1) Feudal duty 
The form of taxation known as scutage, in the law of England under the feudal system, allowed a knight to `buy out` of the military service due to the Crown as a holder of a knight`s fee held under the feudal land tenure of knight-service. Its name derived from shield (in Latin: scutum). The term sometimes loosely applies to other pecuniary lev......
tax on a knight's fee
• (n.) Shield money; commutation of service for a sum of money. See Escuage.
(scutage from Latin scutum, `shield`), in feudal law, payment made by a knight to commute the military service that he owed his lord. A lord might ... [7 related articles]
A payment in exchange for serving military service to a lord.
In medieval Europe, a feudal tax imposed on knights as a substitute for military service. It developed from fines for non-attendance at musters under the Carolingians, but in England by the 12th...
Scu'tage noun [ Late Latin scutagium , from Latin scutum a shield.] (Eng. Hist.) Shield money; commutation of service for a sum of money. See Escuage . 
old Eng. law. Tax imposed on Knights in lieu of military service. Used by the King of England in the late Middle Ages as a form of revenue to hire mercenaries. The name of a tax or contribution raised for the use of the king's armies by those who held lands by knight's service.
a tax levied in place of personal military service by VASSALs - a cash payment
Scutage was a sum of money payable by a knight under the feudal system for his fee by way of commutation for personal service. It was first exacted in 1159 and was restricted by Magna Carter.