medieval-atlas/economic-development/304

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Taxation in medieval Scotland Preserved among the exchequer rolls are summaries of recei pts from the taxes levied as contributions towards David IT's ransom. The nature of the returns differs significantly from the 1366 assessments in that taxes were collected by the sheriffs from lay freeholders and their tenants and by diocesan officials from the clergy and their tenants. It is unclear whether the structure of the 1366 assessments had been primarily dictated by the preoccupations of the Scottish parliament or by the nature of the earlier assessments (which had related to aids payable by tenants holding lands in fee from the crown and to dues on spiritualities owed to the papacy). The former seems more probable. The prelates and barons must have been deeply worried about a steep decline in their income. They sought to spread the tax burden and to highlight their predicament to the king by comparing the latest available assessments with the earlier standards. The figures mapped below are derived from the highest recorded return from each source. The returns cover six years: 1365, 1366,1368,1369,1370 and 1373. In 1365 the burghs compounded to pay a fixed sum and other groups were taxed at a rate of Is in the pound (a twentieth), which was the general rate in 1366 and 1370. In 1368 the burghs again to pay a fixed sum and the "\3 tax rate for other groups was set at 6d in the pound (a fortieth). The rate for all groups in 1369 was 3d in the pound (an eightieth). While in 1373 the clergy and their tenants were taxed at a rate of 6d in the pound and other groups at Is in the pound. Most sheriffdoms and dioceses contributed in all years, but their returns fluctuated greatly in value and contributions from many sources seem to have been forthcoming only in certain years. In lands controlled by the earl of Ross and in the dioceses of Caithness and Sodor no taxes may have been collected in the years from 1365 onwards. In the diocese of Argyll tax returns were made only in 1365 and 1373; modest returns from the sheriffdom of Argyll were made in 1365 and 1369, but the lordship of the Isles submitted no return until 1373 and it is probable that was also the case on the Argyll estates of the Steward (by 1373 King Robert II). In the south, returns from the sheriffdoms of Edinburgh, Berwick, Selkirk and Wigtown wef(~ irregular and fluctuated wildly. The fluctuations in Midlothian are particularly surprising, and the few returns from East Lothian are too low to be credible. ' Because no detailed accounts have survived, it is impossible to gauge the thoroughness of the tax collectors or to estab!H;h whether all classes of society were included (there were large substrata in town and country below burgesses and husbandmen, the lowest classes specifically mentioned in the 1366 legislation). The best that can be said is that the summary assessments and returns from 1365 to 1373 provide the most comprehensive statistical representation available of medieval Scottish society. .. : . : . : . : . :[0;67]' : . : . : . : £s per square mile of sheriffdoms" 8.00 and over "for sheriffdoms see Section V Under 2.00 Taxed income of lay freeholders and their tenants 1365 to 1373 ASt 304

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