Published: 2025-09-16

Welsh cantref — Anglo-Saxon hundred — Frankish centena — medieval mile. Hundred-based systems from the historical metrology perspective

Anna Dunin-Wąsowicz
Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
Section: Studies and Materials
DOI https://doi.org/10.23858/KHKM73.2025.1.001

Abstract

The text concerns historical hundred-based systems and their interrelations. Two models for reconstructing the Welsh cantref are proposed — one based on the Venedotian Code of Welsh law, and the other in a centurial framework. They are then compared with the Anglo-Saxon hundreds. It is demonstrated that both the Welsh and Anglo-Saxon territorial units fall within the category of longue durée phenomena. Although their character, territorial scope, and functions evolved over time, they nonetheless provide a valuable comparative basis for the study of the Frankish centena and other continental land-measurement systems. Their juxtaposition and analysis may, in future research, contribute to more precise dating of certain agrarian measures.

Keywords:

historical metrology, hundred-based system, cantref, centena, hundred, mile, Middle Ages, Wales

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Dunin-Wąsowicz, A. (2025). Welsh cantref — Anglo-Saxon hundred — Frankish centena — medieval mile. Hundred-based systems from the historical metrology perspective. Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej, 73(1), 3–33. https://doi.org/10.23858/KHKM73.2025.1.001

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