The Collection of Annates in Portugal During the Papacy of Avignon, c. 1316–1377: Just Another Case of Apostolic Tax-Collecting in a Realm at the Back of Beyond?

Annates were one of the taxes imposed upon ecclesiastical benefices possessed by clerics, derived from the customary rights of bishops to oversee beneficial management in their (arch)dioceses. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, their collection become more and more common, allowing for ordinaries (and even cathedral chapters and archdeacons) to tap into the income of a benefice during the first year following the provision (appointment) of a new cleric. From the thirteenth century onward, the Papacy quickly realizing the potential of such income, sought to claim for itself the revenue generated during the first year of a minor ecclesiastical benefice reserved and given to a cleric under pontifical authority. Widely pursued across Christianity by the Avignon Popes, as the number of ecclesiastical benefices under the influence of the apostolic reserve increased, the collection of this tax was accomplished mostly in partibus under apostolic and cameral rules granting some latitude of action to the collector in charge. In this sense, the task of collecting annates wasn’t always a straightforward operation and ultimately depended of several factors such as the ecclesiastical geography in place, the economic income generated by each ecclesiastical institution, the current political and economic situation, the relations maintained at the time between Crown and Papacy and, even, the information and solidarities available to the collectors once in place. By scrutinizing available sources and data concerning the chronology, material details, agents involved and results of these tax-collecting operations in the realm of Portugal during the Papacy of Avignon, this chapter aims to place the Portuguese case in the broader spectrum of how annates were viewed and collected across Christianity, seeking to any practices specific to a realm located in remotis finibus mundi (at the back of beyond).