Codex Palatinus Graecus 367: A thirteenth-century method of determining vessel burden?

Abstract

Codex number 367 of the Palatinus Graecus collection in the Vatican Library is a compilation of 195 folios written in the thirteenth century by the Head of the Guild of Notaries on the island of Cyprus, Constantinos Euteles Anagnostes. The folios address a wide variety of subjects, but 88b to 91a contain Constantinos's transcription of a method of measuring the burden of a ship by stacking standardsized baskets, or kouphia, within the vessel's hold. While Ashburner highlighted the relevance of these three folios to maritime history in his Rhodian Sea Law in 1909, this may be their first published translation in English) Moreover, analysis of the folios reveals a relatively straightforward mathematical progression dictating the distribution of the kouphia as burden is determined. This article presents a brief discussion of Codex Palatinus Graecus 367, a translation of folios 88b to 91a, and an analysis of the relatively standardized method of determining burden apparently used in thirteenth-century Cyprus.