Watt
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Mills and Feudal Obligations

In medieval Europe, lords could earn revenue from mills and require tenants to use the manorial mill, paying a fee or a share of the milling. But the popular claim of a general “wind tax” on windmill owners exaggerates and confuses particular mill-use or wind rights with a literal tax on wind. Arrangements varied by place and period. [1–3]

Charges concerned mill use or rights, not a literal tax on wind.