Danegeld

American  

[deyn-geld] / ˈdeɪnˌgɛld /

Also danegeld,

noun

1. (in medieval England) an additional tax on land believed to have been levied originally as a tribute to the Danish invaders but later continued for other purposes.

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Danegeld British  

/ ˈdeɪnˌɡɛlt, ˈdeɪnˌɡɛld /

noun

1. the tax first levied in the late 9th century in Anglo-Saxon England to provide protection money for or to finance forces to oppose Viking invaders

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Etymology

Origin of Danegeld

before 1150; Middle English denegeld, danegeld, Old English (Domesday Book) Danegeld. See Dane, geld ²

Example Sentences

A "hide" was the unit of assessment on which the Danegeld was paid in Saxon times— 1 virgate = 1/4 of a hide.

From Lynton and Lynmouth A Pageant of Cliff & Moorland by Presland, John

Again, was the size of the hide fixed at 120 acres to make the work of reckoning the amount of Danegeld, or hidage, a simple process?

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various

Besides all kinds of irregular expedients the Danegeld had been practically revived, and to it was now given the name of carucage, a tax of two shillings on every plough-land.

From A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII by Gardiner, Samuel Rawson

The same year King Edward abolished the Danegeld which King Ethelred imposed.

From The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by Ingram, J. H. (James Henry)

Various conjectures have been hazarded, and the unit is undoubtedly older than the Danegeld.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various