A unit of linear measure in northern Europe and England during the Middle Ages. Imagine a fist held in a “thumbs up” gesture. The shaftment is the distance from the bottom of the fist to the tip of the outstretched thumb. It occurs in Anglo-Saxon written records as early as 910 and in English as late as 1474. Other spellings include schaftmond and scaeftemunde.
Two shaftments make a pes manualis, the foot measure made with the hands.
�e mesur off �e weyis
�e mesure of �e balk �at men weyis with sal be in lynth an elne and .j. quartar. �e tong salbe lynth off a schaftmonthe and .j. ynche And �e nail off �e tong sal be set als ner �e balk as it may be set gudly. �e strengis off �e balk sal be evyn elik lang with �e balk. and �e skalis elik land weyand hewy.
The dimensions of the beam of the balance that men weigh with shall be in length 1¼ ells. The tongue shall be in length a shaftment and an inch. And the nail of the tongue shall be set as near the balance beam as it may be well set. The strings of the balance shall be the same length as the beam. And the pans shall be equally heavy.
The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland.
Volume 1. A.D. MCXXIV–MCCCCXXII.
London: Great Britain Record Commission Publications, 1814.
Page 751.
| home | | | units index | | | search | | | to contact Sizes  | | | acknowledgements | | | help |
Copyright © 2000 Sizes, Inc. All rights reserved.
Last revised: 6 June 2010.