Brewer's: Peter-pence

An annual tribute of one penny, paid at the feast of St. Peter to the see of Rome. At one time it was collected from every family, but afterwards it was restricted to those “who had the value of thirty pence in quick or live stock.” This tax was collected in England from 740 till it was abolished by Henry VIII.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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