Shepard Ashman Morgan

[1] Tacitus, Germania, cap. xv. “Mos est civitatibus ultro ac viritim conferre principibus vel armentorum vel frugum, quod pro honore acceptum etiam necessitatibus subvenit.”

[2] Vinogradoff, Growth of the Manor, 142, 143.

[3] The heriot, unlike the feudal incident known to the Normans as a relief, was a repayment to the king upon the death of a vassal, of the various accoutrements with which he had been endowed. The statute of Cnut II, § 72, fixes the heriot of an earl at eight horses, four suits of armor, and two hundred mancuses of gold. The heriot varied in amount according to the rank of the deceased vassal. The statute is given in Stubbs, Select Charters, 74.

[4] Florentii Wigorniensis, Chronicon ex Chronicis, a. 991, p. 149.

[5] “This tax was levied by reference to the hides into which in the various hundreds of the shire, land was divided for the purposes of taxation.” The hide was the equivalent of 100 or 120 acres. The rate was one to four shillings, as occasion required. 1 Dowell, History of Taxation and Taxes in England, 8.

[6] Amount in 1002, £24,000.—Flor. Wig. a. 1002, p. 155. Amount in 1007, £36,000.—Flor. Wig. a. 1007, p. 159. Amount in 1011 not stated.

[7] 1 Dowell, History of Taxation and Taxes in England, 10.

[8] 1 Roger of Hoveden, 110.

[9] Decretum est primum iam ut solveretur tributum Danicis viris, propter magnos horrores quos incusserunt incolis maritimis; in primis nempe, X milia librarum. Illud consilium constituit Siricus Archiepiscopus. Chron. Sax. a. 991.

[10] Tunc rex Aegelredus, procerum suorum consilio, ad eos legatos misit, promittens tributum et stipendium ea conventione illis se daturum, ut a sua crudelitate omnino desisterunt. Flor. Wig. 151, 152; a. 994.

[11] Flor. Wig. 155, 159, 163; a. 1002, 1007, 1011.

[12] Medley, English Constitutional History, 117, 118.

[13] 2 Kemble, Saxons in England, 204-240.

[14] At the great GemÔt of Salisbury, 1086, William put an end to the disrupting effects of subinfeudation by causing all holders of land, whether their tenure was mediate or immediate of him to swear primary allegiance to the king.

[15] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 385, note.

[16] 2 Flor. Wig. 17, a. 1084; and 1 Rogeri de Hoveden, 139. “Rex Anglorum Willelmus de unaquaque hida per Angliam sex solidos accepit.” This rate of six shillings the hide was three times as great as the amount under the Saxons.

[17] 2 Roger of Wendover, 23, a. 1084. “Having extorted large sums of money from all ranks where he could find any cause just or unjust, he crossed the sea into Normandy.”

[18] Chron. Sax. a. 1083.

[19] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 303.

[20] Aside from the reimposed Danegeld, William derived an annual income of £20,000 from the royal lands, and an amount difficult of estimation from the feudal dues and incidents.

[21] 2 Flor. Wig. 35, a. 1094.

[22] § 11. Militibus qui per loricas terras suas defendunt, terras dominicarum carrucarum suarum quietas ab omnibus gildis, et omni opere, proprio dono meo concedo, ut sicut tam magno allevamine alleviati sint, ita se equis et armis bene instruant ad servitium meum et ad defensionem regni mei. Stubbs, Select Charters, 101. The translation of the Charter is in Adams and Stephens, Select Documents of English Constitutional History, 4-6.

[23] Ego enim, quando voluero, faciam ea satis summonere propter mea dominica necessaria ad voluntatem meam. Stubbs, Select Charters, 104.

[24] Cf. 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 429.

[25] 2 Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, 113, quoted by 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 429, note 3, as follows: “H. rex Anglorum R. episcopo, et Herberto camerario et Hugoni de Boehelanda, salutem. Sciatis quod clamo quietas V hidas abbatis Faricii de Abendona de eleemosyna de Wrtha, de omnibus rebus, et nominatim de isto auxilio quod barones mihi dederunt.”

[26] The Saxon Chronicle upon Henry’s taxes:

A. 1103. This was a year of much distress from the manifold taxes.

A. 1104. It is not easy to describe the misery of this land, which it suffered at this time through the various and manifold oppressions and taxes that never ceased or slackened.

A. 1105. This was a year of great distress from the failure of the fruits, and from the manifold taxes which never ceased.

A. 1110. This was a year of much distress from the taxes which the king raised for his daughter’s dowry.

A. 1118. England paid dearly for all this (i. e., the Norman war) by the manifold taxes which ceased not all this year.

A. 1124. Full heavy a year was this; he who had any property was bereaved of it by heavy taxes and assessments, and he who had none, starved with hunger.

From the edition of J. A. Giles.

[27] Chron. Sax. a. 1137.

[28] Henry of Huntingdon’s Chronicle, a. 1135. Trans. by Thomas Forester, 264.

[29] Henry II was the first king since Edward the Confessor in whose veins ran the blood of the Saxon monarchs, being the grandson of Matilda, wife of Henry I. Matilda was great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, the son of Ethelred the Unready.

[30] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 500.

[31] Grim, V. S. ThomÆ, 21, 22, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 129.

[32] Bishop Stubbs (1 Const. Hist. Eng. 500) believes this struggle between Henry II and Becket to have been the deathblow to the levy of the Danegeld, which is not noted in the Pipe Rolls after 1163. J. H. Round [Feudal England, 497-502, in the paper “The Alleged Dispute on Danegeld (1163)”], effectually establishes his contention that the tax in question was not the Danegeld, but the “auxilium vicecomitis” or “Sheriff’s aid,” which was a customary, variable charge paid over locally to the sheriffs in payment for their services.

[33] Round, Feudal England, 501.

[34] Baldwin, Scutage and Knight Service in England, 12.

[35] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 491.

[36] H. W. C. Davis, England under the Normans and Angevins, 205.

[37] Miss Kate Norgate, Angevin Kings, 432.

[38] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 494.

[39] Baldwin, Scutage and Knight Service in England, 5.

[40] 2 Stubbs, ed. Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis, preface xcv-xcvii, cites other instances of scutage in this reign: 1161, for debts incurred in the Welsh war; 1172, for the expedition into Ireland; 1186, for the expedition into Galloway against the Irish prince, Ronald.

[41] Gervas, c. 1381, in Stubbs, Select Charters, 129: Hoc anno (1159) rex Henricus scutagium sive scutagium de Anglia accepit, cujus summa fuit centum millia et quater viginti millia librarum argenti.

