Chapter 1: Social Divisions, Privileges And Burdens Flashcards
What were the three groups the French people were divided into?
The first estate: clergy
The second estate: nobility
The third estate: common people (bourgeoisie, urban workers, peasants)
How may people were in the clergy?
What did the clergy consist of?
130,000 clergy
60,000 monks and nuns
70,000 secular clergy
What was desirable about the clergy?
Who desired and achieved this?
Wealth
Church owned 10% of all land
Church collected the tithe (tax of 10% of a landowners crop)
Younger sons of the nobility desired higher posts in the church that were worth a lot of money
What was the churches relationship with paying taxes?
Exempt form regular taxation
Payed smaller annual payment (don gratuit)
How many people were in the nobility?
What did the nobility consist of?
110,000 to 350,000 (about 1% of population)
Noblesse de l’epée (nobility of the sword): old families with ancestry traced back before the 1400s
Noblesse de robe (nobility of the robe): those who bought noble status by purchasing offices
Where did the nobility live?
How much land did they own?
Those at the court of Versailles were mostly the noblesse de l’epée as they could afford it.
Majority lived in the country. Some not that wealthy
Nobility owned c. 25% of the land.
What positions did the nobility take up?
Nearly all high positions (including those in the church):
King’s ministers
Legal officials
Intendants
Army officers
What privileges did the nobility have?
Tried in special courts
Exempt from the gabelle (salt tax)
Exempt firm the corvée (forced labour service for third estate)
Exempt form taille
Monopoly rights in some areas to operate mills / wine presses etc.
How could you become part of the nobility?
Buy an office (2,200 families by 18th century)
Direct grant from the king (4,300 families by 18th century)
How many bourgeoisie were there?
2.3 million
8% of population
Who were the bourgeoisie?
Rich members of the third estate, many richer than nobility (particularly those in industry and banking)
Many could buy their way into nobility
Merchants
Doctors
Lawyers
Land owners
Civil servants
How much of the population were peasants? Who were they?
85%
Most labourers, growing enough to feed themselves
What taxes / feudal dues did they have to pay?
Tithe to church
Tax to state (ex: taille, gabelle. Took 5-10% of their incomes)
Feudal dues to their lord (varied from area to area)
What other disadvantages did they face?
Tried in seigneurial courts where lord acted as judge AND jury
Rent rose in middle of 18th century as population increased but wages stayed the same
Who made up the urban workers?
Working hours?
Where did they work?
Skilled and unskilled craftsmen
King working hours - 16 hours a day, 6 days a week
No factories, most in workshops
