The grzywna () was a measure of weight, mainly for silver, commonly used throughout medieval central and eastern Europe, particularly in the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
and
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...
().
Grzywna was also a unit of measure of a unit of exchange, and as such used as money in the 10th–15th centuries. Silver
ingot
An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is Casting, cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedu ...
s acted as
commodity money
Commodity money is money whose value comes from a commodity of which it is made. Commodity money consists of objects having value or use in themselves ( intrinsic value) as well as their value in buying goods.
This is in contrast to representa ...
before the widespread use of
minted coins. Several different grzywnas developed with their own system of weight and exchange, such as the Kulm grzywna and the
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
grzywna.
Etymology
The name is derived from from .
In modern Polish, ''grzywna'' literally translates as ''fine'' (legal penalty).
Kraków grzywna
The Kraków grzywna, used in Poland, weighed anywhere from 196.26 g to 201.86 g, depending on the timeframe. In the 14th century, it was equal to 196.26 g, while in the beginning of the 16th century in weighed 197.684 g, but after 1558 it was equivalent to 201.802 g and after 1650 it was 201.86 g.
The Kraków grzywna was subdivided thus: 4
wiarduneks or quarters = 8
ounce
The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight, or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement.
The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States ...
s = 16
dram
Dram, DRAM, or drams may refer to:
Technology and engineering
* Dram (unit), a unit of mass and volume, and an informal name for a small amount of liquor, especially whisky or whiskey
* Dynamic random-access memory, a type of electronic semicondu ...
s = 24
skojecs = 96
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
s = 240
denarii = 480
obols
As a measure of unit of exchange, the Kraków grzywna was equal to 48
Prague groschen. During the rule of
Władysław I the Elbow-high Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to:
People Mononym
* Włodzis ...
576 denarii were struck from one Kraków grzywna of
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
. During the rule of his son
Casimir the Great, 768 denarii were struck from it and during the reign of
Władysław II Jagiełło
Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...
, it was 864 denarii.
See also
*
Grivna
The grivna () was a currency as well as a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus' and other states in Eastern Europe from the 11th century.
Name
The word ''grivna'' is derived from from . In Old East Slavic, it had the form , ''grivĭna''. ...
*
Ukrainian hryvnia
The ( ; , ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 kopiykas (). It is named after a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus'.
Etymology
The currency of Kie ...
*
Mark (unit) The Mark (from Middle High German: Marc, march, brand) is originally a medieval weight or mass unit, which supplanted the pound weight as a precious metals and coinage weight in parts of Europe in the 11th century. The Mark is traditionally divided ...
*
Obsolete Polish units of measurement
References
Units of mass
Obsolete units of measurement
Medieval currencies
Pound (currency)
{{money-stub