ABSTRACT
In previous chapters we have seen how a fiscal-state was built up, i.e., a state that set up an ordinary fiscal system to produce regular income to meet its ordinary needs. This revenue no longer came from the king’s seigneurial income or family wealth but rather from his subjects and their own economic activity. Although in some cases direct taxes held on to their past importance, albeit no longer so directly related to feudal domains, it was indirect taxes that little by little built up to become the lion’s share of the state’s ordinary revenue. Economic activity, therefore, became the bedrock of the fiscal system and the necessary condition of any increase in tax revenue. To increase this base, governments brought in the suitable reforms to enable the country to tap into this economic improvement. Population growth was obviously crucial here, a population that was increasingly urban and consumerist, and with a dwindling proportion of privileged classes.
