Danegeld Tax

About Danegeld Tax

Danegeld was a tax collected in Anglo Saxon England to pay Danish invaders to stop raiding. The first Danegeld was collected in 991 after the Battle of Maldon, paying 10,000 pounds of silver to the Danes. Over the next 80 years, England paid approximately 250,000 pounds of silver in Danegeld. The tax was collected through the geld, a land tax assessed on hides of land. Danegeld did not stop the Danish raids but instead encouraged them, as the Danes saw England as a source of wealth. After the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror continued collecting Danegeld as a general land tax. The Danegeld was an early example of protection money at a national scale and is often cited as proof that paying off aggressors encourages further aggression.