History of The English Fiscal System - The Clergy

The Clergy

The clergy occupied a peculiar position in that it still claimed the privilege of self-taxation so that convocation rather than Parliament voted the tenths imposed on its property. In some instances, far heavier charges (e.g. one third in 1296) were decreed by the king, despite which such taxation became less productive during the 14th century. However, by the close of the reign of Richard II, the results of the transition from feudalism to a parliamentary constitution were almost complete. As regards finance, the most important of these were:

  1. The disappearance or reduction of unimportant feudal dues. The fact that this change occurred at a relatively early date is of special significance for English development.
  2. The royal demesne, though it had not yet suffered the losses that later grants were to inflict, had also lost some of its value.
  3. In compensation, direct taxation on property became a ready means of supplying the growing requirements of the administration, the mode of levy being reduced to a well-recognized form, unsatisfactory experiments such as the poll tax having been withdrawn.
  4. The growth of import and export duties through the old and new customs plus subsidies furnished a large part of the requisite funds. In fact, in a little over three hundred years and without violence, the constituent parts of public income had been completely altered in relative value and organization.

Read more about this topic:  History Of The English Fiscal System

Famous quotes containing the word clergy:

    Burn Ovid with the rest. Lovers will find
    A hedge-school for themselves and learn by heart
    All that the clergy banish from the mind,
    Austin Clarke (1896–1974)

    I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution.
    Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)