France’s Three Estates

• Describe the causes of the French Revolution including inequalities in society, enlightenment ideas, and widespread crisis in the country.

• Explain how problems, such as societal inequalities, natural disasters, and the introduction of new ideas, happen over time and often develop into avenues of change.

What would you start a Revolution for?

What does injustice mean?

Three Estates

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

LandOwnership

Taxation Population

ClergyNobilityCommoners

Land Ownership

1st Estate: Clergy

• .05 – 1% of the French population

• Owned 10 %- 15% of the land

• This land was held tax free.

• Collected tithes from 3rd estate.

Clergy divided into the lower and upper clergy

Upper Clergy: Bishops and abbots men who regarded their office as a way of securing a larger income and the landed property that went with it. Most of the upper clergy sold their offices to subordinates, kept the revenue, and lived in Paris or at the seat of royal government at Versailles.

Lower Clergy: Humble, poorly-paid and overworked village priests As a group, they resented the wealth and arrogance of the upper clergy

2nd Estate: Nobles

• 1.5 – 2% of the French population

• Owned 20 % of the land

• As an order, they were virtually exempt from paying taxes of any kind.

• Collected rent and dues from the peasant population who lived on their lands.

Like the clergy, there were two levels of nobility

Nobility of the Sword: served their King at his court in Versailles. Many members of this order were of ancient lineage - their family history could be traced back hundreds of years.

Nobility of the Robe: members of this estate who were relative newcomers. Had prestige but much less than the Nobility of the Sword. Created by the monarchy in the past. French kings needed money so it seemed logical to offer position and status to those men who were willing to pay enough money for it. King could also keep an eye on their behavior. This is one reason why Louis XIV built Versailles in the first place. Originally a vast hunting lodge, Louis built up Versailles in order to house his generals, ministers and other court suck-ups.

• Nobility collected dues as well…

• Le Corvee:

– labor dues collected from peasants, on salt, cloth, bread, wine and the use mills, granaries, presses and ovens.

• By the 18th century, they were also becoming involved in banking, finance, shipping, insurance and manufacturing.

They were also the leading patrons of the arts.

• Some of the lesser nobility offered their homes and their salons to the likes of Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau.

• During the early days of the Revolution considered "liberal nobles." They wished to see an end to royal absolutism but not necessarily the end of the monarchy.

• These liberal nobles tended to look to France's traditional enemy, England, as a model for what France ought to become, a limited or constitutional monarchy.

3rd Estate: Bourgeoisie, Peasants, Urban Workers

• 97 - 98% of the French population

• Bourgeoisie owned 30% of the land

• Peasants owned 40 – 45% of the land

• Essentially responsible for all taxes.

The Bourgeoisie: Middle class included bankers, merchants and manufacturers

The bulk of the 3rd estate were made up of rural landowners and peasants.

Finally, the poorest members were the urban (City) workers: printers, clothe makers, porters, construction workers and street sellers.

3rd Estate

Bourgeoisie• This group had wealth. In some cases,

enormous wealth. • However, wealth in the ancien regime did not

mean status or privilege and "success" in 18th century France meant status and privilege.

• Wealth was nothing without status. • Bourgeoisie were influenced by the nobility and

tried to imitate them whenever possible. • Upwardly mobile, but felt frustrated and blocked

by the nobility.

1789• By 1789, the bourgeoisie controlled 20% of all

the land.• Bourgeoisie had numerous grievances:

– Wanted all Church, army and government positions open to men of talent and merit.

– Sought a Parliament that would make all the laws for the nation.

– Desired a constitution that would limit the king's powers.

– Desired fair trials, religious toleration and vast administrative reforms.

Peasantry

• French peasants’ standard of living was perhaps better than the European peasantry in general. However, the continued to live in utmost poverty.

• Most peasants did not own their land but rented it from those wealthier peasants or nobility.

• Supplemented income by hiring themselves out as day laborers, textile workers or manual laborers.

• Victimized by heavy taxation • Peasants paid taxes to the king and the church and

taxes and dues to the lord of the manor, as well as numerous indirect taxes on wine, salt, and bread.

• Peasants also owed their lord a labor obligation.

1789

• By 1789, Peasantry owned 30-40% of the available land but mostly in small, semi-feudal plots.

• Taxes were increased as was rent. • Peasants used antiquated methods of

agriculture. • Prices continued to rise at a quicker rate

than wages. To make matters worse, there was the poor harvest of 1788/89.

Urban Workers

• Urban workers or artisans, as a group, consisted of all journeymen, factory workers and wage earners.

• Urban poor also lived in poverty.

1789

• Wages increased by only 22% while the cost of living increased by 62%.

• 1st. What is the third estate? Everything.2nd. What has it been in the political order? Nothing.3rd. What does it demand? To become something.

~Abbé Sieyès, What is the Third Estate? (1789)