Legal Definitions - anhlote

Anhlote is a historical term referring to a single tribute or tax paid according to established custom or tradition.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• In a medieval feudal system, a lord might have a long-standing custom where each tenant household was required to provide a specific amount of grain or a fixed sum of money to the lord once a year. This payment was not based on a new law but on generations of accepted practice within the manor.

  This annual, customary payment from the tenants to their lord exemplifies an anhlote because it represents a single tribute or tax paid in accordance with the established customs of the feudal estate.

• Consider a historical craft guild where, by tradition, every master craftsman contributed a set amount of silver annually to the guild's common fund. This fund might be used for the upkeep of the guild hall, support for members in distress, or charitable works, and the payment was an expected part of membership based on long-standing custom.

  This regular, customary contribution by guild members is an anhlote as it is a single, traditional payment made according to the established practices of the guild.

• Imagine a historical village community where, by unwritten but universally accepted custom, each household was expected to contribute a specific quantity of firewood or a day of labor once a year to maintain the communal well or repair the village road. This was not a newly imposed tax but an ancient, accepted practice for the common good.

  This traditional, one-time annual contribution, whether in goods or labor, functions as an anhlote because it is a single tribute or service rendered based on the long-standing customs of the community.