SCUTAGE or Escuage was one of the forms of knightservice (see Knighthood, Real Estate). It was practically a composition for personal service. When levied on a knight’s fee it was called scutage uncertain, as its amount depended upon the present needs of the crown. Scutage certain was a socage tenure, and consisted in the payment of a sum fixed in amount and payable at regular times. Scutage appears to have been first imposed on the occasion of the Toulouse War in 1159. Magna Charta (§ 12) forbade the levy of scutage unless per commune consilium regni. It appears to have fallen into disuse in the reign of Edward II., and was finally done away with by the Act abolishing feudal tenures (12 Car. II. c. 24).