Having completed these reforms, the King turned his attention to his
Continental possessions. Through his wife, Henry claimed the county
of Toulouse in southern France. To enforce this claim he declared
war.
Henry's barons, however, refused to furnish troops to fight outside of
England. The King wisely compromised the matter by offering to accept
from each knight a sum of money in lieu of service, called scutage, or
shield money.[1] The proposal was agreed to (1160), and in this way
the knights furnished the King the means to hire soldiers for foreign
wars.
[1] Scutage: from the Latin scutum, a shield; the understanding being
that he who would not take his shield and do battle for the King
should pay enough to hire one who would. The scutage was assessed at
two marks. Later, the assessment varied. The mark was two thirds of
a pound of silver by weight, or thirteen shillings and fourpence
($3.20). Reckoned in modern money, the tax was probably at least
twenty times two marks, or about $128.
Later in his reign Henry supplemented this tax by the passage of the
Assize of Arms, a law which revived the national militia (SS96, 150)
and placed it at his command for home service. By these two measures
the King made himself practically independent of the barons, and thus
gained a greater degree of power than any previous ruler had
possessed.