[42] Liber Rubeus de Scaccario, Hubert Hall, editor, 6, 16-18.

[43] John of Salisbury, ep. 128, noted by 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 492, note 1.

[44] Round, Feudal England, 274.

[45] The Danegeld disappears from the Rolls in 1163. It persists, probably, however, as a “donum” or an “auxilium.” The “carucage” of Richard I is the Danegeld under another name.

[46] 2 Benedict, 278. Also in Stubbs, Select Charters, 153.

[47] 2 Benedict, 33.

[48] Beside the instances of taxation noted above, the following are noteworthy: 1168, a regular feudal aid, pur fille marier of one mark on the knight’s fee; 1173, exchequer officers held courts and exacted at the same time a tallage throughout the country.

[49] The three auxilia are: For the ransom of the king, for the marriage of the king’s eldest daughter, and for the knighting of his eldest son.

[50] Other scutages in this reign were: 1189, 10s. on the knight’s fee for a pretended expedition into Wales; 1195, 20s. on the knight’s fee from those who did not follow the king to Normandy; 1196, 20s. for the same reason. 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 41.

[51] 3 Rogeri de Hoveden, Chronica, W. Stubbs, ed, 209-225.

[52] This carucage appears in the Rolls under the year 1194. It was demanded at the Council of Nottingham.

[53] Rogeri de Hoveden, preface to vol. IV, lxxxii-lxxxvii.

[54] The mark was the equivalent of two-thirds of a pound.

[55] Carucage, a land-tax based upon the carucate, “the quantity of land that could be ploughed by one plough, caruca, full team of eight oxen in a season.” 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, p. 35. Roger of Hoveden sets down the equivalent of the carucate as being 100 acres,—iv. 47.

[56] 3 Rogeri de Hovoden, 242.

[57] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 548.

[58] 4 Rogeri de Hoveden, 40.

[59] The implication in Vita Magna S. Hugonis is to this effect. Vid. Round. Feudal England, 528 et seq.

[60] Vita Magna S. Hugonis, 248, in Stubbs, Select Charters, 255.

[61] Beside the instances of taxation cited above, Richard exacted from the tenants of the royal demesne a tax upon movables known as tallage. It was semi-feudal in nature, being taken from the dwellers on land held immediately of the king, and consequently the authority of the tax for the time was far beyond question, save as the turbulent elements in the urban populations might assume it as a pretext for a riot. Henry II levied this tax in 1168, 1173; Richard in 1189 and 1194, and probably upon other occasions. These are the only references to tallages in the Rolls of these two reigns. The term appears frequently in later records.

[62] 4 Rogeri de Hoveden, 107.

[63] 4 Rogeri de Hoveden, 188, 189.

[64] Miss Kate Norgate, John Lackland, 123, note 1, gives a corrected version of the list of scutages given in 1 Liber Rubeus de Scaccario, 10-12:

[65] See McKechnie, Magna Carta, 91-93.

[66] Miss Norgate, John Lackland, 122.

[67] Miss Norgate, John Lackland, 123-124.

[68] Ann. Waverl, a. 1207, 258. In Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 273.

[69] In 1204 John “took” a seventh of movables. 3 Rogeri de Wendover, 173.

[70] 3 Rogeri de Wendover, 210.

[71] In Stubbs, Select Charters, 283.

[72] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 566.

[73] 3 Rogeri de Wendover, 262.

[74] The writ is in Stubbs, Select Charters, 287.

[75] 2 Memoriale Walteri de Coventria, 217. “Dicentes se propter terras quas in Anglia tenent non debere regem extra regnum sequi nec ipsum euntem scutagio juvare.”

[76] See McKechnie, Magna Carta, 144-150.

[77] Chapter 12. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom, except by the common council of our kingdom, except for the ransoming of our body, for the making of our oldest son a knight, and for once marrying our oldest daughter, and for these purposes it shall be only a reasonable aid; in the same way it shall be done concerning the aids of the city of London. Adams and Stephens, Select Documents of Eng. Const. Hist. 44. Latin text, Stubbs, Select Charters, 298.

[78] Below, 66.

[79] 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 573.

[80] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 101.

[81] See McKechnie, Magna Carta, 274, 284, 291-301.

[82] “Tallage was a tax levied at a feudal lord’s arbitrary will upon more or less servile dependants, who had neither power nor right to refuse.” McKechnie, Magna Carta, 228.

[83] Chapter 14, “And for holding a common council of the kingdom concerning the assessment of an aid otherwise than in the three cases mentioned above, or concerning the assessment of a scutage, we shall cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons by our letters individually; and besides we shall cause to be summoned generally, by our sheriffs and bailiffs all those who hold from us in chief, for a certain day, that is at the end of forty days at least, and for a certain place; and in all the letters of that summons, we will express the cause of the summons, and when the summons has thus been given the business shall proceed on the appointed day, on the advice of those who shall be present, even if not all of those who were summoned have come.” Adams and Stephens, Select Documents, 44. The Latin text is in Stubbs, Select Charters, 299.

[84] Cap. 42 of this reissue of the Charter states the promise of the king to return to the matter of the levying of scutages and aids, when the occasion should be more propitious. McKechnie, Magna Carta, 168-169.

[85] Cap. 44. Scutagium decetero capiatur sicut capi consuevit tempore, regis Henrici avi nostri. McKechnie, Magna Carta, 585, where also is the text of the entire reissue.

[86] McKechnie, Magna Carta, 173-174.

[87] 1 Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum, 349.

[88] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 30, note 1. He bases his belief on the fact that “the orders for the collecting this scutage were issued Feb. 22, the same day on which the writs for proclaiming the charters are dated,” and cites 1 Rot. Claus. 377. In the same note he records the following instances of taxation:

“June 7, 1217, the king mentions a carucage, hidage and aid, ‘quod de prÆcepto nostro assisum est.’ 1 Rot. Claus. 310.”

“Jan. 9, 1218, Henry mentions a carucage and hidage, ‘quod assisum fuit per consilium regni nostri.’ 1 Rot. Claus. 348.

“Jan. 17, Henry mentions a scutage of two marks on the fee, ‘quod exegimus,’ and

“Jan. 24, ‘scutagium de omnibus feodis militum quÆ de nobis tenent in capite, quod ultima assisum fuit per commune consilium regni nostri.’ 1 Rot. Claus. 349.”

[89] McKechnie, Magna Carta, 181, quotes Matthew Paris, 3 Chron. Maj. 76, “Libertates quas petitis quia violenter extortÆ fuerunt, non debent de jure observari.”

