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mistato

A perhaps varying unit of liquid capacity used for wine in the 15ᵗʰ century trade in the eastern Mediterranean. It is specifically associated with wine from Crete.

Chiarini gives equivalents in Venetian units for local values of the mistato. Those values include: Alexandria, about 9 liters; Crete, about 9.72 liters; Tana, near present-day Azov, about 9.2 liters. One concludes the mistato was everywhere a bit over 9 liters.

In 1840, Doursther reported the mistato (also spelled mistate or mistale) in use on Crete as a unit of liquid capacity for oil. At La Canea (Chania this link goes to a new page ), 1/8 of a tonne or baril and a weight of 5½ okas, = 11.13 liters. At Rethymno , a weight of 10 okas, = 13.09 liters.

sources

Mistati 100 di malvagia sono in Firenze chogna 2 2/9. Mistati 45 [of Candia] fanno in Pixa barili 7 chornuti chol lor chalo, senza versando la botte. [page 32, see note under 7 below]

One hundred mistati of malvagia [a type of wine] make 2 2/9 cogna of Florence. Forty-five mistati of Crete make, in Pisa, 7 barili di cornuti with the container, without emptying the botte.

Taking the 15ᵗʰ century Florentine cogno at 455 liters makes the mistato about 10 liters.

Mistati 45 di Malvagia di Chandia fanno in Pixa barili 7 chornuti chol loro chalo non versando la botte. [page 145]

Forty-five mistati of malvagia of Chandia make in Pisa 7 barili cornuti without emptying the botte.

Vino vi si vende alla Tana a botte e la detta botte vole essere mistati 46 e torna in Vinegia bighongni 3 e quart 1. [page 63]

Wine is sold at Tana by the botte, and the said botte is 46 mistati and converts to 3 Venetian biconcia and 1 quarta.

Taking the Venetian anfora as 518.4 liters, the biconcia being a fourth of an anfora, 3 biconcia would be 388.8 liters. The quarta is a fourth of an anfora, so 32.4 liters, total 421.2 liters. One forty-sixth of that is 9.2 liters.

Mistati 100 di malvagia di Chandia fanno in Vinegia anfora 1 7/8 (e) di quarti 16 l'anfora, sichè mistati 56 fa in Vinegia anfora 1 quarti 4/5, e mistati 44 in 45 fanno in Fiandra [ed.--3 manuscripts say Chandia, and we adopt that reading] una botte alla chaggia. [page 65]

A hundred mistati of malvagia of Chandia make 1 7/8 Venetian anfora, and with 16 quarti to the anfora, 56 mistati make 1 anfora and 4/5 quarti, and 44 to 45 mistati make in Crete one botte by the gauge.

Taking the Venetian anfora as 518.4 liters makes the mistato 9.72 liters. 56 such mistati would be 544.3 liters, and one anfora plus 4/5 of a quarti would also be 544.3 liters.

Vino si vende in Allexandria a botte e la detta botte de' essere in Allexandria mistati 43 e, a essere giusta, in Vinegia debbe essere bughongie 3. [page 81]

Wine is sold in Alexandria by the botte and the said botte is 43 Alexandrian mistati, and, to be correct, in Venice must be 3 biconcia.

Again taking the Venetian anfora as 518.4 liters, the biconcia being a fourth of an anfora, 3 biconcia would be 388.8 liters. One forty-third of that would be 9.0 liters.

Barili 7 chornuti di Pixa fanno in Chandia mistati 45. [page 116. & = “in Napoli chongnio 1 che dá botte 1 da mena.”] see page 145, note 6

Seven barili cornuti of Pisa make 45 mistati in Chandia.

Vendevixi la malvagia a tante perperi il 100 de' mistati invasata (a) cioè che t'ànno a dare la botte in che tu la metti non chiarendosi altrimenti, cioè botte e non barili nè charatelli. [page 146]

They sell the malvagia at so many perperi per 100 mistati of contents, that is to say, they have to give you the botte in which you put the wine unless otherwise agreed, i.e., botte and neither barili nor caratelli.

Chiarini, 1481. All page references are to Borlandi.

Candia di Creti

Vino a mistati, e 33 mistati fanno 1 botte di mezzo migliaio di Puglia.

Pegolotti, ~1340, in the edition edited by Allan Evans (1936). Page 106. Evan's footnote cites appearances of “mistato” in Latin texts.