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Beginning in the twelfth century, taxation increasingly became an essential component of medieval society in most parts of Europe. The state-building process and relations between princes and their subject cities or between citizens and their rulers were deeply shaped by fiscal practices. Although medieval taxation has produced many publications over the past decades there remains no synthesis of this important subject. This volume provides a comprehensive overview on a European scale and suggests new paths of inquiry. It examines the fiscal systems and practices of medieval Europe, including essential themes such as medieval fiscal theory and the power to tax; royal and urban taxation; and Church taxation. It goes on to survey the entire European continent, as well as including comparative chapters on the non-European medieval world, exploring questions on how taxation developed and functioned; what kinds of problems authorities encountered assessing their fiscal power; and the circulation of fiscal cultures and practices across cities and kingdoms. The book also provides a glossary of the most important types of medieval taxes, giving an essential definition of key terms cited in the chapters. The Routledge Handbook of Public Taxation in Medieval Europe will appeal to a large audience, from seasoned scholars who need a comprehensive synthesis, to students and younger scholars in search of an overview of this critical subject.

Although Portugal was one of the first European states with stable borders, the process of the making of a Portuguese fiscal state still remains to be studied in detail. This volume brings together studies on the development of the Portuguese fiscal state within a comparative perspective in relation to other kingdoms across Europe, such as Castile and Aragon, England, Tuscany, the Papal States, Holland and France, in order to bring Portugal into the broader and comparative international debate about the development of the fiscal state.As a very distinctive case, Portugal remains understudied and underrepresented in the broader literature on the development of fiscal states. There are relatively few studies on the building of a fiscal state in Portugal that are accessible to an international audience. This book will make a fundamental contribution to this field, which is still full of untapped potential. It will combine the latest theory and comparative context with a detailed reconstruction of Portuguese state finance, taking a longer chronological frame that follows its development from the medieval through to the early modern period. It will also make the latest research from Portuguese scholars available to a wider, international audience, and will be of particular interest to researchers and students of financial and economic history. ​

Dieser informative und unterhaltsame Parforceritt durch die Steuergeschichte zeigt, wie sehr Steuern und Zwangsabgaben seit jeher Geschichte mitschrieben: Oft waren Steuerproteste Keimzellen von Aufständen, Revolutionen und Staatsgründungen. Im 16. Jahrhundert erschütterten die Bauernkriege Europa, im 18. Jahrhundert führten freiheitsliebende Steuerrebellen mit der Bostoner Tea Party zur Unabhängigkeit der USA. Nicht zuletzt entsprang die Französische Revolution 1789 in weiten Teilen dem Hass gegen das Steuergebaren des Ancien Regime. Parallel hat sich das historisch gewachsene deutsche Steuerrecht bis heute zu einem'Dämon'entwickelt, den niemand mehr im Griff zu haben scheint. Es ist undurchschaubar, verwirrend, widersprüchlich und wird insbesondere vom sogenannten kleinen Mann als ungerecht, geradezu als Raubrittertum empfunden. Kein Wunder, denn bis zur Mitte eines jeden Jahres arbeitet der deutsche Arbeitnehmer allein für den Fiskus. Und greift daher oft zur Selbsthilfe: Steuerumgehung, Steuerflucht und Schattenwirtschaft, Steuerhinterziehung und Subventionsbetrug sind hierzulande geradezu zum Volkssport geworden. Als historisch motiviertes Plädoyer nimmt auch die 2., durchgesehene Auflage Anliegen und Schlachtruf der gebeutelten Steuerzahler wieder auf: Bürger, schlagt der vielköpfigen Hydra die Köpfe ab und engagiert euch für ein Steuerrecht, das „einfach, niedrig und gerecht“ ist!

Price theory has provided solutions to myriad problems affecting society without invoking any precepts beyond those encapsulated in the standard economic postulate. Fiscal theory, meanwhile, has been closely attentive to the political, sociological and historical circumstances that bear upon the fiscal act. This methodological duality has resulted in the development of fiscal theory in line with the political culture espoused by its originator, usually the one prevailing at home. Thus emerges the need for an analysis of the evolution of fiscal thought along national lines.