The Earliest Arithmetics in English

A cipher signifies nothing—and yet, placed after a 1, it makes that figure signify ten. In this medieval lesson, the meaning of a number shifts with every place its figures occupy.

Before the sixteenth century, mathematical learning in England was largely recorded in Latin. Robert Steele brings early English arithmetic texts into view, including a practical guide that teaches readers to write and read numbers, distinguish digits from tens and composites, and work through the rules of calculation. Its explanations move between Latin verses and plain instruction, turning the marks on a page into a system whose smallest signs can change the value of an entire number. How did these early teachers make arithmetic clear—and what else did their lessons reveal about learning in medieval England?

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