The following systems arose from earlier systems, and in many cases utilise parts of much older systems. For the most part they were used to varying degrees in the Middle Ages and surrounding time periods. Some of these systems found their way into later systems, such as the Imperial system and even SI.
English system
Before Roman units were reintroduced in 1066 by William the Conqueror, there was an Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) system of measure, of which few details survive. It probably included the following units of length:
fingerbreadth or digit
inch
ell or cubit
foot
perch, used variously to measure length or area
acre and acre's breadth
furlong
mile
The best-attested of these is the perch, which varied in length from 10 to 25 feet, with the most common value (16 feet or 5.03 m) remaining in use until the twentieth century.
Later development of the English system continued in 1215 in the Magna Carta. Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588 and 1758.
Some of these units would go on to be used in later Imperial units and in the US system, which are based on the English system from the 1700s.
Danish system
From May 1, 1683, King Christian V of Denmark introduced an office to oversee weights and measures, a justervæsen, to be led by Ole Rømer. The definition of the alen was set to 2 Rhine feet. Rømer later discovered that differing standards for the Rhine foot existed, and in 1698 an iron Copenhagen standard was made. A pendulum definition for the foot was first suggested by Rømer, introduced in 1820, and changed in 1835. The metric system was introduced in 1907.
Length
skrupel – Scruple, linie
linie – Line, tomme
tomme – Inch, fod
palme – Palm, for circumference, 8.86 cm
kvarter – Quarter, alen
fod – Defined as a Rheinfuss 31.407 cm from 1683, before that 31.41 cm with variations. alen – Forearm, 2 fod mil – Danish mile. Towards the end of the 17th century, Ole Rømer connected the mile to the circumference of the earth, and defined it as 12000 alen. This definition was adopted in 1816 as the Prussian Meile. The coordinated definition from 1835 was 7.532 km. Earlier, there were many variants, the most commonplace the Sjællandsk miil of 17600 fod or 11.130 km.
Volume
potte – Pot, from 1603 foot3
smørtønde – Barrel of butter, defined as 136 potter from 1683
korntønde – Barrel of corn, defined as 144 potter from 1683
Weight
pund – Pound, from 1683 the weight of fot3 of water, 499.75 g
Miscellaneous
dusin – 12
snes – 20
gross – 144
Dutch system
The Dutch system was not standardised until Napoleon introduced the metric system. Different towns used measures with the same names but differing sizes.
Some common measures:
Length
duim –2.54 cm
kleine palm –3 cm
grote palm –9.6 cm, after 1820, 10 cm
voet –12 duim = abt. 29.54 cm, many local variations
el – about 70 cm
Volume
Pint – 0.6 L
Weight
Ons, Once – pond = 30.881 g
Pond (Amsterdam) – 494.09 g (other ponds were also in use) Scheepslast – 4000 Amsterdam pond = 1976.4 kg = 2.1786 short tons
Finnish system
In Finland, approximate measures derived from body parts and were used for a long time, some being later standardised for the purpose of commerce. Some Swedish, and later some Russian units have also been used.
Length
vaaksa – The distance between the tips of little finger and thumb, when the fingers are fully extended. kyynärä – c. 60 cm – The distance from the elbow to the fingertips. syli – fathom, c. 180 cm – The distance between the fingertips of both hands when the arms are raised horizontally on the sides. virsta – 2672 m (Swedish), 1068.84 m (Russian) poronkusema – c. 7.5 km – The distance a reindeer walks between two spots it urinates on. This unit originates from Lapland (i.e. Sápmi). peninkulma – 10.67 km – The distance a barking dog can be heard in still air.
Area
tynnyrinala – 4936.5 m2 – The area (of field) that could be sown with one barrel of grain.
Volume
kannu – 2.6172 L
kappa – 5.4961 L
Weight
leiviskä – 8.5004 kg
Miscellaneous
kortteli – 148 mm (length) or 0.327 L (volume)
French system
In France, again, there were many local variants. For instance, the lieue could vary from 3.268 km in Beauce to 5.849 km in Provence. Between 1812 and 1839, many of the traditional units continued in metrified adaptations as the mesures usuelles.