tallage
/ˈtalɪdʒ
/noun historical
1A form of arbitrary taxation levied by kings on the towns and lands of the Crown, abolished in the 14th century.There were recurrent scutages (payments for the commutation of military service) and tallages (arbitrary levies) on demesnes, which included boroughs....
- Many of the constitutional conflicts in the reigns of John, Henry III, and Edward II turned on aspects of the prerogative - e.g. the king's right to tallage.
- The worst of these exactions was ‘the great tallage’ of 1210 in which John demanded 66,000 marks in tax.
1.1A tax levied on feudal dependants by their superiors.It appears that the burgesses as a group were responsible for payment of the Domesday custom and for later tallages and aids....
- The tallages might bring in between £70 - £90 each, but still do not seem to have sufficed to avoid borough deficits at a time when many expenses were being incurred to assert, defend or expand borough jurisdictions and liberties.
- The need to bargain with royal commissioners concerning tallages, and the ability to divide the assessment among citizens according to their property, also required certain financial ability and knowledge of property values.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French taillage, from tailler 'to cut' (see tail2).