Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrolives  Profound.
Hi Liam, no the Clergy didn't pay taxes. In fact, it was very rarely that the State religion anywhere ever paid taxes. The rulers needed to have these public figures to act as "intellectual bodyguards of the State" so that the pitiful masses would not revolt. Even in ancient Egypt the priests didn't pay taxes and they were the largest landowner after the Pharaoh. |
there was also the case that the 'higher' clergy, bishops and those who held larger churches were aristocrats, the curates were poor, never had much income to start