Editing Gabelle (section)

==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.<ref name="EB1911"/> There were six distinct groups of provinces, which were called ''pays'' (lit. "countries"; to be understood as an obsolete word for "region"), and classified as follows:
*the ''Pays de grandes gabelles''; this region included the Parisian Basin and the oldest provinces of the kingdom: [[Île-de-France]], [[Berry (province)|Berry]], [[Orléanais]], [[Touraine]], [[County of Anjou|Anjou]], [[Maine (province)|Maine]], [[Bourbonnais]], [[Normandy]], [[Burgundy|Bourgogne]] (except the southeastern third), [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] (except the county of [[Rethel]], which retained the lower tax granted earlier), [[Picardy]] (except the area of [[Boulonnais (land area)|Boulonnais]] and the bishopric of [[Cambrai]]). The largest of the six regions, it had not only the highest salt prices but also a mandatory salt duty for all people over eight years of age. One-third of France's population resided within this region, and paid two-thirds of all salt revenue, but only consumed one-fourth of all salt.
*the ''Pays de petites gabelles''; this region included the provinces of [[Lyonnais]], [[Provence]], [[Roussillon]], [[Languedoc]], and [[Dauphiné]], southeast Burgundy (the districts of [[Mâconnais]], [[Bresse]], [[Bugey]], and [[Beaujolais (province)|Beaujolais]]), and southern [[History of Auvergne|Auvergne]] (the districts of [[Forez]] and [[Rouergue]]). This region covered southeastern France, including the Mediterranean coastline and the lower [[Rhône]] valley. The ''gabelle'' there was about half of the rate as in the ''pays de grandes gabelles''. One-fifth of all France's population resided within this region and paid one-fourth of royal salt revenue.
*the ''Pays de quart-bouillon''; these provinces included Avranches, Coutances, Bayeux, and Pont l'Evêque. One-fourth of all salt produced in this region went to the royal granaries.
*the ''Pays de salines''; these provinces included Franche-Comté, Lorraine, the Trois Evêches (Metz, Toul, and Verdun) and Alsace. Unlike in the petites and grandes regions, the laws enforced here allowed private merchants to engage in retail and wholesale salt distribution rather than complete oversight by state officials. As a result, this region's salt prices were less affected by the ''gabelle'' and its people more content with its effects. People here consumed twice as much salt as the citizens of the ''Pays de grandes gabelles''.
*the ''Pays rédimés''; these provinces included Poitou, Limousin, Auvergne, Marche, Guyenne, Périgord, Bigorre, Pays de Foix, and Comminges. Following insurrections caused by tax measures in the early to middle 1500s, in this region, in 1549, an agreement was made that  citizens there would pay a large lump sum to the king and be forever excused from salt taxes. Instead, they were only taxed at tolls when transporting salt.
*the ''Pays exempts''; these free provinces included Brittany, Boulonnais, Calaisis, Hainault, Artois, Flanders, Cambrésis, the principalities of Sedan and Raucour, Nebouzan, Béarn, Soule, Lower Navarre, Labours, the region of Gex, Arles, the islands of Ré and Oleron and the parts of the Aunis and Poitou that were near the salines of the Atlantic. Before coming into the kingdom of France, all of the aforementioned regions made agreements with the crown that they would only do so if they were not under the jurisdiction of the ''gabelle''.