First Fruits and Tenths was a form of tax on

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the t ...

taking up a

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

or ecclesiastical position in Great Britain. The Court of First Fruits and Tenths was established in 1540 to collect from clerical benefices certain moneys that had previously been sent to Rome. Clergy had to pay a portion of their first year's income (known as annates) and a tenth of their revenue annually thereafter. Originally, the money was paid to the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, but

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

's 1534 statute diverted the money to the English Crown as part of his campaign to pressure the Pope into granting him an annulment of his marriage with

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

. The 1534 Act of Conditional Restraint of Annates allowed taxes on first fruits and tenths (of benefice’s income) to be transferred from the Pope to the King.

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the kin ...

set up a special financial administration for these revenues. Following his removal from office, a separate administration was established: the Court of First Fruits and Tenths. In 1554 the Court was dissolved, and responsibility for administration of these revenues passed to the Office of First Fruits and Tenths, a department of the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government rev ...

. During the 18th century, these payments formed the basis of Queen Anne's Bounty.

Substance and procedure

First-fruits ( annates) and tenths (decimae) originally formed part of the revenue paid by the clergy to the papal exchequer. The former consist of the first whole year's profit of all spiritual preferments, the latter of one-tenth of their annual profits after the first year. The proceedings of the court relate to a variety of aspects of the collection of these dues for the Crown and include, for example, accountings, sheriffs' returns to writs concerning livings and their incumbents and appearances and hearings in cases of first fruits. The income derived from first-fruits and tenths was annexed to the revenue of the crown in 1534 (26 Hen. VIII. c. 3), and so continued until 1703. The Court of First Fruits and Tenths was subsequently subsumed into the Exchequer Office of First Fruits and Tenths in 1554. Beginning in 1703, Queen Anne's Bounty was the name applied to a perpetual fund of first-fruits and tenths granted by a charter of Queen Anne and confirmed by statute in 1703 (2 & 3 Anne, c. 11), for the augmentation of the livings of the poorer Anglican clergy. In accordance with the provisions of two acts of 1703 (5 & 6 Anne, c. 24, and 6 Anne, c. 27), about 3900 poor livings under the annual value of £50 were discharged from first-fruits and tenths.

References

{{Reflist Dissolution of the Monasteries Former courts and tribunals in England and Wales 1540 establishments in England Courts and tribunals established in 1540 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1554 1554 disestablishments in England