CUSTUMAL: CAPITULUM 34

Ells and weights used by merchants of the city for buying and selling are, between two to four times a year, to be examined by the bailiffs to see whether they are accurate and reliable. [If so] they are to be stamped with seals dedicated to that purpose. Ells and weights found to be inaccurate are to be confiscated and destroyed, as with all unreliable measures discovered in the city. Those who use such measures are to be heavily punished and to find security that they will not commit such offences in future. If, despite that, they are again convicted of the same offence, let them be so heavily penalized that it will deter others [from committing that offence].

[An ell was a measure of length, a little longer than the modern yard, used in particular for measuring cloth.]