Carucage facts for kids
Carucage was a special tax in medieval England. It was a tax on land, meaning how much land someone owned. King Richard I started it in 1194. This tax was used to replace an older tax called the Danegeld, which had become hard to collect.
The carucage tax was collected only six times:
- Twice by King Richard I (in 1194 and 1198).
- Once by his brother, King John (in 1200).
- Three times by John's son, King Henry III (in 1217, 1220, and 1224).
After 1224, England started using other types of taxes, like taxes on people's income or personal belongings.
To figure out how much tax people owed, the government first used information from the Domesday Book. This was a big survey of land in England. Later, they used other ways, like asking neighbors to swear how much land someone had, or counting how many plough-teams a farmer used.
Carucage didn't raise as much money as other taxes, but it still helped pay for important things. For example, it helped pay the ransom to free King Richard I in 1194 after he was captured. It also helped King John pay a tax on land he inherited in France. Later, it helped King Henry III pay for his military actions in England and Europe.
This tax was an experiment to find new ways for the king to get money. Unlike regular taxes, carucage was only collected for specific reasons. Also, later on, the king needed permission from important noblemen (called barons) to collect it. But other taxes brought in more money, so carucage was stopped after 1224.
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How Taxes Worked in Medieval England
In medieval England, the king's money and the country's money were not kept separate. The king's main ways of getting money were:
- From his own royal lands.
- From feudal rights, which were payments from nobles who held land from the king.
- From taxes.
- From fees and profits from the law courts.
Around 1130, about 40% of the king's money came from his lands, 16% from feudal rights, 14% from taxes, and 12% from courts. By 1194, land income was about 37%, feudal rights about 25%, taxes about 15%, and court income about 11%.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, England had a tax called the geld or Danegeld. This was a national tax paid by all free men (not serfs or slaves). The geld was based on the number of hides of land a person owned. A hide was a measure of land, but its size could change a lot depending on how good the land was. The king could demand this tax without asking anyone for permission.
Over time, more and more people were excused from paying the geld. This made it harder to collect. King Henry I had trouble collecting it. King Henry II collected it only twice, in 1155 and 1161–1162. The geld was not popular, so Henry II stopped collecting it after 1162.
Most of what we know about carucage comes from old financial records. These records show how much was collected and who paid. There are also some mentions of the tax in old stories written at the time.
Carucage Under King Richard I
King Richard I, Henry II's son, started a new land tax in 1194. This was the first land tax since 1162. Hubert Walter, who was in charge of England while the king was away, organized it. Like the old geld, carucage was based on how much land someone owned. This meant free men paid it, but serfs, who didn't own land, did not.
The tax was based on the size of the land, measured in hides or carucates. A carucate was the amount of land an eight-ox plough-team could plough in a year. This was usually thought to be about the same as a hide. The first tax was based on the Domesday Survey, which was a record of land ownership from 1087.
The carucage was collected again in 1198. This was called the "great carucage." At first, people paid 2 shillings for each carucate of land. Later, they had to pay an extra 3 shillings per carucate. This 1198 tax was meant to help King Richard pay for his military actions in France. It raised about £1,000. Many people tried to avoid paying, so the king later made them pay fines. This suggests the 1198 tax wasn't very successful.
To collect the 1198 tax, royal officials and local knights went to each village. They asked four villagers and the local land managers to swear how much land people owned. The sheriff (the chief royal official in a county) collected the money and sent it to the treasury. Special rules were followed to record the payments. This was probably to stop people from stealing the money.
Some church leaders and bishops did not want to pay the 1198 carucage. King Richard stopped them from using his royal courts. They had to pay a large sum of money to get access to the courts again.
Carucage Under King John
King John, Richard's brother, collected the carucage only once, in 1200. King John set the tax at three shillings for each carucate. The money from this tax was paid to a special group of people in the treasury. We don't know if the land was assessed the same way as in 1198. One writer at the time said that the king's officials collected the tax.
This carucage was raised to help King John pay a large tax to King Philip II of France for land he inherited in France. This tax was about 20,000 marks. It is estimated that this carucage raised about £3,000.
Some monasteries, especially the Cistercian ones in northern England, said they didn't have to pay taxes. King John put pressure on them. They asked Hubert Walter, who was now the Chancellor, for help. Walter got the monasteries to offer to pay £1,000 as a group. But King John said no. Later, King John ordered that all Cistercian farm animals on royal lands be taken if they didn't pay. In the end, with Walter's help, King John agreed that the Cistercian monasteries did not have to pay this tax.
Carucage Under King Henry III
King Henry III, John's son, collected the carucage three times: in 1217, 1220, and 1224. A new thing was that in 1217 and 1220, the king asked important noblemen for their permission to collect the tax.
The 1217 tax was also 3 shillings per carucate. To figure out how much land each person had, landowners had to provide the information and swear that it was correct. This money was likely sent to a separate part of the treasury. Only regular people (not clergy) paid the 1217 carucage. The clergy gave a donation instead. This money was used to pay for the war against Prince Louis of France, who had tried to take the English throne.
The 1220 carucage was collected from both regular people and clergy. It was collected by a special group and paid to the Templar Order church in London, called the New Temple. The Templars were like bankers in those days. The three men in charge of collecting this tax were responsible for the money, which was about £3,000. The tax was collected very quickly. Orders were given in August, and the tax had to be collected by late September. The 1220 tax tried to consider that some land was not as good. It did not tax barren (empty) land. For this tax, they counted plough-teams to figure out land size, instead of making people swear oaths. This tax raised about £5,500. Some counties and noblemen had trouble paying it at first. The 1220 carucage was used to pay for the defense of Henry's lands in Poitou, France.
The 1224 carucage was only for the clergy. The money from this tax was likely collected by the clergy themselves. Records show that most of the money went into the Wardrobe, which was the king's personal treasury. The 1224 tax was based on plough-teams and was used to pay for getting back lands lost in France.
What Happened Next
The last carucage was collected in 1224. After that, the government mostly raised money by taxing people's personal belongings, not just land. Taxes on personal belongings started in 1207. These new taxes probably raised more money, which is why land taxes like carucage were stopped.
Carucage was an attempt to find new ways to get money for the king. It was also meant to increase the king's income because he had new expenses. Even though it came from the older geld tax, carucage was an experiment. It was only used for specific needs, not as a regular tax. A new and important part of it was that the king started asking the noblemen for their permission. Even with carucage, the king's main sources of money were still things like scutage (money paid instead of military service), feudal payments, and money from the justice system.
