medieval-atlas/economic-development/317

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Burgh tax assessments: Aberdeen and Edinburgh In Edinburgh the crafts until 1583 paid a fixed 20% of taxation and their distinctive structure was not unlike that of the poorest of the burgh's quarters, the south-east. Their own pyramid also reflects the numbers within the new craft aristocracy, of tailors, goldsmiths and the like. Yet for Edinburgh tax statistics are distinctly misleading because lawyers escaped taxation. A measure of their wealth can be gleaned from an unusual contribution list of 1565 which included 31 ofthem; by the time ofthe poll tax of 1694 the lawyers paid more than all the burgh's merchants and craftsmen put together. ~ection Trinity or House Nor' Loch College Kirk SI. Paul's work North-west Canongate Castle North-east Tolbooth St G~ile;s~:F~::::tIT9!~~~~~::::::q~§~~== Parliament lj Tron Kirk House Cow ate Edinburgh: quarters In the capital the top 10% owned a remarkable 56% of the burgh's wealth. Here, there was a much sharper contrast between the four quarters: the north-west, which included the north side of the Lawnmarket, had a marked concentration of wealth within it; the Edinburgh tax assessments 1565 South-east St. Leonards Numbers taxed in each quarter 1583 south-east, below and to the east of St. Giles', had already by far the largest numbers as well as the greatest proportion of poor. The two southern quarters would be the area which would experience the largest increases in population over the next fifty years and in 1635 have some of the lowest average rents. Taxpayers Tax assessment % 10.0+ 9.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.75 0.50 0.25 Average All Edinburgh r~1of taxpayers 1.2 1.3 1.0 1.3 2.3 3.3 3.2 North-west % 2.8 North-east 01< 3.~ South-west % ~ 1.3 South-east O.~o 0.0 1.9 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 Edinburgh 2.8 1.4 1.0 0.6 craftsmen 1.2 1.9 0.8 0.6 3.9 0.9 0.8 0.3 0.8 2.4 2.3 2.2 1.7 0.8 4.3 2.0 2.2 Social structure of burgh tax assessments, Edinburgh 1583 ML 317

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