ABSTRACT
The seventeenth century is a pivotal period in the history of English taxation. England went from being, in European terms, a comparatively low taxed country to being a comparatively high taxed one and the Civil War played a crucial part in this transition. Crown and Parliament raised taxes to unprecedented heights to pay for their armies. Each introduced an excise, England's first general internal indirect tax, which subsequently became a permanent feature of state revenue. London was at the forefront of this transformation. Parliament imposed a bewildering variety of taxes on London's inhabitants during the Civil War. Morrill has argued that taxation from London was crucial to Parliament's finances; between one-quarter and one-third of the assessment, the major direct tax, came from the City. He also observed that Parliament's excise was only effective in London. Taxation was not the only way in which Parliament utilized the resources of the capital to fight the war. It also extracted manpower through the militia and raised further revenue through sequestration. What was the impact of this on the London economy? It might be expected that this heavy burden would depress the economy, but Ian Gentles has drawn attention to the high assessment arrears in London, taxes that are not paid can hardly be a burden. Moreover in his account of the rise of the English 'fiscal state' in the seventeenth century Braddick downplayed the economic importance of the increasing tax burden, arguing that complaints focused on the relative burden, especially perceived inequalities, not the absolute weight of taxation.'
