ABSTRACT
Taxation was the basic pillar of Byzantine public finances throughout the existence of the state (fourth to fifteenth centuries). Fiscal policy affected the entire population, whether landowners, tenants of land or merchants, craftsmen, and other professionals. The purpose of this chapter is the study of public taxation in Byzantium during the Palaiologan period (mid-thirteenth to mid-fifteenth centuries). The major fields examined are the organization of the financial administration and the staffing of the fiscal services. Subsequently, the direct and indirect taxes imposed by the emperors are investigated. Finally, we the basic principles of Palaiologan fiscal policy and its influence on the formation of the emperor’s relations with his subjects are examined. According to the research conducted it may be inferred that the fiscal policy of the Palaiologoi should be described as short-sighted and opportunistic, as it aimed to ensure their political acceptance by serving the interests of the social forces that supported the government at any given time. The administrative and defense function of the state was based on a policy of managing privileges and on the opportunistic shift to extraordinary taxation when the policy of privileges was unsuccessful. Thus, the latter Palaiologoi functioned more as managers of the period of constant crisis, which they were called upon to face, rather than as creators of new financial practices.
