Hearth tax and became widespread in the 14th century when the royal finances were unable to bear the rising costs of war and state agents. In particular, "fouages" were levied in 1342 and 1349. The "hearth-penny" was an Anglo-Saxon term for "Peter's pence". In England, hearth tax, also known as hearth money, chimney tax, or chimney money, was a tax imposed by Parliament in 1662, to support the Royal Household of King Charles II. Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Parliament calculated that the Royal Household needed an annual income of £1,200,000. The hearth tax was a supplemental tax to
Pronunciation of English ⟨a⟩ hardly ever subject to broadening. Learned words, neologisms (such as "gas", first found in the late 17th century), and Latinate or Greek borrowings were rarely broadened. A particularly interesting case is that of the word "father". In late Middle English this was generally pronounced , thus rhyming with "gather" . Broadening of "father" is notable both in two respects: The Oxford English Dictionary describes the broadening of "father" as "anomalous". Dobson, however, sees broadening in "father" as due to the influence of the adjacent and combined. "Rather" and "lather" appear to have been subject to broadening later, and in fewer