DANEGELD  , an

English national tax originally levied by 'Ethelred II . (the Unready) as a means of raising the tribute which was the price of the temporary cessation of the Danish ravages . This expedient of buying off the invader was first adopted in 991 on the advice of certain great men of the kingdom . It was repeated in 994, 1002, 1007 and 1012 . With the accession of the Danish king Canute, the original raison d'etre of the tax ceased to exist, but it continued to. be levied, though for a different purpose, assuming now the character of an occasional war-tax . It was exceedingly burdensome, and its abolition by Edward the Confessor in 1051 was welcomed as a great relief . William the Conqueror revived it immediately after his accession, as a convenient method of national taxation, and it was with the object of facilitating its collection that he ordered the compilation of Domesday Book . It continued to be levied until 1163, in which year the name Danegeld appears for the last time in the Rolls . Its place was taken by other imposts of similar character but different name .