When Louis IX., in 1242, at Taillebourg and at Saintes, had defeated the
great vassals who had rebelled against him, he hastened to regulate the
taxes by means of a special code which bore the name of the
_Établissements_. The taxes thus imposed fell upon the whole population,
and even lands belonging to the Church, houses which the nobles did not
themselves occupy, rural properties and leased holdings, were all
subjected to them. There were, however, two different kinds of rates, one
called the _occupation_ rate, and the other the rate of _exploitation_;
and they were both collected according to a register, kept in the most
regular and systematic manner possible. Ancient custom had maintained a
tax exceptionally in the following cases: when a noble dubbed his son a
knight, or gave his daughter in marriage, when he had to pay a ransom,
and when he set out on a campaign against the enemies of the Church, or
for the defence of the country. These taxes were called _l'aide aux quatre
cas_. At this period despotism too often overruled custom, and the good
King Louis IX., by granting legal power to custom, tried to bring it back
to the true principles of justice and humanity. He was, however, none the
less jealous of his own personal privileges, especially as regarded
coining (Figs. 263 to 270). He insisted that coining should be exclusively
carried on in his palace, as in the times of the Carlovingian kings, and
he required every coin to be made of a definite standard of weight, which
he himself fixed. In this way he secured the exclusive control over the
mint. For the various localities, towns, or counties directly under the
crown, Louis IX. settled the mode of levying taxes. Men of integrity were
elected by the vote of the General Assembly, consisting of the three
orders--namely, of the nobility, the clergy, and the _tiers état_--to
assess the taxation of each individual; and these assessors themselves
were taxed by four of their own number. The custom of levying proprietary
subsidies in each small feudal jurisdiction could not be abolished,
notwithstanding the King's desire to do so, owing to the power still held
by the nobles. Nobles were forbidden to levy a rate under any
consideration, without previously holding a meeting of the vassals and
their tenants. The tolls on roads, bridges (Fig. 271), fairs, and markets,
and the harbour dues were kept up, notwithstanding their obstruction to
commerce, with the exception that free passage was given to corn passing
from one province to another. The exemptions from taxes which had been
dearly bought were removed; and the nobles were bound not to divert the
revenue received from tolls for any purposes other than those for which
they were legitimately intended. The nobles were also required to guard
the roads "from sunrise to sunset," and they were made responsible for
robberies committed upon travellers within their domains.
Louis IX., by refunding the value of goods which had been stolen through
the carelessness of his officers, himself showed an example of the respect
due to the law. Those charged with collecting the King's dues, as well as
the mayors whose duty it was to take custody of the money contributed, and
to receive the taxes on various articles of consumption, worked under the
eye of officials appointed by the King, who exercised a financial
jurisdiction which developed later into the department or office called
the Chamber of Accounts. A tax, somewhat similar to the tithe on funds,
was imposed for the benefit of the nobles on property held by corporations
or under charter, in order to compensate the treasury for the loss of the
succession duties. This tax represented about the fifth part of the value
of the estate. To cover the enormous expenses of the two crusades, Louis
IX., however, was obliged to levy two new taxes, called _decimes_, from
his already overburdened people. It does not, however, appear that this
excessive taxation alienated the affection of his subjects. Their minds
were entirely taken up with the pilgrimages to the East, and the pious
monarch, notwithstanding his fruitless sacrifices and his disastrous
expeditions, earned for himself the title of _Prince of Peace and of
Justice_.
[Illustration: Fig. 271.--Paying Toll on passing a Bridge.--From a Painted
Window in the Cathedral of Tournay (Fifteenth Century).]
From the time of Louis IX. down to that of Philippe le Bel, who was the
most extravagant of kings, and at the same time the most ingenious in
raising funds for the State treasury, the financial movement of Europe
took root, and eventually became centralised in Italy. In Florence was
presented an example of the concentration of the most complete municipal
privileges which a great flourishing city could desire. Pisa, Genoa, and
Venice attracted a part of the European commerce towards the Adriatic and
the Mediterranean. Everywhere the Jews and Lombards--already well
initiated into the mysterious System of credit, and accustomed to lend
money--started banks and pawn establishments, where jewels, diamonds,
glittering arms, and paraphernalia of all kinds were deposited by princes
and nobles as security for loans (Fig. 272).
