Social Causes of the French RevolutionSocial Causes of the French Revolution

The Three EstatesThe Three Estates

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Three Estates: Three StatisticsThree Estates: Three Statistics

Land OwnershipLand Ownership

Satirical Images of the Three Satirical Images of the Three EstatesEstates

First Estate: ClergyFirst Estate: Clergy

.05 – 1% of the French population

Owned 10 %- 15% of the land

This land was held tax-free.

Collected tithes from Third Estate.

Cardinal Richelieu, the architect of Louis XIV's absolutist regime.

Clergy divided into the lower and upper clergyClergy 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.

Second Estate: NoblesSecond 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.

Philippe I, duc d’Orleans, Louis XIV's brother

Like the clergy, there were two Like the clergy, there were two levels of nobilitylevels 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. French peasants repairing a wheel

on a cart.

The Second Estate were also the leading patrons The Second Estate were also the leading patrons of the arts, and many attended of the arts, and many attended salons.salons.

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, these men were 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.

Third Estate: Bourgeoisie, Peasants, Third Estate: Bourgeoisie, Peasants, Urban WorkersUrban 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 third estate were made up of rural landowners and peasants.

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

Third EstateThird Estate

BourgeoisieBourgeoisie This group had wealth. In some cases,

enormous wealth.

(“Success" in 18th century France meant status and privilege. However, wealth in the ancien regime did not mean status or 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.

17891789 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.

PeasantryPeasantry

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

Most peasants did not own their land, but rather rented it from 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, the church as well as

taxes and dues to the lord of the manor. They also paid numerous indirect taxes on wine, salt, and bread.

Peasants also owed their lord a labor obligation.

17891789

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

Taxes were increased, as well as 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 WorkersUrban 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%.

A large urban workers' riot, 4/28/1789

Louis–Sébastien Mercier, Louis–Sébastien Mercier, Portrait of Paris Portrait of Paris (1783)(1783)

““An entire family occupies a single room with An entire family occupies a single room with four bare walls, where straw mattresses have four bare walls, where straw mattresses have no sheets and kitchen utensils are kept with no sheets and kitchen utensils are kept with the chamber pots. All together the furniture is the chamber pots. All together the furniture is not worth twenty crowns and every three not worth twenty crowns and every three months, the inhabitants, thrown out for owing months, the inhabitants, thrown out for owing back rent, must find another hole to live in. So back rent, must find another hole to live in. So they wander, taking their miserable they wander, taking their miserable possessions from refuge to refuge. They own possessions from refuge to refuge. They own no shoes, and only the sound of wooden clogs no shoes, and only the sound of wooden clogs echo in the stairwells. Their naked children echo in the stairwells. Their naked children sleep helter-skelter.”sleep helter-skelter.”

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)

The Rise of the Third EstateThe Rise of the Third Estate

While technically an abbot (in title only, by virtue of passing an ecclesiastical exam) Abbé Sieyès was a leading theorist of the Revolution.