The gabelle () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France 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. Repealed in 1790 by the National Assembly in the midst of the French Revolution, the gabelle was reinstated by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. It was briefly terminated and reinstated again during the French Second Republic and ultimately abolished in 1945 following France's liberation from Nazi Germany.
Introduction
In 1229, when the Albigensian Crusades were brought to a close by 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 of Aigues-Mortes in 1246, literally translated to Dead Waters, and the creation of a vast network of salt-evaporation ponds. These saltworks would fund Louis' crusading ambitions in the Middle East. A profitable means of generating revenue for France's wars, this royal control over salt and its production stands as the origin of the infamous French salt 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 March 16, 1341, Philip VI of Valois 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. Known as the Sel de devoir, translated to "salt duty", citizens in the Pays de grandes gabelles region were forced to buy up to 7 kilograms (15lb) of salt per year. Furthermore, they were unable to use this salt for making salted products, which was considered illegal and could lead to charges of faux saunage, or salt fraud. Failing to adhere to this could lead to imprisonment and, if repeated, death.
Each province had a Greniers à sel (a salt granary) where all salt produced from that region had to be taken in order to be bought (at a fixed price) and sold (at an inflated price).