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{{Short description|1194–1224 medieval English land tax}}
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[[File:Medievalplowingwoodcut.jpg|alt=A monochrome, profile illustration of four oxen dragging a plough through a field. The ploughman walks behind, controlling the plough, while his colleague stands to his side, holding a long whip in the air.|Some carucages were assessed on plough-teams, such as this four-ox-team plough, redrawn from the [[Luttrell Psalter]], an [[illuminated manuscript]] of {{circa|lk=yes|1330}}.<ref>Hanawalt ''Ties that Bound'' p. 125</ref>|thumb|400px]]

'''Carucage'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ær|ə|k|ɪ|dʒ}};<ref>Staff "Carucage" ''Oxford English Dictionary''</ref> {{langx|la-x-medieval|carrūcāgium}}, from ''carrūca'' {{gloss|wheeled plough}}<ref>Mantella and Rigg ''Medieval Latin'' p. 220</ref>}} was a medieval English [[land tax]] enacted by King [[Richard&nbsp;I]] in 1194, based on the size—variously calculated—of the taxpayer's estate. It was a replacement for the [[danegeld]], last imposed in 1162, which had become difficult to collect because of an increasing number of exemptions. Carucage was levied just six times: by Richard in 1194 and 1198; by [[John, King of England|John]], his brother and successor, in 1200; and by John's son, [[Henry III of England|Henry&nbsp;III]], in 1217, 1220, and 1224, after which it was replaced by taxes on income and [[personal property]].

The taxable value of an estate was initially assessed from the [[Domesday Survey]], but other methods were later employed, such as valuations based on the sworn testimony of neighbours or on the number of plough-teams the taxpayer used. Carucage never raised as much revenue as other taxes, but nevertheless helped to fund several projects. It paid the [[Richard I of England#Captivity, ransom and return|ransom for Richard's release]] in 1194 after he was taken prisoner by [[Leopold V, Duke of Austria]]; it covered the tax John had to pay King [[Philip&nbsp;II of France]] in 1200 on land he inherited in that country; and it helped to finance Henry III's military campaigns in England and on continental Europe.

Carucage was an attempt to secure new sources of revenue to supplement and increase royal income in a time when new demands were being made on royal finances. Although derived from the older danegeld, carucage was an experiment in revenue collection, but it was only levied for specific purposes, rather than as a regularly assessed tax. Also new was the fact later collections were imposed with the consent of the barons. However, the main flow of royal income was from other sources, and carucage was not collected after 1224.

==Background==
{{main|Taxation in medieval England|History of the English fiscal system}}
In medieval England there was no clear separation between the king's household and the treasury.<ref name=SaulGovern>Saul "Government" ''Companion to Medieval England'' pp. 115–118</ref> The main sources of royal income were the royal estates, [[feudal]] rights (such as [[feudal aid]]s or [[feudal relief]]s, which derived from the king's position as a [[feudal overlord]]), taxation, and fees and other profits from the judicial courts. In 1130, the records of revenues paid into the treasury show that about 40% came from royal estates, 16% from feudal rights, 14% from taxes, and 12% from the judicial courts.<ref name=Bartlett165>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 165</ref> By 1194 revenue from the land came to about 37% of the total,{{efn|This includes the revenues that the sheriffs collected from the shires, the [[Farm#Etymology|farm]] of the shire, which included not only taxes but also rents and other payments from the king's lands.<ref name=Dict120>Coredon ''Dictionary'' p. 120</ref><ref name=Barratt645>Barratt "English Revenue of King Richard" ''English Historical Review'' pp. 645–646</ref>}} about 25% came from feudal rights, taxation raised about 15%, and income from judicial sources about 11%.<ref name=Barratt645/>{{efn|The numbers do not add up to 100% exactly because of rounding and because a few sources of income do not fit into the above categories. These include income from the [[royal forest]]s and money gained from the Jews in England.<ref name=Barratt645/>}}

