gabelle

American  

[guh-bel] / gəˈbɛl /

noun

1. a tax; excise.

2. French History. a tax on salt, abolished in 1790.

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gabelle British  

/ ɡæˈbɛl /

noun

1. French history a salt tax levied until 1790

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Other Word Forms

• gabelled adjective

Etymology

Origin of gabelle

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English gabul, gabel (probably confused with gavel ² ), from Middle French, from Italian gabella, from Arabic qabālah “tax, receipt”

Explanation

The gabelle was a notoriously hated salt tax in pre-revolutionary France. Not only did it tax salt, it forced people to buy a certain amount of it every week. For centuries, the French government held a monopoly on salt, which was essential for preserving food. The monarchy's gabelle on this basic necessity was enforced at wildly different rates across the country, making it a major grievance against the crown. Salt smuggling became common, and a paramilitary force employed by the government, known as the "Salt Police," or gabelous, fueled deep-seated rage and mass riots. The gabelle was repealed in 1790, not long after the start of the French Revolution in 1789.

Example Sentences

The gabelle, or salt tax, was so high during the reign of Louis XVI that it became a major grievance and eventually helped ignite the French Revolution.

From Time Magazine Archive

The gabelle, or duty on salt, which the government here, as well as elsewhere, had found convenient to impose on one of the indispensable articles of life, partly accounted for such an extraordinary accumulation.

From Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton by Barrow, John, Sir

A gabelle was put upon wine and salt.

From Rienzi, Last of the Roman Tribunes by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

For see! thy faithful service bore This bitter fruit—the cursed gabelle.

From A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 5 by Black, Robert

The gabelle, with its obligatory seven pounds of salt, approached a poll-tax in its operation.

From The Eve of the French Revolution by Lowell, Edward J. (Edward Jackson)