III. Indirect Taxes.
(1) Aides.—Dues levied on the sale of food-stuffs, wine, and other articles.
(2) Gabelles.—Salt was a royal monopoly; and every household had to buy so much salt for every member above the age of eight. The price was very high, but varied, as well as the amount to be bought, in different Provinces.
(3) Customs at the frontiers of every Province. These in later days were so heavy that a cask of wine would pay its value before it reached Paris.
(4) Sale of Offices.—By the end of the sixteenth century there was scarcely any royal office which was not sold.
The Aides, Gabelles, and Customs were in the hands of farmers of the taxes, who exercised great extortion.