A pays d'élection () was one of the three types of généralité, or fiscal administrative region, in France under the Ancien Régime. The representative of the royal government, the intendant, managed the taxes in each region with the aid of the , who managed the subdivisions of the at a local level. They were for a long time elected by the States General, hence the name of their office and of the . From 1614 to 1789, however, the States General did not meet, and instead the King named the and the . This was in contrast to the pays d'état, such as Brittany or Burgundy, where fiscal policy was regulated by local rules and benefited from a certain autonomy; and to the pays d'imposition, where policy was decided directly by the king. The were the territories annexed under the reign of Louis XIV, such as Franche-Comté.
In 1787, Chief Minister Loménie de Brienne reformed the French tax administration by creating the in a number of the , which had control over their own tax policies, thus bringing these provinces closer to the in their administrative system. This reform did not last, however, as in 1790 the National Constituent Assembly established a different system: that of the .
History Origin under John II and Charles V The position of the was established in 1355 under the reign of John II. They were charged by the States General to raise the war subsidy in all the dioceses of the kingdom, in December 1355 and March 1356. However, the were only temporary commissioners until John's successor, Charles V, made them permanent royal officers. In 1372, the position was officially established as the collectors of the taille and the (indirect duty taxes), as well as judges in courts of first instances in cases concerning taxes. The exercised their functions in the dioceses until specific divisions called were created c.1380, corresponding approximately to the borders of the dioceses, although not exactly. The word "" first appeared as administrative nomenclature in 1452.
The from 1500 to 1789 The system of the underwent constant change throughout the duration of the Ancien Régime. The of Bellac, for example, was abolished and re-established three times between 1558 and 1597. Throughout the 16th century, their number increased considerably: beginning at 92, it would be 109 in the early days of Henry III's reign in 1575, and Henry IV's reign would see it rise further, reaching 146 by 1597. Richelieu, First Minister of Louis XIII, tampered with the system further during the 17th century when he attempted to transform certain into by establishing there. He succeeded in Dauphiné, which became a in 1628, but failed in Languedoc, Burgundy, and Provence.
On the advent of the revolution in 1789, there were 186 across various .
Decline and abolition Following the creation of a bureau des finances in each in 1577, the fell under the control of the , the officers who managed it. During the 17th century, the power of the gradually slipped into the hands of the . Placed at the head of a , these new agents of the monarchy mostly deprived the of their powers as officers as early as 1642.
The beginning of the end for the came with the king's edict of June 1787, which established the in all the provinces without states provincial (i.e., not the ). This was an expansion to all the of the system which had for a while been in place in Haute-Guyenne and Berry, and granted a level of autonomy in determining taxation similar to that held by the .
The , along with the other , were officially abolished on 4 March 1790 by the National Assembly. They were replaced by the new 83 .
References