The Middle Ages

In the turbulent times that followed the disappearance of Roman authority and unity, many free men entrusted their small estates and themselves to a large landowner in exchange for protection.

Along with this custom, the custom of sovereigns, who granted their subjects and officials large portions of land to compensate them for civil or military services rendered, spread.

Towards the 8th century both phenomena merged into a single form of contract or personal relationship: the vassalage.

Political power was linked to territorial ownership and the number and loyalty of the vassals each lord possessed, so it could happen, and in fact did happen, that many feudal lords were more powerful than the king himself.

In exchange for the lord's protection, the vassals had to provide him with numerous services, especially fighting alongside him in the frequent wars against bellicose neighbors, and they had to pay him substantial rents. And while monetary taxes had increased during the Roman imperial era, these medieval rents were generally paid in kind.

It is important to note that these so-called “rents” were very much like “taxes,” because they were imposed by feudal lords.

The rights and prerogatives of the feudal lords, including the king, extended to the levies or taxes collected from the exploitation of mines, mills, furnaces, forges, forests, pastures, navigable rivers, hunting and fishing. They constituted true manorial monopolies, whose income must be considered patrimonial.

But it went further. The eminent domain of the lord or sovereign included people. Engaging in commerce or industry and exercising a trade were tasks that belonged to the feudal lord, so his permission or license was necessary to be able to carry out such activities. This permit or license entailed the payment of an amount. These are the royalties , which are protected by the prerogatives of the Crown with respect to its subjects.

At the bottom of the human hierarchy were the serfs, attached to the land. They were required to provide free labor services for the maintenance of roads, the repair of the feudal castle, the cultivation of the lord's lands, toll taxes, and rents of all kinds.

These settlers brought sacks of grain, barrels of wine, jars of oil, chickens, pigs, and sheep to the lord's castle. And if they did not do so in due time and voluntarily, the lord's troops would seize their products by force.

When this type of income, and that obtained through the sale of patrimonial assets, was not sufficient to cover the king's public and private expenses, it was necessary to resort to subsidies or aid from subjects. Thus the history of the tax would resume.