TAXES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. 163 



Mr. Hallam' 1 has stated that the special legates of the 

 pope "lived in splendour at the expense of the bishops of 

 " the province." It is quite probable that the bishops were 

 called on to contribute towards the charges of these unwel- 

 come visitants j but it will be seen from the accounts given, 

 that the ecclesiastical tenants, even though the corporation 

 possessing impropriations was really lay, contributed equally. 

 Sometimes considerable sums were paid, as from Oxford in 

 1295 and 1297, from Elham in 1346, from Gamlingay and 

 Dodington in 1348; from the former place again in 1374, 

 and from Wolford in 1375. 



Some taxes are paid to the archbishop and archdeacon. 

 Thus, a tenth is granted to the former official from Elham 

 in 1351. These payments are called procurations and syno- 

 dals words which still linger in ecclesiastical language. 



Again, there were charges incurred by impropriators, as it 

 would seem, for the fabric of the church, which have been 

 already adverted to f . 



It will be seen, also, that payments are made at the assay 

 of measures, as, for instance, in 1350 and in 1398^. 



The expenses of the warden of Merton in the parliament 

 of 1399, and the oblation for King Richard, are significant. 



d Middle Ages, chap. vii. part i. 



See for an account of the claims made by cardinals to maintenance from the funds of 

 the clergy, in the year 1337, Adam of Monmouth; who says that the regular rate was 

 threepence to the mark, that the cardinals demanded eightpence, and finally accepted 

 tourpence. A similar complaint is made by the same author about the charges levied in 

 1311, when two cardinals came to England to negotiate the transfer of the Templars' 

 lands to the Hospitallers. The rate acknowledged by Adam of Monmouth is excessive ; 

 but it is paid at Wolford (anno 1338). Vol. ii. p. 562. iv. 



' Supra, p. 119. S Vol. ii. p. 616. 



