Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Harpster, Matthew
• Coureas, Nicholas

Titel

CODEX PALATINUS GRAECUS 367: A THIRTEENTH-CENTURY METHOD OF DETERMINING VESSEL BURDEN?

Ist Teil von

• Mariner's mirror, 2008, Vol.94 (1), p.8-20

Ort / Verlag

Taylor & Francis Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

Taylor & Francis Journals Auto-Holdings Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This article presents a brief discussion of Codex Palatinus Graecus 367, a translation of folios 88b to 91a, and an analysis of the relatively standardised method of determining burden apparently used in 13C Cyprus. Codex number 367 of the Palatinus Graecus collection in the Vatican Library is a compilation of 195 folios written in the 13C by the Head of the Guild of Notaries in Cyprus, Constantinos Euteles Anagnostes. The folios address a wide variety of subjects, but 88b to 91a contain Constantinos's transcription of a method of measuring the burden of a ship by stacking standard-sized baskets - "kouphia" - within the vessel's hold. Analysis of the folios reveals a relatively straightforward mathematical progression dictating the distribution of the "kouphia" as burden is determined. It is not known how accurate or common the method was, who used it or what Constantinos's intended audience was, but the folios demonstrate that such methods were circulating in 13C Cyprus and had apparently been in use for some time. (Quotes from original text)