Taxes everywhere
Germany on the eve of the Reformation
German peasants struggled against a heavy burden of taxation and obligations to support the Church and the nobility. The land, the forests and the game in them belonged to the landowner so the peasants could not hunt or fish to supplement their diet. There was nothing they could do if their fields were destroyed by wild animals or nobles hunting on horseback. Marriage required the lord’s permission and the payment of a tax for the right. The lord of the manor also inherited the best tools and animals of deceased peasants. The justice system was more likely to support the upper classes than to administer justice.
As seen on
A man of conscience: Luther's Reformation
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