A butlerage was a duty of two shillings on every ton of wine imported into England by foreign merchants. It was so called because it was paid to the king's butler for the king. The tax was levied from 1302 to 1809, having replaced the right of prisage by which the king took a portion of the imported wine.
References
- ^ Dictionary of Political Economy, Volume I (Macmillan and Co, London, 1894), p. 196
- Henry Campbell Black, Black's Law Dictionary (Second Edition) (West Publishing Company, 1910), p. 158.
Further reading
- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Butlerage". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
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