Beginning in the twelfth century, taxation increasingly became an essential component of medieval society in most parts of Europe. The state-building process and relations between princes and their subject cities or between citizens and their rulers were deeply shaped by fiscal practices. Although medieval taxation has produced many publications over the past decades there remains no synthesis of this important subject.
This volume provides a comprehensive overview on a European scale and suggests new paths of inquiry. It examines the fiscal systems and practices of medieval Europe, including essential themes such as medieval fiscal theory and the power to tax; royal and urban taxation; and Church taxation. It goes on to survey the entire European continent, as well as including comparative chapters on the non-European medieval world, exploring questions on how taxation developed and functioned; what kinds of problems authorities encountered assessing their fiscal power; and the circulation of fiscal cultures and practices across cities and kingdoms. The book also provides a glossary of the most important types of medieval taxes, giving an essential definition of key terms cited in the chapters.
The Routledge Handbook of Public Taxation in Medieval Europe will appeal to a large audience, from seasoned scholars who need a comprehensive synthesis, to students and younger scholars in search of an overview of this critical subject.
Author(s): Denis Menjot, Mathieu Caesar, Florent Garnier, Pere Verdés Pijuan
Series: Routledge History Handbooks
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 512
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Contributors
1 General Introduction
Notes
Bibliography
Part I Medieval Taxation
2 History of Taxation in Medieval Europe: Sources, Historiography and Methods
Source Materials, Their Contributions and Limitations
Normative Sources
Tax Documents
Accounting Documents
Indirect and Complementary Tax Sources
The Materiality of Sources and a New “Documentary Landscape”
Historiographic Milestones
Towards a History of Taxation Until the 1980s
The Institutional Approach
The Economic and Social Approach
The Financial and Technical Approach
The Turn of the Late Twentieth Century and New Historiographic Trends
Taxation and the Genesis of the Modern State
The “New Fiscal History”
An Alternative Tax Theory Approach
New Paradigms, New Research
The Main Focal Points of Tax History: Continuity and Changes
The Power to Tax: Legitimacy, Consent and Resistance
Financial Policies and Strategies: Modalities and Stakes of the Tax Grab
Tax Officials and Finance Men: Tax Administration and Management
State and Municipal Taxation
Tax Revenues and Tax Burden: Classical and News Methods
Conclusions
Notes
References
3 The Right to Tax and Its Justifications
The Prince Must “Live Off His Own”
Living Within One’s Means
Demonstrating the Virtue of the Prince
Finding the Means to Pursue One’s Ars Gubernandi
The Nature of the Debates: Challenges to Taxation
The Scholastic Form of Inquiry Into Taxes
Enablers to Thinking About Taxation: Providence, Treasury and Necessity
The Dissemination of Fiscal Theory
Taxation Practices (Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries)
Fiscal Dialogue: Negotiating Taxation
Opposition to Taxation
From a Tax for War to a Tax for Peace
In Conclusion: Legacy and Heirs
Notes
References
4 Church Taxation
Introduction: State of the Question
Ecclesiastical Taxation in Its Early Stages of Development
The Birth of Clerical Taxation: Papal Tenths
The Expansion of Papal Taxation During the Avignon Papacy
Other Areas of Development of Ecclesiastical Taxation
The Taxation of the Clergy By Secular Authorities
The Fiscal Status of Clergymen: Between Immunity and Taxation
Contributions Due to the Needs of the Kingdom: Alternation Between Tenths and Subsidies
Other Ways of Transferring Ecclesiastical Income
The Other Front Open: Municipal Taxation
The Continuity of the Taxation of Benefices
The Taxation of Ecclesiastical Benefices
Changes and Continuity After the Fiscal Reforms of Constance
Notes
References
Part II Fiscal Systems
5 Crown of Aragon: Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia and Majorca
Introduction
Royal and Seigneurial Taxation
The Demands of Kings and Feudal Lords Within Their Domains
War Transforms Royal Taxation Into Taxes of General Scope
Old Resources for a New Stage (C. 1380–late Fifteenth Century)
