Tithe

Tithe (desiatyna). A type of church tax in medieval Ukraine. Originally the tithe was a donation granted by a prince to a bishop, amounting to one-tenth of the prince's annual income. Volodymyr the Great donated one-tenth of his income toward the building and maintenance of the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv. Later this tax was collected from the whole populace and used to support the parish clergy. In the Lithuanian-Ruthenian state the tithe ceased to be a regular source of income for the Ukrainian clergy. In the 17th and 18th centuries the tithe disappeared, but periodic donations to the clergy continued to be made by the community or parishioners. In Transcarpathia monetary fees or payments in kind to the clergy were called tithes until the First World War.