KRKJ taxes in medieval britain

Question 1

Who was Richard I’s chancellor?

Answer 1

William Longchamp

Question 2

Who did Richard I ban from England?

Answer 2

John and his half-brother Geoffrey

Question 3

What was Longchamp in charge of?

Answer 3

decision making on Richard’s behalf and acting as Justiciar

Question 4

What was John concerned with in his first 6 years of kingship?

Answer 4

Defending land in France

Question 5

When did John lose Normandy?

Answer 5

1204

Question 6

What did New Men depend on John for?

Answer 6

Their wealth

Question 7

How did John first create problems in Britain?

Answer 7

He chose New Men over the traditional barons to advise him.

Question 8

What did John close down and end?

Answer 8

The Court of the King’s Bench at Westminster and ended the practice of Justiciars moving from shire to shire to hear cases.

Question 9

What did John do to William de Braose and why?

Answer 9

He was forced to flee England but his wife and son were captured and captured and starved to death because he owed a large debt to John.

Question 10

Royal revenues , definition

Answer 10

the money that the King collected in through taxes

Question 11

What did Richard need money for?

Answer 11

To fund his crusade and war in France

Question 12

How was the Royal Demesne made up?

Answer 12

This was the land held directly by the King. The land provided the King with money. It included hunting forests and royal manor estates. He could charge rents to those living in towns and collect taxes from anyone who sold goods there.

Question 13

What were two features of the tallage?

Answer 13

Compulsory land tax paid by tenants . Tenants included townsmen and peasants. Mark of lower status as it was never paid by Barons and Knights. When it was demanded, people could appeal against it and the King - or any Lord - could set the sum at whatever they wanted to. Therefore, it was usually unreasonably high.

Question 14

What things could Kings demand their vassals make payments for?

Answer 14

Payments of Forest Fines, Wardship Fines, payment to get a King out of captivity, payment of a fine to the King if an heir inherited the lands of his father, payment to knight the King’s eldest son, payment to provide a dowry (fat bank account) for the King’s eldest daughter.

Question 15

What were Wardship Fines?

Answer 15

If a Baron died while his heir was a minor (not yet adult), his land returned to the King. The King would take care of the heir’s education and living needs, however on reaching maturity, the heir would need to pay a fine to the King to inherit the land. The King could set the fine at whatever he wanted and under King John, the fine went up by 300%.

Question 16

What were Forest Fines?

Answer 16

Areas of land could be designated as Forest. This land was under the protection of the king and he could claim forest fines for those living, working, hunting or foraging on the land. These fines affected everyone in the Feudal System. John increased these fines in his reign and fines fell mainly on northern Barons.

Question 17

How could John make money interfering in legal cases?

Answer 17

John suspended the role of Justiciars, meaning that he could offer himself up to be “bought” in legal cases. In 1207, John gave a favourable judgement to the party that offered him three horses in payment for supporting a case that they wanted to see come to court. Events just as this led some of John’s vassals to complain that he ‘sold justice’. Loyalty to John was tested.

Question 18

What were the main features of the scutage?

Answer 18

This was a payment made by the holders of a Knight’s fee in return for not having to fight. Richard and John used this money to pay for engineers, foot soldiers and bowmen in their wars. Many Knights were not needed in the wars that Richard and John fought, plus they went on far longer than the 40 days Knight service that the Feudal System demanded. Scutages were favourable ways of hiring professional soldiers and mercenaries.

Question 19

What was the 1207 tax on movable incomes?

Answer 19

A tax based on the goods and income of every man. The tax was set at one shilling in every mark. A mark was worth just over thirteen shillings so it became known as the “13th”. Anyone who refused to pay risked going to prison and having all their land taken away. It raised £60,000 but was so unpopular, it was never used again.

Question 20

What was the role of the Sheriff in collecting taxes?

Answer 20

He collected taxes from the royal demesne. In the time of King Richard, the system of collection was based on a method known as tax farming. The Sheriff was set a fixed sum of tax to collect and he could keep any money that he collected in addition to that sum. Sheriffs became very wealthy which helps explain why RIchard was able to sell off lots of jobs as a Sheriff during his reign. The system continued under John, but John began to take more of a “cut” of what the Sheriff’s gained, as he did not want them to become wealthier than he was.