1D Custom Duties

Question 1

Custom charges on wool remained the most lucrative from 1399

to 1509 and were charged in two ways.

Answer 1

an ‘ancient custom’
of 6s 8d was charged on each sack of wool and, from 1353
onwards, a ‘subsidy’ was added, which was a changing amount
set by parliament and charged on wool imports.

Question 2

What was the wool subsidy

Answer 2

the single largest payment to the royal coffers in the 14th

and 15th centuries

Question 3

a shift in custom duties I. the late 14th and 15th centuries towards

Answer 3

making custom duties a source of regular income for the crown,
rather than an exceptional boon granted by parliament in times of
emergency.

Question 4

The crown in the 15th century faced the serious problem of a
reduction in income from wool. The period saw raw wool exports
fall from

Answer 4

c21,000 sacks in 1390 to c8,500 sacks in 1510. result of a major trade recession c1440 to 1480,

Question 5

The government also lost income

as, increasingly,

Answer 5

wool centres in England were not exporting the raw product to the continent but instead were manufacturing
wollen cloth an industry which was less heavy taxed

Question 6

During Henry VIs minority the crown finances had

become so unsound that the treasurer, Lord Cromwell, declared;

Answer 6

the true state of the royal finances to parliament in the hope of
obtaining more sympathy- and revenue - from them.

Question 7

1429-32, this statement showed that Outgoing included

around

Answer 7

around £25,000 on regular defence (including protecting the
Scottish and Welsh borders, and securing the traditionally English
held strongholds in Calais), over £23,000 on administration and
more than £14,000 on his household.

Question 8

This high level of outgoing

meant that the crown revenues were running an annual deficit of:

Answer 8

£16,000

Question 9

The problem was worsened by

Answer 9

an increase in piracy in the
Channel as England suffered defeats in the Hundred Years War
during the 1440s and 1450s, which meant considerable disruption
to trade and the collection of customs.

Question 10

Figures that indicate the

level of financial crisis faced by Henry VI’s government

Answer 10

total annual revenue of the crown fell from £90,000 in the reign
of Henry IV to less than £24,000 in the late 1450s

Question 11

What were Henry VI finances damaged by

Answer 11

greatly exacerbated by the loss of France and associated

trade, as well as the king’s ill-advised alienation of crown lands.

Question 12

Why was this a problem for stability of Henry VI’s reign

Answer 12

This made Henry very dependent on loans from leading subjects
notably Cardinal Henry Beaufort and Richard, duke of York, which
largely remained unpaid and added to the sense that over-mighty
subjects’ could seek to control the king.

Question 13

During Edward’s

second reign, what reduced his dependence on parliament

Answer 13

up to
1471, parliament retained some control over the money obtained
via the wool subsidy, as it could vary the amount levied on each
sack of wool depending on the defensive needs of the realm.
After this year, however, the subsidy became a fixed amount, thus
reducing Edward IV’s dependence on parliament.

Question 14

According
to J.A.F Thomson, the move towards greater acceptance and
standardisation of custom duties was a response to a growing
acknowledgement among the political community that

Answer 14

that it was not
feasible for the monarch to finance government policies through
his own personal wealth and funds alone. This may also reflect
a tacit acknowledgement that allowing leading members of the
nobility to effectively bankroll the government was unwise, as had
been proved particularly in the reign of Henry VI.

Question 15

This is not to
say that individuals engaged in trade did not sometimes seek to
avoid such charges illegally or that they did not object at times
to the amounts levied, but broadly speaking there was

Answer 15

firstly.
an acceptance of the monarchs right to place charges on trade
and, secondly, it was considerably less likely to spark widespread
rebellion in the way that other direct forms of taxation sometimes
could The 1381 Peasants’ Revolt

Question 16

In the 1470s, Edward’s government

successfully negotiated

Answer 16

a number of commercial treaties with neighbouring countries, and via
diplomacy improved relations with a number of England’s continental neighbors, most notably
France. This meant that trade improved again and so there was some increase in royal revenue from
customs.

Question 17

one method of raising money that was always likely to be uncontroversial as far as the
indigenous population was concerned was

Answer 17

to tax foreigners more heavily than native inhabitants.
From 1303 onwards, something called a ‘new’ or petty’ custom was charged to foreign merchants,
whether they lived abroad or were resident in England. this fee was an additional 50
percent on top of the ancient custom payable on wool, wax and leather and imported cloth. All other wares were charged at 3d in the pound. In addition to these fees, all foreign merchants except those belonging to the Hanseatic League were obliged to
pay ‘poundage’, which was a duty paid on all non-staple goods that were imported or exported via
English ports.

Question 18

Wine was an important import in the 14th and 15th centuries. Why

Answer 18

In this period, it was unsafe to drink
water and only the destitute did so. Therefore, various forms of alcohol were consumed as the
fermenting process ensured that the liquid was sale to drink The most common beverages were ale
or beer, but by the 15th century wine was widely drunk by higher social orders, Indeed, the trade was
one reason why England’s holdings in France were so economically significant and why defeats in the
Hundred Years War during the 1450s were politically damaging to Mienry VI. who was responsible for
losing important wine-producing regions mcliding Gascony