The Three Estates
The estates of the realm in ancien régime France were:
- First Estate (Premier État, le clergé ) – The clergy, both high (generally siding with the nobility, and it often was recruited amongst its younger sons) and low.
- Second Estate (Second État, la noblesse ) – The nobility. Technically, but not usually of much relevance, the Second Estate also included the Royal Family.
- Third Estate (Tiers État) – Everyone not included in the First or Second Estate. At times this term refers specifically to the bourgeoisie, the middle class, but the Third Estate also included the sans-culottes, the labouring class. Also included in the Third Estate were lawyers, merchants, and government officials.
See also: Fourth Estate, a term with two relevant meanings: on the one hand, the generally unrepresented poor, nominally part of the Third Estate; on the other, the press, as a fourth powerful entity in addition to the three estates of the realm.
Read more about this topic: Glossary Of The French Revolution
Famous quotes containing the word estates:
“The Sun shone whole at intervals--/Then Half--then utter hid--/As if Himself were optional/And had Estates of Cloud/Sufficient to enfold Him/Eternally from view--”
—Emily Dickinson (1831–1886)