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Mapping the Grandes Gabelles in Early Modern France

Author

Listed:
  • Gay, Victor
  • Davoine, Eva
  • Enguehard, Joseph
  • Kolesnikov, Igor

Abstract

The gabelle salt tax system was a cornerstone of the fiscal apparatus of the early modern French state. This article introduces a novel historical geographic information system (GIS) of this institution's spatial organization as of the seventeenth century, drawing on an original 1665 manuscript map collection: Sanson's Atlas des gabelles. Beyond presenting the dataset and documenting its construction methodology, we provide a detailed account of the functioning of the gabelle, situate the French case in comparative perspective, and illustrate how the availability of this fine-grained dataset expands the possibilities of empirical research in economic history, historical demography, and historical political economy of early modern France.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Gay, Victor & Davoine, Eva & Enguehard, Joseph & Kolesnikov, Igor, 2026. "Mapping the Grandes Gabelles in Early Modern France," TSE Working Papers 26-1716, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:131448
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cédric Chambru & Paul Maneuvrier‐Hervieu, 2023. "The evolution of wages in early modern Normandy (1600–1850)," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 917-940, August.
    2. Gay, Victor, 2025. "The Jean Nicolas Database. The French Rebellion, 1661-1789," TSE Working Papers 25-1647, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    3. Morrisson, Christian & Snyder, Wayne, 2000. "The income inequality of France in historical perspective," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 59-83, April.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • C82 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data; Data Access

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