The ''subventio generalis'' (or "general aid"), also known as ''collecta'', was a direct tax in the medieval

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

Origins

The ''subventio generalis'' had its origins in the obligation of the holders of fiefs in the

to provide military service to the monarchs. They were required to serve in the royal army without compensation for maximum 90 days for each 20 ounces of their annual income. They could get rid of this irksome duty, if they pay a special fee, known as ''adohamentum'' or ''adoha''. Most barons and counts preferred to pay the fee which thus developed into a tax already under the Norman kings of Sicily. The landowners collected the fee from their tenants, thus in practice the peasants were to pay the ''adoha''. Those who lived in the royal demesneall burghers and the majority of the peasantrywere subjected to levies in money or in kind, known as ''collecta''. The monarchs could in theory freely demand such levies, only their fear of riots limited their greed. The

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, Frederick II, who was also king of Sicily, summoned the host in each year after 1231. This practice enabled him to annually collect the ''adoha'', transforming it into a regular tax. The ''adoha'' and the ''collecta'' were not differentiated from 1238 and they were united three years later.

References

Sources

* * Kingdom of Sicily Economic history of Italy {{Tax-stub