Tithe Personal and Praedial

Abstract

Tithe was a personal charge levied on the Christian community to support the church. From the twelfth century AD canon lawyers distinguished tithe raised from the more valuable product of the land, praedial tithe, from that due from other, less valuable sources, personal tithe. This generated a third, mixed category. The origin of the distinction was an attempt to prevent tithe being diverted from the parish to monasteries but as it became permanent it effectively changed both the juridical and practical nature of tithe. Although personal tithe remained due in principle, especially in England, it was always difficult to enforce.