In approximately 1795, Jean-Charles de Borda, in his capacity of Guardian of Standards, and on instruction by the French Academy of Sciences, constructed two length standards. One, designated the Mètre des Archives, which ultimately became the standard meter for the world, and another, called the Module, a bar two toises long, with the meter defined as a multiple of the toise. Until 1880, most of Europe, specifically including France, used this meter, defined in terms of Borda's Module, as a standard; however, England defined a legal metre (to use British spelling) in terms of a copy of the Mètre des Archives.