General Taxation
Into General Taxation: the War of the Two Peters (1356–1366)
The Development of the Diputaciones Del General in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia (C. 1360–end of the Fifteenth Century)
The Diputaciones Del General Resort to Debt From the Decade of the 1360s
Municipal Taxation
The Origins of Municipal Taxation (Twelfth–mid Fourteenth Centuries)
The Consolidation of Municipal Taxation (C. 1350–1500)
The Determining Effect of the Reliance On Credit: From Short-Term Loans to the Emission of Public Debt
The Evolution of Municipal Treasuries
Conclusions
Notes
References
6 Kingdoms of Castile and Navarre
Introduction
The Origins of Royal Taxation: From Feudal Rights to Taxation in the “King’s Demesne”
First Attempts to Build a Royal Fiscal System in Castile and León (Twelfth to Mid-Thirteenth Century)
The Gradual Crystallisation of a Rich Royal Patrimony in Navarre (Twelfth–thirteenth Centuries)
The Construction of a Fiscal System for the State
“Fiscal Revolution” and the Strengthening of Royal Power in Castile (Ca. 1250–ca. 1350)
The Control Over Regalías
Royal Taxation Over Good Transit: Almojarifazgos and Customs; Servicio Y Montazgo Over Transhumant Livestock
Head Tax Over Jewish and Muslim Minorities
The Beginnings of Extraordinary Donations Granted By the Cortes: the Servicios
The Beginnings of the Royal Ad Valorem Tax On Consumption: Alcabalas
Consolidation of the Castilian Royal Fiscal System and Innovations in Taxation (1369–1504)
Moving Ahead of the Patrimonial Stage in Navarre (Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries)
The Creation of New Extraordinary Taxes
Negotiation-legitimacy Before the Kingdom and the Relationship Between the King and the Cortes
The Development of Municipal Taxation
The Construction of the Fiscal Autonomy of Castilian Municipalities
The Limited Fiscal Autonomy of Towns in Navarre
Conclusions
Notes
References
7 Kingdoms of Sicily
Introduction
The Origins of the Fiscal System in the Regnum Sicilie (1130–1250)
The Emergence of Royal Taxation: the Norman Age
The Reforms Under Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1220–1250)
The Angevin Taxation in the Kingdom of Sicily Citra Farum: Towards the Strengthening of Fiscal Procedures (1266–1442)
The First Phase of the Angevin Rule (1266–1343)
The Crisis of the Angevin Fiscal System During the Second Half of the Fourteenth Century
The Reign of the Aragonese Monarchs in Naples: Aspects of the Tax State
Urban Taxation in the Kingdom of Sicily Citra Farum
Direct Taxation at the Urban Level
The Management of Indirect Taxation
Taxation in Catalan-Aragonese Sicily
From the Prevalence of Indirect Taxation to the Donativum
The Emergence of Urban Taxation
Conclusion
Notes
* Serena Morelli Authored Pp. 158–167, and Alessandro Silvestri Pp. 167–171. The Authors Jointly Wrote the Introduction and the Conclusion. Note That in Both the Kingdoms of Sicily, the Basic Unit of Currency Was the Golden Onza, Which Was Actually
References
8 Northern Italy: Cities and Regional States
The Construction of the Communal Tax System in the Twelfth Century
Extraordinary Direct Taxation
The Estimo Or Libra From the Thirteenth to the Fourteenth Centuries
The Gabelle From the Thirteenth to the Fourteenth Centuries
The ‘Public Debt’: Linking the Obligation to Contribute, State Credit and Private Investment
The Fifteenth Century: Changes in Direct Taxation in Florence, Venice and Milan
Conclusions
Notes
References
9 The Church Lands (1200–1550)
From the Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries: Towards a Decline in General Taxation?
The Bumpy Development of a State Tax System
Conclusion
Notes
References
10 Kingdom of France (With Brittany and Dauphiné)
Royal Taxation
A Prehistory of Royal Taxation (Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries)
In Quest of Modern Taxation: Trial and Error (From Philip the Fair to John the Good)
The First Assertion of Royal Taxation: John the Good and Charles V
The Second Assertion of Royal Taxation: Charles VII
Fiscal Abuse and Normalisation: Louis XI and Charles VIII
Princely Taxation
Duchy of Brittany
Dauphiné De Viennois
Tax and the City
Notes
References
11 The Burgundian Low Countries
Introduction – The Low Countries: a Patchwork of Territories and Powers
Urban Fiscal Policies and Practices
Princely Taxation
Public Debt: a Driver of Political and Fiscal Innovation?
