Mark, leisikas ja laevanael: keskaegse Liivimaa kaaluühikutest [Abstract: The pound, the lispound and the shippound: on weight units in medieval Livonia]

Abstract

This article deals with the problem of weight units in medieval Livonia. The local weight system was based on the Riga silver mark of around 208 g and consisted of the pound (= 2 silver marks), the lispound, that is, the Livonian pound (= 20 mark pounds) and the shippound (=20 lispounds). In the early fifteenth century, a shippound weighed about 159 kg in Riga and 159.5 kg in Tartu. Significant changes took place during the fifteenth century and since 1460 at the latest (in Narva since 1470), a shippound varied from about 163 kg (in Tallinn) to about 173 kg (in Pärnu). It is probable that no more fluctuations in its weight took place and the system was maintained until the end of the medieval period in Livonia (app. 1560). KEYWORDS: Middle Ages, Livonia, weight system.