Legal Definition and Related Resources of Benevolences

These were a mode of early taxation. They purported to be voluntary loans, but were in fact forced contributions not intended to be repaid. They were afterwards levied as an anticipation of the lawful revenue. In 1628, by the Bill of Rights, they were prohibited

Browse or run a search for Benevolences in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Benevolences in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Benevolences in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

For more information about Historical Law definitions, see Historical Definitions in the Encyclopedia of Law. For more information about Historical Law Books and Legal Documents, see Legal Encyclopedia of Historical Books and Documents and Legal Encyclopedia of Books and Documents of the 20th Century.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Benevolences in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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What does Benevolences mean in American Law?

The definition of Benevolences in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

A form of ancient English taxation, formally voluntary loans but in fact impositions by early Kings upon rich subjects, and the focus of continual conflict between them and the throne. Benevolences were declared illegal by a statute of Richard III in 1483, but imposed thereafter anyway, notably by Henry VII. They were finally ended by statute in the early seventeenth century. Lords also occasionally imposed taxes called benevolences on their tenants in times of distress, these being abolished by statute in 1660.