Society & Economy Under
The Old Regime 18th Century
AP Euro Chapter 15
Pre-Revolutionary Europe
 Society Prior to
1789
 Is referred to the
 “Ancien regime”, or
“old regime”
Features of Old Regime
 1. Aristocrats
inherited privileges
 2. Urban labor force
organized into guilds
 3.Rural peasantry
subject to taxes
Visible Social Hierarchy
 1. Laws dictate what different classes
can wear
 2. Your rights depend on your social
class
 3. Not all have to pay taxes
 4. Certain activities restricted to upper
class
The Aristocracy…
 1. Consist of 1% to
5% of the
Population in any
given Euro. Country
 2. Inherit wealth &
Land
 3. Ruling Class
The Aristocracy
 4. Set the example
of manners &
conduct
 5. Lead “lives of
idleness”
 6. Have certain
privileges
British Nobility

 400 elite families
 Average estate size:
a thousand to 50
thousand acres !!
 Own ¼ of arable
(good) farming land
British Nobility
 Oldest son inherits
title & Right
 to sit in House of
Lords = Political
power
British Nobility
 Younger Sons Must
Choose Profession:
 Commerce, Military
Officer, Church
Office.
Peerage System :Titles of
Nobility Amongst Aristocracy
 The peerage a collective term for people who
possess certain titles of honor.
 The Titles in The Peerage ( In descending
order):
 Duke or Duchess
 Marquess or Marchioness
 Earl or Countess
 Viscount or Viscountess
 Baron or Lady
English Game Laws
 1671-1831
 Exclusive right of
aristocrats to hunt
hares, partridges,
pheasants, deer etc.
I am a Pheasant, not a
Peasant
British Noble Women
 "...the greatest
challenge faced by
females of the
leisured classes was
how to be
leisured..."
 Upper class women
had tutors, learned
“womanly activities”
and had lots of free
time!
18th Century English Trends:
Men
 Noble Men wear
“Banyan” 
 “man of the house”
outfit
 An Asian inspired
outfit for staying at
home
Noble Hairstyles 18th Century
 By 1780’s younger men
wore lightly powdered
natural hair
 1795 English
established tax for hair
powder
 Which caused the
demise of the powdered
wig/hair 
18th Century English Trends:
Women
 Clothes Reflect:
 “softness,
prettiness, delicacy”
 Colors reflect
natural world
 Decorative elements
18th Century English Trends:
Women & Cosmetics
 Pieces of leather or
fabric applied with
adhesive on face to
hide imperfections

 Lead face powder 
 Rouge made from
plaster of Paris &
Carmine 
Aristocrats In France
 Different From England
 Nobility acquired through:
 1. Birth- inherited
 2. office - awarded
 3. “letters”- King’s order
French Titles of Nobility
 Duke
 Marquis
 Comte (Earl)
 Vicomte (viscount)
 Baron
French Aristocratic Families &
Prestige
 how long had a given
family been noble
(l'ancienneté),
 into what other families
did it marry (les
alliances),
 what positions its
members achieved and
what offices they held
(les dignités),
 what actions they
performed (les
illustrations)
French Aristocrats
 400,000 nobles
 Divided Into:
 “Nobles of the
sword”-military
service
 “Nobles of the robe”bureaucracy
 Second estate
French Nobility
 Hobereaux –
provincial nobility
 Not as wealthy
 But “nobles” non the less
French Aristocrats
 Exempt from taxes
 Rarely had to pay
vingtieme income
tax in full
 Hunting & Fishing
privileges
French Aristocrats
 Known for
extravagance in
manner , dress,
court culture
 Remember
Versailles?
Peasants & Serfs
Rural Reality
The Importance of Land
 Economic basis 18th
cent. Europe
 Foundation of status
& power for nobility
 Source of
oppression for
peasants
Rural Reality
 3/4ths of all
Europeans live in
rural areas
 Work the land
Peasants & Serfs: What’s the
Difference?
 Peasants – are “free” tenants (Western
Europe)
 Serfs- are not free. More like slaves
(Eastern Europe)
French Peasants
 Seigneur or Land
Lord can:
 Require labor from
peasants
 Charge feudal dues
Russian Serfs
 Nobles wealth
measured by serfs,
not land acreage
 Barshchina- 6 day
work week
 Serfs can be
punished
 Like slaves
Russian Serf Rebellions
 Over 50 in 1762
 Pugachev’s Rebellion in Southern
Russia (1773-1775 )
 Emelyan Pugachev Promises:
 Serfs land of their own
 Freedom from landlord
 Russian govt. crushes rebellion
The Family Economy & The
Household
Rural Living Pre-Industrial / PreRevolution
The Household…
 Basic unit of




