Editing Medieval weights and measures (section)

== English system ==
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''
* ''inch''
* ''ell'' or ''cubit''
* ''foot''
* ''perch'', used variously to measure length or area
* ''acre'' and ''acre's breadth''
* ''furlong''
* ''mile''

The best-attested of these is the ''perch'', which varied in length from 10 to 25 feet, with the most common value (16{{frac|1|2}} feet or 5.03 m) remaining in use until the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fernie |first1=E. C. |title=Anglo-Saxon Lengths: The 'Northern' System, the Perch and the Foot |journal=Archaeological Journal |date=1985 |volume=142 |issue=1 |pages=248–249 |doi=10.1080/00665983.1985.11021064 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00665983.1985.11021064 |access-date=1 November 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Later development of the [[English unit|English system]] continued in 1215 in the Magna Carta.<ref>[https://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Latin/Texts/06_Medieval_period/Legal_Documents/Magna_Carta.html Magna Carta]</ref> Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588 and 1758.<ref name=knight>{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Charles|title=The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 9|year=1840|publisher=Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BHnAAAAMAAJ|pages=221–2|quote=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.}}</ref>

Some of these units would go on to be used in later [[Imperial units]] and in the [[U.S. customary units|US system]], which are based on the [[English unit|English system]] from the 1700s.