Western Civilization II / Unit 1 WC2 0009 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Colbert: Doubling Revenue Without New Taxes
Captions available
The idea
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a shopkeeper's son the nobles despised, ran the finances from sixteen sixty-one. He doubled royal revenue by cutting the collectors' take: where a quarter of taxes had reached the crown, up to eighty percent did.
In practice
Tariffs, overseas commerce, and, the witness adds, royal manufactures and a merchant marine.
Where people slip
Colbert warned against Louis's wars. The king ignored him.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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