TAXES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. 155 



and of the proctors in Convocation. A third liability, affecting 

 ecclesiastical fees only, was that of compulsory contributions 

 for the maintenance of cardinals, foreign bishops, and nuncios 

 during their stay in England. To these may be added taxes 

 for the fabric of the church. Taxes are even levied for 

 domestic corporations. Thus we shall see that some payments 

 are made to the University for the purpose, it appears, of 

 meeting occasional necessities. 



Some lands were exempt from taxation. Tenants in ancient 

 demesne, as is well known, were free from such liabilities. 

 Thus, although I have not discovered formal evidence that the 

 manor of Holywell in Oxford was land of this character, I have 

 little doubt of the fact, since there is no tax levied from this 

 estate, except on one occasion (p. 563. ii.), in which we find 

 the contributions of a tithe, of a fee paid to the Pope's clerk, 

 and of a rateable portion of the proctors' wages. These taxes 

 did not issue, in fact, from the Holywell estate, but were 

 liabilities on St. Peter's church, which, for some trivial reason, 

 were not actually paid by the incumbent of the parish, or by 

 the College, but by the Holywell bailiff on their behalf. 



Attempts to evade taxation by means of a formal release 

 on the part of the crown are not rare. A specimen of such 

 an attempt is given in vol. ii. p. 669. The writ sets forth 

 that the warden and fellows of Merton petition for a relief 

 from all tallages, fifteenths, and prises levied or to be levied 

 in the county, to hold their lands in free alms, and to be 

 quit of all contributions except such tenths as may be from 

 time to time levied on their churches. The writ is addressed 

 to John de Aulton, escheator of the county of Oxford, and 

 orders an inquisition " ad quod damnum," the writ to be 

 returned to the Chancery. The teste to the writ is Lionel 

 of Antwerp, the king's second son, then Gustos Anglise, is 

 issued from Reading, that is, I suppose, from St. Mary's Abbey, 

 and is dated in 1347, the year before the Great Plague. The 

 petition does not seem to have been successful, for though 

 shortly after this time the College generally abandons farming 