English taxation after the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] of 1066 was based on the geld or danegeld, a national tax paid by all free men, those who were not [[serfs]] or slaves. The geld was based on the number of [[Hide (unit)|hides]] of land owned by the taxpayer,<ref name=Huscroft98/>{{efn|A hide was a variable amount of land, often equated to the amount of land required to support a family for a year, or the amount of land an eight-ox plough-team would plough in one year. The total amount varied wildly depending on the fertility of the land. The size could be as small as {{convert|40|acre|ha}} in Berkshire, up to {{convert|120|acre|ha}} elsewhere.<ref name=Dict154>Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases'' p. 154</ref>}} and could be demanded by the king and assessed at varying levels without the need for consultation with the barons or other subjects. During King [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]'s reign, an increasing number of exemptions, and the difficulties encountered in collecting the geld, lowered its importance to the [[Exchequer]]—the treasury of England. It is unclear whether the geld was collected at all during the reign of Henry's successor, King Stephen.<ref name=Huscroft98>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' pp. 98–99, 166</ref> Stephen's successor, King [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], collected the geld only twice, once in 1155 and again in 1161–1162. The geld was unpopular, and after 1162 Henry may have felt it politically expedient to stop collecting it.<ref name=Huscroft166>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' pp. 166–167</ref>

Most information about the carucage comes from the financial records associated with its collection, but there is no detailed description of the way it was collected or assessed, unlike the account of the workings of the Exchequer given in the ''[[Dialogue Concerning the Exchequer]]'', written in about 1180.<ref name=Mitchell129>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 129</ref> Government records such as the [[Pipe Roll]]s, the [[Memoranda Roll]]s, and other financial records,<ref name=Tax135/> some of which are specific to the carucage, have survived, and include records of assessments and receipts for the sums collected.<ref name=Tax136>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 136</ref> There are also occasional references to the tax in medieval chronicles, supplementing the information found in the financial records.<ref name=Tax14/>

==Under Richard I==
Under Henry's son, King Richard I, a new land tax was collected, the first since 1162. It was organised by [[Hubert Walter]], the [[justiciar]] of England who was in charge of governing England while the king was gone. Like the geld, the carucage was based on the amount of land owned,<ref name=Govern105/> thus targeting free men rather than serfs, who owned no land and were therefore exempt.<ref name=Coredon255>Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases'' p. 255</ref> First collected in 1194, and the first land tax collected in England since the geld,<ref name=Lyon253>Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' p. 253</ref> carucage was based on the size of the estate as measured in either hides or [[carucate]]s<ref name=Govern105>Richardson and Sayles ''Governance of Mediaeval England'' p. 105</ref> (a unit of land that could be ploughed by an eight-ox plough-team in a year,<ref name=Dict61>Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases'' p. 61</ref> which was normally considered equivalent to a hide).<ref name=Hudson241>Hudson ''Formation of the English Common Law'' p. 241</ref>{{efn|Because the first collection of the carucage was levied to pay Richard's ransom when he was imprisoned during his return from the [[Third Crusade]], this incident of the tax can also be considered a [[feudal aid]]—a payment from a feudal [[vassal]] to their overlord required when the latter had to be ransomed.<ref name=Lyon269/>}} The original property assessment of the carucage was based on the Domesday Survey, a survey of land holdings in England that was completed by 1087.<ref name=Lyon269/><ref name=Bartlett194>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p.194</ref>

Collected again in 1198,<ref name=Lyon269/> and usually called the "great carucage",<ref name=Tax14>Mitchell ''Taxation'' pp. 14–15</ref> it was initially assessed at a rate of 2&nbsp;[[shilling]]s per carucate (estimated at {{convert|100|acre|ha}}<ref name=Lyon269/> or {{convert|120|acre|ha}}<ref name=Tax154>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 154</ref>), but later an additional 3&nbsp;shillings per carucate was imposed.<ref name="Tax14"/> This 1198 collection was to provide the king with money for his military campaigns in France,<ref name=Tax179>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 179</ref> and raised about £1,000.<ref name=Richard637>Barratt "English Revenue of King Richard" ''English Historical Review'' p. 637</ref> Some fines were subsequently imposed on taxpayers for evading payment,{{efn|These are recorded in the 1199 Pipe Roll.<ref name=Richard642/>}} suggesting that the 1198 tax was not very successful.<ref name=Richard642>Barratt "English Revenue of King Richard" ''English Historical Review'' p. 642</ref>

