Carucage
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.
It paid the 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 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.
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.
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.
[7][c] English taxation after the 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 hides of land owned by the taxpayer,[8][d] 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'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.
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.
[27] 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.
[20] 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.
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.
[12] 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.
[39] The money raised was intended to defray the expense of the war being fought against Prince Louis of France, who had invaded England before the death of King John and was claiming the English throne.
[40] The 1220 carucage, which was imposed on both laymen and clergy,[36] was collected by a special commission and was paid not into the Exchequer, but to the Templar Order church in London, the New Temple.
[36] 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.
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.
