A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by metonymy on each family unit. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area.
Hearth tax was levied in the Byzantine Empire from the 9th century, France and England from the 14th century, and finally in England, Scotland and Ireland in the 17th century.
Read more about Hearth Tax: Hearth Tax Research
Famous quotes containing the words hearth and/or tax:
“Ye gentle souls, who dream of rural ease,
Whom the smooth stream and smoother sonnet please;
Go! if the peaceful cot your praises share,
Go, look within, and ask if peace be there:
If peace be his—that drooping weary sire,
Of theirs, that offspring round their feeble fire,
Or hers, that matron pale, whose trembling hand
Turns on the wretched hearth th’ expiring brand.”
—George Crabbe (1754–1832)
“In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)