Fotmal

Fotmal
(also called fotmæl, fotmel, votmel, etc.)
Length. One foot (foot-length, foot-print or foot-space).
Weight. About 70 pounds of lead. (Definitions varied between 70 and 72. Weight also depended upon material.) A thirtieth of a fother. A fifth of a sack. 5 stone.
Comment: A fotmal of lead would occupy about one tenth of a cubic foot. This could form an ingot about 12 x 5 x 3 inches. A man could lift and carry this weight a short distance. A pack animal could carry two fotmal as a balanced load — one on each side of its back.
In 1391, each votmel of old lead roof sheets taken from the roof of Marlborough Castle was valued at 4 shillings.
Lead sheeting a tenth of an inch thick weighs 6 pounds per square foot. At this thickness, a fotmal of lead would produce about 12 square feet of lead sheets.
Comment: This unit does not seem to match the Roman practice: Lindsey Davis's entertaining novel "The Silver Pigs" is set during the Roman occupation of Britain. These Silver Pigs are actually lead ingots made from British lead ore which also contained about 130 ounces per ton of valuable silver. The ingots are said to be 20 x 5 x 4 inches with the Emperor's name and date stamped on one long edge, to weigh 200 Roman pounds, and to contain 24 ladles of molten ore.

Medieval glossary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fotmal — Fot mal, n. (Com.) Seventy pounds of lead …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fotmal —    a traditional English unit of weight for lead. In medieval England the fotmal was equal to 70 mercantile pounds, which is equivalent to 72 avoirdupois pounds …   Dictionary of units of measurement

  • fotmal — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Fother — (also called fodder, foder, fodur, cart load, load, wain, waine, wey, etc.): Weight. A cart load. About 19½ hundredweight, dependent upon material. Also, six sacks where each sack is five fotmal. Volume. 40 bushels or 320 gallons. Also, lots of,… …   Medieval glossary

  • Last — 2 wey. Definitions varied, usually about 2 tons, or 60 fotmal, or 80 bushels, or 640 gallons …   Medieval glossary

  • Sack — Weight. Five fotmal (of lead) …   Medieval glossary

  • Votmel — Weight. About 70 pounds of lead. See: Fotmal …   Medieval glossary

  • Wain — (also called cart load, load, wain, etc.): Weight. See: Cart load. About 19½ hundredweight, dependent upon material. Also, six sacks where each sack is five fotmal. Also, lots of, a large quantity, a huge amount, etc …   Medieval glossary

  • Wey — Weight or volume. See: Cart load. About 19½ hundredweight, dependent upon material. Also, 320 gallons, or 40 bushels, or 30 fotmal …   Medieval glossary

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