Also known as: gelds · gelded · gelding · geldable · gelt · tax · tribute
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A historical tax paid to the Crown under Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings.
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In 1086 William the Conqueror ordered a survey of all English lands. The reeve of a Sussex manor collected the geld from each hide and delivered the silver to the royal treasury before the next Easter. Payment cleared the manor's obligation for that year.
King Ethelred set the geld at eight pence per hide to fund defense against Danish raids. The rate stayed below the customary maximum of ten pence that the witan would approve. The limit prevented any higher assessment on the landholders.
After the Battle of Hastings, Harold's remaining lands passed by operation of law to William. Because title changed without a new grant from the former owner, no fresh geld assessment attached to the transfer. The royal clerks recorded the change without additional tax rolls.
A thegn purchased an estate still subject to an unpaid geld assessment from 1065. The tax lien appeared in the royal records and reduced the purchase price because the buyer demanded assurance of release. The transaction proceeded only after the Crown acknowledged satisfaction.
A shire reeve challenged a local assessment of geld before the king's justices. The court exercised jurisdiction because the dispute presented a substantial royal question about the tax's validity under the ancient customs. The justices ordered the rolls produced.
A group of thegns refused to pay the geld levied by the sheriff of Kent. The royal court upheld the tax as a legitimate exercise of sovereign power necessary to support the crown, rejecting the claim that it exceeded customary bounds.
Geld originated as a tax paid to the Crown under Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings.
No. Modern transfers rely on deeds and recording acts rather than the historical geld tax.
Geld was assessed on land hides at rates set by the crown or witan. It was unrelated to later constitutional caps on import duties.
…agency declines to place children with same-sex married couples. Indeed, the Solicitor General candidly acknowledged that the tax exemptions of some religious institutions would be in question if they opposed same-sex marriage. See Tr. of Oral Arg. on Question 1, at 36–38. There is little doubt that these and similar…