Royal Revenue

Tallage: What was it? (1)

A compulsory land tax paid by people who used the royal demesne (king’s land), including those who lived in royal towns

Tallage: Who paid it? (1)

Lower classes → Townsmen and peasants

Tallage: Impact (2)

Very unpopular → could be demanded by the king and no complaint was allowed

No fixed sum → amount could be unreasonably high

Scutage: What was it? (2)

Payment made to the king instead of providing knight service if the king demanded this instead

Richard and John used this to pay for engineers, foot soldiers, and archers in their wars

Scutage: Who paid it? (1)

Tenants-in-chief (usually barons)

Scutage: Impact (2)

John demanded 11 scuttages in 16 years → greatly angered the barons as it was almost an annual tax

John’s scutage of 1214 was the highest ever → a key reason why the barons eventually rebelled in 1215

Wardship fines: What was it? (2)

If a baron died while his heir was underage (a minor), the baron’s heir became a ward of the king

The king was responsible for the ward’s education and training → in return, the king kept the revenues from the baron’s land until the heir became an adult and paid the wardship fine

Wardship fines: Who paid it? (1)

Wards on becoming adults for return of their land

Wardship fines: Impact

Very profitable for the king → brought in lots of money

Under John, wardship fines increased by 300% → this brought in huge amounts of money

Forest fine: What was it? (2

The Royal Forest: An area of land reserved for the king’s personal use

People who used the ‘forest’ for hunting and foraging food had to pay fines

The 13th tax: What was it? (4)

A new tax brought in by John in 1207

This was a tax on the goods (belongings) and income of every man

John said he needed this for his war in Normandy

Tax was set at 1 shilling in every 13 shillings

The 13th tax: Who paid it? (1)

Every man in England

The 13th tax: Impact (1)

Very unpopular → harsh penalties for failure to pay including imprisonment and removal of all property

Court case fee: What was it? (2)

A person could only start a court case after paying a fee for a writ (a legal letter ordering someone to court)

This fee went to the king

Court case fee: Who paid it? (1)

Anyone who made a legal complaint

Court case fee: Impact (2)

John interfered with court cases → this led to people complaining that he was ‘selling’ justice

Example → John judged in favour of someone who offered him three horses in payment for supporting their case