Estates of the realm
Categories: Law stubs | Constitutional law
| Ancien Régime |
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| Structure |
| Estates of the realm |
| Parlements |
| French nobility |
| Taille |
| Gabelle |
| Seigneurial system |
In France under the ancien régime, the Estates of the realm were the three divisions of the Estates-General. The First Estate was the clergy, the Second was nobility, the Third 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.
The Estates in Sweden and Finland were nobility, clergy, burghers, and land-owning peasants. Each were free men, and had specific rights and responsibilities, and the right to send a representative to the Diet (a governing assembly). A summary of this division is:
- Nobility is exempt from tax, has an inherited rank and the right to keep a fief, and has a tradition of military service and government
- Clergy is the priests, exempt from tax, governed by the Church
- Burghers are city-dwellers, tradesmen and craftsmen, and have a monopoly in commerce; entry to this Estate is controlled by the government
- Peasants are land-owners and their families, which represented the majority in medieval times
- To no estate belonged propertyless farmers, farmhands, servants, travelling salesmen, vagrants, parasites
This legal division existed until the modern age in Finland. However, at the start of the 20th century, most of the population did not belong to any Estate and had no political representation. A particularly large class were the rent farmers, who did not own the land they cultivated, but had to work in the land-owner's farm to pay their rent. (Unlike in Russia, there were no slaves or serfs.) The political system was reformed, and the last Diet was dissolved in 1905, to create the modern parliamentary system.
See also
- Estates-General
- Riksdag of the Estates (Sweden)
- Diet of Finland (Grand Duchy of Finland)
- Fourth Estate