How did taxes and tribute get collected in the past? How often were they collected, by who, and how? Were there treasure fleets and caravans that shipped tons of gold between vassal and liege?
>>307666
The government/central body or whatever would set a general tax rate for a region. Then compeeting tax collectors (think of them almost as private enterprises) would bid on how MUCH tax they could get out of that region. The state went with the collector that thought it could collect the most tax.
After that, the tax collector would try to squeeze even more taxes out of the assigned region and keep all the surplus for himself as profit.
>>307666
When and where in the past?
>>307666
Medieval taxation system is a mess because medieval society had a bunch of separate institutions that would takes taxes: the local liege, the kingdom, the church, the corporations, and so on. And of course it's different by country.
Still, the main idea is that only local taxes were permanent, while the king levied (is that the word? not english, sorry) a tax only occasionally, to pay for a war or a new castle or something like that. In fact, it was a way for the crown to repay a debt: the creditor would receive from the king the right to levy a tax for the amount he was owed, and he had to do it himself.
Whether he managed to get the full sum or not, the loan was considered repaid.
>>307666
Currently reading this:
http://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/voror/Personal/heidemann/Heidemann_Texte/Heidemann_BSOAS2007_UrbanTax.pdf
It's about Damascus in the 12th century and how it raised money for tribute to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Basically Damascus promised Jerusalem a certain amount every month or year. Then Jerusalem sells bills of exchange to merchants in Jerusalem, who then travel to Damascus and demand payment of the bill they purchased.
>>307723
>What about times when there wasn't a need for immediate cash?
That never happened.
>>307723
>So someone pays in advance for the right to collect a tax from a district, and the government itself didn't bother with it?
In Ancient Rome this was the case, yes. But the Roman empire underwent a major tax reformation during Diocletian. Diocletian's Tax system noted each village, farm and household and calculated what tax they owed and in what kind. So a cattle farmer would pay in milk or meat - not necessarily gold.
Under this system, Communities were sometimes collectively responsible for footing the bill.
>>307666
in the arab world it was either convert to the religion of peace or get drowned in taxes until you starved
>>307766
Non-Muslim minorities in the Arab World were often the richest. Taxation was generally given in goods and services, while only in cities did actual coin get collected for the government.
In Aragon (a Kingdom of Spain) they create an entire institution to collect taxes based on how much they are gonna collect the next year on a place. The tributation was made by "fogaje" which means by home fire. The familly was the smallest tax paying unit (and a familly could include one individual or 14 or more...). The day by day operation and collection of taxes were made by the local authorities like the counsels.
The "fogajes" give a headache to historians because of the lack of presicion. Trento would help to achieve a precice count of the population, but wasn't aplied to the tax collection. The modern system emerge during the 18th and later (varies for country, region...).
>>307723
>What about times when there wasn't a need for immediate cash?
If you mean the cost of regular expenses of things like that, well usually the king had his own lands to make money off.
>>307723
Oh, and I forget a VERY important source of income for institutions in the middle ages: agricultural fairs.
Those were taxed and generated a MASSIVE amount of money for whoever controlled them. The story of the city of Lyon is very much linked to the king of France and the local clergy struggling for control over the fair, since it was a way to pay for the everlasting wars in Italy.
Literally by jews here in Spain.
>>307666
It started to get pretty modern after 1200-1300 in Europe.
>>307666
Legit interesting question and interesting thread, we could use more of these.
>>308315
>>307666
Agreed. But come on people, we're a fucking image board. More images.
>>307666
The Anglo-Saxons gathered taxes efficiently thanks in part to mints that produced high-quality coinage.
