Book Description

This volume is mainly a transcription of the documents produced during the levy of taxation in Herefordshire in the reign of Henry VIII. In fact its scope is somewhat wider than this because it includes prerogative grants, such as loans and benevolences, made to the king, although it fails to notice that they rested on the individual consent of the taxpayers. The transcription is complete, and the original spelling is retained. As a copy of the taxation documents this is a splendid source. Whether the documents provide an accurate account of the wealth of the county is more difficult to say. The accuracy of tax assessments of the period is extremely complicated, as this reviewer's 'Taxation under the early Tudors, 1485-1547', published in 2004, seeks to explore. In this current volume the reader will be well satisfied with the accuracy of the range and typicality of the transcription of the Herefordshire taxation documents.