Peter's-pence

Peter's-pence (denarius S. Petri), the name given to a tribute offered to the Roman pontiff in reverence of the memory of St Peter. From an early period the Roman see had been richly endowed; but the first idea of an annual tribute came from Anglo-Saxon England. It is ascribed by some to Ina (721 A.D.), king of Wessex, by others to Offa of Mercia, and by Lingard to Alfred the Great. It was extended to Ireland by Henry II. The tribute consisted in the payment of a silver penny by every family possessing land or cattle of the yearly value of 30 pence, and it was collected during the five weeks between St Peter's and St Paul's Day and August 1. The tax, also called Rome-scot, varied greatly in amount, but continued to be paid with intervals till the reign of Henry VIII. By Gregory VII. it was sought to establish it for France; and traces of a similar payment appear also in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Poland. This tribute differed from the payments of the feudatory kingdoms, such as Naples, Aragon, and England under the reign of John. The tribute practically ceased at the Reformation. The pope having suffered a considerable diminution of his own revenue since the revolution of 1848, an effort was made in several parts of Europe to revive the payment of Peter's-pence, not as a tribute but by the collection of free-will offerings. In some countries it has been very successful; and since the total annexation of the Papal States to the kingdom of Italy the tribute has been largely increased in France, Belgium, England, and Ireland. In 1877, on occasion of the jubilee of Pius IX., the payment amounted to £660,000.