Gabelle

The gabelle was a very unpopular Tax on Salt in France before 1790 . The term gabelle derives from the Latin term ''gabulum'' (a tax).

In France, Gabelle was originally applied to taxes on all Commodities , but was gradually limited to the tax on Salt . In time it became one of the most hated and most grossly unequal taxes in the country, but, though condemned by all supporters of reform, it was not abolished until 1790 . First imposed as a temporary expedient in 1286 in the reign of Philip IV , it was made a permanent tax by Charles V . Repressive as a state monopoly, it was made doubly so from the fact that the government obliged every individual above the age of eight years to purchase weekly a minimum amount of salt at a fixed price. When first instituted, it was levied uniformly on all the provinces in France, but for the greater part of its history the price varied in different provinces. There were five distinct groups of provinces, who were called ''pays'' (lit. "countries" ; to be understood in an obselete meaning of "region"), and classified as follows:

#the ''Pays de grandes gabelles'', in which the salt came from the for a ''minot'' , that is to say about 50 Kilogram s of salt, in 1789;
#the ''Pays de petites gabelles'', in which the salt came from the for a ''minot'' ;
#the ''Pays de quart-bouillon'', such as the coast of Normandy , Provence or Rousillon , in which salt came from boiling sea-salt impregnated sand, a fourth of which production went to the king, and prices ranged from 13 to 27 Livres for a ''minot'' ;
#the ''Pays de salines'' ( Franche-Comté , Alsace and Lorraine ), in which the tax was levied on the salt extracted from the salt marshes, and prices for a ''minot'' varying from 15 Livres (Franche-Comté) to between 12 and 36 Livres in the numerous fiscal divisions of the Alsace-Lorraine;
#the ''Pays redimés'', which had purchased redemption in of salt could be found there for about between 8 and 11 Livres ;
#the ''Pays exempts'', which had stipulated for exemption on entering into union with the kingdom of France ; there, ''minot'' of salt would cost only between 1 and 8 Livres .

''Greniers à sel'' (salt granaries dating from 1342) were established in each province, and to these all salt had to be taken by the producer on penalty of confiscation. The grenier fixed the price which it paid for the salt and then sold it to retail dealers at a higher rate.

REFERENCES

The prices are quoted from ''De la révolution de 1789 à la révolution de 1848'' by Isaac, Alba, Michaud and Pouthas, Hachette, 1960.

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Gabelle

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