GABELLE (French, from the Med. Lat. gabulum, gablum, a tax, for the origin of which see GAVELKIND)

This article appears in Volume V11, Page 379 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: FRA-GAE

GABELLE (French, from the Med. Lat. gabulum, gablum, a tax, for the origin of which see GAVELKIND) , a

term

TERM

which, in France, was originally applied to taxes on all commodities, but was gradually limited to the tax on

salt

. In process of 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 in 1286, in the reign of Philip IV., as a temporary expedient, it was made a permanent tax by Charles V. Repressive as a state

monopoly

MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

, 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

SALT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch zout, Ger. Salz, Scand. salt; cognate with Gr. &Xs, Lat. sal)
BART
- BART, JEAN (1651-1702)
.html">SALT, SIR TITUS, BART

at a fixed price. When first instituted, it was levied uniformly on all the provinces in France, but for the greater

part

PART

of its history the price varied in different provinces. There were five distinct groups of provinces, classified as follows:
(a) the Pays de grandes gabelles, in which the tax was heaviest;
(b) the Pays de petites gabelles, which paid a tax of about half the rate of the former; (c) the Pays de salines, in which the tax was levied on the salt extracted from the salt marshes; (d) the Pays redimes, which had

purchased

PURCHASED

redemption in 1549; and (e) the Pays exempts, which had stipulated for exemption on entering into

union

with the kingdom of France. Greniers d sel (dating from 1342) were established in each province, and to these all salt had to be taken by the producer on

penalty

PENALTY (Lat. poena, punishment)

confiscation

CONFISCATION (from Lat. confiscare, to consign to the fiscus, or imperial treasury)

. The grenier fixed the price which it paid for the salt and then sold it to retail dealers at a higher rate.
See J. J. Clamag6ran, Histoire de rim y& en France (1876) ; A. Gasquet, Precis des institutions politiques de l'ancienne France (1885) ; Necker, Compte rendu (1781).

End of Article: GABELLE (French, from the Med. Lat. gabulum, gablum, a tax, for the origin of which see GAVELKIND)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/FRA_GAE/GABELLE_French_from_the_Med_La.html">
GABELLE (French, from the Med. Lat. gabulum, ga...
</a>

(Previous)
GABELENTZ, HANS CONON VON DER (1807-1874)

(Next)
GABERDINE, or GABARDINE

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email