Quadrivium Miscellany with Rithmomachia

...you should leave the line that is made. If, however, the divisor has a character original: caracterem. In the context of the Gerbertian abacus, these were tokens marked with Hindu-Arabic numerals 1–9. larger than the dividend, do not establish it on that same line, but rather one line below the dividend. And to it in turn, as if it were a single divisor, remember to compare the dividend as ten This refers to the practice of "carrying" or treating a smaller dividend digit as a multiple of ten when the divisor is larger, a common step in abacus calculation..

And however many times the divisor is contained within it, it will assign that whole amount in a similar character into the fourth path original: tramitem. These "paths" are the vertical columns on the abacus board representing decimal places (units, tens, hundreds, etc.).. And if anything remains, replace it above on the same line where the divisor was compared.

But hold this most firmly in memory: that if the divisor is first a single unit, on whatever line you have placed it, you should also establish the denominations original: denominationes. In medieval mathematics, this refers to the digits or values resulting from the division, effectively the quotient. in the same.

If there is a ten, place it one line before it; if hundreds, two lines; if thousands, three; if ten-thousands, four; and so on in the larger numbers, always moving back by one line.

Thus, therefore, by comparing the divisor to the individual dividends as we said, and drawing the denominations to the individual ones, when you have led the divisor back to its original place, you will place an end to the division. If the calculation is done correctly...