Royal Budget, England, 1307-1337.

The kings, no matter who, ruled their kingdoms as one would manage a rather large household. The government's income was the king's income and the government's expenses were the king's expenses. England was somewhat different in that the Magna Carta and the institution of parliament in the previous century had given the king's subjects some say in how he got his money. Parliament could not tell the king what to do, but they could refuse to give him more money. Many of the king's sources of income were feudal in nature. That is, they were owed personally to the king according to a previous arrangement between the king and various vassals. These arrangements could not be unilaterally changed by the king, but negotiations were always taking place to work out new deals and modify older ones.

Thus the king of England drew his, and the kingdom's, income from a variety of sources. The modern income tax was not among them, as this form of taxation was not invented (in a practical form) until the 19th century.

These figures are partially guesstimated, as notions of accounting were pretty primitive in the Fourteenth Century.

Income                  Item                    Ducats                  Notes                   

                        Customs                  7,800.000              Range: 3,800,000-

       
                                                                        14,600,000              

                        Taxes                    9,600,000              c. 3.25 a head, but     
                                                                        not so levied           

                        Mining Fees              2,100,000              Cornwall c. 60%;        
                                                                        rest Devon.             

                        Misc Fees                1,200,000              Not always levied       

                        Scutage                 7,200,000                                       

                        Clerical 10th           11,100,000              *                       

                        Aquitaine               3,000,000               By right as Duke        

                        Loans                                           Range: 7,200,000-

       
                                                                        12,000,000**            

Outlay                  Peace                   18,000,000-

                                     
                                                21,000,000                                      

                        War                     30,000,000-

             
                        
                                                48,000,000                                      

* A 10th was granted by the Pope in 1327, 1334, 1336; a 20th in 1330, 1333. As the popes were French during most of the war, no more church taxation was allowed for the duration. This had a lot to do with Henry VIII taking over control of the English church in the 16th century. It was money, not religious beliefs, that caused the most trouble in the medieval church.

**When Edward defaulted he owed his bakers (Messers Bardi & Peruzzi, of Florence) c. 410 million ducats (i.e., 1.367 million florins or 683 thousand pounds). The Bardi & Peruzzi were capitalized at about four times that, but Edward's default broke them, for all practical purposes.).

Scutage was the payment nobles made to the king when called out for military service. Those who did not, or could not, serve, paid the king money instead.