Peter's Pence
Preserved but no longer current.
An annual tribute of one penny, paid at the feast of St. Peter to the see of Rome, collected at first from every family, but afterwards restricted to those "who had the value of thirty pence in quick or live stock." This tax was collected in England from about the middle of the 8th century till it was abolished by Henry VIII in 1534.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Peter's Pence” mean?
An annual tribute of one penny, paid at the feast of St. Peter to the see of Rome, collected at first from every family, but afterwards restricted to those "who had the value of thirty pence in quick or live stock." This tax was collected in England from about the middle of the 8th century till it was abolished by Henry VIII in 1534.
Is “Peter's Pence” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.