[90] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 37-38, notes the following taxes:

1. Carucage of 2 shillings, taken at the coronation of 1220. Ann. Wavereley, quoted in Stubbs, Select Charters, 321, gives no hint of the authority for the levy save that the king “accepit” it. The writ (Sel. Chart. 351) states that it was granted by the Council.

2. Scutage of 10 shillings after the capture of Biham, granted by the Council, 1221. 1 Rot. Claus. 458.

3. Scutage of 2 marks for Welsh War, 1223.

4. Scutage of 2 marks for siege of Bedford.

5. Contribution to crusade 1223, assented to by Council. 1 Rot. Claus. 516.

[91] 2 Matt. Par., Hist. Angl. 268-269.

[92] Stubbs, Select Charters, 354. “Pro hac autem concessione et donatione libertatum istarum et aliarum libertatum contentarum in carta nostra de libertatibus forestÆ, archiepiscopi, episcopi, abbates, priores, comites, barones, milites, libere tenentes et omnes de regno nostro, dederunt nobis quintam decimam partem omnium mobilium suorum.”

[93] 1 Matt. Par. 339.

[94] Instances of recent taxation are:

1. Scutages 1229, 1230, 1231, each for military expeditions. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 42, note 3.

2. A tenth of all property 1229. Refused by the barons and paid by the clergy. 2 Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. 316.

3. Tallages 1227, 1230, 1234. 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 52.

4. A fortieth of movables, 14 Sept., 1232, 24,712 marks granted by the Council. 2 Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. 345.

5. Two marks on the knight’s fee on occasion of the marriage of the king’s sister, 1235, granted by the Commune Concilium. 1 Madox, Hist. Ex. 593.

[95] 2 Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. 393-394.

[96] The writ is in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 366.

[97] 1 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. by J. A. Giles, 397-404.

[98] 2 Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. 466.

[99] Matthew Paris is not clear as to the time of year. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 62, note 3, fixes the date as between 9th Sept. and 18th Nov.

[100] 2 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 7-9.

[101] 2 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 11-12.

[102] The following taxes and refusals are variously cited:

1245. Grant of an aid of 20 shillings “ad filiam maritandam.” 1 Madox, Hist. Ex. 594.

1246. Scutage of three marks on the fee. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 65, note 5, citing Pipe Roll of 1246.

1248. Noted above.

1249. Appointment of justiciar, chancellor, and treasurer demanded. Failure. 2 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 308-309.

1252. The Pope held Henry to his promise of a Crusade made in 1250, and authorized him to exact a tenth of the revenues of the clergy for three years. The clergy delayed. Henry turned to the barons and asked for a scutage; the barons answered that their reply would depend upon the prelates. 2 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 518-527.

1253. Debate on the above. At last Henry obtained his tenth from the clergy and an aid of 3 marks from the tenants-in-chief for the knighting of his son. The condition was the confirmation of the Charters, and a great oath for his faithful observance of them. 3 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 22-24.

[103] 2 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 254-257, 266-267.

[104] 2 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 287.

[105] One of the royal writs ran thus:

“Rex Vicecomiti Bedeford, et Bukingeham., salutem.... Tibi districte prÆcipimus, quod prÆter omnes prÆdictos venire facias coram consilio nostro apud Westmonasterium in quindena PaschÆ proximo futuri, quatuor legales et discretos milites de comitatibus prÆdictis quos iidem comitatus ad hoc elgerint, vice omnium et singulorum eorundem comitatuum, videlicet duos de uno comitatu et duos de alio, ad providendum, una cum militibus aliorum comitatuum quos ad eundem diem vocari fecimus, quale auxilium nobis in tanta necessitate impendere voluerint. Et tu ipse militibus et aliis de comitatibus prÆdictis necessitatem nostram et tam urgens negotium nostrum diligenter exponas, et eos ad competens auxilium nobis ad prÆsens impendendum efficaciter inducas; ita quod prÆdicti quatuor milites prÆfato consilio nostro ad prÆdictum terminum prÆcise respondere possint super prÆdicto auxilio pro singulis comitatuum prÆdictorum.” Stubbs, Select Charters, 376. Translation in Adams and Stephens, Select Documents, 55.

[106] 3 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 75.

[107] “To a general assembly of the barons at London in 1246, the name of Parliament, which had previously been indiscriminately ascribed to assemblies of various kinds, is for the first time given by a contemporary chronicler, Matthew Paris. Henceforth it became specially though not exclusively, the appellation of the National Council.” Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 187.

[108] 3 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 119.

[109] 3 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 141-142.

[110] Cf. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 70-73, and references there cited.

[111] 3 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 267-268, 271-272.

[112] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 76-80; Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 378 ff.; Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 188-189; 3 Matt. Par. Chron. Maj. trans. Giles, 285-288.

[113] Stubbs, Select Charters, 382-387, especially caps. 22, 23.

[114] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 2, 62.

[115] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 405.

[116] Louis’s award was the so-called “Mise of Amiens.” Given in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 406. 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 2 83.

[117] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 334; Chron. Rishanger, Camden Society, 37.

[118] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 2, 88-89.

[119] This Parliament and the scheme of government which was drawn up at the session is the subject of considerable dispute. See 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 93-95; and Medley, Eng. Const. Hist. 133-134. The scheme itself is given in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 412 ff, and in 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 2, 89.

[120] The writ is in part as follows: “Item mandatum est singulis vicecomitibus per Angliam quod venire faciant duos milites de legalibus, probioribus, et discretioribus militibus singulorum comitatuum ad regem Londoniis in octavis prÆdictis in forma supradicta.

“Item in forma prÆdicta scribitur civibus Eboraci, civibus LincolniÆ, et ceteris burgis AngliÆ, quod mittant in forma prÆdicta duos de discretioribus, legalioribus et probioribus tam civibus quam burgensibus.

“Item in forma prÆdicta mandatum est baronibus et probis hominibus Quinque Portuum....” Stubbs, Sel. Charters, 415; 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 2, 93.

[121] For a fuller discussion of this rather iconoclastic view of Simon de Montfort, see Medley, Eng. Const. Hist. 134.

[122] T. Wykes, Chron. a. 1269, 226-227, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 337.

[123] Ann. Winton. a. 1273, 113; Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 429.

[124] Ann. Winton. a. 1275, 119; Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 430.

[125] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 450.

[126] “... archiepiscopi, episcopi, et alii prÆlati regni AngliÆ ac comites, barones, et nos (William, Earl of Pembroke) et communitate ejusdem regni ad instantiam et rogatum mercatorum pluribus de causis unanimiter concesserimus magnifico principi et domino nostro carissimo domino Edwardo Dei gratia regi AngliÆ illustri, pro nobis et hÆredibus nostris, dimidiam marcam de quolibet sacco lanÆ et dimidiam marcam pro singulis trescentis pellibus lanutis quÆ faciunt unum saccum, et unam marcam de quolibet lesta coriorum, exeuntibus regnum AngliÆ....” Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 451; Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 69, translation.

