Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Hidage is a tax that people had to pay to the king based on how much land they owned. It was calculated by the number of hides of land a person had. A hide was a unit of land measurement. This tax was used in the past but is not used anymore. It was replaced by other taxes like subsidies.
Definition: Hidage (also spelled hydage) is a historical tax that was payable to the Crown based on every hide of land.
Example: In medieval England, a landowner who owned one hide of land would have to pay a certain amount of hidage to the Crown.
Explanation: The example illustrates how hidage was calculated based on the amount of land a person owned. The more land a person owned, the more hidage they would have to pay to the Crown. This tax was used to fund the government and its activities.