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# Purveyance

## Definition

The feudal right of sovereigns and their officials to requisition horses, carriages, and provisions from the population at regulated prices during royal progresses or military campaigns, representing a form of arbitrary taxation that burdened the yeomanry.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 2

## Context

Smith identifies purveyance as one of the arbitrary public services imposed on the yeomanry during feudal times, noting its abolition in Great Britain as part of the legal reforms that improved the condition of small landowners and contributed to England's economic superiority over continental Europe.

## Economic Domain

Regulation

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