According to the late 12th century chronicler [[Roger of Howden]], the main source for information on the 1198 carucage,<ref name=Tax14/> assessments were carried out in county by a commission of two royal officials working in each [[Hundred (administrative division)|hundred]] (a subdivision of a county). Each of these commissions included two local knights who would take sworn testimonies in each village from four villagers and the [[bailiff]]s or estate officials of those barons holding land in the village. The resulting assessments were recorded, and the sheriff, or chief royal official of the county, would receive the money and forward it to the treasury.<ref name=Lyon269>Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' p. 269</ref> Estate holders in the area were responsible for the payments from their estates, and when they were handed to the Exchequer a special procedure was followed to record the payments,<ref name=Warren147/> which were then deposited into a dedicated set of accounts.<ref name=Tax29>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 29</ref> These elaborate procedures were probably meant to avoid misappropriation of funds, but may not have been successful, as justices were later sent out to inquire into the commissioners' activities. As a result of their investigations, 23&nbsp;counties paid fines to secure an end to royal inquiries and any arrears in payments.<ref name=Warren147>Warren ''Governance of Norman and Angevin England'' pp. 147–148</ref>

The lower clergy and bishops resisted Richard's attempt to impose the 1198 carucage on their estates. In response, Richard withdrew their access to his royal courts which forced them to buy access to the courts back for a sum greater than the carucage would have collected.<ref name=Lyon305>Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' pp. 305–306</ref>{{efn|The royal courts were the best way for non-serfs to litigate when they were dispossessed of land by other freemen, as well as being the main way of obtaining justice in criminal matters.<ref name=Justice152>Saul "Justice" ''Companion to Medieval England'' p. 152</ref>}}

==Under John==
King John, Richard's brother and successor, collected the carucage only once, in 1200. John set the amount to be collected from each carucate at three shillings.<ref name=Lyon269/> Revenues from this taxation do not appear in the 1200 Pipe Roll, although the designation in official records of [[William of Wrotham]] and his assistants as ''receptores carucagii''—"receivers of the carucage"—suggest that the money raised was paid into a special commission in the Exchequer.<ref name=Tax14/> Whether lands were assessed by the system used in 1198 is unknown.<ref name=Tax65>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 65</ref> The contemporary chronicler [[Ralph of Coggeshall]] noted that an "order went throughout England by the justices or<!--not "of"?--><!-- Double checked, the source does indeed say "or" Eald. --> the king" to collect the tax,{{efn|Or possibly "from the justices" in place of "by the justices".<ref name=Tax83>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 83</ref>}}<ref name=QTax83>Quoted in Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 83</ref> which may imply that the King appointed justices to collect the tax instead of using the earlier system.<ref name=Tax83/> The carucage was raised to pay John's feudal relief— the payment to an overlord on inheriting lands—for his 1199 inheritance of lands in France.<ref name=Tax179/> The relief had been set by King Philip II of France, John's overlord, at 20,000 [[mark (money)|marks]].<ref name=John148>Warren ''King John'' pp. 148–149</ref> Estimates of the amount raised by this carucage—about £3,000—are based on later revenues raised during the following reign.<ref name=Barratt839>Barratt "Revenue of King John" ''English Historical Review'' p. 839</ref>

The [[Cistercian]] monasteries in the north of England resisted the tax, claiming that they were immune to taxation. John put pressure on them, as he was in the north when the tax was announced, but the various abbeys appealed to Hubert Walter, by then Chancellor. Walter secured from the abbeys the promise of a group payment of £1,000, but in June 1200 the King rejected the offer. In October, the King returned from Normandy and resumed pressure on the monasteries, ordering the confiscation of all Cistercian livestock on royal lands after two weeks if a settlement was not reached. At the end of November, through Walter's intercession, the King capitulated and agreed to a Cistercian immunity from this tax.<ref name=Monastic366>Knowles ''Monastic Order'' pp. 366–367</ref>

