10D
Prep is due – put it in the box!
• Please turn your chair so you have your back to your
partner
• One of you will have a source – one of you will
recreate the source – with the second one describing
it!
What was France like in 1780?
The Ancien Regime: How did the Three
Estates work?
For your Estate consider:
1. What sort of people were members?
2. How powerful were they?
3. What privileges did they have?
4. How would they feel about revolution?
The King – Absolute Monarch
• Ruled by Divine Right.
• Centre-point for legal authority of the realm (King = Chief
Judge).
• Head of long-established social hierarchy.
• Unifying force in nation.
First Estate
• Clergy – Bishops, Archbishops, parish priests (curés).
• Power derived from importance of religion.
• Privileges:
• No military service;
• No taxes
• Right to be tried in church courts.
Second Estate
• Nobility, including members of the royal
family alongside noblemen; traditionally
landowners.
• Nobility of the Sword – hereditary nobles.
• Nobility of the Robe – status derived from
job/position.
• Privileges:
• No taxes
• Could wear a sword in public
• Legal rights (could be beheaded rather than
hanged)
Third Estate
• Everyone else – university professors, merchants, tramps.
• Bourgeoisie – skilled classes, no privileges.
• Peasantry – no privileges, forced to pay feudal dues
(money) to their masters.
Prep
10D