Danegeld (redirected from Dane Geld)

Danegeld (dān`gĕld'), medieval land tax originally raised to buy off raiding Danes and later used for military expenditures. In England the tribute was first levied in 868, then in 871 by Alfred, and occasionally thereafter. Under Æthelred (965?–1016) it became a regular tax, and was collected by later rulers until the 12th cent., when it was converted into tallage.

---

Danegeld

Tax levied in Anglo-Saxon England to buy off Danish invaders during the reign of Ethelred II (978–1016). The term continued to be used to refer to taxes collected by the Anglo-Norman kings in the 11th and 12th century.

---

Danegeld 

an old tax in England during the Middle Ages. It was collected for the first time from the entire country in 991 as a payment to the Scandinavians (usually called Danes in England) who had attacked England. Beginning in the early 11th century, the danegeld assumed the character of a tax and was retained even after the Scandinavian raids were over. It was a special collection at first and then was exacted more or less regularly; it laid a heavy burden on the masses. In 1051 it was abolished, but after the Norman Conquest in 1066 it was again repeatedly levied. In 1163 it was replaced by a new tax, the carucage (plough tax).