What do you think is the point that the artist is trying
to make with this picture?
France Under the Old Regime
15th Century - 1789
The Church
(the First Estate)
• About 130,000 individuals
• 97% of France was Catholic
• Owned ¼ of property in Paris and 10% nationwide.
• Tithe = 8-10% of harvest collected each harvest
• Paid only a voluntary 3% of income in taxes
• Was a source of charity
The Nobility
(the Second Estate)
• .4-1% of population and owned 1/3 of land. Rights
over the rest. Received 1/12 to 1/6 of harvest.
• Divided between nobles of the sword and of the robe.
• Hereditary privileges (exclusive hunting rights, feudal
dues, and exemption from taxes and the corvee)
• Nobles at Versailles received most appointments to the
church, army and bureaucracy. Others (hobereaux)
weren’t always that rich.
Everyone Else
The “Third Estate”
• Urban poor spend 40-60% of their income on
bread. Food riots were common. Worked 14-16
hour days.
• Life expectancy =50 years, ½ of children died
before age 5
• 80% were rural peasants, 1/4 - 1/3 of produce to
nobility
The Bourgeoisie
• 5% of the population
• Law, investment, royal administration,
landlords
• Enthusiastic for Enlightenment ideals
• Increased from 700,000 in 1700 to 2.3 million
in 1780
Slaves
• The main colony was Saint-Domingue
(modern Haiti)
• >450,000 working in the Caribbean
• Regulated by the Code Noir of 1685: no legal
or family rights
• Half died within a few years.
Government
• No written constitution
• Roman law in the South and customary in the
North
• Cruel punishments for offenses
Jacques-Louis David