tallage

American  

[tal-ij] / ˈtæl ɪdʒ /

noun

1. Medieval History. a tax paid by peasants to the lord of their manor.

2. a compulsory tax levied by the Norman and early Angevin kings of England upon the demesne lands of the crown and upon all royal towns.

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tallage British  

/ ˈtælɪdʒ /

noun

1. 1. a tax levied by the Norman and early Angevin kings on their Crown lands and royal towns

   2. a toll levied by a lord upon his tenants or by a feudal lord upon his vassals

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verb

1. (tr) to levy a tax (upon); impose a tax (upon)

Etymology

Origin of tallage

1250–1300; Middle English taillage < Old French taill ( ier ) to cut, tax ( see tail ²) + Middle English -age -age

Example Sentences

Arbitrary tallage was almost invariably abolished by the town charters.

From A Source Book of Medi?val History Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance by Ogg, Frederic Austin

He rendered an account to the Crown of the shares of tallage paid by the men of the Ward and presided over the Wardmotes.

From Our Legal Heritage by Reilly, S. A.

On the boundary between personal subjection and political subordination we find the liability of the peasantry to pay tallage.

From Villainage in England Essays in English Mediaeval History by Vinogradoff, Paul

In 1217 the young King, or rather his advisers, sent the Archbishop of Dublin to that city to levy a "tallage," or tax, for the royal benefit.

From An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 by Cusack, Mary Frances

On the other hand, their common folk are so crushed down with gabelle, and poll-tax, and every manner of cursed tallage, that the spirit has passed right out of them.

From The White Company by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir