How Were Medieval Taxes Collected? (Short Animated Documentary)

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  • Опубліковано 20 лис 2019
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    How were medieval taxes collected? They just did the rounds and picked it up, who'd have guessed? Also, rich people didn't pay it.
    Sources:
    State, Feudal, and Private Economy in Byzantium by Alexander Kazhdan
    Economic Factors in the Decline of the Byzantine Empire by Peter Charanis
    On the Importance of Land Tenure and Agrarian Taxation in the Byzantine Empire, from the Fourth Century to the Fourth Crusade by Kenneth M. Setton

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,1 тис.

  • @tomdumb6937
    @tomdumb6937 3 роки тому +4248

    Emperor Tiberius famously said when the tax gatherers brought him more than he had asked for; "I want my sheep sheared, not butchered!"

    • @mikehawk2003
      @mikehawk2003 3 роки тому +83

      Which Tiberius

    • @stickman8459
      @stickman8459 3 роки тому +580

      @@j.p.sumando56 *do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down*

    • @albinandersson1154
      @albinandersson1154 3 роки тому +54

      @@stickman8459 lol

    • @drybrucke1
      @drybrucke1 3 роки тому +79

      @@mikehawk2003 The 2nd Roman Emperor

    • @kohndoe9440
      @kohndoe9440 2 роки тому +28

      @@j.p.sumando56 did he get his vengeance in this life or after?

  • @zechariahtlee
    @zechariahtlee 4 роки тому +5621

    "One thing was consistent, nobody liked paying them." History repeats itself!

    • @kayoxdlivebr
      @kayoxdlivebr 4 роки тому +88

      Except for those guys on Sweden

    • @merrittanimation7721
      @merrittanimation7721 4 роки тому +128

      The only certanties in life are death and taxes, as they say.

    • @clonetrooper730
      @clonetrooper730 4 роки тому +15

      Still true to this day...

    • @quotenbalkaner7066
      @quotenbalkaner7066 4 роки тому +24

      @@merrittanimation7721 not for an entrepreneur in Luxembourg.

    • @Doogie2K3
      @Doogie2K3 4 роки тому +45

      And that the nobility get privileges (loopholes) to reduce their tax bill.

  • @numbskull4899
    @numbskull4899 4 роки тому +4203

    I feel this was made cuz history matters got mad at his tax price

    • @haramsaddam238
      @haramsaddam238 4 роки тому +183

      You’d feel the same if you lived in England

    • @quotenbalkaner7066
      @quotenbalkaner7066 4 роки тому +152

      Cries in German
      _Feeling pity for Belgium because they have to give more than 50% to the state_

    • @omayaki5264
      @omayaki5264 4 роки тому +20

      @@quotenbalkaner7066 German taxes aren't that High If you don't make much Money.

    • @quotenbalkaner7066
      @quotenbalkaner7066 4 роки тому +99

      @@omayaki5264 yes however every German must pay public health and pension insurance and even if you earn less than 1k per month you still get taxed by 20%. What are you gonna afford with 800€? The cheapest rent you can get is in problem districts with social housing around 400- 500€ . Then you have to pay groceries and due to euro inflation you pay 1,40€ for one 500gramm Butter ( 15 years before you would only pay 20-40¢). So in case you buy low end food you get onto 35€ a week which makes it 140€ a month for Groceries. Plus Water Bill, Electric Bill, Internet, Transportation and you basically have up 90% for basic needs. now imagine feeding a whole family with 1k. And then people are asking why do we get so less children.

    • @omayaki5264
      @omayaki5264 4 роки тому +26

      @@quotenbalkaner7066 I agree that there is to few social housing and that the wages are too low. But cutting health insurance tax wouldn't really help. Because if you would get sick in the Case you yust mentioned you can simply declare bankruptcy. Imagine paying the hospital bill for your child...

  • @TheNinjaDC
    @TheNinjaDC 4 роки тому +3702

    "Peasants had some protections, as you couldn't tax them too much, or revolts would erupt."
    *France enters the classroom late*
    France: Did I miss anything important?

    • @foty8679
      @foty8679 4 роки тому +111

      Boston Tea Party

    • @thebeastgamerharris7816
      @thebeastgamerharris7816 4 роки тому +43

      Sorry mate I'm stealing that

    • @dgfdgdfgemglrgmle6017
      @dgfdgdfgemglrgmle6017 4 роки тому +164

      Great Britain: No, I don't thinks so.

    • @nick0875
      @nick0875 3 роки тому +54

      Well how else would they keep fighting long drawn out 18th century wars that generally didn't go anywhere and ended on draws where minor concessions would be made?

    • @DumbledoreMcCracken
      @DumbledoreMcCracken 3 роки тому +7

      @@nick0875 just like today

  • @matthewparcell79
    @matthewparcell79 4 роки тому +2629

    Wait so they’re not collected by huge men with clubs who will beat over the head of you don’t pay them?

    • @archer1088
      @archer1088 4 роки тому +157

      Mount and blade reference???

    • @TheSilkKing1
      @TheSilkKing1 4 роки тому +91

      The black knight from the Flash games!

    • @claimingseven72
      @claimingseven72 4 роки тому +17

      Damn there goes my weekend

    • @graysonguinn1943
      @graysonguinn1943 4 роки тому +23

      @Mr.Denton ah shit is it harvesting season already?

    • @jipeh
      @jipeh 4 роки тому +41

      @Mr.Denton I am not afraid of you. I will fight.
      You have 6 troops fit for battle against their 42.

  • @ianstephens1134
    @ianstephens1134 4 роки тому +780

    “One thing was consistent, nobody liked paying them,”
    Some things never change

    • @seneca983
      @seneca983 4 роки тому +8

      I've heard multiple people, mostly those who lean left politically, say they are happy to pay their taxes. So things have in fact changed, somewhat.

    • @julianratering8500
      @julianratering8500 4 роки тому +17

      @@seneca983 I guess the difference is that now the state actually gives to the people instead of just heavy taxation for destructive wars.

    • @julianratering8500
      @julianratering8500 4 роки тому +13

      @Justinian the Great Hahaha maybe in the US but not here in Europe. They would be stupid to do so since the speed limit is 100 km/h right now! But seriously keep thinking that taxes are theft while you drive to work on well maintained roads and your trash is taken care off while you complain on the internet. Not paying taxes makes you somewhat of a third world citizen.

    • @ZohmBe
      @ZohmBe 4 роки тому +18

      @@julianratering8500 Hahaha maybe that is why people in the US are saying taxation is theft because they are not spending it on the people but keeping it for themselves. People are now talking in the US about defunding, abolishing the police. Good luck collecting taxes without some kind of force.

    • @TomorrowWeLive
      @TomorrowWeLive 2 роки тому +3

      yeah, we've got leftie bootlickers who love being wallet-r*ped by the long cock of the state

  • @jonbaxter2254
    @jonbaxter2254 4 роки тому +2210

    "Give us, like, half of what you've earned this year"
    Oof, that's too real.

    • @ulyssessphoenix2745
      @ulyssessphoenix2745 4 роки тому +45

      What country do you live in were 50% is taxed?

    • @quotenbalkaner7066
      @quotenbalkaner7066 4 роки тому +148

      Step 1: Earning a quite nice wage.
      Step 2: Getting Taxed 50%
      Step 3: Paying 50% of your net income for the rent and 25% for Food, Clothing Hygiene etc
      Step 4: ???????
      Step 5: actually no Profit because you have to pay your Student loan debt up.

    • @thatoneguy7191
      @thatoneguy7191 4 роки тому +108

      @@ulyssessphoenix2745 Belgium has a 50% tax rate

    • @kaderpdi1982
      @kaderpdi1982 4 роки тому +85

      @@quotenbalkaner7066 step 5: fake your death
      Step 6:move to tax havens

    • @BoxStudioExecutive
      @BoxStudioExecutive 4 роки тому +84

      Keaos0 no it isn’t you dumbass

  • @-Benedict
    @-Benedict 3 роки тому +1464

    Next question: How often did medieval tax collectors find themselves tragically, accidentally, brutally stabbed to death?

    • @benthomason3307
      @benthomason3307 2 роки тому +202

      ...asking for a friend

    • @lucasbispodossantos5074
      @lucasbispodossantos5074 2 роки тому +56

      Same rate tax evasion happen nowadays hhahaha.

    • @adrianpadin1840
      @adrianpadin1840 2 роки тому

      Short answer is not very often because if you did, you'd be guaranteed to get a visit from a gang of government-paid armed thugs showing up not long after

    • @trpimirkarlovic838
      @trpimirkarlovic838 2 роки тому +52

      Did they go on to collect taxes without any guards around them?

    • @Yesthatrob
      @Yesthatrob Рік тому

      Well it definitely happened. An extreme example at the end of the Medieval period would be the Earl of Northumberland who was murdered in a riot in York over a tax increase which was ordered by Henry VII to finance a quick war with France

  • @tweisbek2
    @tweisbek2 2 роки тому +454

    An interesting fact I remember reading is that medieval kings often sold the right to collect taxes rather than directly collecting them. So basically a tax collector would be a sort of entrepeneur who would hunt you down to recover what he’d already paid the king and then some. This scheme led to a lot of abuse and made tax collectors especially detested and the source of revolts

    • @rav9066
      @rav9066 2 роки тому +9

      that does not seem very wise for kings to do. What was the reason for this?? pure profit?

    • @tweisbek2
      @tweisbek2 2 роки тому +60

      @@rav9066 Several reasons for it, number one being that governments as we think of them today didn’t exist. In the middle ages complex state bureaucracies (such as tax collecting) were in their infancy, so this sort of “outsourcing” solutions were fairly common. Also, medieval kings were often perpetually short on cash, particularly to raise armies to go to war; so they relied a lot on credit and other financing means. The selling of tax collecting rights meant that they had cash now instead of having to wait months and months for it.

    • @charu2059
      @charu2059 2 роки тому +13

      Privatisation of tax collection?

    • @TomorrowWeLive
      @TomorrowWeLive 2 роки тому +24

      @@charu2059 in the Middle Ages everything was "privatised", or rather private, since centralised states with all-consuming public bureacracies didn't become a thing until the early 20th century

    • @justaway_of_the_samurai
      @justaway_of_the_samurai 2 роки тому +8

      Bureaucrats employed directly by the government would have probably been pretty greedy anyways. The society they lived in was not advanced and organized enough to keep track of all those taxes properly.

  • @iRedTomato
    @iRedTomato 4 роки тому +629

    Thank you for specifying the region you’re focusing on rather than pretending it applies to all of medieval Europe.

    • @Marshal_Rock
      @Marshal_Rock 4 роки тому +78

      Tbf, the rest of Europe didn't had an efficient way of taxation as the one used by the romans or the muslim kingdoms.

    • @Pawn2e4
      @Pawn2e4 3 роки тому +80

      @@Marshal_Rock Tbf that's because Robin Hood kept stealing it back

    • @Palladiosios
      @Palladiosios 3 роки тому +16

      @@Pawn2e4 Made me laugh, thanks

  • @Temujin1206
    @Temujin1206 3 роки тому +140

    As a side note, at least in Western Europe, it was common practice to record taxes using tallysticks. Essentially they would carve notches into a stick to tally up the money involved and the stick would be split in half, with each party taking one half. That way if there was any dispute later on the halved stick could be produced as a kind of receipt, once the two halves were shown to fit together perfectly then the name written onto the sticks and the notches carved into the stick could then be used to prove what money had been paid, and by who.

  • @antonio4243
    @antonio4243 4 роки тому +691

    "Nobody liked paying taxes"
    Richard II: "Y'all hear sum?"

    • @ManoredRed
      @ManoredRed 4 роки тому +36

      @Edward Tay Can't pay taxes if the government already owns everything.

    • @ahsanimam73
      @ahsanimam73 4 роки тому

      It’s Richard III

    • @count487
      @count487 4 роки тому +6

      No, he’s right. Richard II faced a major peasant’s revolt due to taxation and other grievances

    • @theoveranalyzingcinephile983
      @theoveranalyzingcinephile983 3 роки тому +1

      ​@Edward Tay Are you fucking high? Speaking as someone from Romania, that was a communist country till 1989, taxes 100% did exist, the only difference was that there was very little to tax as the government gave all the salaries (and as such took taxes out of your paycheck directly) and private property was nigh on non existent. Also there were social security retirement taxes that actually didn't pay for your retirement instead operating like a Ponzi scheme, with the current investments being used to pay current retired people, something that did no under any circumstances completely backfire when the communists fucked up our demographics too.

    • @blauwbeer556
      @blauwbeer556 3 роки тому +1

      George Washington be like

  • @jacko8030
    @jacko8030 4 роки тому +264

    Do more videos on Byzantine history!!!! They’re criminally understudied when compared to classical Rome and need to have more entertaining and easily digestible videos like these about them.

    • @azh698
      @azh698 2 роки тому +12

      I swear, the place where it is taught the most is Greece.

    • @dragonsword2253
      @dragonsword2253 Рік тому +24

      @@azh698 Well Greece IS their direct successor, so it makes sense

    • @its_dey_mate
      @its_dey_mate Рік тому +8

      @@azh698 Naturally, it is also studied quite a lot in Bulgaria, for obvious reasons *cue one of the most underrated and long lasting rivalries in human history not many people talk about*.

    • @varoonnone7159
      @varoonnone7159 Рік тому +3

      @@dragonsword2253
      The question is. How much are they studied in Turkey ?

    • @ReplyToMeIfUrRetarded
      @ReplyToMeIfUrRetarded 9 місяців тому +2

      Eastern Roman Empire*

  • @_im_stupid_
    @_im_stupid_ 3 роки тому +116

    Fun fact: this method of taxation was created by the roman emperor diocletian back in the 280s. It was so effective that it would be used for around 1200 years, from the 280s till 1453

    • @romeoalvarado6226
      @romeoalvarado6226 2 роки тому +21

      I wonder why it stopped working in 1453...

    • @_im_stupid_
      @_im_stupid_ 2 роки тому +4

      @@romeoalvarado6226 bruhhhh.

    • @Queen_Miku
      @Queen_Miku Рік тому +3

      @@romeoalvarado6226 roman empire fell in 1453

    • @rileygladue3979
      @rileygladue3979 7 місяців тому

      @@romeoalvarado6226 bruh

    • @wildfire9280
      @wildfire9280 Місяць тому

      ⁠​⁠@@Queen_Miku *1917, some sources say

  • @aqui1ifer
    @aqui1ifer 4 роки тому +447

    While it had Eastern on the front, their tax collection was still all too Roman.

    • @joshuaarroyo7235
      @joshuaarroyo7235 4 роки тому +72

      To be fair most of what medieval Europe way of ruling and bureaucracy was mostly copied by the Romans. They were ahead of their time.

    • @garabic8688
      @garabic8688 4 роки тому +138

      maybe its because they are the Roman Empire

    • @joshuaarroyo7235
      @joshuaarroyo7235 4 роки тому +7

      @@garabic8688 technically yes but are they really comparable from what the Romans were to the Byzantines?

    • @Dudekoffity
      @Dudekoffity 4 роки тому +98

      @@joshuaarroyo7235 Is any society comparable to what it was centuries ago? By that standard, no country today should share a name with any from the past. The Eastern Roman Empire was what was left of the Roman Empire, period.

    • @radunMARSHAL
      @radunMARSHAL 4 роки тому +66

      Well, they didn't have eastern in front, that's how the historians call it to distinguish it from the western part. It called itself Roman and no one had any doubt at that time that they were Romans. Except for Carolingians, they thought they were just Greeks and that they are true Romans. Also, 'Byzantines' didn't exist. That term was coined much after Roman empire finally fell in 1453. Ok, Achaea and Trebizond fell a few decades later, but we are really talking about remnants there. The fall of Constantine's new capital is the point when it fell. Or was it? Was maybe the defeat of Greek Megali Idea, their effort to restore the Roman empire in 1922 the point when the Roman empire ceased to exist completely since no one had any rightful and active claim to the Roman tradition?

  • @Taurineg
    @Taurineg 4 роки тому +171

    Amazon: lol you guys are paying taxes?

    • @hudsondunn8385
      @hudsondunn8385 3 роки тому +4

      State and local taxes be like:
      We are coming in more ways than one

    • @Buggabones
      @Buggabones 3 роки тому +10

      Amazon doesnt pay tax because it reinvests that profit into operations. The money that would go into federal and corporate tax instead goes to research and development (22.6B more than any other American company.)
      They invest in property, plants, and equipment for tax credits. (NYC could have enjoyed that) (Around 60B to-date)
      They also give employee stock compensation instead of cash bonuses.
      Some would call this "crony capitalism." But tax deductions, tax credits, and other incentives act as an important driver for organizations to then stimulate economic activity, job creation, and innovation.

    • @madman19931612
      @madman19931612 3 роки тому +7

      @@Buggabones "But tax deductions, tax credits, and other incentives act as an important driver for organizations to then stimulate economic activity, job creation, and innovation."
      Ah yes, this is why amazon employees are among the best payed and most economically stable workers. /s

    • @Buggabones
      @Buggabones 3 роки тому +9

      @@madman19931612 Depends which amazon employees. Entry level warehouse jobs with zero education and zero skills req start you off with 15$/h.. One step up become a Delivery driver. They make 60-70k a year. Thats 20-25% above that national average. Not sure what workers you are referring too. If it was such a bad job they wouldnt have such a huge work force..

    • @paulverse4587
      @paulverse4587 3 роки тому +2

      @@Buggabones Investment is one thing. However, we are talking about profit after investments, and they still barely pay any. There are plenty of ways to dodge taxes, the most known and "brunt" way are of course tax havens but there are many. Setting up a secondary corporation in a tax haven that legally holds patents that the main company has to pay outrageously high costs for, in order to eat up all profits, is one way to shift profits away (though many like these are closed down, many more spring up). In Europe the "Double Irish arrangement
      " was for quite a while a "trick" for US Companies to avoid 1 trillion in taxiation in total.

  • @gigaya777
    @gigaya777 4 роки тому +98

    The ERE was way more centralized we need a "western medieval country version"

    • @anderskorsback4104
      @anderskorsback4104 3 роки тому +25

      This. The real question is how a feudal lord with maybe three literate and two numerate guys in his entire fief managed to assess the right amount of tax to be levied without either making the taxes too harsh nor too easy to dodge.

    • @zippyparakeet1074
      @zippyparakeet1074 Рік тому +5

      Yep. The ERE is an anomaly, not the norm. It basically was an ancient, highly wealthy and centralised state stuck in the medieval period. In terms of administration and taxation, it resembles more a modern nation than a medieval realm.

    • @senatuspopulusqueromanum
      @senatuspopulusqueromanum Рік тому +3

      @@anderskorsback4104bc it was the roman empire

    • @wildfire9280
      @wildfire9280 Місяць тому +1

      ⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@zippyparakeet1074 In mentioning how anomalous the medieval Romans were, I would add that feudal Europe as a whole was (varyingly) anomalous to the rest of the world. Centralized administration, though of course not on the same scale as the Byzantines everywhere, hadn’t quite died with the end of antiquity.

  • @WebertNelson
    @WebertNelson 4 роки тому +533

    Britain: * Places New Tax *
    1776 Colonists: *COWABUNGA IT IS.*

    • @claimingseven72
      @claimingseven72 4 роки тому +25

      Don’t forget the lack of representation for the colonies

    • @garabic8688
      @garabic8688 4 роки тому +8

      *America screams in the background*

    • @alexiramirez2688
      @alexiramirez2688 4 роки тому

      lol

    • @fierylightning3422
      @fierylightning3422 4 роки тому +11

      Then the colonists tax their own poor people.

    • @hkchan1339
      @hkchan1339 4 роки тому +10

      Britain is actually bankrupted by war in the colonies protecting the British colonies from the French. So they taxed the colonies

  • @larrysilverstein8606
    @larrysilverstein8606 4 роки тому +338

    I’m a simple man, I see the byzantine empire in the thumbnail, I click.

    • @acaperic359
      @acaperic359 4 роки тому +17

      Based

    • @garabic8688
      @garabic8688 4 роки тому +42

      I see you too are a man of culture

    • @sodinc
      @sodinc 4 роки тому +5

      same

    • @q1w2e3621
      @q1w2e3621 4 роки тому +3

      ditto

    • @haha-kf2xb
      @haha-kf2xb 4 роки тому +4

      Why do Europeans like Rome Empire too much

  • @AverytheCubanAmerican
    @AverytheCubanAmerican 4 роки тому +151

    Prince John: Taxes! Taxes! Beautiful, lovely taxes!

  • @ultimatecorgi3392
    @ultimatecorgi3392 4 роки тому +36

    I'd recommend Life in a Medieval Village for a bit of a peek into how taxes worked on a local level in rural medieval England (I'm well aware that the phrase "rural medieval England" is redundant.) If I remember correctly, in less-developed regions taxes were mostly paid in goods and services, with hard coinage arising in the late middle ages as trade and markets expanded. Local lords in England would provide mostly foodstuffs and labor to their superiors, too.
    Ancient Rome had an interesting system in which they'd auction the right to tax a province itself to bureaucrats, and whoever bid the most had to collect their bid in taxes from the region.

  • @mariano98ify
    @mariano98ify 4 роки тому +55

    0:31 that Roman Empire is beautiful....

    • @garabic8688
      @garabic8688 4 роки тому +22

      I don't know why but the map of Rome in 1025 is so freaking satisfying....
      I wish it kept those borders forever

    • @mariano98ify
      @mariano98ify 4 роки тому +1

      @@garabic8688 the best one for me is to see Rome around the Mediterranean that is ult

    • @georgechristman6920
      @georgechristman6920 4 роки тому +7

      It should also include southern Crimea.

    • @mariano98ify
      @mariano98ify 4 роки тому

      @@georgechristman6920 Crimea was a client state, not ipso facto of the empire

    • @saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014
      @saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014 4 роки тому +10

      Its the second Zenith. The Byzantines, unlike many other civilizations had many good comebacks, those territories at 0:31 were made without foreign help/intervention, ublike the ottomans, who the western anti-russians powers were the breath device of the sick of Europe. The Byzantine could be personified by a guy who gets a cold for like 2 days and after is training at the gym with its big muscles

  • @Djiehh
    @Djiehh 2 роки тому +29

    I'm quite impressed you managed to make a video on medieval taxation without using the words "feudal" or "feudalism".

    • @Montcalf091
      @Montcalf091 Рік тому +10

      Eastern Roman Empire didn't have "feudalism" as western europe had during middle ages, the state was much more centralised.

  • @altasilvapuer
    @altasilvapuer Рік тому +6

    "You get a bill at the end of the year"
    Cries in American Tax Code.

  • @saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014
    @saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014 4 роки тому +52

    In oversimplified history that would be "Hmmm, theres gonna be a tax for that too"

  • @mrme247
    @mrme247 4 роки тому +20

    The beginning makes me laugh "either you get a bill at the end of the month or it comes out your paycheck before you even see it" yep sounds about right 😂

  • @carlitosaguacate861
    @carlitosaguacate861 4 роки тому +93

    what happened to david archeologist? why didn't he sponsor this video? what's wrong with the world?!?
    EDIT - Zoomy pointed out in the comments to this comment that he was indeed "namedropped". Meaning that the world is back to normal and we can sleep safely tonight.

    • @joge3031
      @joge3031 4 роки тому +3

      Carlitos Aguacate someone hasn’t paid his taxes (but he thanked him)

    • @Zoomy
      @Zoomy 4 роки тому +18

      No, David Archaeologist was namedropped, right after James Bizzenet.

    • @carlitosaguacate861
      @carlitosaguacate861 4 роки тому

      @@Zoomy yes, he was. I'll edit my comment

    • @Zoomy
      @Zoomy 4 роки тому +15

      @@carlitosaguacate861 Also, just want to say I'm glad I'm not the only one that hangs around at the credits to check that David's doing alright.

    • @dewaynerichardson5895
      @dewaynerichardson5895 4 роки тому +14

      I wanna know what happened to Ozarka Flash

  • @SamAronow
    @SamAronow 4 роки тому +20

    "These things be cold and not warm. They should not be eaten in such a fashion!"
    "But there be tax if we warm them, sir!"

    • @AlRoderick
      @AlRoderick 4 роки тому +4

      I know! I set the taxes!

  • @morebaklavapls3637
    @morebaklavapls3637 4 роки тому +11

    This channel's animations are always hilarious😂😂

  • @tiodichia5309
    @tiodichia5309 4 роки тому +4

    This video came out EXACTLY when I needed it! I went to look up how medieval taxes worked and BOOM! In my inbox is this video. I am amazed!

  • @carlnikolov
    @carlnikolov 2 роки тому +1

    Thanks for making these videos. Your content is very fun to watch

  • @grantwilson4506
    @grantwilson4506 3 роки тому +20

    "The Emperor will get his rent when you fix this DAMNED DOOR!"

    • @royalroyal2210
      @royalroyal2210 Рік тому +2

      "This is Byzantine Empire, not rent-free Empire!"

  • @MrWolfman229
    @MrWolfman229 4 роки тому +11

    Love seeing videos on the Medieval Romans!

  • @danske613
    @danske613 Рік тому +8

    Fun Fact: from 1002 to 1028, the Byzantines also Forced The Wealthly Aristocrats to pay for their Peasant's Shortfalls in their taxes

    • @zippyparakeet1074
      @zippyparakeet1074 Рік тому +3

      Yeah, thanks to Emperor Basil. If only he was succeeded by Emperors who were just as strong as him.

    • @danske613
      @danske613 Рік тому +1

      @@zippyparakeet1074 if only....

  • @groerhahn225
    @groerhahn225 2 роки тому +1

    "No taxation without representation"
    "Represen what?"

  • @ragingsage3973
    @ragingsage3973 4 роки тому +28

    That Byzantine Empire 1025 AD map 😍

  • @flameoguy3804
    @flameoguy3804 3 роки тому +11

    This video could be better if it also went over taxation in the Holy Roman Empire. It could use a 'tale of two empires' format to compare the different medieval 'Roman Empires' and their different levels of centralization. Its pretty well-known that the Holy Roman Empire was more of a confederated system with many tiny states, and it would be interesting seeing how their tax system measured up to that of a centralized state like in Constantinople.

    • @zippyparakeet1074
      @zippyparakeet1074 Рік тому +3

      The lands of the Byzantine Empire were the most productive lands in the entire medieval Europe and the Near East, not because they were exceptionally fertile- in fact, Anatolia and the Balkans are very hilly but rather, because of their advanced taxation system and well oiled bureaucracy that they inherited from their ancient Roman past. A testament to that is their currency- the Nomisma aka the Solidus- which was introduced by Constantine the Great in the 4th century and it remained the same value i.e suffered from no inflation until at least the 12th century. That's 800 years of economic stability.
      The farmland was owned by the farmer instead of large estate owning nobility and the government guaranteed them a lot of rights thus ensuring that the farmers had disposable income which allowed them to spend on goods (proto consumerism) and allowed them to buy better equipment to boost farmland productivity.
      The Emperors also encouraged the production of cash crops such as olives, fruits and animal husbandry to ensure a diversified income and state export.
      The government also prudently maintained the infrastructure they had inherited from their past so, while being incapable of creating new infrastructure, they really didn't even have the need to because their ancestors had made so much of it and all they needed to do was maintain it. They maintained the old aqueducts, canals, dams and ensured the old Roman roads remained in good condition for smooth movement of silk road caravans and Byzantine troops.
      Their administration and bureaucracy resemble more of a modern nation state than a typical medieval kingdom meanwhile the HRE is the quintessential medieval state. The rights to taxation were sold by the king to the highest bidder and that bidder, upon acquiring them, made sure to fleece the peasantry to he can make the money he spent to get the rights to the estate. It was horrible and stifled productivity while keeping the realm decentralized.
      This is why it's kinda true that the HRE was neither Roman nor an Empire. As for Holy, well, nothing is holy. Meanwhile the Eastern Romans did their best to continue prudent Roman policies and preserve Roman infrastructure and systems.

  • @hmr1122
    @hmr1122 4 роки тому +8

    The universe has two absolutes, death and taxes.

    • @pchavez8833
      @pchavez8833 4 роки тому +1

      LagiNaLangAko23 Same thing as death basically lol.

  • @musAKulture
    @musAKulture 3 роки тому +8

    depending on the region and times, the taxes can vary.
    during the time of confucius, the people were taxed at about 10-20%. a burden that forced people to live in the mountains that had man-eating tigers.
    and he said "taxes are worse than tigers".
    by Qin, the taxes were 2/3 of all farm produce.
    after Qin fell, early Han's tax was 1/30 of the produce.
    Tang, Song, Yuan roughly 7% equivalent of income.
    Ming, 4%
    Qing, 7%
    currently, it's 15% sales, various amounts in tariffs, and about 20-25% of employment income.

    • @WoWhistorian
      @WoWhistorian 2 роки тому

      I do think it's worth noting the relative value one gets out of taxes today than they did back then, though, lol.

    • @ErikPT
      @ErikPT Рік тому

      To be fair China had a series of dynasties which complicated what the state was financing another war or another conquest.

  • @astral9138
    @astral9138 4 роки тому +4

    Tax Collector: you watch this video? there's a Tax for that.

  • @OlafoWaffle
    @OlafoWaffle 4 роки тому +8

    Wow nobody came down with an acute case of "The Deads" in this video.

  • @gourmand3
    @gourmand3 4 роки тому +5

    Could you do one on how toilets and waste were cleaned back then

  • @oliversherman2414
    @oliversherman2414 2 роки тому +1

    I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!!

  • @KeithMetoyer
    @KeithMetoyer 3 роки тому

    I’ve been watching his videos for years now, why am I just now subbing?

  • @NotKnafo
    @NotKnafo 4 роки тому +7

    2:42 consistent to this day btw

  • @robdenini6972
    @robdenini6972 4 роки тому +2

    I like how you used Basil II and the map of the empire during his reign. Definitely the best byzantine emperor

  • @Jin-Ro
    @Jin-Ro 2 роки тому +2

    Fun fact: Stamp duty in England was instituted to pay for one of the wars against France. Still paying it.

  • @BC4EVER
    @BC4EVER 4 роки тому +1

    bring back longer videos... i want to know more details, and your quality is the best

  • @TotallyNotElPresidente
    @TotallyNotElPresidente 4 роки тому +31

    Tfw History Matters gets salty about his taxes and dedicates a video to it in hopes of angering the lot of us into revolution...I'm in, when do we start?

    • @johnmccrossan9376
      @johnmccrossan9376 3 роки тому +1

      Sometime next may, it's too late to organise for this year but it's best to hit them right before the new year's taxes are collected when their reserves are at the lowest

  • @maxis2k
    @maxis2k 3 роки тому +3

    Citizen: "I can't pay any more taxes! I'm dead!"
    Bureaucracy: "Wanna bet?"

  • @jrvalanze
    @jrvalanze Рік тому +2

    James Bissonette always paid his taxes in full. Good man that James

  • @al-yasalunat419
    @al-yasalunat419 4 роки тому +378

    88 dislikes are from people who can’t afford to pay their tax

  • @IncredibleMD
    @IncredibleMD 4 роки тому +13

    That's a pretty straightforward way of collecting taxes. It's not very Byzantine at all.
    Jokes aside, any plans to do a video on how less centralized states managed to collect taxes?

  • @ajones3038
    @ajones3038 3 роки тому +3

    Would be interesting to hear about medieval swedish finance such as shares of stock and property rights in addition to taxes

  • @baoparty
    @baoparty 4 роки тому

    Love the pace! Not too fast! Can you do the same vid for medieval empires in Far East Asia?

  • @TheGreatCooLite
    @TheGreatCooLite 4 роки тому +1

    I got a Turbotax ad before this 😳

  • @taylordinney1484
    @taylordinney1484 4 роки тому +13

    You know you are a nerd when you can recognize a cataphract in this art style.

    • @CaptainAmaziiing
      @CaptainAmaziiing 2 роки тому +1

      My dog got cataphracts. Poor old guy couldn't see a thing.

    • @zippyparakeet1074
      @zippyparakeet1074 Рік тому

      ​@@CaptainAmaziiingi think you got them too

  • @125discipline2
    @125discipline2 3 роки тому +3

    "nobody like paying it"
    everybody felt that

  • @JamesTrifolium
    @JamesTrifolium 4 роки тому +2

    The USA: “Here, 30 documents you have to sit and read through. We won’t directly mention what you need to pay, so you’ll have to guess. But if you guess wrong we’ll send you to ja-a-il!”
    Sweden: “Here, one piece of paper. The amount you need to pay is right there, go into the app and send us the money.”

  • @knightshade1297
    @knightshade1297 4 роки тому

    I have been wondering this for a long time

  • @0rangevlad
    @0rangevlad 4 роки тому +10

    It's simple: Don't pay? Say goodbye today.

  • @ScottOrr95
    @ScottOrr95 3 роки тому +3

    It's good to see nothing has changed in the sense of "no one wants to pay them"

  • @timfortune9
    @timfortune9 4 роки тому +25

    "Let me tell you how it will be. That's one for you, 19 for me." - George Harrison

    • @Benzknees
      @Benzknees 4 роки тому +1

      In the days of 98% tax rates, he was actually understating it!

  • @fishnujish1511
    @fishnujish1511 3 роки тому +1

    Me: *farming*
    Tax Collector: ITS -DAX- TAX!

  • @VenomousCompany
    @VenomousCompany 4 роки тому +5

    One of the main reasons I became a farmer is that I get to claim back a lot of tax. Cause who would want to pay tax to the British Government and by extension the European Union?

    • @VenomousCompany
      @VenomousCompany 4 роки тому +1

      @TheWeeaboo/videos Nah. I was very tired when I wrote that comment. When tired I make mistakes. Nothing to do with speaking English.

    • @MuchWhittering
      @MuchWhittering 3 роки тому

      I assume then you never use any of the following:
      The police
      Hospitals
      The fire brigade
      Waste management
      Roads
      Street lights
      Schools

    • @VenomousCompany
      @VenomousCompany 3 роки тому +2

      @@MuchWhittering Some of the tax goes towards good. But then again about 40% of tax goes towards Welfare in the UK. And the education system is horrible now. The NHS is terrible. I would rather have the American Healthcare system and pay for good treatment and not wait for like 8 hours to get seen. In fact the average person spends less on healthcare in America than they do in the UK. When you consider how much of tax goes to healthcare.

  • @Razzor012YT
    @Razzor012YT 4 роки тому +5

    If Yoshi was sent back in time he could commit tax fraud

  • @tulipalll
    @tulipalll 4 роки тому

    LOVE THESE!!! MORE!!!!

  • @charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181
    @charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181 2 роки тому

    I would be interested in more videos on tax history.

  • @LovleyLemonade
    @LovleyLemonade 3 роки тому +4

    If you were the Dragonborn, it was taken out of an inheritance of a friend that you may or may not have killed. Other than that, you pay nothing.

  • @tylerellis9097
    @tylerellis9097 4 роки тому +70

    More like
    “How were Byzantine Taxes Collected”

    • @felixf1614
      @felixf1614 3 роки тому +1

      came here for this

    • @MuchWhittering
      @MuchWhittering 3 роки тому +6

      This may surprise you, but different countries do things differently, and 3 minutes isn't long enough to explain all of them.

    • @tylerellis9097
      @tylerellis9097 3 роки тому +5

      @@MuchWhittering Or here’s a thought......just don’t name your video “how were medieval taxes collected” if you’re gonna focus on the Empire that’s 1. Not the region people think of when you say medieval and who 2. Had a tax system unlike most of Europe or the world for that matter.
      And depending on the year of the Byzantine Empire you’re talking about it’s not even medieval but Late Antiquity.

    • @Georgios1821
      @Georgios1821 3 роки тому +3

      You mean Roman taxes

    • @funkie1221
      @funkie1221 3 роки тому +2

      @@tylerellis9097 completely agree. Byzantine Empire wasn't even a feudal society in the common sense.

  • @ragael1024
    @ragael1024 3 роки тому +2

    "Well, to everyone's surprise, the people who bore the brunt of taxation were the peasantry." Yup, shocker there

  • @mayo450m
    @mayo450m 4 роки тому

    I love this channel it might be even better than oversimplified

  • @valentinstoyanov304
    @valentinstoyanov304 2 роки тому +9

    By the way, the Ottoman Empire adopted the Byzantine tax system to a very large extent. My people (the Bulgarians) were subjects of these both empires and the similarities are obvious.

  • @user-ep5bk1un5d
    @user-ep5bk1un5d 4 роки тому +7

    We demand MORE Byzantine videos! More! Magis!! περισσότερο!!!

  • @stefcho7717
    @stefcho7717 4 роки тому

    Great channel

  • @wagwagz6062
    @wagwagz6062 4 роки тому +1

    History Matters is awesome!

  • @Finn_the_Cat
    @Finn_the_Cat 4 роки тому +16

    0:10, I think they are in Russia, just thought I’d point that out for no reason

    • @BritishRepublicsn
      @BritishRepublicsn 3 роки тому

      Nah my guess is South Africa

    • @Finn_the_Cat
      @Finn_the_Cat 5 місяців тому

      ​@@BritishRepublicsnnah I think it's south America

  • @kiandocherty3589
    @kiandocherty3589 4 роки тому +9

    Man this was a surprisingly straight forward system and not Byzantine at all.

    • @HunterShows
      @HunterShows 2 роки тому

      I think if you really look at it though, it was a Byzantine system.

    • @zippyparakeet1074
      @zippyparakeet1074 Рік тому

      Byzantine became a term synonymous with overcomplication because the Byzantine Empire's system descended from its ancient Roman past and was highly advanced. The illiterate barbarians of Western Europe found it too complex to understand and so the word became synonymous with complication.
      Source: I made it up.

  • @Ras548
    @Ras548 3 роки тому +2

    I feel like nobody would hate to pay taxes if most goverments would actually use it properly. That and the extrem unequality between rich and poor.

  • @Sly88Frye
    @Sly88Frye 4 роки тому +2

    Wow! That really isn't a surprise that even back then people hated paying their taxes.

  • @MahsaKaerra
    @MahsaKaerra 4 роки тому +4

    Imagine if in the modern world you had the ability to choose how you pay your taxes, be it in money, valued goods or unpaid labour.
    Governments of the world would very quickly find themselves with immense cash deficits.

    • @jipeh
      @jipeh 4 роки тому +3

      I don't think so, you'd still have to pay the same value so you'd have to choose between your house or car or a lifetime of unpaid labour

  • @rulerofeternity7910
    @rulerofeternity7910 2 роки тому +3

    The Byzantine Empire under Basil II had some awesome looking borders (Italy kinda ruined it a bit but who would complain about more land :P)

  • @TheKeithvidz
    @TheKeithvidz 4 роки тому

    Saved for my medieval story.

  • @julianparsons3027
    @julianparsons3027 Рік тому

    I had always assumed a big, hairy Italian capo would come with some muscle and after a brief monologue would finish with something along the lines of:
    "That's a mighty fine fruit stall you have here...
    ...it would be a shame if something _were to happen_ to it."

  • @MrBones-ky6fb
    @MrBones-ky6fb 4 роки тому +10

    "Pay me, Nerd."
    Yep, sounds like the IRS to me.

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому +1

      This is why we need a national sales tax on goods and services and end the income tax.

    • @Incubator859
      @Incubator859 4 роки тому

      @@attiepollard7847 You're just raising prices on goods and services if that's the case. The net effect is still the same, less purchasing power.

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому +1

      @@Incubator859 no we are not goods will be market base and rival companies also put their goods out on the market to undercut high price goods.
      Also I'm willing to have a debate about what to tax on G&S Tax.
      No one should be tax on what they make on income or inheritance.

    • @Incubator859
      @Incubator859 4 роки тому

      @@attiepollard7847 Raising taxes on goods means you just raise the prices on goods. VAT is just one example of this and companies did raise prices to compensate for the increase in value added tax.
      Try living in the real world instead of projecting your lolbertarian fantasies into reality, then come back to me.

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому

      @@Incubator859 then end the income tax to offset the cost on VAT.

  • @derekr1394
    @derekr1394 4 роки тому +3

    How were taxes paid in the U.S. before income taxes as we know it now? That would be a good episode.

    • @CaptainAmaziiing
      @CaptainAmaziiing 2 роки тому +1

      Depends if you are talking state or federal government. The federal government used to be tiny, and was paid mostly with tariffs. States and cities were more property and sales taxes.

  • @jacobfarr3579
    @jacobfarr3579 4 роки тому

    I would line to see you do a 10 minute video on the American Revolution. I can see some comedy in that

  • @fishnujish1511
    @fishnujish1511 3 роки тому +2

    So no big men walking around Calradia going "Your money or or your life!" in a sluggish voice

  • @mortenkjellreitan1649
    @mortenkjellreitan1649 4 роки тому +5

    10% on income. The most fair way.

  • @abobobini
    @abobobini 4 роки тому +4

    I'd be curious to see how taxes were collected in less imperial and more feudal nations of the time, such as France and England.

    • @danielv4180
      @danielv4180 4 роки тому +2

      Basically the same, a wealth tax rather than earning, there was a period in England where the number of windows affected your level of tax which is why lots of very old buildings in England have bricked up windows

    • @abobobini
      @abobobini 4 роки тому

      @@danielv4180 that's interesting and rather peculiar. I'd still love a more in depth video on the matter, especially if there are weird stipulations like the one you mentioned. Also, I would be interested to see how collection was handled in less centralized areas that didn't have as prominent a bureaucracy as the Byzantines.

  • @8thLegio
    @8thLegio 4 роки тому

    Incredible

  • @aryanpokharel1181
    @aryanpokharel1181 4 роки тому

    Please make video about Nepalese history. I assure you'll fall in love with Nepalese history❣️

  • @Dagreatdudeman
    @Dagreatdudeman 4 роки тому +20

    And to this day the wealthiest still pay the least.

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому +1

      Nothing wrong with paying last taxes to the government. Government has to give everyone rich and poor to pay taxes or other taxes that are high.

    • @LukeGeoDude
      @LukeGeoDude 4 роки тому +3

      Only in America.

    • @Joker-yw9hl
      @Joker-yw9hl 4 роки тому +12

      in Britain the majority of taxes paid are by the wealthy. Britain actually depends on the tax receipts of the wealthy which isn't particularly comforting.

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому +4

      @@Joker-yw9hl I love uk history but damn I'm happy I don't live there because of those taxes.

    • @AlRoderick
      @AlRoderick 4 роки тому +3

      The wealthy get their money by shaking down the poor. So the state can charge the poor money or the rich can charge the poor money and use it to pay their taxes to the state, one way or the other it's working people bearing the load.

  • @baylorsmith555
    @baylorsmith555 4 роки тому +6

    Call Robin Hood

  • @herculeskoutalidis1369
    @herculeskoutalidis1369 4 роки тому +2

    Byzantine/eastern roman history videos are very very interesting :D

  • @alexray230
    @alexray230 4 роки тому +2

    A video about medieval taxes makes perfect sense considering how much people have always loved paying taxes

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому

      Who the hell loves paying taxes? Nooooo one

    • @alexray230
      @alexray230 4 роки тому

      Attie Pollard that’s why I pay my taxes in the form of sarcastic UA-cam comments

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому

      @@alexray230 Jeremy corbyn, Warren & Sanders: THATS NOT GOOD ENOUGH lol

    • @alexray230
      @alexray230 4 роки тому

      Attie Pollard while I do follow British politics some, it seems I don’t follow British politics enough to understand your comment. Would you mind explaining it to me?

    • @attiepollard7847
      @attiepollard7847 4 роки тому

      @@alexray230 just a joke to say that they want more then sarcasm or money

  • @1slandB0y77
    @1slandB0y77 Рік тому +3

    Imagine how different the world would be if we could all allocate where our taxes got spent. We'd find out REAL quick just how "popular" vote-buying government projects and policies were...

  • @donvitocorleone7863
    @donvitocorleone7863 4 роки тому +3

    I am a simple man so when I see this format I copy it.

  • @mrmashed5104
    @mrmashed5104 4 роки тому

    Some perfect timing, we’re learning how to do our taxes in FACS class

  • @Twinrehz
    @Twinrehz 2 роки тому +1

    What I'd like to know is how tax collection and control of states with exclaves galore could possibly work...