Tithe
Topic: Medieval Europe: Feudalism and the Three Orders · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "The Three Orders"
Meaning
A tithe was a tax of one-tenth of what peasants produced from their land each year. It was paid to the Church, not to the king or the lord. The tithe, along with gifts of land and money from rich people hoping for a better afterlife, made the Church one of the biggest landholders in medieval Europe.
Example
A peasant in a medieval French village who harvested ten sacks of grain owed one sack to the Church. This was on top of the labour and dues he owed his lord.
Don't confuse with
- Taille: a direct tax that kings sometimes collected from peasants only. The clergy and nobles did not pay it. The tithe went to the Church, while the taille went to the king.
Related concepts
- Catholic Church
- Papacy
- Clergy
- Monasticism
- Benedictine order
- Friars
- Hildegard of Bingen
- Canterbury Tales