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

See Examples For:

Danegeld

Though there were no Danish invaders now, William continued to levy the Danegeld, and he had rents and payments due to him in many quarters which had been due to his predecessors.

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

King Ethelred and his cowardly, selfish Court were well satisfied with this expedient, and the tax called Danegeld was laid upon the people, in order to raise a fund for buying off the enemy.

From A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Mary Yonge

On the other hand, the fact that Edmund agreed to levy Danegeld in his own kingdom of Wessex looks suspiciously like the recognition of Canute as overlord of the southern kingdom.

From Canute the Great The Rise of Danish Imperialism during the Viking Age by Laurence Marcellus Larson

At a Great Council at Woodstock he resisted the king's resolution to levy the old tax of Danegeld, and in consequence Danegeld was never levied again.

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

A new land tax replaced the Danegeld tax.

From Our Legal Heritage by S. A. Reilly