The canonical basis for collecting ecclesiastical tithes (a payment in kind; as a rule, a tenth of an agricultural product) had already been established in the 6th and 7th centuries. By the 12th century at the latest, this levy was a standard part of the canon of peasant services throughout Europe. As the “great tithe,” it was imposed on grain and wine; as the “small tithe,” it included the so-called blood tithe, imposed on animal husbandry, and the so-called green tithe, imposed on garden products and other field crops [9. 14]. The great tithe was mandatory throughout Euro…