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Carucate
 
 
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The carucate was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw
Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of Great Britain in which the laws of the "Danes" dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons....
 counties of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, and is found for example in Domesday Book
Domesday Book

The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror....
. The word derives from the Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration....
 caruca, meaning plough
Plough

The plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture....
.

The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen
Ox

Oxen are bovinae trained as draught animals. Often they are adult, castration males. Oxen are used for ploughing, transport, hauling cargo, threshing grain by trampling, powering machines for grinding grain, irrigation or other purposes, and drawing carts and wagons....
 could till
Tillage

Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by ploughing, ripping, or turning it. Tillage can also mean the land that is tilled. There are two types of tillage: primary and secondary tillage....
 in a single annual season. It was sub-divided into oxgangs
Oxgang

An Oxgang is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15....
, or "bovates", based on the area a single ox might till in the same period, which thus represented one eighth of a carucate; and it was analogous to the hide
Hide (unit)

The hide was a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax, in History of Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th to the 11th centuries....
, a unit of tax assessment used outside the Danelaw counties.

The tax levied on each carucate came to be known as "carucage
Carucage

Carucage was the name of a type of medieval taxation in England. It was levied on land, and replaced the old danegeld, which was last collected in 1162....
".








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The carucate was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw
Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of Great Britain in which the laws of the "Danes" dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons....
 counties of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, and is found for example in Domesday Book
Domesday Book

The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror....
. The word derives from the Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration....
 caruca, meaning plough
Plough

The plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture....
.

The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen
Ox

Oxen are bovinae trained as draught animals. Often they are adult, castration males. Oxen are used for ploughing, transport, hauling cargo, threshing grain by trampling, powering machines for grinding grain, irrigation or other purposes, and drawing carts and wagons....
 could till
Tillage

Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by ploughing, ripping, or turning it. Tillage can also mean the land that is tilled. There are two types of tillage: primary and secondary tillage....
 in a single annual season. It was sub-divided into oxgangs
Oxgang

An Oxgang is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15....
, or "bovates", based on the area a single ox might till in the same period, which thus represented one eighth of a carucate; and it was analogous to the hide
Hide (unit)

The hide was a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax, in History of Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th to the 11th centuries....
, a unit of tax assessment used outside the Danelaw counties.

The tax levied on each carucate came to be known as "carucage
Carucage

Carucage was the name of a type of medieval taxation in England. It was levied on land, and replaced the old danegeld, which was last collected in 1162....
".

See also

  • Feudal measurement