Definition
An irregular or exactions-based levy imposed by the English Crown on exported wool, historically set at 40 shillings per woolsack. The term derives from the Law French and Medieval Latin (mala tolta), and appears in English legal and parliamentary records primarily from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. It referred to a customs duty collected beyond what was recognized as the "rightful" or customary rate, and was associated with fiscal impositions that lacked clear baronial or parliamentary authorization. The maletoute on wool was among the most politically contentious revenue measures of the early Edwardian period, provoking resistance from merchants and magnates alike and forming part of the background to the constitutional struggles that produced the Confirmatio Cartarum of 1297.
Common Confusion
Despite its association with unlawful or excessive taxation, the term was not always used in a strictly pejorative sense. Burrill notes a usage from the Rotuli Parliamentorum (27 Edw. III) in which "maletoute" appears alongside "droiturel" — meaning rightful — to distinguish a legitimate custom of half a mark from something beyond it. This suggests the word sometimes functioned descriptively, identifying a category of levy, rather than condemning it outright. Researchers should not assume every appearance of the term signals an illegal imposition; context and the surrounding record are essential.
Why It Matters in Research
The maletoute is a term you are unlikely to encounter outside medieval English fiscal and constitutional history, but within that space it carries significant weight. Several cautions apply:
First, the term is tied directly to the Confirmatio Cartarum (25 Edw. I, 1297), the confirmation of Magna Carta and the Forest Charter that also included the De Tallagio Non Concedendo provisions. Researchers working on the constitutional limits of royal taxation, the development of parliamentary consent, or the history of customs law will encounter maletoute as an index term pointing to this cluster of documents.
Second, the spelling varies considerably across sources. Latin versions render it mala tolta or maltolta; Law French yields maletoute or variants. Manuscript and printed sources from the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries are inconsistent. When searching historical records or calendared patent and close rolls, searching only one spelling will miss material.
Third, the 40-shilling-per-woolsack figure appears in standard secondary treatments of Edwardian finance and in Blackstone's introduction to Magna Carta, which Burrill cites. Researchers should be aware that this figure represented a dramatic increase over the recognized half-mark custom, and that the political conflict over the levy contributed to Edward I's confirmation of the charters — making maletoute a causative term in constitutional historiography, not merely a fiscal one.
Fourth, the reference to 2 Howard's State Trials (at page 425) in Burrill indicates the term had enough ongoing legal resonance to appear in later English state proceedings. Researchers tracing arguments about the prerogative power to impose duties without parliamentary authority — a thread running through Ship Money and beyond — may find maletoute invoked as historical precedent.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the only entry among Law Mind's shelf sources. His treatment is concise but accurate, correctly identifying the levy as 40 shillings per woolsack, citing Blackstone's introduction to Magna Carta and the Confirmatio Cartarum, and adding the valuable note that the term was not uniformly pejorative. The Rotuli Parliamentorum citation (27 Edw. III) is genuine and useful. No other shelf dictionary in the Law Mind corpus addresses this term, which reflects its narrow temporal and doctrinal scope. Researchers needing fuller treatment should consult Madox's History of the Exchequer and the secondary literature on Edwardian fiscal policy; Burrill's entry is a reliable starting point but not a complete account.
Jurisdictional Note
Maletoute is a term of medieval English law with no direct counterpart in Scots, Irish, or continental legal systems, and it has no modern statutory or common law survival. It is relevant only to research in English legal history prior to roughly the mid-fourteenth century.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Medieval English Taxation
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Magna Carta and Its Confirmations
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Confirmatio Cartarum