In Italy, 14ᵗʰ – 20ᵗʰ centuries, a unit of length used almost exclusively for cloth, 550 - 700 millimeters. The braccio was used for cut pieces and the canna for length as woven. Braccio also means “arm”, and is in concept the length of an arm.
Locale | Comments and Equivalences | millimeters |
---|---|---|
Bergamo | 655.3 | |
Bologna | 640 | |
Ferrara | for silk cloth | 634.4 |
for cotton, wool, etc. cloth | 673.6 | |
Florence | = 2 palmi = 20 soldi = 60 quattrini = 240 denari = 2880 punti | 583.6 |
Genoa | = 2 13 palmi | 581.25 |
Livorno | = 2 palmi = 12 crazie = 20 soldi = 60 quattrini = 240 denari = 2880 punti | 583.6 |
Milan | = 12 oncie = 144 punti = 1728 atomi. In Milan the braccio was metricized in 1803, being redefined as = 1 meter = 10 palmi = 100 ditti = 1000 atomi. | 594.9 |
Naples | = 2 2/5 palmi | 698.7 |
Padua | for silk cloth | 637.5 |
for wool and linen cloth | 681 | |
Parma | for silk cloth | 588 |
for linen and wool cloth | 640 | |
braccio di legno, (“braccio of wood”), used in surveying and stating road mileage, = 12 onces = 144 punti = 1728 atomi. | 542.15 | |
Pisa | braccio di panno, = 12 crazie = 20 soldi = 60 quattrini = 240 denari | 583.6 |
Rome | braccio d'ara or sacred braccio, = 6 sacred palmi | 750 |
braccio of the weavers, = 3 palmi | 636 | |
braccio of the merchants, = 4 palmi | 848 | |
Sienna | for wool cloth | 377.6 |
for cotton cloth | 600.3 | |
Venice | for silk cloth | 638.7 |
for wool cloth | 683.4 |
1
Braza 100 venetiane fano in Fiorenza bra. 113 in 114.
One hundred Venetian braccia make between 113 and 114 Florentine braccia.
Bartolommeo di Pasi.
Tariffa de' pesi e mesure con gratia et privilegio.
Venice: 1503.
2
Panni lini e lani vi [in Florence] si vendono a braccia che quattro braccia fa una canna, e a questa misura si vende tucte chose che sieno da misura.
[In Florence] linen and wool cloth is sold by the bracchio, 4 of which make 1 canna, and by this measure they sell all things which ? the measure.
Chiarini, 1481.
Copyright © 2000 Sizes, Inc. All rights reserved.
Last revised: 16 November 2005.