Between the Pope and the King: the Fiscality of the of the Dioceses of Southern Italy (12th-15th century)

Abstract

The paper focalizes on the economy and internal taxation of the Church of Southern Italy, on the role of secular public authorities in its economy and on the importance of the dioceses and monasteries of Southern Italy for the finances of the Roman Church. In the Kingdom of Sicily, the Church took much of its income from its real estate, from sums received from the commemorative liturgy, and from taxes imposed on non-diocesan churches. However, most dioceses and many local monasteries and churches depended on resources provided by the royal court in the form of "state tithes", i.e. a portion of the Crown's tax revenues. The Church of Southern Italy contributed relatively little to the Apostolic Chamber through tithes and subsidies but provided the popes with significant resources in the form of benefices, used to pay the collaborators of the curia and then taxed directly.