Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/197

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1921 AND THE DUKE OF BEDFORD 189 citizens under supervision from officials of the king to whom they rendered account. Like other taxes, actual collection was farmed to the highest bidder, 1 the various items being separately con- sidered. 2 The customary tax was 25 s.t. per ' queue ' for wine from other parts of France sold at retail, 20 s.t. for other wines, and 5 s.t. for other beverages. 3 Other sources of revenue were the arrears due to the French king for the period before the invasion, for which the new officials made composition, 4 con- fiscation of sums left in safe keeping by refugee Norman nobles or by ' brigands ', 5 profits from the mint, 6 and from the sale of provisions to English captains. 7 Altogether King Henry secured ordinary revenue amounting to 160,437 livres tournois 195. ±d. from his newly won province in the year 1419-20 (1 May — 30 April), 8 equivalent to £24,060, but apparently the income from the war itself, such as the Rouen indemnity, was so large that the expenses of the campaign were easily liquidated there- from and surpluses left in the English and Norman treasuries. 9 Meanwhile the English success had reached its apogee with the establishment of an accord with Burgundy and the conclusion of the treaty of Troyes. Henry prepared to return to England. Normandy could now, legitimately and safely, be called upon to support even more of the burden of war waged by the recognized ruler, no longer merely a successful invader, defending his province against attack. Summoning the Norman estates to Rouen he secured their consent on 18 January 1421 to the imposition of a direct tax, a ' taille ' or * fuage ' of 400,000 livres tournois for supporting the army and the garrisons in the duchy. In order to meet immediate military expenses, Henry commanded a levy of 100,000 livres tournois for 1 March, at the rate of 20 s.t. 1 Roles de Brequigny, 1090. 2 In the Archives Municipales, Lisieux CC 1, is an account of the receipts and expenditures at Lisieux under a tax of this sort granted by Henry V, 22 January 1421, presented by the local receiver and sixteen citizens before the lieutenant of the ' bailli ' of Rouen. 8 These taxes were called ' aides ' : Vire {Roles de Brequigny, 167) ; Carentan (ibid. 306, 1117); B&yeux (ibid. 315 bis, 1102); Falaise (ibid. 353, 780; Norman Rolls 15, 8 Henry V, pt. iii, m. 23 d ; ibid. 17, 10 Henry V, m. 27 d ) ; Rouen (Roles de Brequigny, 407, 1101); Caen (ibid. 530, 1091; Carel, Hist, de la Villede Caen, p. 135) ; Evreux (Roles de Brequigny, 703) ; Montivilliers (ibid. 723, 1090) ; Gisors (ibid. 861) ; Argentan (ibid. 928, 1092); Louviers (ibid. 989, 114), with which compare the French 'aide' of 1409 in Bonnin, Cartulaire de Louviers, ii, no. 427 ; Mantes (Norman Rolls 16, 9 Henry V, m. 5 d ; Grave, Archives Municipales de Mantes, pp. 310, 320). There is no mention in the Norman Rolls of the Lisieux ' aide ' (Arch. Municipales, Lisieux, CC1). 4 Exchequer Accts. 187/14, fo. 12. 5 Ibid. fo. 13 6 Ibid. This amounted to 7,154 livres tournois in 1419-20. 7 Ibid. fo. 14 r . 8 Ibid. fo. 15 9 See above, p. 173, n. 3. The Norman surplus was 5,121 livres tournois, equivalent to £768 3s. Alington computes the livre tournois as worth three shillings sterling. Sir William Philip does the same (Foreign Accts. 61 C v , 69 F r ).