The tax policy of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages

• Vereschagin S.G.

  Vereshchagin S.G. – D.Phil. in Political Science, PhD in Law,Professor, Criminal Legal Subjects Department

The article is devoted to the study of the tax policy of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, and specifcally, the history of the emergence of a number of personal taxes on the clergy in favor of St. Prestol (Roman Curia) in connection with the creation of the PapalState. Approximately from the XIII to the XIV century, the papal state actively developed new taxation schemes. In the depths of the fscal system of the medieval papacy,
which previously successfully handled all kinds of seignorial fees (qualifcation of St. Peter, Denarius of St.Peter, income from Patrimonio and others), a special group of papal taxes began to be gradually formed: church benefts, that is, personal taxes from the clergy («servitia», «annata», «visitatio ad limina apostolorum», «spolia», «procuratio» etc.). They were based on, on the one hand, careful accounting and assessment of
church property (taxes on income of the clergy), on the other hand, the fnal triumph of the idea of papal sovereignty and the right of the pontiff at his discretion to dispose of any church positions (taxes on church benefces). Based on a wide range of sources, the author examines the origin of these taxes and fees in the Early and Classical Middle Ages.

Keywords: the papacy, The Holy See, Patrimonios of St. Peter, The Avignon captivity of the popes, history of the papacy, income of the popes, taxes on income of the clergy, taxes on benefce.