Scutage was a medieval English tax charged to landholders in place of military service.
The name comes from the Latin word for shield. Under the feudal system, a knight or tenant holding land by knight service could owe military duty to the king. Scutage converted that obligation into money, allowing the crown to hire troops or pay for campaigns without requiring every knight to serve in person.
Henry II used scutage extensively, and later monarchs also relied on it. One famous dispute concerned King John’s demands for scutage, which contributed to tensions with his barons and helped form the political background to Magna Carta in 1215.
Scutage is not the same as Danegeld. Danegeld originated as payment connected with Viking attacks, whereas scutage specifically substituted money for feudal military service. It also differs from a tithe, which was traditionally a religious payment of one-tenth.