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| Tonnage and Poundage | ||
| A tun is a cask of wine and Tonnage was a fixed tax on
every tun of wine imported.
Poundage was a tax on the value of imported and exported goods. These levies were granted to the King for life from 1414. The Parliament of 1625 only granted tonnage and poundage to King Charles for one year, but the King thought it was his right to collect it for life. One more cause for the conflict between the King and Parliament! The Commons in 1629 passed a resolution forbidding their collection...and was subsequently dissolved for 11 years.. In 1641, the Long Parliament granted them for two months, but declared it illegal to levy them without the consent of parliament.
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