Appointees to ecclesiastical positions were traditionally required to return to the Church the “first fruits” of their labours, a sum equal to the revenues from the first year of the appointment; thereafter they were to return annually one tenth of their earnings. In England prior to the Reformation these ecclesiastical taxes were returned to Rome, but in 1535 Henry VIII decreed that the fund known as First Fruits and Tenths would henceforth accrue to the State (26 Hen 8) and become part of the public treasury. First Fruits and Tenths continued to be used for State purposes up to 1704, when they were directed to a fund known as Queen Anne's Bounty established to ameliorate the poverty of the poorest Church of England clergy. The legislation also exempted modest livings (of less than…
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Citation: King, Shelley. "First Fruits and Tenths (Queen Anne's Bounty)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 November 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1687, accessed 25 November 2024.]