[127] See 1 Hubert Hall, Customs Revenue of England, 65-68; 2, 117-118; Medley, Eng. Const. Hist. 517-518.

[128] Wool, hides and leather formed the bulk of the early exports from England. Wine was the principal import. It was on these articles of merchandise, and such others as the merchants brought in and took out, that duties had been charged since early times. The taxes had become customary and were spoken of as “consuetudines,” or customs. The basis for the exaction was the understanding that the merchants, most of them foreigners, should be given protection by the king. The early prisage on wine amounted to one cask from every cargo of from ten to twenty casks, arriving at a port of England. From ships carrying more than twenty casks, two casks were exacted. Sometimes the duty instead of being made in wine was compounded for in money. The amount of the export tax on wool in the beginning is not known. In merchandise of other sorts, the payment amounted to a tenth or a fifteenth of the value of the goods.

Magna Carta abolished illegal exactions on goods retaining only the “ancient and lawful customs” above mentioned. Taxable commodities were wine, wool, and general merchandise. In many instances, in spite of the prohibitions in the Charter, the customs amounted to confiscation. Until the time of Edward I there was unending irregularity in the management of the customs. Merchant strangers, by Cap. 41 of the Great Charter were to have “safe and secure exit from England, and entry to England ... buying and selling by the ancient and right customs, quit from all evil Tolls.”

[129] “Edwardus Dei Gratia Rex AngliÆ dominus HiberniÆ et dux AquitanniÆ vicecomiti KanciÆ salutem. Cum prÆlatis et magnatibus regni nostri mandaverimus ut ipsi parliamento nostro, quod apud Westmonasterium in quindena Sancti MichÆlis proxime futura tenebimus. Domino concedenti intersint ad tractandum nobiscum tam super statum regni nostri quam super quibusdam negotiis nostris quÆ eis exponemus ibidem, et expediens sit quod duo milites de comitatu prÆdicto de discretioribus et legalioribus militibus ejusdem comitatus intersint eidem parliamento, ex causis prÆdictis tibi prÆcipimus quod in pleno comitatu tuo de assensu ejusdem comitatus eligi facias dictos duos militis et eos ad nos usque Westmonasterium pro communitate dicti comitatus venire facias ad dictum diem ad tractandum nobiscum et cum prÆdictis prÆlatis et magnatibus super negotiis prÆdictis. Et hoc non omittas....” 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 234, note 5.

[130] 1 Rotuli Parliamentorum, 224.

[131] Ann. T. Wykes, 274; Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 431.

[132] The statute of Gloucester, passed in 1278, provided for the regulation of territorial franchises. In accordance with it, the itinerant justices were to inquire by what warrant certain franchises were held, and the writ “quo warranto” was issued in each case. Stubbs, 2 Const. Hist. Eng. 114-115.

[133] Writ for distraint of knighthood. 1 Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 457.

[134] Letter of credence for a royal commissioner to raise an aid. Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 464.

[135] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 465-468.

[136] Ann. Dunst. 294, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 433.

[137] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 460.

[138] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 124, and authorities there cited.

[139] Cont. Flor. Wig. 235. The scutage was for forty shillings on the knights fee.

[140] Ann. Osney, 316, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart.. 434-435.

[141] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 545.

[142] “.... magnates et proceres tunc in parliamento existentes, pro se et communitate totius regni quantum in ipsis est, concesserunt domino regi....” etc. Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 477; 1 Rot. Parl. 25.

[143] The boroughs and city of London paid this tax, though they were without special representation. The writ of summons is in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 477.

[144] Ann. Osney, 326, and Ann. Dunst. 362, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 435.

[145] Cont. Flor. Wig. 243.

[146] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 3, 80-81; Cont. Flor. Wig. 264.

[147] Cont. Flor. Wig. 266.

[148] Matth. Westmon. Flores, 421.

[149] So Bishop Stubbs conjectures, 2 Const. Hist. Eng. 131.

[150] Barth. Cotton, De Rege Edwardo I, 246.

[151] 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 53-54.

[152] 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 55-57.

[153] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 479-482.

[154] Barth. Cotton, 254 et. seq.; 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 57.

[155] The character of this tax, indeed its very existence, is questioned. Matthew of Westminster (422), mentions a tax on the towns of “the sixth penny.” It may have been either a tallage or a tax by special negotiation, or it may have been granted by the shire representatives on the theory that the towns were included within their shires, though this is most unlikely. See Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 199; 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 132; Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 480, 483-484.

[156] Stubbs. Sel. Chart. 482.

[157] “Sicut lex justissima, provida circumspectione sacrorum principum stabilita, hortatur et statuit ut quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur, sic et nimis evidenter ut communibus periculis per remedia provisa communiter obvietur.... PrÆmunientes priorem et capitulum ecclesiÆ vestrÆ, archidiacones, totumque clerum vestrÆ diocesis, facientes quod iidem prior et archidiaconi in propriis personis suis, et dictum capitulum per unum, idemque clerus per duos procuratores idoneos, plenam et sufficientem potestatem ab ipsis capitulo et clero habentes ... ad tractandum, ordinandum et faciendum....” Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 484. Translation in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 82.

[158] The phrase occurs in the codes of Justinian. Cod. V, lix, 5; Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 200, note 1.

[159] Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 485. Translation Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 83.

[160] “... Tibi prÆcipimus firmiter injungentes quod de comitatu prÆdicto duos milites et de qualibet civitate ejusdem comitatus duos cives, et de quolibet burgo duos burgenses, de discretioribus et ad laboradum potentioribus, sine dilatione eligi, et eos ad nos ad prÆdictos diem et locum venire facias: ita quod dicti milites plenam et sufficientem potestatem pro se et communitate comitatus prÆdicti, et dicti cives et burgenses pro se et communitate civitatum et burgorum prÆdictorum divisim ab ipsis tunc ibidem habeant, ad faciendum quod tunc de communi consilio ordinabitur in prÆmissis; ita quod pro defectu hujusmodi potestatis negotium prÆdictum infectum non remaneant quoquo modo.” Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 486. Translation Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 83.

[161] In the fourteenth century the clergy ceased to act in Parliament. They preferred to make their grants in separate convocations, and continued to do so until 1664 when they were merged with the other two estates. From the reign of Henry VIII, the grants of the clergy were subject to parliamentary confirmation. Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 201-202.

[162] Barth. Cotton, 299.

[163] Barth. Cotton, 299.

