Читать книгу Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John. With an Historical Introduction онлайн

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IV. Scutage. The Crown did not always insist on actual personal service, but was frequently willing to accept a commutation in the form of a money payment. This subject of scutage is one of the most vexed of questions; all received opinions of yesterday having to-day been thrown into the melting pot. Serious attempts constructively to restate the whole subject have hardly been made; and no conclusions have yet received general acceptance.

Three modifications, however, of the theories of Stubbs and Freeman, once universally accepted, seem likely to be soon established: (1) that “scutage” is an ambiguous term with a vague general meaning as well as a narrow technical meaning; (2) that the importance of the changes introduced by Henry II. in 1156 and 1159 has been much exaggerated; and (3) that at a later time, probably during John’s reign, scutage changed its character. It ceased to be normally a commutation of service, since it was not infrequently exacted by the Crown in addition to military service actually performed. Each of these propositions requires explanation.