The gabelle () was a very unpopular French salt tax that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term gabelle is derived from the Italian gabella (a duty), itself originating from the Arabic word (, "he received").
In France, the gabelle was originally an indirect tax that was applied to agricultural and industrial commodities, such as bed sheets, wheat, spices, and wine. From the 14th century onward, the gabelle was limited and solely referred to the French crown's taxation of salt.
Because the gabelle affected all French citizens (for use in cooking, for preserving food, for making cheese, and for raising livestock) and propagated extreme regional disparities in salt prices, the salt tax stood as one of the most hated and grossly unequal forms of revenue generation in the country's history. The French state also monopolized the trade in salt and forced all individuals in France over the age of eight to buy a minimum amount of salt each year.
Introduction
In 1229, when the Albigensian Crusades were brought to a close by King Louis IX and his mother (Blanche of Castile), France gained control of the Rhône Estuary and nearby Mediterranean coast. This led to the establishment of the first French Mediterranean port city, Aigues-Mortes ("dead waters"), in 1246. Here, salt-evaporation ponds and storehouses were constructed. These saltworks were intended to finance Louis' crusading ambitions in the Middle East. The means by which this salt would enrich the royal treasury was through a special duty on salt producers, which became the origin of the gabelle.
The temporary tax under St. Louis (as he became known) was extended in 1259 by his brother Charles I, further establishing royal control over salt, in this case over the Berre saltworks near Marseilles. This salt administration would eventually encompass Peccais, Aigues-Mortes, and the region of Camargue and come to be known as the Pays de petites gabelles. On 16 March 1341, King Philip VI established the first permanent royal tax on salt in France, known as the Pays de grandes gabelles.
Repressive as a state monopoly, it was made doubly so by the government obliging every individual above the age of eight years to buy weekly a minimum quantity of salt at a fixed price.
Classification
When first instituted, the gabelle was levied uniformly on all the provinces in France at a rate of 1.66% on the sale price. For the greater part of its history the prices varied and resulted in large disparities between the different provinces.
Many activities other than direct smuggling were considered to be unlawful faux-saunage. Sheepherders letting their flock drink from salty ponds, traders overly salting cod during transportation, and fishing at night (fisherman with great knowledge of waterways presumed to be smuggling salt) are all attested examples. Even production of salted products could sometimes be restricted.
Under the 1640 codification of gabelle law by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, participating in faux saunage, warranted a range of harsh punishments. Merely housing a faux-saunier could lead to imprisonment, fines, and, if repeated, death. Faux-sauniers could be sentenced to up to ten years on a galley if they were caught without weapons, and to death if caught while armed. French nobles, if caught buying contraband salt, would immediately lose their status of nobility following their first offense. In 1773, along the Loire River, which separated the regions of Brittany and Anjou, with respective salt prices of 31 sous and 591 sous, over 3000 soldiers were stationed in response to the massive amounts of smuggling that took place.
See also
- History of the British salt tax in India
- List of taxes
- Salt tax
References
- The regions are quoted from Coercion, Conversion and Counterinsurgency in Louis XIV's France, Volume 42 of History of Warfare by Roy L. McCullough, 2007. Page 43.