[Illustration: Fig. 272.--View of the ancient Pont aux Changeurs.--From an
Engraving of the Topography of Paris, in the Cabinet des Estampes, of the
National Library.]
The tax collectors (_maltôtiers_, a name derived from the Italian _mala
tolta_, unjust tax), receivers, or farmers of taxes, paid dearly for
exercising their calling, which was always a dishonourable one, and was at
times exercised with a great amount of harshness and even of cruelty. The
treasury required a certain number of _deniers, oboles_, or _pittes_ (a
small coin varying in value in each province) to be paid by these men for
each bank operation they effected, and for every pound in value of
merchandise they sold, for they and the Jews were permitted to carry on
trades of all kinds without being subject to any kind of rates, taxes,
work, military service, or municipal dues.
Philippe le Bel, owing to his interminable wars against the King of
Castille, and against England, Germany, and Flanders, was frequently so
embarrassed as to be obliged to resort to extraordinary subsidies in order
to carry them on. In 1295, he called upon his subjects for a forced loan,
and soon after he shamelessly required them to pay the one-hundredth part
of their incomes, and after but a short interval he demanded another
fiftieth part. The king assumed the exclusive right to debase the value of
the coinage, which caused him to be commonly called the _base coiner_, and
no sovereign ever coined a greater quantity of base money. He changed the
standard or name of current coin with a view to counterbalance the
mischief arising from the illicit coinage of the nobles, and especially to
baffle the base traffic of the Jews and Lombards, who occasionally would
obtain possession of a great part of the coin, and mutilate each piece
before restoring it to circulation; in this way they upset the whole
monetary economy of the realm, and secured immense profits to themselves
(Figs. 273 to 278).
In 1303, the _aide au leur_, which was afterwards called the _aide de
l'ost,_ or the army tax, was invented by Philippe le Bel for raising an
army without opening his purse. It was levied without distinction upon
dukes, counts, barons, ladies, damsels, archbishops, bishops, abbots,
chapters, colleges, and, in fact, upon all classes, whether noble or not.
Nobles were bound to furnish one knight mounted, equipped, and in full
armour, for every five hundred marks of land which they possessed; those
who were not nobles had to furnish six foot-soldiers for every hundred
households. By another enactment of this king the privilege was granted of
paying money instead of complying with these demands for men, and a sum of
100 livres--about 10,000 francs of present currency--was exacted for each
armed knight; and two sols--about ten francs per diem--for each soldier
which any one failed to furnish. An outcry was raised throughout France at
this proceeding, and rebellions broke out in several provinces: in Paris
the mob destroyed the house of Stephen Barbette, master of the mint, and
insulted the King in his palace. It was necessary to enforce the royal
authority with vigour, and, after considerable difficulty, peace was at
last restored, and Philip learned, though too late, that in matters of
taxation the people should first be consulted. In 1313, for the first
time, the bourgeoisie, syndics, or deputies of communities, under the name
of _tiers état_--third order of the state--were called to exercise the
right of freely voting the assistance or subsidy which it pleased the King
to ask of them. After this memorable occasion an edict was issued ordering
a levy of six deniers in the pound on every sort of merchandise sold in
the kingdom. Paris paid this without hesitation, whereas in the provinces
there was much discontented murmuring. But the following year, the King
having tried to raise the six deniers voted by the assembly of 1313 to
twelve, the clergy, nobility, and _tiers état_ combined to resist the
extortions of the government. Philippe le Bel died, after having yielded
to the opposition of his indignant subjects, and in his last moments he
recommended his son to exercise moderation in taxing and honesty in
coining.
[Illustration: Gold Coins of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.
Fig. 273.--Masse d'Or. Philip IV.
Fig. 274.--Small Aignel d'Or. Charles IV.
Fig. 275.--Large Aignel d'Or. John the Good.
Fig. 276.--Franc à Cheval d'Or. Charles V.
Fig. 277.--Ecu d'Or. Philip VI.