cm
one goes ell (goesche el) = 69 cm
one twente ell (twentse el) = 58.7 cm






in 1725 hague ell fixed national standard tax purposes , 1816 1869, word el used in netherlands refer metre. in 1869 word meter adopted , el, disappeared, both word , unit of measurement.

voet

the voet ( foot ) of same order of magnitude english foot (30.48 cm), exact size varied city city , province province. there 10, 11, 12 or 13 duimen (inches) in voet, depending on city s local regulations. rijnland foot had been in use since 1621 commonly used voet in both netherlands , in parts of germany. in 1807, de gelder measured copy of rijnland foot in leiden observatory 0.3139465 m while eytelwien found master copy in use in germany 0.313853543 m – difference of 0.03%. in seventeenth , eighteenth centuries dutch settlers took rijnland foot cape colony. in 1859, time colony had passed british control, cape foot calibrated against english foot , legally defined 1.033 english feet (0.314858 m).


the following partial list of various voeten in use netherlands:






one rijnland foot (rijnlandse voet) (= 12 rijnland inches) 31.4 cm
one amsterdam foot (amsterdamse voet) (= 11 amsterdam inches) 28.3133 cm
one bloois foot (blooise voet) 30.1 cm
one s-hertogenbosch foot ( s-hertogenbossche voet) 28.7 cm
one hondsbos , rijp foot (honsbossche en rijpse voet) 28.5 cm
one schouw foot (schouwse voet) 31.1 cm
one gelderland foot (geldersche voet) 29.2 cm






today word voet not in common use in netherlands unit of measurement, except when referring english foot.

palm

kleine palm (small palm) – 3 cm (1.18 in)






grote palm (large palm) – 9.6 cm; after 1820, 10 cm

duim

the duim ( thumb , translated inch ) width of top phalanx of thumb of adult man. similar length of english inch (2.54 cm). exact length , definition varied region region, 1 twelfth of voet, though amsterdamse duim 1 eleventh of amsterdamse voet.






one amsterdam inch (amsterdamse duim) 2.57393 cm
one gelderland or nijmegen inch (gelderse of nijmeegse duim) 2.7 cm
one rijnland inch (rijnlandse duim) 2.61 cm






when dutch metric system (nederlands metriek stelsel) introduced in 1820 word duim used centimeter, in 1870 dropped. today word duim not in common use in netherlands unit of measurement except when referring english inch. word still used in expressions such drieduims pijp (three-inch pipe) , duimstok (ruler or gauge).

area

morgen

morgen 8,516 square metres (with variations).




morgen means morning in dutch. morgen of land represented amount of land ploughed in morning. exact size varied region region. number of roede in morgen varied place place, , anywhere 150 900.






one rijnland morgen (rijnlandse morgen) = 8,516 square metres (divided 6 honts. hont divided 100 square rijnland rods. there 600 rijnland rods in morgen. rijnland rod divided 144 square rijnland feet.)
one bilt morgen (biltse morgen) = 9,200 square metres
one gelderland morgen (gelderse morgen) = 8,600 square metres
one gooi morgen (gooise morgen) = 9,800 square metres
one s-hertogenbosch morgen (bossche morgen) = 9,930 square metres (divided 6 loopense = 600 square roede = 240.000 square feet.
one veluwe morgen (veluwse morgen) = 9,300 square meteres
one waterland morgen (waterlandse morgen) = 10,700 square metres
one zijp or schermer morgen (zijper of schermer morgen) = 8,516 square metres






during french occupation, measurements standardised , regional variations eliminated. initially, napoleonic king louis napoleon decreed in 1806 rijnland morgen used throughout country, lasted few years. wasn t long before metric system introduced. since land has been measured in square metres (hectares, ares , centiares).

hont

a hont made of 100 roede. exact size of hont of land varied place place, rijnland hont 1,400 square metres. name hont honderd , dutch word meaning hundred . word hond derived earlier germanic word hunda, meant hundred (or dog ). after metric system introduced in 19th century, measurement fell disuse.

roede

a square roede referred roede. roede (or roe) both area measurement linear measurement. exact size of roede depended on length of local roede, varied place place. common roede used in netherlands rijnland rod.






one rijnland rod (rijnlandse roede) 14.19 m²
one amsterdam rod (amsterdamse roede) 13.52 m²
one s-hertogenbosch rod (bossche roede) 33.1 m²
one breda rod (bredase roede) 32.26 m²
one groningen rod (groningse roede) 16.72 m²
one hondsbos rod (hondsbosse roede) 11.71 m²






when dutch metric system (nederlands metriek stelsel) introduced in 1816, old names used new metric measures. referred square rod (vierkante roede). rod , square rod abandoned 1937, rijnland rod (rijnlandse roede), abbreviated rr² , still used measurement of surface area flowerbulb fields.

voet

rijnlandse voet (rijnland square foot) – 0.098596 m² (1.0163 sq ft)
hertogenbossche voet ( s-hertogenbosch square foot) – 0.082369 m² (0.8866 sq ft.)






a square voet called voet. word voet (meaning foot ) refer foot or square foot. exact size of voet depended on length of local voet, changed region region. commonly used voet in netherlands rijnland foot.

volume

the dutch measures of volume, other measures, varied locality locality (as modern-day , uk measures of volume). modern day equivalents therefore approximate , equating litres quarts not unduly distort results (1 litre = 1.136 quarts = 0.880 uk quarts)

okshoofd

okshoofd (oxhead) – 6 ankers = 232 l




a okshoofd (earlier spelling: oxhoofd) measurement of volume representing volume held large barrel of wine. measurement used vinegar, tobacco , sugar. measurement still used businesses in wine , spirits trade. there 6 ankers in okshoofd.


there saying in dutch: can t draw clean wine unclean oxhead . (men kan geen reine wijn uit een onrein okshoofd tappen.)

aam

aam – 4 ankers = 155 l




there 4 ankers in aam. used measuring volume of wine. size of aam varied place place. 141 160 litres.

anker

anker (anchor) = approximately 38.75 l


an anker measure of volume representing volume held in small cask holding around 45 bottles.

stoop

stoop – 1/16 anker = 2.4 l

mingel

mingel – 1/2 stoop = approximately 1.21 l






^ charles ralph boxer (1959). dutch seaborne empire 1600–1800. hutchinson. oclc 11348150.  appendix
^ voc glossarium . inghist.nl. retrieved 2014-08-19. 
^ a. hoogendijk jz., de grootvisserij op de noordzee, 1895
^ piet spaans, bouwteelt, 2007
^ r. degrijse, vlaanderens haringbedrijf, 1944
^ de voc site – woordenlijst – navigatie (the voc site – vocabulary – navigation) – (in dutch) . vocsite.nl. retrieved 2014-08-19. 
^ de gelder, page 167
^ de gelder, page 169
^ de gelder, page 164
^ cape foot . sizes. retrieved 2011-12-26. 
^ oude maten en gewichten old measures , weights (data taken mariska van venetië, alles wat u beslist on nederland moet weten. uitgeverij bert bakker, amsterdam, 2004) . allesopeenrij.nl. allesopeenrij – nederland in lijsten [everything in row, netherlands in lists]. retrieved 2010-02-06. follow link verkeer & ruimte , ouden maten en gewichten  
^ universität heidelberg – hund . rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de. retrieved 2014-08-19. 
^ home page (english) . de oude flesch (a society dedicated collecting of historic dutch bottles). retrieved 2010-05-01.