Who Benefited from Tithe Revenues in Late-Renaissance Bresse?

This examination of the practical functioning of tithe collection and of who specifically benefited from tithe payments shows that structures of ecclesiastical and secular domination continued to be highly fragmented during the late Renaissance. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of episcopal visitation records and other sources from the Francophone province of Bresse reveals, among other things, that the fiscal and political impact of tithe payments was quite complex, that local priests were often not the major beneficiaries, and that tithe grants could serve as a mechanism permitting sovereigns to tax church revenues belonging to actors subject to other sovereigns.