The Cistercian Number System: The Forgotten Number System of the Middle Ages!
At the end of the thirteenth century, in the border area between what is now France and Belgium, there was a number system Deciphered by Cistercian monks. No one knew about these numbers and the number system, which is like a puzzle — until 20 years ago, David A. Until a scientist named King discovered this system…
The book The Ciphers of the Monks, written by King, contains the first history of this remarkable number system from the Middle Ages, unknown to most experts in both Medieval Studies and the History of Mathematics.
By the Cistercian monks (admittedly by only a few, but in all of Europe) for at least the next two centuries, well-known figures and lesser-known New Roman Hindu-Arabic numbers was used as an alternative to (and in Europe in it took five hundred years). The monks used it to number the pages of manuscripts and items contained in the lists, to represent the year numbers on the dates, and to number the musical notes. This number system was also used outside the offices of monasteries, because; We see it used on an extraordinary medieval astronomical instrument made in Picardy (an astrolabe, that is, a two-dimensional model of the universe that one can hold in one’s hand). 15. century 18. until the XVIII century, wine meters in Flanders used this notation to mark the volumes in wine barrels and the compartments on the scales of measuring sticks.
How is This Number System? How Does It Work?
The steps include nine October to a vertical body for the digits of ones, they, hundreds and thousands. These are then combined on a single body to create a password that represents any number up to 9999.
The black line in the figure is continuous; it can be thought of as a body. The blue line, on the other hand, indicates their possible location for writing the desired number. the digits are 1z, 10y, 100x and 1000w. For example, if we write numbers such as the number 9535 or the birth year of Charles Darwin in 1809, or the birth year of Leonard Euler, known as the father of mathematics, in 1707, or the birth year of James Clerk Maxwell in 1831 according to the Cistercian number system:
Thus, we can write the numbers from 0 to 9999.
The number system, in addition to some sistersiyen if we are talking about: Cistercian, so French “‘s term” Citeaux, near Dijon in eastern France which is derived from the Latin name of the village of cistercium. The main goal of Cistercian life is self-sufficiency and production.
The Cistercians also made great contributions to culture and technology in medieval Europe: Cistercian architecture is considered one of the most beautiful styles of medieval architecture. Today, there are monasteries that continue the Cistercian tradition and are known worldwide for the high quality products they produce. Especially the beer they produce is still top quality.
The Cistercians did what they produced only for themselves, because commercial gain has never been a goal of Cistercian life. They see work and production as a way to reach God.
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References:
1- D. A. King. The Ciphers Of The Monks.
2- A. Bellos. The Forgotten Number System.
