Question

describe French society during late eighteenth century

Answer 1

In the late eighteenth century, the French society was divided into three classes. These are:


1. The First Estate (The Clergy) : This Estate consisted Archbishops, Bishops and Abbots who governed the Church of France. These held about one fifth of the total land. These paid no taxes themselves. The Church collected the direct tax called tithe (1/10th) from the people.


2. The Second Estate (The Nobles) : There were about 80,000 noble families. They enjoyed the privileges and did not pay any taxes. They crushed the peasants and collected taxes from them. They acted as judges, prosecutors and juries.


3. The Third Estate (The Common People) : The majority of population belonged to this Estate, called the Plebians. They were the middle class, peasants and workers. The educated middle class (the bourgeoisie) consisted of doctors, lawyers, teachers, merchants and others. These paid about 50% of their income by the way of taxes. The government did not care for their welfare. They retained only 18% of their income. The farmers owned only two fifth of the land but paid four fifth of the total taxes.

Answer 2

Answer:

Here is the answer...

Explanation:

The system of estates in French society :

Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However,

only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About

60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and other

richer members of the third estate. The members of the first two

estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by

birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to

the state. The nobles further enjoyed feudal privileges. These included

feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants. Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord ñ to work in his house and fields ñ to serve in the army or to participate in building roads.

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