[164] The bull “Clericis laicos,” published 24th February, 1296, by Boniface VIII, was levelled at the taxation of the clergy by temporal powers; it prohibited the clergy from paying and the secular powers from receiving contributions by way of taxes, under pain of excommunication. The bull is given in 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 3, p. 156, and in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 84, in translation.

[165] Barth. Cotton. 315, 317-319.

[166] Walt. de Hemingb., 121.

[167] Matt. Westm., 430, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 441.

[168] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 3, 179.

[169] 2 Walt, de Hemingb., 121, 122.

[170] Matt. Westm., 430, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 441. The restitution of Winchelsey’s baronies occurred after this scene 19th July, according to Chron. Cant. Ang. Sac. noted in 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 141.

[171] Matt. Westm., 430, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 441, 442.

[172] Barth. Cotton, 338; 1 Rot. Parl. 239.

[173] Barth. Cotton, 334.

[174] W. Rishanger, Chron. 175, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 442, 443.

[175] Matt. Westm., 430; W. Rishanger, 178. Both in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 444.

[176] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 3, 189.

[177] Barth. Cotton, 336.

[178] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 3, 190.

[179] 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 147, 148.

[180] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 147.

[181] “Clericis laicos,” it will be remembered, prohibited compliance by the clergy with demands by the crown for taxation. It is evident that a gift by the clergy for the defense of the realm, provided it be not a compliant, but an initial act, was not a contravention of the bull.

[182] Barth. Cotton, 339.

[183] “5. And for so much as divers people of our realm are in fear that the aids and tasks which they have given to us beforetime towards our wars and other business, of their own grant and good will, howsoever they were made, might turn to be a bondage to them and their heirs, because they might be at another time found in the rolls, and so likewise the prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers in our name; we have granted for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw such aids, tasks, nor prises into a custom, for anything that hath been done heretofore, or that may be found by roll or in any other manner.” Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 87. Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 495 (French text) and 496 (translation). Original in 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 149.

[184] “6. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs as well to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy Church, as also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that for no business from henceforth we shall take of our realm such manner of aids, tasks, nor prises, but by the common assent of all the realm, and for the common profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due and accustomed.

“And for so much as the mere part of the commonalty of the realm find themselves sore grieved with the maletolt of wools, that is to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and have made petition to us to release the same; we at their requests have clearly released it, and have granted that we will not take such thing nor any other without their common assent and good will; saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, and leather, granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness of which things we have caused these our letters to be made patents.” Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 87; Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 495 (French text), and 496 (translation).

[185] 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 152, 153.

[186] The statute is in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 88, translated. The Latin text is in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 497, 498.

[187] In this connection see McKechnie, Magna Carta, 281; 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 148-150, and Sel. Chart. 497; Medley, Eng. Const. Hist. 507, 508.

[188] Patent Rolls, 24th Oct., 1301, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 446.

[189] See 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 156-158, citing 1 Parliamentary Writs, 104.

[190] 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 223.

[191] 1 Parl. Writs, 134-135, in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 500-501.

[192] Carta Mercatoria, in Hall, 1 History of the Customs, Appendix, 202-208; 1 ibid. 69-70.

[193] 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 233; Patent Rolls, a. 1304, 6th Feb., in Stubbs, Sel. Chart. 447.

[194] 1 Rot. Parl. 161-162.

[195] The only other instance of taxation to be noted was the aid granted in 1306 by knights and barons (a thirtieth), and by citizens and burgesses (a twentieth), on the occasion of knighting the king’s son. 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 4, 48.

[196] 1 Rymer, Foedera, part 4, 112. Also, Stubbs, 2 Const. Hist. Eng. 331.

[197] A Parliament of the three Estates at Northampton, 13th Oct., 1307, granted him an aid on the event of his marriage and coronation, and for the burial of Edward I. The clergy granted a fifteenth, the towns a fifteenth, and the barons and knights a twentieth of movables. 1 Rot. Parl. 442.

[198] 1 Rot. Parl. 443-445.

[199] The second article is given in translation in Hall, 1 History of the Customs, Appendix, 208.

[200] 1 Rot. Parl. 446-447.

[201] Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 93.

[202] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 340, note 1, and citations.

[203] 1 Rot. Parl. 281-286.

[204] Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 93-94.

[205] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 345 and note 2, with citations.

[206] Edward, despite the ordinance banishing Gaveston, in January, 1312, recalled him. But the restoration was fatal to the favorite. Thomas of Lancaster intercepted him on his way back to London and murdered him. Gaveston was avenged, however, in 1322, when Edward for the moment securing the upper hand, took Lancaster and beheaded him.

[207] 1 Rot. Parl. 449.

[208] Other instances of taxation during the reign were: 1313, October. Parliament grants a tax on movables,—the barons and knights a twentieth and the towns a fifteenth. Grant made in consequence of a general pardon issued by Edward. 1 Rot. Parl. 448. Cf. Thom. Walsingham, Hist. Anglicana, ed. 1 Riley, 136. 1315, Jan.-March. King put on an allowance of £10 a day. The clergy grant a tenth on certain conditions, the towns a fifteenth and the barons and knights a twentieth. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 355, and citations. 1316. Towns grant a fifteenth, the knights and barons offer a soldier to be supported by each township, and the clergy express their willingness to contribute a tenth in their own convocations. 1 Rot. Parl. 450-451. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 356. The grant of a soldier was afterward compounded for by a grant of a sixteenth. 1319. The towns grant a twelfth, the barons and knights an eighteenth. 1 Rot. Parl. 454-455. 1320. No taxes, save a clerical tenth, granted by the Pope. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 363, note 2. 1322. Clergy grant a tenth for 2 years. Knights and barons grant a man-at-arms from each township for 40 days. Commuted by money payment. Edward, being for the moment supreme, restores the New Customs for a year. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 370, and note 2 and authorities there cited.

[209] Sept. 1327. Parliament at Lincoln granted a twentieth for the Scotch war. 2 Rot. Parl. 425.

[210] 2 Ibid. 446.

[211] 2 Ibid. 66.

[212] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 554.

[213] 2 Rymer, Foedera, Aug. 12, 1336.

[214] 1 Hen. Knighton, Chronicon, ed. Lumby, 477.

[215] Adam Murimuth, Chronica ed. Hog, 81.

[216] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 398, 555, with authorities there cited. The statute is given in 1 Hall, Hist. of Customs, 210-211.

[217] 2 Rot. Parl. 104.

[218] 2 Ibid. 105.

[219] 2 Rot. Parl. 107-108.

[220] 2 Ibid. 112-113. 2 Walt. de Hemingb. 354.

