A historical tax or fee paid to a feudal lord or church, historically based on the number of hearths (fireplaces) in a house as a sign of wealth and size.
Compound of 'hearth' (Old English 'hearþ') + 'penny' (Old English 'penig'). Medieval tax collectors counted hearths as a measure of property value since more hearths indicated larger, wealthier homes.
The 'hearthpenny' reveals medieval tax logic: they taxed hearths because they literally couldn't see inside homes to count other possessions, so the number of chimneys became the government's first standardized way to estimate household wealth—an early form of property assessment.
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