Estates of Th Realm
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Estates of the realm
In France under the ancien rД©gime, the Estates of the realm were the three divisions of the Estates-General. The First Estate was the clergy, The Second Estate was nobility, The Third Estate was the commoners. In theory, all commoners were part of the Third Estate. In practice, during the period where there was a division of France into estates, of the commoners only the bourgeoisie were represented. The division of the French realm into estates was abolished during the first months of the French Revolution.
The use of this term is not exclusive to France (although that is by far its most common usage). In the United Kingdom, an analogous division exists to this day, although with attenuated significance, between Lords Temporal, Lords Spiritual, and Commons.
Note one contrast between the French and British systems: the lower clergy in France were part of the First Estate, but in Britain they are commoners.
First Estate
In France of the ancien rД©gime and the age of the French Revolution, the term First Estate (Fr. premier Д©tat) indicated the clergy; the Second Estate were the nobility, and the rest of the population constituted the Third Estate. From these terms came the name of the medieval French national assembly: the Estates-General (Fr. Etats-GД©nД©raux), the analogue to the British Parliament but with no constitutional tradition of vested powers: the French monarchy remained absolute.
In principle, the responsibilities of the First Estate included “the registration of births, marriages and deaths; they collected the tithe (usually 10%); they censored books; served as moral police; operated schools and hospitals; and distributed relief to the poor. They also owned 10-15% of all the land in France. This land, of course, was all held tax-free.” [1] {
The First Estate comprised the entire clergy, traditionally divided into “higher” and “lower” clergy. Although there was no formal demarcation between the two categories, the upper clergy were, effectively, clerical nobility, from the families of the Second Estate. At the other extreme, parish priests and many monks had more in common with the Third Estate than the Second, and, within the Third Estate, more in common with the peasants and wage-earners than with the bourgeoisie.
The French inheritance system of primogeniture meant that nearly all French fortunes would pass largely in a single line, through the eldest son. Hence, it became very common for second sons to join the clergy. Although some great churchmen came out of this system, much of the higher clergy continued to live the lives of aristocrats, enjoying the wealth derived from church lands and tithes and, in some cases, paying little or no attention to their churchly duties. The ostentatious wealth of the higher clergy was, no doubt, partly responsible for the widespread anticlericalism in France, dating back as far as the Middle Ages, and was certainly responsible for the element of class resentment within the anticlericalism of many peasants and wage-earners.
Similar class resentments existed within the First Estate.
During the latter years of the ancien rД©gime, the Catholic Church in France (the Gallican Church) was a separate entity within the realm of Papal control, both a State within a State and Church within a Church. The King had the right to make appointments to the bishoprics, abbeys, and priories and the right to regulate the clergy. [2]{
Second Estate