Carucate

The or  ( or carūcāta) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight  could  in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment.

England
The carucate was named for the  that began to appear in England in the late 9th century, it may have been introduced during the. It was also known as a or  (plōgesland, “plough’s land”) in the  and usually, but not always, excluded the land’s suitability for winter vegetables and desirability to remain. The tax levied on each carucate came to be known as “”. Though a carucate might nominally be regarded as an area of 120 s (49 hectares), and can usefully be equated to certain definitions of the, its variation over time and depending on soil and fertility makes its actual figure wildly variable. The Danelaw carucates were subdivided into eighths: s or bovates based on the area a yoked pair of oxen could till in a year. In the rest of England, the land was reckoned in s which were divided into four s, later known as s.

Scotland
A was the  equivalent in the south and east of the country. Even more so than in England, the variable land quality in Scotland led to ploughgates of varying sizes, although the area was notionally understood as 100. Many sources say that four ploughgates made up a, but in other places it would have appeared to have been the equivalent of one daugh exactly. As in the Danelaw, ploughgates were subdivided into s, again usually by eighths.

Wales
Cattle and oxen were a central part of the, by the , oxen were an integral part of , and an important part of the legal valuations used in assessing land value, the wealth of personal holdings and determining compensations (such as the ). Carucates are found throughout the (Law‘s of ).

In 1086, the records a number of entries for  in Wales. These commotes, (that had come under possession, but were still part of Welsh law and customs) were assessed for military service and taxation. Whereas the English possessions obligations were given in hides, the Welsh obligations were rated in carucates. This was also true for in  which may indicate the area maintained the Welsh systems.

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