Prepare A Table On The Division Of Estates In French Society in 1774
Answers
Explanation:
The city was divided into separate estates prior to the French revolution. The first estate that consisted of priests was there. Then there was the second estate of noblemen, then the third estate of peasants, etc. The middle class, composed of lawyers, merchants and so on, emerged during the French revolution.
France divided society into three estates under the Ancien Régime (before the French Revolution):-the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners). The king was considered not to be part of any estate.
1. The First Estate
The First Estate included the clergy as a whole, usually divided into "higher" and "lower" clergy. There was no specific demarcation between the two groups, the upper clergy, from the Second Estate families, were, essentially, clerical aristocracy. Every bishop in France was a nobleman in the age of Louis XVI, a circumstance which had not existed even before the 18th century.
2. The Second Estate
The Second Estate was the aristocracy and monarchy of the French (technically, but not in common use), other than the king himself, who remained outside the estate system.
3. The Third Estate
The Third Estate included all those who were not part of any of the above and could be divided into two classes, public and private, making up more than 90% of the population of France. Free peasants (who owned their own land) who could be wealthy and villains (serfs, or peasants employed on a noble land) were included in the rural ones.