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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
592
MARCO POLO APP. K.
OE,
by nearly ios. the value of the Pound sterling of the period, or Lira di Sterlini, as it was called in the appropriate Italian phrase).*
Lira ai Grossi . 3s. 9d,
Lira dei Piccoli . 2S. 4d...
The Tornese or Tornesel at Venice was, according to Romanin (III. 343) = 4 Venice deniers : and if these are the deniers of the Lira ai Grossi, the coin would be worth a little less than 4d., and nearly the equivalent of the denier Tournois, from which it took its name. t
The term Bezant is used by Polo always (I believe) as it is by Joinville, by Marino Sanudo, and by Pegolotti, for the Egyptian gold dinár, the intrinsic value of which varied somewhat, but can scarcely be taken at less than ios. 6d. or us. (See Cathay, pp. 440-441 and see also/. As. sér. VI. tom. xi. pp. 506-507.) The exchange of Venice money for the Bezant of Dinar in the Levant varied a good deal (as is shown by examples in the passage in Cathay just cited), but is always in these examples a large fraction a up to -I) more than the Zecchin. Hence, when Joinville gives the equation of St. Lewis's ransom as 1,000,000 bezants or 500,000 livres, I should have supposed these to be livres Parisis rather than Tournois, as M. de Wailly prefers.
There were a variety of coins of lower value in the Levant called Bezants,+ but these do not occur in our Book.
The Venice Saggio, a weight for precious substances was j of an ounce, corresponding to the weight of the Roman gold solidus, from which was originally derived the Arab Miskál. And Polo appears to use saggio habitually as the equivalent of Miskál. His pois or peso, applied to gold and silver, seems to have the same sense, and is indeed a literal translation of Miskál. (See vol. ii. p. 41.)
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For measures Polo uses the palm rather than the foot. I do not find a value of the Venice palm, but over Italy that measure varies from 91- inches to something over IO. The Genoa Palm is stated at 9'725 inches.
Jal (Archologie Nay. I. 27 I ) cites the following Table of
Old Venice Measures of Length.
4 fingers
4 handbreadths =
5 feet
I000 paces 4 miles
I handbreadth.
I foot.
I pace.
I mile.
1 league.
* Uzzano in Della Decima, IV. 124.
ł According to Galliccioli (I I. 53) piccoli (probably in the vague sense of small copper coin) were called in the Levant Topvéűca.
$ Thus in the document containing the autograph of King Hayton, presented at p. 13 of Introductory Essay, the King gives with his daughter, " Damoiselle Femie," a dowry of 25,oco besans sarrazznas, and in payment 4 of his own bezants st'zurats (presumably so called from bearing a cross) are to count as on Saracen Bezant. (Cod.Diplolnat. del S. Mil. Ord. Geroso'im. I. 134.)
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