production
also known as “The
Family Economy”
2 models:
1. North Western
Europe
2. Eastern Europe
1. North Western Household
 Household consists of the Nuclear
Family:
 Married couple, children , maybe a
servant (younger person, a social equal,
works until marriage).
 Children live with parents until teen
years
1.North Western Household
 Neocalism- when
child moves away
from home
 Men marry at 26
 Women marry at 23
 Considered “late”
marriage
2. Eastern Europe Household
 Household consists of Extended
Family:
 Married couple, children, grandparents
etc.
 Larger households
 Younger Parents
 Idea is to “add” to household, not leave
Family Economy
 1. Impossible for ordinary people to
support themselves independently
 2. Everyone in household works
 3. Goods produced for benefit of
household
 4. “self contained” unit
Those Who Lived By
Themselves…
 seen as suspicious!
 Potential criminals,
or beggars
 Remember, even
servants lived with a
family…
Women and the Family
Economy
 Marriage regardless of class, an
economic necessity!
 Number 1 concern: maintaining house
 Number 2 concern : bearing and rearing
children
Life of Lower Class Women
 At age 7, girls
considered old
enough to help
around the house
 Once a girl left
home, she had to
support family, and
save up for her
dowry
Women & Children
 High mortality rates for children –
disease
 Unsanitary conditions
 The poor could not afford babies
Foundling Hospitals
 Paris, London
 Homes for
abandoned children
“orphans”
 Most children
illegitimate
 Parents could not
afford them/gave
them up
Abandoned Children
 Link between
movement of people
and an increase in
abandoned children
 Link between rise of
food prices and
abandoned children
The Sad Truth…
 Only 10 % of abandoned children lived
to the age of ten.
The Agricultural Revolution
Changes in the midst…
Developments That Transform
 European society & economy
Agricultural Questions 18th
Century
 1. How do you
produce surplus
crops?
 2. How can you
bring down the price
of crops?
Agricultural Revolution
 Innovations in
agriculture led to
improvements in
agricultural
production
 And
 Transformed the
“traditional” family
economy
Jethro Tull (1674-1741)
 English
 Developed Seed
Drill
 Seed drill Allows
seeds to be planted
in rows, rather than
by casting seeds
randomly
Charles “Turnip” Townsend
(1674-1738)
 English;
 Introduced Crop
Rotation – wheat,
turnips, barley,
clover
 Crop rotation
Restores nutrients in
soil
Robert Bakewell (1725-1795)
 English;
 Pioneered new
methods of animal
breeding
 Bred stronger
animals
Enclosure System
 1. The fencing off of common lands
 2. Commercialized agriculture (no
longer a communal ritual)
Improvements in agriculture
 1. Impacted the food supply in a positive
manner
 2. Allow landowners to have a
“disposable” income – money left over
to purchase manufactured goods, or
invest in other business opportunities
Demographic Changes
 Europe’s Population Rose
 1700 – 100 and 120 million
 By 1800 – 190 million
 By 1850 – 260 million
 Mortality rates declined due to Changes
in food supply
Industrial Revolution
Mid – Late 1700’s
From Domestic System to
Industrialization
Industrialization
 Second Half of 18th




Century
Focus on
“Manufactured
goods”
1. Led to movement
of people
2. Growth of cities
3. Industrialization
Industrial Revolution Begins in
Great Britain… Why?
 1. Economic Center
 2. Print Media : Newspapers, Magazines,





advertising
3. Good roads & waterways to transport
goods
4. Stable banking system
5. Mobile society & Large Population
6. Rich deposits of coal & ore
7. Transformation of Textile Industry
“Domestic” System (“Putting Out
System)
 1. Peasant home #1
would spin thread
at home for extra $.
 2. Agent would take
finished thread to
peasant home #2 .
This family would
then weave thread
into fabric.
Domestic System of Textile
Production
 Was basic feature of family economy
until Mid 18th Century
 The demand for cotton textiles grew
more rapidly than production,
 So …
 Investors searched for faster ways to
produce fabric & clothing
1. Water Power
 1700’s Water
Wheels power first
machines &
factories
 Thus, 1st factories
had to be built by
water source
2.The Flying Shuttle (1730’s)
 Invented by: John
Kay
 Allowed weavers to
work fast
 Problem: they
outpaced spinners
3.The Spinning Jenny (1764)
 Invented by :
James Hargreaves
 Spun many threads
at the same time (16
originally)
4. Water Frame (1769)
 Invented By:
Richard Arkwright
 Used water power to
speed up spinning
5. The Steam Engine
 1. Thomas
Newcomen’s
original invention
1712 – large,
inefficient
 Used to pump water
out of coal mines
5. The Steam Engine
 2. James Watt’s
Modified Version
1769 –
revolutionized
industry
 Use of steam engine
spread slowly until
1800’s
6. Power Loom (1780’s)
 Invented by:
Edmund Cartwright
 Did not gain
importance until
1830’s!
 By then, more
power loom weavers
than hand loom
weavers
Growth of Cities
 Population Growth
between 1500-1800
 However, less than
20% of population
lived in cities
(in France, and in
Great Britain)
Growth of Capitals & Ports
(1600-1750)
 1. Growth of Ports – a reflection of
expansion of overseas trade
 2. Growth of Capitals – a reflection of
the success of monarchical state
New Cities Emerge, Small Cities
Grow (mid 18th cent)
 1. Innovations in agriculture – improved
crop production led to growth of market
towns
 2. Factories Near Water – towns “grew”
around factory as People moved.
Social Divisions

 differences between rich & poor
 Nobles : Attempt to secure & expand
privileges. Live “beautiful” lives
 Poverty: found in both cities, &
countryside. Live “filthy” lives. Lower
classes have no rights, no chance at
social mobility.
The Middle Class or
“Bourgeoisie”
 Urban residents
 Merchants, trades people, bankers,
Lawyers, Professionals
 Grow wealthier and wealthier
 Want political power and Social Prestige
Inequality of the Social Classes
Leads us to…
The French Revolution 1789-1800
To be continued…