Notes
References
12 Medieval German Holy Roman Empire
Tax Development in the German Empire From the Eleventh Century to the Fourteenth Century
Tax Experiments of the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries
Notes
References
13 Provence and Savoy
Princely Taxation
Provence
Lordship and Demesne
Public Utility and Early War Subsidies
The Emergence of a Public Tax System
New Forms of Taxation
Savoy
Tolls and the Promotion of a Road Network
The Growth of Subsidies
Urban Taxation
Provence
The Search for Revenue
The Setting of a Tax Base
The Institutionalization of Tax Collecting
Savoy
Conclusion
Notes
References
14 Kingdom of England
Early Land Taxes: Gelds and Carucages
Feudal Taxes: Tallages, Scutages and Feudal Aids
Fractional Taxes, 1166 to 1332
Separate Taxation of the Clergy: Papal Tenths and Clerical Tenths
Lay Fifteenths and Tenths, Clerical Tenths, Wool Taxes and a Parish Tax
Poll Taxes, Income Taxes, Alien Subsidies and Benevolences, 1377 to 1504
Conclusion
Notes
References
15 The Scandinavian Kingdoms
The Scandinavian Kingdoms
Sources
Tributary Kingdoms, Age of Plunder
The Rise of the Christian Monarchies
Demesnes
Diverging Principles and Assessment
Ledung – Military Duties and Taxes
Provisions and Services
Urban Taxes
Extraordinary Taxation
The Late Medieval Period: Crisis and Centralization
The Early Modern State
Conclusion
Notes
References
16 Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
State Taxes in the Early Middle Ages (tenth–mid-Thirteenth Century)
Taxes of the Late Medieval Domain State in Poland
Tax Collection System and Treasury Records
The Treasury System of Royal Prussia
Tax System of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Notes
References
17 Russia From the Mongol Invasion to the Death of Ivan the Terrible (1242–1584)
The Mongol Tribute in Russia During and After the “Tatar Yoke” (1242–1480)
The Fiscal System in “Republican” Novgorod (1264–1478)
The Fiscal System and Immunities in Muscovy (1303–1584)
Russian Public Taxation System in 1591
Conclusion
Notes
References
18 The Byzantine Empire
Fiscal Administration
The Central Financial Office
Financial Officials
Fiscal System
Direct Taxes
Indirect Taxes
Fees Paid to State Officials
The Fiscal Policy of the Palaiologoi
Notes
References
19 Muslim Worlds: Al-Andalus and the Early Ottoman State
Taxation in Muslim Societies: General Considerations (Ángel Galán Sánchez)
Islamic Fiscal Systems and Their Development in Al-Andalus (Eighth–fifteenth Centuries). An Introductory Essay (Alejandro García-Sanjuán)
The Quranic and Prophetic Foundations
The Conquest and the Early Foundations of the Fiscal System
The Umayyad Period
From Taifas to the Reformist Berber Dynasties
The Nasrid Period
Taxation in the Early Ottoman State Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries (Kate Fleet)
Tax Surveys
Tax Collection
Tax-payers
Types of Taxes
Conclusion
General Conclusions (Ángel Galán Sánchez)
Notes
References
Part III Glossary
Glossary
1. Accises (France)
2. Adoa (Sicily)
3. Aides (France)
4. Aides (Burgundian Low Countries)
5. Alberga (Provence)
6. Alcabala (Castile)
7. Alien Subsidy (England)
8. Almojarifazgo (Castile)
9. Annates (Church Taxation)
10. Assisen (Burgundian Low Countries)
11. Auxilium (France)
12. Avariz (Ottoman)
13. Ayuda (Navarre)
14. Bede (Scandinavia)
15. Bede (German Holy Roman Empire)
16. Bœjargjald (Scandinavia)
17. Bovaje (Aragon)
18. Bor, Chernyi Bor (Russia)
19. Byskat (Scandinavia)
20. Carucage (England)
21. Cavalcata (Provence and Savoy)
22. Cens (Church Lands)
23. Çift Resmi (Ottoman)
24. City Szos (Poland and Lithuania)
25. Cizye (Ottoman)
26. Clerical Tenth (England)
27. Cloison, Droits De (France)
28. Collecta (Northern Italy)