[221] 14 Edw. III, 1, in 1 Statutes of the Realm, 281, and in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 103-104.

[222] 14 Edw. III, 2, in 1 Statutes of the Realm, 281, and in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 104-105.

[223] The definite inclusion of tallage within the scope of these charges and aids prohibited to the royal control had to be asserted further: 1348. Condition of the grant made by Parliament that no tallage or similar exaction should be imposed by the Privy Council. 2 Rot. Parl. 200; Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 113. 1352. The king openly declares that he is not intending again to impose a tallage. 2 Rot. Parl. 238. 1377. Parliament petitions, nearly in the words of the statute of 1340. King replies that only a great exigency would induce him to disregard the petition. 2 Rot. Parl. 365.

[224] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 557.

[225] Bishop Stubbs conjectures 8th July, 1342, as the date of the grant. 2 Const. Hist. Eng. 412, note 2.

[226] 2 Rot. Parl. 140, given in Adams and Stephens, 110.

[227] 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 166, citing 18 Edw. III, 2 c. 3.

[228] 2 Rot. Parl. 161.

[229] 2 Rot. Parl. 200. A translation is given in Adams and Stephens, 113-114.

[230] 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 418.

[231] 1 Statutes of the Realm, 371. Translation in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 128; 2 Rot. Parl. 271.

[232] 2 Rot. Parl. 308.

[233] In 1334 the fifteenth and tenth was compounded for by a fixed sum, rather than in accordance with a strict assessment. Hereafter each town and each county knew for how much it would have to answer. The expression was the fiscal equivalent of £39,000, less about £6,000 for decayed towns. 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 89.

[234] The fifteenths and tenths after 1334 noted in Dowell, 1 Taxation and Taxes, 89, note. Taxation, 1351-1359, see Stubbs, 2 Const. Hist. Eng. 424, note 1. Taxation, 1360-1368, see Stubbs, 2 Const. Hist. Eng. 433, note 1 and p. 432.

[235] 14 Edw. III, 2.

[236] 2 Rot. Parl. 161, 202.

[237] 2 Ibid. 252.

[238] 2 Ibid. 114.

[239] 2 Ibid. 128. Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 105-106.

[240] 2 Rot. Parl. 130, given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 106.

[241] 2 Rot. Parl. 364, given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 135.

[242] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 211, note 1.

[243] 3 Rot. Parl. 7; translation in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 136.

[244] 3 Rot. Parl. 35-36. Translation in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 137-138.

[245] 3 Rot. Parl. 36.

[246] 3 Ibid. 56. Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 138.

[247] 3 Rot. Parl. 66.

[248] 3 Rot. Parl. 73.

[249] 3 Ibid. 124.

[250] The taxes during the reign in summary:—Parliament of October, 1377. Two tenths and two fifteenths. 3 Rot. Parl. 7. Parliament of October, 1378. An increase of custom on wool and merchandise over the grant to Edward III in 1376. 3 Rot. Parl. 37. Parliament of April, 1379 (another session of the last Parliament). Superseded the above tax on wool, which had proven to be insufficient, with a graduated poll-tax which varied according to the position of the taxpayer. A tax of a groat a head had been levied in 1377, but this was the first instance of a poll-tax of varied incidence. The payments: The Dukes of Lancaster and Bretagne, ten marks each; earls or their widows, four pounds; barons and baronets, two pounds; and so on down to persons of the lowest rank, who were to pay a groat apiece. (Further details, 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 94.) Proceeds were to be strictly for national defense. Produced about half as much as was expected, only £22,000. 3 Rot. Parl. 57-58, 72-73. Parliament of 1380. A tenth and a half and a fifteenth and a half with a year’s subsidy on wool. A second Parliament, finding this amount insufficient, in the same year undertook to raise the “outrageous and intolerable” amount, £160,000. The means was another graduated poll-tax, varying from sixty groats to three, together with a continuance of the subsidy on wool, a custom which netted about £60,000 annually. The clergy undertook to raise their share of the money. The poll-tax was expected to bring about £66,000. 3 Rot. Parl. 75, 90. Parliament of 1382. A fifteenth and a tenth, to be devoted wholly to the defense of the realm. Tunnage and poundage for two years. 3 Rot. Parl. 124, 134. Parliaments of 1383. Grant of fifteenth and tenth made in 1382, given to Bishop of Norwich who was warring against the anti-pope in Flanders. He was held to account at the October session. Two half tenths and two half fifteenths were granted by the commons, one-half without condition, and the other half for the prosecution of the war if it be prolonged. Clergy made similar grants. 3 Rot. Parl. 151-152. Parliament of 1384. At spring session half a tenth and fifteenth. At fall session, two tenths and fifteenths, one of which was remitted the following spring. The object was the prosecution of a war in Scotland. 3 Rot. Parl. 167, 185, 398. Parliament of 1385. Granted a fifteenth and a half and a tenth and a half. Wool subsidy renewed for another year. 3 Rot. Parl. 204. Parliament of 1386. Half a tenth and fifteenth, with duplication if exigencies of war demanded. Continuance of subsidy on wool and merchandise, the object being for naval defense. Before Richard could obtain this grant, he had to consent to the appointment of a commission of reform to correct the irregularities in the realm and in his household. 3 Rot. Parl. 220-221. Parliaments of 1388. First session. Half a tenth and fifteenth with tunnage and poundage and the custom on wool. From the subsidy on wool £20,000 is awarded to the “Lords Appellant,” who had brought charges against the royal favorites upon which they were convicted and punished. 3 Rot. Parl. 244-245. The increase of custom on wool is forbidden. Fall session. A tenth and a fifteenth. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist. Eng. 505, note 3, and citations. Parliament of 1390. Subsidy on wool and merchandise. 3 Rot. Parl. 278. Parliament of 1391. A fifteenth and a half and a tenth and a half. Above subsidy on wool and merchandise renewed for three years at an increased rate. 3 Rot. Parl. 285-286. Parliament of 1393. Grant on wool and merchandise for three years. 3 Rot. Parl. 301. Parliament of 1394. Tunnage and poundage. 3 Rot. Parl. 314. Parliament of 1395. Fifteenth and tenth. 3 Rot. Parl. 330. Parliament of 1397. Custom on wool for five years. Tunnage and poundage for three years. Protest registered against the extravagance of the court. 3 Rot. Parl. 340. Parliament of 1398. A tenth and a half and a fifteenth and a half. A subsidy on wool, woolfells, and leather for the term of Richard’s life. 3 Rot. Parl. 368.

[251] The scheme is given in translation in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 142-144, from the original in 3 Rot. Parl. 90.

