Taxation in medieval England
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Taxation |
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Taxation in medieval England was the system of raising money for royal and governmental expenses. During the
Background
Anglo-Saxon England (597–1066)
The first unequivocal mention of taxation in
In early Anglo-Saxon England, the hide was used as the basis for assessing the amount of
The year 1012 saw the introduction of the geld or heregeld (literally "army tax"), an annual tax first assessed by King
Norman and Angevin England (1066–1216)
There was no formal division between the household of the king and the government in the
Taxation itself took a number of forms in this period. The main tax was the geld, still based on the land, and unique in Europe at the time as being the only land tax that was universal on all the king's subjects, not just his immediate feudal tenants and peasants. It was still assessed on the hide, and the usual rate was 2 shillings per hide. In certain circumstances, however, taxation was assessed in terms of services rendered to the crown, such as
Because the geld was assessed on landowners, it only applied to free men who owned land, and thus serfs and slaves were exempt. Other exemptions were granted to favored subjects or were a right that went with certain governmental offices.
Instead, a new type of tax was imposed starting in 1166, although it was not an annual tax. This was the tax on moveable property and income, and it could be imposed at varying rates. Likewise, the Saladin tithe, imposed in 1188 to raise funds for a proposed crusade by King Henry II, was levied at the rate of 10% of all goods and revenues, with some exceptions for a knight's horse and armor and clerical vestments. Also excluded were those who had pledged to go on crusade with the king.[13]
In 1194, in part from the need to raise the huge sums required for the ransom of King Richard I who was captive in Germany, a new land tax was instituted. This was the carucage, and like the geld, it was based on the land. The carucage was imposed six times in all, but it produced smaller sums than other means of raising revenue and was last collected in 1224.[13] In 1194, as part of the attempts to raise Richard's ransom, a 25% levy on all personal property and income was imposed.[13] In other years, other rates were set, such as the thirteenth imposed in 1207.
Besides taxes on land and taxes on personal property, this period saw the introduction of taxes on trade. In 1202, King
Plantagenet England (1216–1360)
During the reign of King Henry III, the king and government sought consent from the nobles of England for taxes the government wished to impose. This led in 1254 to the start of the Parliament of England, when the nobles advised the king to summon knights from each shire to help advise and consent to a new tax. In the 1260s, men from the towns were included with the knights, forming the beginnings of the House of Commons of England.[15]
By the middle of the 13th century, the tax on the moveable property had become fixed by convention at a fifteenth for those in the country, and a tenth for those living in towns. An innovation in 1334 was the replacement of the individual assessments by a lump sum assessment for each community.[15]
In 1275, King
Late medieval England (1360–1485)
The revenues from the traditional sources of taxation declined in later medieval England, and a series of experiments in
See also
Citations
- ^ Kirby Making of Early England pp. 13–14
- ^ Blair Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England p. 2
- ^ a b Lawson "Taxation" Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England
- ^ a b Faith "Hide" Anglo-Saxon England pp. 238-239
- ^ Hollister Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions pp. 59-60
- ^ Lapidge Anglo-Saxon England p. 76
- ^ a b Loyn Governance of Anglo-Saxon England p. 121
- ^ Keynes "Heregeld" Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England
- ^ Saul "Government" A Companion to Medieval England pp. 115–118
- ^ a b Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 159
- ^ Coredon Dictionary p. 219
- ^ Darby and Campbell Domesday Geography of South-East England p. 72
- ^ a b c d e Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings pp. 165–168
- ^ Huscroft Ruling England pp. 98–99
- ^ a b c d e f Saul "Taxation" Companion to Medieval England pp. 281–283
- ^ Speight Craven and North-West Yorkshire Highlands pp. 29–60
References
- ISBN 0-19-822741-8.
- ISBN 0-521-53777-0.
- Coredon, Christopher (2007). A Dictionary of Medieval Terms & Phrases (Reprint ed.). Woodbridge, UK: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-138-8.
- Darby, H. C.; Campbell, Eila M. J. (1962). The Domesday Geography of South-East England. Domesday Geography of England. Vol. 3. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-04770-6.
- OCLC 399791.
- Huscroft, Richard (2005). Ruling England 1042–1217. London: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-84882-2.
- ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1.
- Kirby, D. P. (1967). The Making of Early England (Reprint ed.). New York: Schocken Books. OCLC 399516.
- Lawson, M. K. (2001). "Taxation". In ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1.
- Loyn, Henry (1984). The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England, 500-1087. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1217-4.
- ISBN 0-7524-2969-8.
- ISBN 0-7524-2969-8.
- Speight, Harry (1892). The Craven and North-west Yorkshire Highlands. London: Elliot Stock.