ROYAL AUTHORITY IN FRANCE 185 in assembly granted them an aid, that is to say, the right to levy a tax. In the northern provinces this tax was usually so much per pound on the merchandise sold, especially on beverages (it resembles our indirect tax) ; in the South it was so much per fire, that is, per household1 (this resembles our direct tax). But the assembly did not grant these taxes except for a short time, two or three years at the most; the king was obliged to continue his demands. The assembly always granted them, but always accused him of extravagance. After the defeat of King John, in 1356, the northern assembly (the Estates of Paris) voted a tax on bever- ages, and to prevent the court from squandering the money an exact system of administration was estab- lished: twelve generals were charged each in his province with the apportionment of the tax and to superintend the employment of the funds. They had under them deputies whom they had chosen, who regu- lated the details of the operation. The countries sub- jected to this rule were divided into districts called generalities, and sub-divided into "elections." Three years later the king, having again become all powerful, himself took possession of the whole machine, named the generals and the elus (the elect) and continued to levy taxes without consulting his subjects. The aid on beverages was changed to a perpetual tax, which the king employed for his own benefit without consulting his subjects and without rendering an account to any one. At the close of the Hundred Years' War, Charles * It was called fouage (tax per five); it was changed into a tax on lands similar to our land-tax.