League (unit)

A league is a unit of length (or, rarely, area). It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour. Since the Middle Ages, many values have been specified in several countries.

Different definitions

English-speaking world

On land, the league was most commonly defined as three miles (about 4.8 km), although the length of a "mile" could vary from place to place and at different times. At sea, a league was three nautical miles (about 5.6 km). English usage also included any of the other leagues mentioned below (for example, in discussing the Treaty of Tordesillas) .

Ancient Rome

The league was used in Ancient Rome, defined as 1.5 Roman miles (7,500 Roman feet, 2.2225 km, 1.4 mi.). The origin is the "leuga gallica" (also: leuca Gallica), the league of Gaul.

Argentina

The Argentine league (legua) is 5.572 km (3.462 mi) or 6,666 varas: 1 vara is 0.83 m (33 in).^[1]

Australia

In certain districts of rural Australia, particularly far west New South Wales, one league is an approximate measurement of distance travelled in one hour by motor vehicle, usually 60 to 80 km (37 to 50 mi).^{[citation needed]}

Brazil and Portugal

In Portugal, Brazil and other parts of the Portuguese Empire, there were several units called league (Portuguese: légua):

Légua of 18 by degree = 6,172.4 metres
Légua of 20 by degree = 5,555.56 metres (Maritime légua)
Légua of 25 by degree = 4,444.44 metres

The names of the several léguas referred to the number of units that made the length corresponding to an angle degree of a meridian arc.

As a transitory measure, after Portugal adopted the metric system, the metric légua, of 5.0 km, was used.

In Brazil, légua is still used occasionally in the country, where it has been described as about 6.6 km.

France

The French lieue – at different times – existed in several variants: 10,000, 12,000, 13,200 and 14,400 French feet, about 3.25 km to about 4.68 km. It was used along with the metric system for a while but is now long discontinued.

As used in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a league is four kilometres.^[2]^[3]

Mexico

In Yucatan and other parts of rural Mexico, the league is still commonly used in the original sense of the distance that can be covered on foot in an hour, so that a league along a good road on level ground is a greater distance than a league on a difficult path over rough terrain.

Scandinavia

The Danish or Swedish mil was defined as a suitable walking distance between rests, or between inns. While etymologically similar to a mile, the definition shares origin with a that of a league. An old Scandinavian mil ranges from 7.5km to 12km depending on nation or region, but has since metrication been defined as 10km in Norway and Sweden.

Spain

The Spanish League or legua was originally set as a fixed unit of distance of 5,000 varas (0.84 m each), about 4.2 km (2.6 miles). Contemporary writers also show it as three millas (miles of 4,566 feet each making a total of 13,698 feet or just under 2.6 miles).^[4] Officially the league was abolished by Philip II of Spain in 1568, but it is still in use unofficially in parts of Latin America, with exact meaning varying in different countries.

Legua nautica (nautical league): Between 1400 and 1600 the Spanish nautical league was equal to four Roman miles of 4,842 feet, making it 19,368 feet (or just under 3.19 modern nautical miles). That seems pretty straight forward until you realize that the accepted number of Spanish nautical leagues to a degree varied between 14 1/6 to 16 2/3 so in actual practice the length of a Spanish nautical league was 25,733+ feet (or just over 4.23 modern nautical miles) to 21,874 feet (or almost exactly 3.6 modern nautical miles) respectively.^[5]

Legua de por grado (league of the degree): From the 15th century through the early 17th century, the Spanish league of the degree was based on four Arabic miles. Although most contemporary accounts used an Arabic mile of 6,444 feet, which gave a Spanish league of the degree of 25,776 feet (or just over 4.24 modern nautical miles) others defined an Arabic mile as just 6,000 feet making a Spanish league of the degree 24,000 feet (or almost exactly 3.95 modern nautical miles). ^[6]

Legua geographica (geographical league): Starting around 1630 the Spanish geographical league was used as the official nautical measurement and continued so through the 1840s. Its use on Spanish charts did not become mandatory until 1718. It was four millias (miles) in length. From 1630 to 1718 a millia was 5,564 feet, making a geographical league of four millias to be 22,256 feet (or just over 3.66 modern nautical miles). But from 1718 through the 1830s the millia was defined as the equivalent of just over 5,210 feet, giving a shorter geographical league of just over 20,842 feet (or barely over 3.43 modern nautical miles).^[7]

Legua maritima (maritime league): From around 1840 through the early 20th century, a Spanish marine league equaled 18,263.52 feet (or just over 3 modern nautical miles), i.e. about 35 feet longer than our modern maritime league.^[8]

In the early Hispanic settlement of New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, a league was also a unit of area, defined as being equal to 25,000,000 square varas or about 4,428.4 acres.^[9] This usage of league is referenced frequently in the Texas Constitution. So defined, a league of land would encompass a square that is one Spanish league on each side.

Use in fiction

The seven-league boots are a magical prop in some European folk tales.
Several authors have used the league to measure distances in their work. Examples are A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth (where one league is worth 3 miles^[10]), Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle, Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, Carol Berg's Song of the Beast, and Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
The Beatles film Yellow Submarine says in the beginning that the setting (Pepperland) is 80,000 leagues under the sea.
Jules Verne used this unit in the title of two novels:
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
- Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon
In Frank Herbert's Dune universe the first sandworm that Paul Muad'Dib rides was described as being "more than half a league long".
In Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun, various antiquated units of measure (including the league, chain, span, and cubit) are prevalent.
In Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade begins: -

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

In the popular Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas, the Monarch asks his Page..."Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?" and the Page answers, "Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain..."
In David Eddings' many volumes of fiction fantasy novels, including The Belgariad and the Mallorean, the primary unit of measuring distance is leagues.

References

^ Espasa-Calpe Dictionary, Argentina and Mexico Edition 1945: headword Legua
^ [1]
^ Part 2, Chapter 7 "Accordingly, our speed was twenty–five miles (that is, twelve four–kilometer leagues) per hour. Needless to say, Ned Land had to give up his escape plans, much to his distress. Swept along at the rate of twelve to thirteen meters per second, he could hardly make use of the skiff. Leaving the Nautilus under these conditions would have been like jumping off a train racing at this speed, a rash move if there ever was one."
^ Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32
^ Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32
^ Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32
^ Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32
^ Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32
^ Vikki Gray (1998-12-24). "Land Measurement Conversion Guide". Vikki Gray. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
^ Fonstad 1991, Introduction, p. x

[1] Espasa-Calpe Dictionary, Argentina and Mexico Edition 1945: headword Legua

[2] [1]

[3] Part 2, Chapter 7 "Accordingly, our speed was twenty–five miles (that is, twelve four–kilometer leagues) per hour. Needless to say, Ned Land had to give up his escape plans, much to his distress. Swept along at the rate of twelve to thirteen meters per second, he could hardly make use of the skiff. Leaving the Nautilus under these conditions would have been like jumping off a train racing at this speed, a rash move if there ever was one."

[4] Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32

[5] Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32

[6] Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32

[7] Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32

[8] Spence's Guide to Shipwreck Research, by Dr. E. Lee Spence, Narwhal Press, Charleston/Miami, © by Edward L. Spence, 1997, p. 32

[LeagueAcre-9] Vikki Gray (1998-12-24). "Land Measurement Conversion Guide". Vikki Gray. Retrieved 2007-06-04.

[Atlas_Introduction,_p._x-10] Fonstad 1991, Introduction, p. x

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