167:(1215), of the clauses concerning the regulation of relief, that the question of the exaction of extortionate reliefs was one of the major complaints made by the barons to King John. These clauses, in order numbers 2 and 3 follow no other but a clause which promises the free election of bishops to the English church, an issue of paramount significance in the mediaeval world. There can be no better exposition of the charging structure than that given in the Charter itself, which is quoted as follows:
91:: the king would re-grant the fief to the heir in priority to a third party, so long as the heir paid his fine. This was a valuable right as the heir was more expert in the exploitation of the fief in question than of any other comparable estate of land, for example he was aware through experience of its optimal cropping rotation based on its differing soil-types and micro-climates, and he had available a local work-force loyal to his family.
171:(2) "If any earl, baron or other person who holds lands directly from the Crown for military service shall die, and at his death his heir shall be of full age and owe a Relief, the heir shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of Relief. That is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl's barony, the heir or heirs of a knight 100 shillings at most for the entire
200:, in both cases restoring the rates to their traditional levels. Although no mention appears to be made of the rates payable by barons for their baronies, it is known that the level set was as for earls, £100. The relative proportion of relief for barony and knight's fee of 20:1 seems to imply that originally a barony consisted of, or was equivalent in some way, to twenty knight's fees.
86:
as a reward for past service, there was no logical reason in feudal terms why the tenant's heir should take up the fief without himself having provided the king with some similar valuable past service. The payment of a fine for such "relief" can thus be seen within the logic of feudalism as payment
70:. The payment thus obtains an heir's "relief" by his being "re-elevated" or "lifted-up again" into the place of honour and privilege formerly occupied by his predecessor.
151:
of 1215, the standard rates became one quarter of a year's profit of the estate payable by an under-tenant, and a full year's profit payable by a non-baronial
209:
140:
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to record financial receipts. The Pipe Roll of 6 Henry III (1222) contains the following entry:
272:
Davis, G.R.C., Magna Carta, Published by the
British Library Board, London, 4th. ed.,1982, p.24
23:
payable to an overlord by the heir of a feudal tenant to license him to take possession of his
229:
Sanders, I.J. English
Baronies, A Study of their Origin & Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960
196:
and were therefore themselves barons) at £100 and for knights at 100 shillings (i.e. £5) per
58:, to raise, lift up, elevate, with the addition of the Latin inseparable adverbial particle
83:
293:
8:
175:
and any man that owes less shall pay less in accordance with the ancient usage of fees".
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62:, which has three distinct meanings: back, against and again. The Latin composite verb
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197:
172:
152:
32:
245:
Cassell's Latin
Dictionary, revised by Marchant & Charles, 260th. thousand
188:, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without Relief or fine".
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192:
In summary, therefore, Magna Carta set feudal relief for earls (who all held
87:
in-lieu of such past service. Thus the right to inherit a fief was akin to a
28:
164:
148:
185:
100:
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The equivalent duty at the lower levels of the feudal hierarchy was
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294:
Canute, King of the
English: On Heriots and Reliefs, c. 1016-1035
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79:
24:
254:
Sanders, 1960, op.cit. p.30, barony of Caxton, footnote 6
147:, it is termed "baronial relief", set at £100. Following
20:
263:
Encyclopædia
Britannica, 9th. ed., vol. 14, "Knighthood"
66:
results. The term used in mediaeval Latin charters is
180:(3) "But if the heir of such a person is under age
300:
163:It is clear from the pre-eminent positioning in
103:was a class of parchment roll used by the
94:
54:The word relief comes from the Latin verb
112:Ricardus filius Willelmi de Scalariis II
31:, by inheritance. It is comparable to a
122:Richard son of William de Scalarius II
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210:History of the English fiscal system
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19:was a one-off "fine" or form of
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143:, that is to say one who held
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212:, section: Sources of revenue
126:concerning half a barony.....
33:death duty or inheritance tax
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49:
7:
203:
82:were originally granted by
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325:
281:Sanders, 1960, preface, vi
223:
44:le droit du meilleur catel
116:de dimidia baronia...£...
95:Example from Pipe Rolls
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84:William the Conqueror
135:Varieties of relief
139:In the case of a
89:pre-emption right
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42:(in England) or
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130:...prob. £50)
124:for his relief
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29:estate-in-land
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198:knight's fee
194:per baroniam
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173:knight's fee
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145:per baroniam
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141:feudal baron
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128:the sum of £
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165:Magna Carta
149:Magna Carta
234:References
27:, i.e. an
309:Feudalism
182:(i.e. 21)
101:Pipe Roll
74:Rationale
50:Etymology
303:Category
204:See also
105:Treasury
68:Relevius
21:taxation
224:Sources
184:and a
64:relevo
40:heriot
80:fiefs
186:ward
99:The
56:levo
25:fief
78:As
60:re-
305::
155:.
35:.
118:(
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