Revolt of the va-nu-pieds


The Revolt of the va-nu-pieds was a popular uprising in Normandy in 1639 following Louis XIII of France's decision to set up the gabelle in Cotentin in place of the privilege of the quart-bouillon.

Context

The Nu-Pieds revolt was the culmination of a series of troubles or “agitations” that shook Normandy for more than a decade. For some time, the royal budget had been in deficit. To finance itself, the kingdom issued fiscal expedients. Normandy, one of the richest provinces of the kingdom, was obliged to make strong contributions. Each time, the fiscal pressure provoked problems, like in Rouen in 1623, when people protested against the obligation to pay charges for brouettiers, for chiffonniers etc. to the tax office; or in 1628 and 1634 in protest against a tax on leather markings.

Course

Etymology

The term “va-nu-pied” appeared in 1639 in the work Histoire des Secretaires d’État by Antoine Fauvelet du Toc under the spelling “Va nuds pieds” and, from 1646, in the columns of the journal Mercure François under the name “Jean va Nuds-pieds”. The expression is the origin of the noun “va-nu-pieds” which has an invariable form.