The Estates System

First Estate (Clergy)

Second Estate (Nobility)

Third Estate Commoners)

  • The clergy of the Roman Catholic Church made up 0.6 per cent of the population (monks, nuns, priests and curates)
  • The Church was a highly hierarchical organisation, Bishops in high offices and priests in commoners
  • Influence of the Chuch: 97% of french people where catholic, held 10% of french land, farmers had to pay a 10% Tithe
  • Exemption form Taxes
  • Got their status from birth or creation of ennoblement (raised by the king)
  • Wealthy commoners could acquire noble status through Venal offices, Not all nobles where wealthy, but most wealthy ended up becoming nobles
  • 0.4% of the population, owned 1/4-1/3 of all the land in France, exempted from paying Taille and corvee
  • Privileges included: fiscal and seigneurial privileges, exclusive employment, official positions in the army
  • Significant changes made to France's political system would result in nobles privileges decreasing, but Enlightened Nobles accepted the reforms as they where natural leaders in society
  • Every person who was not a member of the Clergy or Nobility, 99% of the population (wealthy merchants, urban workers, peasants and beggars)
  • The Wealthiest commoner group where the bourgeoisie, through trade (merchants, bankers, business people, land owners, medical professionals, lawyers and civil servants)
  • Largest section was the peasents, 80% of the population, owned 30% of the land (smallholders, tenant farmers or sharecroppers)
  • Substances Farming , income depended on yield and scarcity of food was common
  • Their obligations included: Seigneurial dues to lord of the manor, working on the land, labour service on roads (corvee), land tax (taille), salt tax (gabelle), head tax (capitation), tax to the church and twentieth tax(vingtieme)
  • Don Gratuit - Grant /voulantary gift to the king
  • Controlled, the poor, education hospitals and registers or birth, death and marriages