Henry
III, Lord of Ireland: Grant of
Tolls in Dublin, 1233
Tolls
were sometimes granted over a limited period of time, and for a specific
object. The commodities named as entering the port of Dublin were not of such
great variety but, as is apparent from the text, the list is incomplete.
The King to his beloved and
faithful, the mayor and honest men of Dublin, greeting.
Know you that we have
conceded in aid of our city of Dublin, for the enclosing and fortifying for
security and defense of the same city, and of the parts adjacent, the following
toll, which you may take in that city of Dublin from Christmas day for three
complete years:
From every crannock of wheat
coming to be sold at Dublin, 1 obole.
From every crannock of oats
coming to be sold at the same city, 1 obole.
From every horse or mare, ox
or cow, brought here for sale, 1 denarius.
From 5 hogs brought here for
sale, 1 denarius.
From 6 sheep brought here
for sale, 1 denarius.
From every last of hides
brought here to be sold, and to be taken away, 12 denarii.
From every saccus of wool
coming to the same city for sale, 3 denarii.
From every cask of wine
coming here to be sold, 2 denarii.
From every pisa of grain
coming here for sale, 2 denarii.
From every load of lead
coming here for sale, 2 denarii.
From every bundle of cloth
or other merchandise coming here, 2 denarii.
From every crannock of salt
coming here for sale, 2 denarii.
From every pisa of fat, or
from every pisa of cheese, coming here for sale, 1 denarius.
From every cask of honey or
butter coming here for sale, 4 denarii.
From every mesa of herrings
coming here for sale, 1 quadrans.
From every centenum of
salmon coming here for sale, 1 denarius.
From every centenum of
merchandise, to be sold by weight, coming here for sale, 2 denarii.
But by reason of this grant
of ours nothing shall be taken from any of the said goods after the three years
are completed; but immediately on the completion of that period the custom
shall cease, and be utterly abolished. And therefore we command you that, as an
aid to enclosing the said city, you take the said custom up to the end of the
period, just as has been said.
Witness, the King, at
Winchelcombe, on the twenty-eighth day of October, in the eighteenth year of
our reign.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry
III, Lord of Ireland: Grant of
Tolls in Dublin, 1250
Another grant of the same
type as the one made in 1233 to Dublin was made for the same purpose in 1250.
This list is much more complete, and indicates a greater traffic or a resort to
more desperate measures for raising the necessary funds. The two Dublin grants,
because of their temporary nature and purpose, represent a departure from the
strictly feudal type of toll, and more nearly resemble a modern tariff.
The King to all, etc.,
greeting.
Be it known that for all
things, and for all salable merchandise coming into our city of Dublin, we have
granted to the good and true men, our citizens of the same city, for three
years, the following aids for the enclosing and strengthening of that city,
namely:
From every crannock of
grain, 1 quadrans.
From every crannock of
flour, either entering or leaving the port of Dublin, 1 quadrans.
From every dolium of wine, 2
denarii.
From every dolium of honey,
4 denarii.
From every fleece of wool, 1
denarius.
From every dykker of hides,
1 denarius.
From every dykter of deer
skins, goat skins, or horse hides, an obole.
From every large ship, 16
denarii.
From every small ship, 8
denarii.
From every piece of English
or foreign cloth, 1 obole.
From every piece of Irish
cloth, 1 quadrans.
From every crannock of woad,
2 denarii.
From every crannock of salt,
entering or leaving the said port, 1 quadrans.
From every bar of iron, 1
obole.
From every mesa of herrings,
entering or leaving the said port, 1 quadrans.
From every ox, cow, or mare,
1 denarius.
From eight sheep, 1
denarius.
From every hog or side of
bacon, 1 quadrans.
From a hundred boards, 1
quadrans.
From a hundred horse-irons,
1 obole.
From every pisa of onions,
or butter, or fat, 1 obole.
From every hundred pounds of
pepper, 2 denarii.
From a hundred pounds of
wax, 2 denarii.
From a hundred pounds of
alum, 2 denarii.
From every mill-stone, 1
obole.
From every hundred ells of
linen cloth, 1 denarius.
From every hundred ells of
canvas, 1 denarius.
From every load of lead, 2
denarii.
From every crannock of
beans, 1 quadrans.
From every dozen kitchen
utensils, 1 obole.
From every hundred pounds of
metal, 1 denarius.
From every hundred pounds of
fat pork, 1 denarius.
From a hundred pounds of
fat, 1 denarius.
From merchandise to the
value of 3 solidi, 1 quadrans.
From one hundred lamb-skins,
1 obole.
From one hundred
squirrel-skins, 1 denarius.
From one hundred pounds of
pitch, 1 obole.
From every load of iron, 1
obole.
From every dozen linden
cords, 1 quadrans.
Witness, the King, at
Bistlesham, on the thirtieth day of May.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
J. T. Gilbert, ed., Historical and Municipal Documents of Ireland, (London:
Longmans, Green, 1870), pp. 124-125; reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Herbert H.
Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce
Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp.
415-416. Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the
document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying,
distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do
reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for
commercial use. The text has been modernized by Prof. Arkenberg, Cal. State
Fullerton. This text is part of
the Internet Medieval Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain
and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history. © Paul
Halsall, October 1998
halsall@fordham.edu
