bancalis

Forms

bancālis m (genitive bancālis); third declension; more often bancāle n^[1] Spellings with ⟨p⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ (panchale, banchale) are common in the glossaries and inventories.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a derivative of Medieval Latin bancus (“bench”).^[2][3] Köbler, however, calls its origin unclear.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is a will of 907 from Catalonia, which leaves among other furnishings a bench cover of many colours to a church.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It named a cover or cushion laid over a bench.^[1][2] A capitulary of the Frankish kings orders every royal estate to keep bedding, tablecloths and bench covers,^[1] the Old High German glosses translate it with words for a bench cloth,^[1][3] and church inventories list it beside tapestries.^[1] From the market bench it also came to mean the fee paid for a stall, a sales tax, in an imperial charter from after 1186.^[1] It is continued in Catalan bancal.^[2]

Timeline

• 907 – A Catalan will leaves a bench cover to a church.^[2]
• 948 – Another Catalan will speaks of two bench covers in a house.^[2]
• after 1186 – An imperial charter uses it of fees for market stalls.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A bench cover or cushion.^[1][2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A fee for a market stall; a sales tax.^[1][3]

Related words

• bancārius

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de