The Courts of Aids (French: ''Cours des aides'') were
sovereign court
Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a Provinces of France, provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris, ' ...
s in ''
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
''
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, primarily concerned with
customs
Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...
, but also other matters of
public finance
Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...
. They exercised some control over certain
excise tax
file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
es and
octroi
Octroi (; , to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption.
Antiquity
The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in R ...
duties, which were regarded as of a different nature from the
taille
The ''taille'' () was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in ''Ancien Régime'' France. The tax was imposed on each household and was based on how much land it held, and was paid directly to the state.
History
Originally ...
, the
gabelle
The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular French salt tax that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself orig ...
, and the
general imposts of the kingdom. The Paris court sat in the
Palais-Vieux, of which a monumental door can still be seen in the
Rue du Temple. It was set up to judge appeal-cases of extraordinary (i.e. fiscal) and ordinary (i.e. "domaniale") financial matters relating to the
chambre du Trésor (
treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
).
Guillaume de Lamoignon de Blancmesnil was "premier président" of the Paris Court of Aids from 1746 to 1749.
, his son, succeeded him and served from 1750 to 1775. (According to an etching from 1655, Jacques Amelot was the "premier président" of the Cour des Aydes or, in English, Court of Aids. See the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gallery Images for his portrait of 1655 and its inscription.)
References
Law of the Ancien Régime
Judiciary of France
Defunct courts
Courts and tribunals disestablished in the 18th century
{{France-hist-stub