==Under Henry III==
John's son, King Henry III, assessed the carucage on three occasions, in 1217, 1220, and 1224. A new approach in 1217 and 1220 was to secure the consent of leading noblemen for the tax to be levied.<ref name=Lyon384/> The 1217 tax was once again assessed at 3&nbsp;shillings per carucate.<ref name=Tax135>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 135</ref> The assessment of the amount of lands held by each taxpayer involved having each landowner provide the information and swear an oath that it was correct.<ref name=Tax92>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 92</ref> Like the 1200 tax, the 1217 tax was not recorded in that year's Pipe Roll, lending support to the possibility that the revenue from the tax was sent to a separate branch of the Exchequer.<ref name=Tax19/> The 1217 carucage was only paid by [[laymen]]; the [[clergy]] made a donation in lieu of being taxed.<ref name=Tax109>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 109</ref> The money raised was intended to defray the expense of the war being fought against Prince [[Louis VIII of France|Louis of France]], who had invaded England before the death of King John and was claiming the English throne.<ref name=Harriss33/>

The 1220 carucage, which was imposed on both laymen and clergy,<ref name=Lyon384/> was collected by a special commission and was paid not into the Exchequer, but to the [[Templar Order]] church in London, the [[Temple Church|New Temple]].<ref name=Tax19/> The Templars through their international organization functioned as bankers in and between countries.<ref name=Monasticism214>Lawrence ''Medieval Monasticism'' p. 214</ref> The three men appointed to the commission—William de Halliwell, a friar, William FitzBenedict, a London resident, and Alexander de Sawbridgeworth, an Exchequer clerk<ref name=Tax19>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 19</ref>—were responsible for accounting for the money received, which amounted to £3,000.<ref name=Tax34>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 34</ref> The time frame of the 1220 carucage collection was quite short; the orders for the assessments to be made were issued in August, but required the tax to be collected by [[Michaelmas]] in late September.<ref name=Tax105>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 105</ref> The 1220 tax attempted to allow for variation in land values, exempting barren land from taxation.<ref name=Lyon384>Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' p. 384</ref> The system for the 1220 assessments was simpler than the 1217 levy, as plough-teams were counted to determine the land size rather than requiring oaths from taxpayers. This tax gathered around £5,500.<ref name=Warren147/> There was some difficulty in its collection, however, as some counties did not pay, and a number of barons refused to pay, at least at first.<ref name=Tax137>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 137</ref> The 1220 carucage was levied to pay for the defence of Henry's lands in [[Poitou]], southern France.<ref name=Harriss33/>

The 1224 carucage was a tax levied only on the clergy,<ref name=Tax67>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 67</ref> and the revenues from it did not appear in that year's Pipe Roll. It is likely that the clergy who owed the carucage also collected the tax. Records indicate that the bulk of the money raised was paid into the [[Wardrobe (government)|Wardrobe]], the king's personal treasury, rather than the Exchequer.<ref name=Tax20>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 20</ref> The 1224 assessment was based on plough-teams,<ref name=Tax154/> and was imposed to pay for the restitution of the lost lands in France.<ref name=Harriss33>Harriss ''King, Parliament, and Public Finance'' p. 33</ref>

==Legacy==
The last carucage was imposed in 1224,<ref name=Tax154/> after which most of the medieval government's revenue was raised by levying taxes on moveable or personal property, instead of on land;<ref name=Lyon382>Lyon ''Constitutional and Legal History'' pp. 382–384</ref><ref name=Mitchell113>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 113</ref> taxes on moveable property were first assessed in 1207.<ref name=Campbell51/> A probable reason for the abandonment of land taxes was the greater revenues raised by taxes on property and income.<ref name=Tax237>Mitchell ''Taxation'' p. 237</ref>