[252] 2 Stubbs. Const. Hist. Eng. 471.

[253] 3 Rot. Parl. 368.

[254] 3 Rot. Parl. 417 ff.

[255] 2 Thom. de Wals. 230-231. Cf. 3 Rot. Parl. 62.

[256] 3 Rot. Parl. 458. Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 173.

[257] 3 Rot. Parl. 493.

[258] 3 Rot. Parl. 611. Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 125-127.

[259] In 1472 was a marked departure from the rule. A grant regularly enacted, appropriating revenue and income of the commons, was changed by the lords to include a tax on their own property. 6 Rot. Parl. 4-8. The good intent of the act, justified in the eyes of contemporaries, apparently, its irregularity.

[260] 3 Rot. Parl. 612.

[261] 4 Rot. Parl. 301-302.

[262] 5 Rot. Parl. 152-153.

[263] 5 Rot. Parl. 508.

[264] 1 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 197.

[265] 6 Rot. Parl. 238-240.

[266] “For certainly wee be determined rather to aventure and committe us to the perill of oure lyfs and jopardye of deth, than to lyve in suche thraldome and bondage as we have lyved long tyme heretofore, oppressed and injured by Extorcions and newe Imposicons, agenst the Lawes of God and Man, and the Libertee, old Police, and Lawes of this Reame, wheryn every Englishman is enherited.” 6 Rot. Parl. 241.

[267] 1 Rich. III, c. 2.—“The king remembering how the Commons of this his realm by new and unlawful inventions and inordinate covetousness, against the law of this realm, have been put to great thraldom and importable charges and exactions, and in especial by a new imposition named a benevolence, whereby divers years the subjects and Commons of this land against their wills and freedom have paid great sums of money to their almost utter destruction; for divers and many worshipful men of this realm by occasion thereof were compelled by necessity to break up their households and to live in great penury and wretchedness. Their debts unpaid and their children unpreferred, and such memorials as they had ordained to be done for the wealth of their souls were made void and annulled, to the great displeasure of God and to the destruction of this realm; therefore the king will it be ordained, by the advice and assent of his Lords spiritual and temporal and the Commons of this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that his subjects and the commonalty of this his realm from henceforth in no wise be charged by none such charge or imposition called benevolence, nor by such like charge; and that such exactions called benevolences, afore this time taken be taken for no example to make such or any like charge of any his said subjects of this realm hereafter, but it be dampned and annulled forever.” 2 Statutes of the Realm, 478. Translation given in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 212.

[268] 6 Rot. Parl. 335.

[269] 6 Rot. Parl. 421.

[270] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 298, quoting from Lord Bacon’s Henry VII, 121.

[271] For further details see Dowell, 1 Taxation and Taxes, 129, 130. A summary of the taxes of Henry VIII is given in Cobbett, 1 Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803, London 1806; 565-6.

[272] Above, 206, 207.

[273] More, Life of Sir T. More, 51, quoted in 1 Parl. Hist. 485-6.

[274] 1 Parl. Hist. 486.

[275] 1 Parl. Hist. 588.

[276] 1 Parl. Hist. 490.

[277] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 300.

[278] Ibid., 300, quoting Hall, Chronicle, 696, 700.

[279] 1 Parl. Hist. 490.

[280] Henry levied another benevolence in 1545.

[281] The form of these royal promissory notes is as follows:—“We, Henry VIII, by the grace of God, King of England and of France, Defender of Faith, and Lord of Ireland, promise by these presents truly to content and repay unto our trusty and well-beloved subject, A. B., the sum of ——, which he hath lovingly advanced unto us by way of loan, for defence of our realm, and maintenance of our wars against France and Scotland: In witness whereof we have caused our privy seal hereunto to be set and annexed the —— day of ——, the fourteenth year of our reign.” Cited by Hallam, 1 Const. Hist. Eng. 26, note 1, from MS. Instructions to Commissioners.

[282] Stat. 21 Henry VIII, c. 24, cited in Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 301. 1 Parl. Hist. 507.

[283] 1 Parl. Hist. 560, 578.

[284] 23 Henry VIII, c. 20, in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 144.

[285] 25 Henry VIII, c. 20.

[286] 25 Henry VIII, c. 21.

[287] 26 Henry VIII, c. 3.

[288] 25 Henry VIII, c. 19.

[289] Dowell, 1 Taxation and Taxes, 202, quoting 2 Mackintosh, 433, appendix.

[290] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 377, quoting 4 Parl. Hist. 480.

[291] The subsidy at this time, by a conservative estimate, amounted probably to £80,000, making the demand equal to £240,000.

[292] 1 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 375, quoting D’Ewes, 486.

[293] Gneist. Const. Hist. Eng. 546.

[294] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 177.

[295] 1 Parliamentary History of England, London, 1806, 967, 970.

[296] The case is in 1 Parl. Hist. 998-1017. See also Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 267-268.

[297] 1 Parl. Hist. 1030-1042.

[298] 1 Ibid. 1044-1045.

[299] The rate of this grant of tunnage and poundage: Tunnage, 3 s. on every tun of wine imported, save that on the tun of sweet wines the charge was 6 s., and on the awm of Rhenish, 1 s. Poundage, 1 s. on every 20 s. of goods or merchandise imported or exported, except woolen manufactures; on tin and pewter the charge was 2 s. Wool of denizens, 33 s. 4 d. on the sack or 240 woolfells and £3, 6 s., 8 d. on the last of hides.—1 Parl. Hist. 1046.

[300] 1 Parl. Hist. 1069-1070.

[301] Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts, 107.

[302] Medley, Eng. Const. Hist. 235.

[303] Prothero, Statutes and Constitutional Documents, 1559-1625, lxxv.

[304] Stat. 45 Edw. III, cap. 4.

[305] The case is reported in Prothero, Stat. and Const. Doc. 340-342.

[306] 2 State Trials, 481.

[307] Prothero, Stat. and Const. Doc. 354.

[308] The arguments of Hakewill and Whitelocke are given in detail in Prothero, Stat. and Const. Doc. 342-353.

[309] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 395, quoting from Petyt, Jus Parliamentum, 322, 323.

[310] 1 Parl. Hist. 1122.

[311] Prothero, Stat. and Const. Doc. 411.

[312] 1 Parl. Hist. 1133.

[313] 1 Parl. Hist. 1159.

[314] 1 Parl. Hist. 1166.

[315] 2 Gardiner, Hist. Eng. [1603-1616] 172.

[316] 1 Parl. Hist. 1179-1180.

[317] 1 Parl. Hist. 1187.

