How much is a "quintal" in 1600?

[rgecy]

Ok, I am reading some Spanish text from around 1600 that talks about a cannon weighing 12 quintals. I have looked some info up on the web and of course consulted my Marx Reference library, but there are variations in exactly what a quintal would have been for this time period.

So, how much is 12 quintals in 1600 and based on the weight, what size cannon would this be?

Robert

[maximushisp]

Hello
I think 12 quintals it's about 552 Kg. or 1227 pounds.

[Mackaydon]

Robert:
At 100 per=1200 pounds. At 'hundredweight' (of 112 pounds per) =1344 pounds.
That range of weights would equate to a 'minion' (3.5 bore, 8 feet and 1000 pounds) or, more likely, a 'saker' at 3.5 bore, 9/10 feet and 1300 pounds.
Don.......

[FISHEYE]

A 4 foot 2 inch bore cannonade weighs 1400lbs.Anything bigger than this is gonna weigh much more.

[Chagy]

I agrre with Don....1200 pounds

[mad4wrecks]

To the Portuguese in the 16th century, a quintal was 128 lbs.

To the English it was 112 lbs.

[Panfilo]

Robert:
You have to be very cautious with how you interpret the Spanish weight measure of quintal. Different countries use different figures. It is used very commonly today in most of South America in agricultural measurements. It varies considerably between country to country and even inside the countries there are different interpretations. Basically the two most common versions are either it is equivalent to 100 kilos or 100 pounds.
You have the “quintal metrico” which is the 100 kilo one. Then there is the US equivalent to “short hundredweight” which is 45.35 kilos or 100 pounds, called “quintal corto” Then there is the “quintal largo” or British quintal= 50.80 kilos or 112 pounds.

My best answer Robert is that during the colonial period one quintal was most certainly equivalent to 100 pounds or 46 kilos. Four arrobas make one quintal, the arrobas being a very common unit here used daily in agriculture. Good luck,
Panfilo