Murage

Murage

Murage was a medieval toll for the building or repair of town walls in England and Wales.

This was granted by the king by letters patent for a limited term, but the walls were frequently not completed within the term, so that the grant was periodically renewed.

The earliest grant was for Shrewsbury in 1218. Other towns receiving early grants included Bridgnorth, Stafford, Worcester, Oxford, Gloucester, and Bristol. Many of these places were in the west of England, and were particularly at risk from Welsh incursions.

Since the king's writ did not run in Wales, it is perhaps surprising that several Welsh towns also obtained murage grants. The first was for Hay on Wye in 1232, the year after the town was burnt by Llywelyn the Great. Other towns having them included Oswestry, Radnor, Abergavenny, Carmarthen, Monmouth, Knighton, Montgomery, and Clun, the latter is now fully in England and Knighton partly so. However few such grants were made after 1283, after the completion of the Edward I's Conquest of Wales.

Some of the walls were probably enclosing towns for the first time. Others were to extend walls to bring suburbs inside the town (as at Worcester), or to fund the repair of existing walls, as was the case at Canterbury, to which murage was granted in 1378, 1379, 1385, 1399 and 1402.

References


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  • murage — [ myraʒ ] n. m. • XIIIe; de murer ♦ Action de murer. Murage d une porte. ● murage nom masculin Action de murer ; fait d être muré. murage [myʀaʒ] n. m. ÉTYM. V. 1225 « ensemble de murs »; « action de murer », 1868; …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Murage — Mu rage, n. [F., fr. murer to wall, fr. mur wall, L. murus. See {Mure} a wall.] A tax or toll paid for building or repairing the walls of a fortified town. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Murage — A tax or toll levied to pay for the cost of defensive town walls, both for their building and repair. The Latin word used in the documents was muragium. It would be imposed on strangers entering the town. However, it was not a permanent tax. To… …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • murage — /myoor ij/, n. Eng. Law. a toll or tax for the repair or construction of the walls or fortifications of a town. [1225 75; ME < OF, equiv. to mur(er) to wall about (see MURE) + age AGE] * * * …   Universalium

  • murage — (mu ra j ) s. m. 1°   État de ce qui est muré ; action de murer.    Terme d ancienne jurisprudence. Droit qu on levait pour l entretien d une ville et des monuments publics. HISTORIQUE    XVe s. •   ... Car lors chiet [tombe] le muraige [la… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • murage — [ mjʊərɪdʒ] noun Brit. historical tax levied for building or repairing the walls of a town. Origin ME: from OFr. from mur wall , from L. murus …   English new terms dictionary

  • Murage — ♦ A toll charges to pay for the building or repair of town walls. (Reynolds, Susan. An Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns, 199) …   Medieval glossary

  • murage — mu·rage …   English syllables

  • murage —   n. rate levied for upkeep of city s walls …   Dictionary of difficult words

  • murage — A payment of money in lieu of murorum operatio …   Ballentine's law dictionary

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