[318] This was “the revival of the ancient right of Parliamentary impeachment—the solemn accusation of an individual by the Commons at the bar of the Lords—which had lain dormant since the impeachment of the Duke of Suffolk in 1449.” For further details see Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 409 et seq.

[319] 1 Parl. Hist. 1208.

[320] 1 Parl. Hist. 1262.

[321] 1 Parl. Hist. 1300-1301.

[322] 1 Ibid. 1316-1317.

[323] 1 Parl. Hist. 1361-1363.

[324] 1 Ibid. 1366-1371.

[325] 1 Parl. Hist. 1487-1488.

[326] 1 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 508, 509.

[327] 2 Parl. Hist. 6.

[328] 2 Ibid. 33.

[329] 2 Ibid. 35-37.

[330] 2 Parl. Hist. 49, 50.

[331] 2 Ibid. 56.

[332] 2 Ibid. 100, 101.

[333] Arbitrary imprisonment led to the suspension of the right to secure a writ of habeas corpus, by direct command and peculiar power of the king. Vid. Darnel’s Case in Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 425, 426.

[334] 2 Parl. Hist. 207, 208.

[335] 2 Parl. Hist. 213.

[336] 2 Ibid. 221.

[337] 2 Parl. Hist. 230.

[338] 2 Ibid. 259-260.

[339] 2 Parl. Hist. 274, 277, 278.

[340] 2 Parl. Hist. 355.

[341] 2 Ibid. 377.

[342] 2 Ibid. 409, 410. The sections which concern taxation:—

Humbly show unto our Sovereign Lord the King, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted by a statute made in the reign of King Edward the First, commonly called, Statutum de tallagio non concedendo, that no tallage or aid shall be laid or levied by the king or his heirs in this realm, without the good-will and assent of the Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, Burgesses, and other freemen of the commonalty of this realm; and by authority of Parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no person shall be compelled to make any loans to the king against his will, because such loans were against reason and the franchise of the land; and by other laws of this realm it is provided, that none should be charged by any charge or imposition, called a Benevolence, nor by such like charge, by which the statutes before mentioned, and the other the good laws and statutes of this realm, your subjects have inherited this freedom, that they should not be compelled to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid, or other like charge, not set by common consent in Parliament:

Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to sundry commissioners in several counties with instructions have issued, by pretext whereof your people have been in divers places assembled, and required to lend certain sums of money unto your Majesty, and many of them upon their refusal so to do, have had an unlawful oath administered unto them, not warrantable by the laws and statutes of this realm, and have been constrained to become bound to make appearance and give attendance before your Privy Council, and in other places; and others of them have been therefore imprisoned, confined, and sundry other ways molested and disquieted: and divers other charges have been laid and levied upon your people in several counties, by Lords Lieutenants, Deputy Lieutenants, Commissioners for Musters, Justices of the Peace and others, by command or direction from your Majesty or your privy Council, against the laws and free customs of this realm....

And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and marines have been dispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitants against their wills have been compelled to receive them into their houses, and there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws and customs of the realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of the people....

They do therefore humbly pray your most Excellent Majesty, that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without common consent by Act of Parliament; and that none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give attendance, or be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted concerning the same, or for refusal thereof; ... and that your Majesty will be pleased to remove the said soldiers and marines, and that your people may not be burdened in time to come. 2 Parl. Hist. 374-6. The Petition of Right may also be found in S. R. Gardiner, Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution, 1625-1660, 66-70; Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 339-342. Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 430-433.

[343] Gardiner, Const. Doc. 66, note 2.

[344] 2 Parl. Hist. 432.

[345] 2 Parl. Hist. 433-434.

[346] 2 Parl. Hist. 442, 443.

[347] 2 Ibid. 449, 453.

[348] 2 Parl. Hist. 454.

[349] 2 Ibid. 482.

[350] 2 Parl. Hist. 457, 491.

[351] Gardiner, Const. Doc. 82, 83; 2 Parl. Hist. 491.

[352] “The king’s declaration of the causes of the late dissolution.” Gardiner, Const. Doc. 83-99; 2 Parl. Hist. 492-504.

[353] 2 Parl. Hist. 525.

[354] 2 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 15.

The “parchments in the Tower” might readily have included the following, which exhibits an historical precedent for the ship money:

“1008. Rex Anglorum Aegelredus de ccc. x. cassatis unam trierem, de novem vero loricam et cassidem fieri, et per totam Angliam naves intente praecipit fabricari.” 1 Florentii Wigorniensis Monachi, Chronicon ex Chronicis, 160.

1 Freeman, Norman Conquest, 647, note LL., cites 3 Codex Diplomaticus, 351, to show that before 1008 a levy of ships was not unknown. Archbishops Aelfric upon his death gave to the people of Wiltshire and Kent a ship. Wiltshire is an inland county. It is justifiable, then, to believe that “per totam Angliam” may be taken literally, and that Ethelred really exacted a ship from every 310 hides throughout England.

[355] Gardiner, Const. Doc. 105-108.

[356] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 443; Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts, 163.

[357] Clarendon, History of the Rebellion, i, 136.

[358] Gardiner, Const. Doc. 108, note 2.

[359] Gardiner, Const. Doc. 108, 109.

[360] 2 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 23.

[361] Mr. St. John did not enter into a consideration of the legality of the modern impositions of the outports, levied by authority of the Crown.

[362] The digest of the argument here given is based upon that of Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 446, 447, who follows closely 2 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 23-27. Extracts from St. John’s speech are given in Gardiner, Const. Doc. 109-115.

[363] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 448. 2 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 30.

[364] 2 Parl. Hist. 532, 533.

[365] 2 Ibid. 561, 562.

[366] 2 Parl. Hist. 362, 363.

[367] 2 Ibid. 568.

[368] 2 Ibid. 570, 571.

[369] 2 Parl. Hist. 582, 584.

[370] See the list of members in 2 Parl. Hist. 597-629.

[371] Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 455, quoting 1 Clarendon, Hist. 171.

[372] The time was from 25th May, to 15th July, 1641.

[373] The Act is given in Gardiner, Const. Doc. 88-91.

[374] The Act is given in Gardiner, Const. Doc. 115.

[375] By subsequent statutes, an end was put to purveyance, distraint of knighthood, and forest extension. Parliament then came forward with a grant of six subsidies and a poll tax equivalent to six subsidies more.

[376] 2 Hallam, Const. Hist. Eng. 138, 139.

[377] Gardiner, Const. Doc. 127-155.

[378] For further details see Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 483, 484; and 2 Dowell, Taxation and Taxes, 8 et seq.

[379] The text is in Taswell-Langmead, Eng. Const. Hist. 512-518 and in Adams and Stephens, Sel. Doc. 462-469.