Mariners

"Nowadays the rage for possession has got to such a pitch that there is nothing in the realm of nature, whether sacred or profane, out of which profit cannot be squeezed, and that not only by princes, but even by priests. In old days, even under the tyrants (when they were as yet untutored and did not know what tyranny really was) certain things were common to all--the seas, the rivers, the highways, the wild game. Now the great lords arrogate everything to themselves, as if they alone were men, or rather gods. The most poverty-stricken mariner is obliged to change his course, even to his peril, and to do and suffer all sorts of things at the will of an insolent robber, as if it were not enough misfortune for him to have to struggle with winds and waves, without these other storms. He reaches the harbour, and something is extorted from him; there is a bridge to cross, toll must be paid; a river to cross, and you will encounter the rights of the prince; suppose you have a small piece of luggage, you must pay dues to get it out of the hands of these impious fellows; and, what is much more cruel, the common people, wretched as they are, are defrauded of their means of existence, and all these tithes and taxes gnaw away the livelihood of the poor. You may not carry the corn from your own fields, without paying a tenth. If you grind or mill it, another bit is nibbled off. Wines cannot be imported without being tithed over and over again. You may get the wine into your cellar, but not before you have parted with half or at least a quarter of the value to these rascally harpies. In some cases more than half of what they call cervisia [beer] is set aside for the overlord. You may not kill a beast without counting out coin to the tax-gatherers, nor sell a horse bought with your own money without paying out something."

Erasmus, Adages ("A mortuo tributum exigere") (1515).

[translated by Margaret Mann Phillips (1967)].