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Royal Taxation in Fourteenth-Century France: The Captivity and Ransom of John II, 1356-1370
With this volume, Professor John Henneman of the University of Iowa concludes a decade of research into the development of French royal finance in the fourteenth century. An earlier work studied in detail the crown's finances between 1322 and 1356 when France was still in the "age of the war subsidy" and taxes were temporary wartime expedients. This book is a sequel to that study, and it shows how the capture of King John II in 1356 led to a critical change in the history of royal taxation.
In the king's absence, the Estates General failed to secure adequate revenues, fell victim to factional strife, and were discredited. To ransom the monarch, the government imposed, without serious opposition, the aides and gabelle, the first regular taxes in French history. Other taxes were needed to combat the serious brigandage of soldiers left unemployed when John II was captured. These were usually fouages (apportioned hearth takes). With these annual revenues, the monarchy was able to finance an army that won important victories in the 1370's.
In the king's absence, the Estates General failed to secure adequate revenues, fell victim to factional strife, and were discredited. To ransom the monarch, the government imposed, without serious opposition, the aides and gabelle, the first regular taxes in French history. Other taxes were needed to combat the serious brigandage of soldiers left unemployed when John II was captured. These were usually fouages (apportioned hearth takes). With these annual revenues, the monarchy was able to finance an army that won important victories in the 1370's.
354 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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