Tribute

:For alternate meanings see Tribute (disambiguation)

Western European notions of tribute in medieval times

Raiders, like Vikings and Celtic tribes, could also exact tribute instead of raiding the place if the potential targets agreed to pay a agreed amount of valuables.

Related Topics:
Raid - Vikings - Celt

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Tribute was not always money but also valuables and people that were effectively hostages kept in exchange of good behavior.

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Various medieval lords required tribute from their vassals or peasants, nominally in exchange of protection to incur the costs of raising armies, or paying for free-lance mercenaries against a hostile neighbouring state. That system evolved into medieval taxation and co-existed as a secular approximation of the churchly tithe upon income.

Related Topics:
Vassal - Peasants - Taxation - Tithe

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During the Spanish Reconquista, there were period when the Christian kings were more militarily powerful than the Moors, but lacked the population to settle and defend the conquered territories.

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They contented with receiving tribute, the parias.

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Combined with commerce across the Mediterranean, it was a means for African wares like gold to enter Europe.

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