29. Colletta (Sicily)
30. Cronsteuer (German Holy Roman Empire)
31. Cuartel (Navarre)
32. Dan’ (Russia)
33. Datium (Northern Italy)
34. Datium Vini (Northern Italy)
35. Diezmos Y Aduanas (Castile)
36. Donativum (Sicily)
37. Entrées Et Issues (Brittany)
38. Équivalent Des Aides (France)
39. Expedition (Scandinavia)
40. Exuwe (Burgundian Low Countries)
41. Estimum (Northern Italy)
42. Feudal Aid (England)
43. Fifteenth and Tenth (England)
44. Focagium (Provence)
45. Focatico (Sicily)
46. Fodrum (Northern Italy)
47. Fogaje (Aragon)
48. Fondaco (Sicily)
49. Fouage (Brittany)
50. Fouage (France)
51. Fractional Taxes (England)
52. Gabella (Sicily)
53. Gabella (Provence and Savoy)
54. Gabelle (France)
55. Gabelle Du Sel (France)
56. Gabelles and Péages (Dauphiné)
57. Gærþ (Scandinavia)
58. Gate Tax (Northern Italy)
59. Geld (England)
60. Gemeiner Pfennig (German Holy Roman Empire)
61. Generalidades (Aragon)
62. Gengærþ (Scandinavia)
63. Gouveliatikon (Byzantine Empire)
64. Gramota (Russia)
65. Güldener Opferpfennig (German Holy Roman Empire)
66. Hearth Tax (Church Lands)
67. Hofsteuer (German Holy Roman Empire)
68. Hussensteuer (German Holy Roman Empire)
69. Imposition Foraine (France)
70. Imposición (Navarre)
71. Imposicions (Aragon)
72. Income Tax (England)
73. Ispence (Ottoman)
74. Issue (Burgundian Low Countries)
75. Ius Exportationis (Burgundian Low Countries)
76. Ius Fondaci (Sicily)
77. Ius Passuum (Sicily)
78. Judensteuer (German Holy Roman Empire)
79. Ledung (Scandinavia)
80. Lesda (Provence and Savoy)
81. Lezdas (Aragon)
82. Lezta (Navarre)
83. Libra (Northern Italy)
84. Longuellum (Savoy)
85. Losung (German Holy Roman Empire)
86. Macina (Northern Italy)
87. Maktu (Ottoman)
88. Mala Pecunia (Burgundian Low Countries)
89. Mansus Tax (Poland)
90. Martiniega (Castile)
91. Monedaje (Aragon)
92. Monedaje (Navarre)
93. Moneda Forera (Castile)
94. Mukataa (Ottoman)
95. Munus (Right to Tax)
96. Myt (Russia)
97. Nefgildi (Scandinavia)
98. Octroi (France)
99. Octroi, Octroy (Patent) (Burgundian Low Countries)
100. Opsonion (Byzantine Empire)
101. Ongeld (Burgundian Low Countries)
102. Passagia (Sicily)
103. Peajes (Aragon)
104. Pecha (Navarre)
105. Pecha / Peita (Aragon)
106. Pedagium Portarum (Northern Italy)
107. Plough Tax (Poland and Lithuania)
108. Poll Tax (England)
109. Portazgo (Castile)
110. Pozobitze (Byzantine Empire)
111. Prebenda (Byzantine Empire)
112. Precaria (Scandinavia)
113. Preselitza (Byzantine Empire)
114. Procurations (Church Taxation)
115. Procurations (Church Lands)
116. Quèstia (Aragon)
117. Reichsstadtsteuer (German Holy Roman Empire)
118. Relevium (Sicily)
119. Royal Szos (Poland and Lithuania)
120. Salt Gabelle (Northern Italy)
121. Scutage (England)
122. Servicio De Cortes (Castile)
123. Servicio Y Montazgo (Castile)
124. Sisas (Castile)
125. Sisas (Aragon)
126. Skotte (Scandinavia)
127. Stadsskatt (Scandinavia)
128. Subventio Generalis (Sicily)
129. Subsidio (Navarre)
130. Subsidy (Dauphiné)
131. Subsidy (Church Taxation)
132. Subsidy (Provence and Savoy)
133. Subsidy (Church Lands)
134. Szos (Poland and Lithuania)
135. Tallage (England)
136. Tallia (Church Lands)
137. Tallia (Provence and Savoy)
138. Taille (France, Royal Tax)
139. Taille (France, Municipal Tax)
140. Talea (Northern Italy)
141. Tamga (Russia)
142. Theloneum (Sicily)
143. Tenth (Church Taxation)
144. Tenth (England)
145. Traite Des Vins (France)
146. Traites (Brittany)
147. Tratta (Sicily)
148. Ungeld (German Holy Roman Empire)
149. Vacancies (Church Taxation)
150. Vykhod (Russia)
151. Wine Gabelle (Northern Italy)
152. Yam (Russia)
153. Zwanzigster Pfennig (German Holy Roman Empire)
154. Zehnter Pfennig (German Holy Roman Empire)
Index
