A tax that was traditionally levied on coastal areas for the building and maintenance of the navy, and for the local's protection from raiding. Charles I extended ship money so that it was due from inland areas as well.
Ship money
Fact of the Day
In Normandy in 1386 a pig, dressed in human clothes, was executed for the murder of an infant.
Quote of the Day
"Grant that we may from henceforth show ourselves neither bastards nor dastards.
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~ Peter Wentworth on the House of Commons' freedom of speech, 1576
On This Day
1189 Henry II died, having just signed a peace treaty with his son Richard and finding out his other son, John, had betrayed him. The servants responsible for tending to him looted his body and left him to be found by his small retinue.
1483 Richard III was crowned king of England, having declared his nephews illegitimate.
1535 Thomas More was executed for treason on the orders of Henry VIII after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy.
1553 Edward VI died, passing the crown to Lady Jane Grey instead of his half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.
1685 The final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion, the Battle of Sedgemoor, was fought near Bridgwater, Somerset.
1892 Britain's first non-white MP, Dadabhai Naoraji, was elected for the Liberal Party as member for Finsbury Central.
