A tax or fee paid for the maintenance or construction of galleys, especially in medieval Mediterranean ports.
From Old French 'galeage' or 'gale,' derived from 'galée' (galley), referring to the tax collected for naval purposes in Mediterranean trading ports.
Medieval Mediterranean cities like Venice and Genoa collected 'galeage' taxes to build their mighty galleys—this early 'military tax' funded the ships that made these city-states powerful trading empires.
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