POWER AND PRIVILEGE: Ancient Regime Society

THE OLD REGIME SOCIETY

    The "ancient regime" (old regime in French) is a term applied to European social, economic, and political development before the French Revolution of 1789.

    During the time of the Old Regime, society was broken down into three orders, the estates. The first two estates were few people but had lot of power.  The First and Second Estates were grouped together because they had similar privileges. The first two estates were the richest of the three estates.

• First Estate. The Clergy: 

    It consisted of the Clergy, or the Church. The First Estate owned nearly ten percent of all the land in France. This estate paid no taxes, but to support church activities such as running schools and caring for the poor, it collected a tithe, or a tax on income. The First Estate perfectly illustrates the amount of power and wealth possessed by the Church during a time when Church and State were not separated.

• Second Estate. The Nobility:

    The most important order of the three consisted of the Nobility of the Second Estate. Most of the King's ministers of state were of Noble birth, and even the highest order of the Clergy, was filled with the younger sons of Noble families. Like the First Estate, the Second Estate paid hardly any taxes and generally consisted of the richest members of society. 

    This group enjoyed extensive rights and privileges, great land, and much wealth. The Nobles accumulated their wealth by collecting taxes, rents, and dues for the use of their farms or estates. Noblemen traditionally lived by the values of loyalty, courage, refined manners, and service to the King. However, while these aristocrats still claimed the privileges of their estate, many had forgotten their duties and values. This estate shows how unequal was this society; most members of the Second Estate weren't even rich, but were born into a Noble family and were therefore considered Nobility. 

• Third Estate:

          The Third Estate consisted of citizens who weren't classified as either Clergy or Nobility. It was the largest least but the influential of the estates. Since the first two estates were exempt from taxes, the Third Estate had to provide almost all of the country's income.

    In general, the Third Estate was composed of three groups: the Peasants (farmers), the Middle Class (bourgeoisie), and the Urban Workers:

• A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground.
• The Middle Class was composed of the most rich people in society. However, the Middle Class often worried about its social status, for it wasn't socially recognized because it was part of the Third Estate.
• The Urban Workers, on the other hand, held much weight in society before and during the Revolution. Their anger at low wages and shortages of bread and other staple foods often resulted in mob violence during the Revolution.

    While the first two orders enjoyed many advantages, the commoners of the Third Estate had none. Barred by law and without any kind of political power, these people were also forced to pay taxes on their income, land, property, crops, salt, tobacco, wine and even their lives. If a peasant sold a piece of land, he or she paid a sales tax, as well as an additional tax, on the money he or she received. These taxes were just too much for a hard working individual to pay; that’s why, this class system caused human life to be unequal. In addition to financial restrictions, peasants and farmers were forbidden to kill any game animals, even those that threatened their crops. On top of all these restrictions the commoners were forced to military service. Once in the army, these people were paid very poorly and fed even worse.

    The people of the Third Estate were tired of being treated unfairly throughout their everyday lives. The first two estates were enjoying their tax-free lifestyles while the poor paid for this injustice. Clearly, such a system could not survive for long. 

The social structure:

a. The privileged estate:

They are the ones who had advantages and opportunities that other people didn’t have, because they had high social status. They were the land owners. This group was formed by:

• Nobility: people in the highest social class who usually have titles, for example dukes, duchesses…).
• Clergy: the people who lead religious services, especially Christian priests.

b. The non privileged estate:

They were poor and had no social advantages. They were:

• Peasantry: peasants, considered as a social class. They worked on another person’s farm or on their own small farm.
• Bourgeoisie: the middle class, they lived at the cities and they were only interested in money and possessions and in being socially respected.

TASKS:

1.  What is the ancient regime?
2. How many estates were there during the ancient regime? Name them.
3. Who were the privileged ones? Why?
4. Who were the non privileged?
5. Write the main characteristics of the first estate.
6. Write the main characteristics of the second estate.
7. Write the main characteristics of the third estate.
8. What groups did form the third estate?
9. Do you think that this kind of society is fair? Why? (At least three lines).