Carucage was an attempt to secure new sources of revenue to supplement existing sources of income.<ref name=Harriss9/> It was also intended to increase royal revenues in the face of new demands placed upon them. Although derived from the older geld, carucage was an experiment in revenue collection, but it was only levied for specific purposes, rather than as a general tax regularly assessed. A novel feature was the consultation with the barons and other leading members of the ruling classes.<ref name=Harriss9>Harriss ''King, Parliament, and Public Finance'' pp. 9–15</ref> Despite its intermittent use during the reigns of Richard I, John, and the early years of Henry III, the main source of royal income at that time remained [[scutage]], feudal dues such as feudal reliefs or feudal aids, and royal rights such as the profits from the justice system.<ref name=Campbell51>Campbell "Some Observations on English Government" ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' pp. 51–52</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist|60em}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite journal |author=Barratt, Nick |title=The English Revenue of Richard I |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |author-link=Nick Barratt |volume=116 |issue=467 |date=June 2001 |pages=635–656 |doi=10.1093/ehr/116.467.635 |jstor=579813 |s2cid=153701963 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Barratt, Nick |title=The Revenue of King John |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |author-link=Nick Barratt |volume=111 |issue=443 |date=September 1996 |pages=835–855 |jstor=577564 |doi=10.1093/ehr/CXI.443.835 |s2cid=155471883 }}
* {{cite book |author=Bartlett, Robert C. |title=England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225 |author-link=Robert Bartlett (historian) |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-822741-8 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Campbell, James |title=Observations on English Government from the Tenth to the Twelfth Century |author-link=James Campbell (historian) |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |series=Fifth series |volume=25 |year=1975 |pages=39–54 |doi=10.2307/3679085 |jstor=3679085 |s2cid=163190585 }}
* {{cite book |author=Coredon, Christopher |title=A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases |year=2007 |edition=Reprint |publisher=D. S. Brewer |location=Woodbridge, UK |isbn=978-1-84384-138-8 }}
* {{cite book |author=Hanawalt, Barbara A. |title=The Ties that Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England |author-link=Barbara Hanawalt |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=1986 |isbn=0-19-503649-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Harriss, G. L. |title=King, Parliament, and Public Finance in Medieval England to 1369 |publisher=Clarendon Press |author-link=G. L. Harriss |location=Oxford, UK |year=1975 |isbn=0-19-822435-4 |edition=1996 Sandpiper Books reprint }}
* {{cite book |author=Hudson, John |title=The Formation of the English Common Law: Law and Society in England from the Norman Conquest to Magna Carta |author-link=John Hudson (historian) |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1996 |isbn=0-582-07027-9 }}
* {{cite book |author=Huscroft, Richard |title=Ruling England 1042–1217 |publisher=Pearson/Longman |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=0-582-84882-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Knowles, David |title=The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 |author-link=David Knowles (scholar) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1976 |edition=Second reprint |isbn=0-521-05479-6 }}
* {{cite book |author=Lawrence, C. H. |title=Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages |publisher=Longman |edition=Third |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=0-582-40427-4 }}
* {{cite book |author=Lyon, Bryce Dale |title=A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England |edition=Second |author-link=Bryce Lyon |publisher=Norton |location=New York |year=1980 |isbn=0-393-95132-4 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Mantella, F. A. C. |author2=Rigg, A. G. |title=Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide |author-link2=A. G. Rigg |year=1996 |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |location=Washington, D. C. |isbn=0-8132-0841-6 }}
* {{cite book |author=Mitchell, Sydney Knox |title=Taxation in Medieval England |publisher=Archon Books |location=Hamden, CT |year=1971 |edition=Reprint |orig-year=1951 |isbn=0-208-00956-6 }}
* {{cite book |author=Richardson, H. G. |author2=Sayles, G. O. |title=The Governance of Mediaeval England |author-link2=G.O. Sayles |year=1963 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh, UK |oclc= 492704680 }}
* {{cite book |author= Saul, Nigel |title=A Companion to Medieval England 1066–1485 |author-link=Nigel Saul |chapter=Government |pages=115–118  |year=2000 |publisher=Tempus |location= Stroud, UK |isbn=0-7524-2969-8 }}
* {{cite book |author= Saul, Nigel |title=A Companion to Medieval England 1066–1485 |author-link=Nigel Saul |chapter=Justice |pages=151–154 |year=2000 |publisher=Tempus |location= Stroud, UK |isbn=0-7524-2969-8 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Staff |title=Carucage |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |year=1989 |edition=Second |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-861186-8 }}
* {{cite book |author=Warren, W. L. |title=The Governance of Norman and Angevin England 1086–1272 |author-link=W. L. Warren |series=The Governance of England |publisher=Edward Arnold |location=London |isbn=0-7131-6378-X |year=1987 }}
* {{cite book |author=Warren, W. L. |title=King John |publisher=University of California Press |author-link=W. L. Warren |location=Berkeley, CA |year=1978 |isbn=0-520-03643-3 }}
{{refend}}

{{Taxation in medieval England}}
{{subject bar|portal1=England|portal2=History|portal3=Middle Ages|portal4=Law}}
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[[Category:1194 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Taxation in medieval England]]
[[Category:Feudal duties]]
[[Category:Property taxes]]