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King John's Tax Innovation -- Extortion, Resistance, And The Establishment Of The Principle Of Taxation By Consent, Jane Frecknall Hughes, Lynne Oats

Accounting Historians Journal

The purpose of this paper is to present a re-evaluation of the reign of England's King John (1199-1216) from a fiscal perspective. The paper seeks to explain John's innovations in terms of widening the scope and severity of tax assessment and revenue collection. In particular, the paper seeks to highlight the significance of Hubert Walter as the king's financial adviser. He exercised a moderating influence in the first half of John's reign and was the guiding hand in the successful introduction of innovative measures designed to increase revenues. These became extreme after his death in 1205, when John lacked his …