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How did Edward I respond when the clergy refused to pay taxes?
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Edward I
Edward I, watercolour, 15th century; in the British Library (Cotton MS. Julius E. IV).
When the English clergy, led by Archbishop Robert Winchelsey, refused to pay taxes in 1297—citing Pope Boniface VIII’s bull Clericis Laicos, which forbade such payments to lay rulers—Edward I responded by outlawing the entire English clergy.123
By declaring the clergy outlaws, Edward effectively stripped them of legal protection, placing them outside the king's peace. This drastic retaliation was driven by the King's desperate need for funds to finance his foreign military campaigns. The standoff persisted until 1297, when Pope Boniface VIII eventually permitted clerical taxation for the purposes of national defense, leading to a temporary resolution.12