The Three Estates THE FIRST ESTATE http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/nollet_portrait.jpg Jean-Antoine Nollet was French clergyman, experimental physicist, and leading member of the Paris Academy of Science. He constructed one of the first electrometers and developed a theory of electrical attraction and repulsion that supposed the existence of a continuous flow of electrical matter between charged bodies. Nollet was the first professor of experimental physics at the University of Paris. He was a great popularizer of electrical phenomena 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 régime, 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. n 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." (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html THE SECOND ESTATE In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term Second Estate (Fr. second état) indicated the nobility and (technically, though not in common use) royalty, the First Estate were the clergy, 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-Généraux), the analogue to the British Parliament but with no constitutional tradition of vested powers: the French monarchy remained absolute. The Second Estate is traditionally divided into "noblesse d'epee" ("nobility of the sword") and "noblesse de la robe" ("nobility of the gown"), the magisterial class that administered royal justice and civil government. The French inheritance system of primogeniture meant that nearly all French fortunes would pass largely in a single line, through the eldest son. Under the ancien régime, the Second Estate were exempt from most forms of taxation. THE THIRD ESTATE In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term Third Estate (tiers état) indicated the generality of people which were not part of the clergy (the First Estate) nor of the nobility (the Second Estate). From these terms came the name of the medieval French national assembly: the Estates-General (Fr. Etats-Généraux), the analogue to the British Parliament but with no constitutional tradition of vested powers: the French monarchy remained absolute. The Third Estate comprised all those who were not members of the aristocracy or the clergy, including peasants, working people and the bourgeoisie. In 1789, the Third Estate made up 98% of the population in France. Due in part to a limited franchise, the representatives of the Third Estate actually came from the wealthy upper bourgeoisie; sometimes the term's meaning has been restricted to the middle class, as opposed to the working class. In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term First Estate (Fr. premier état) 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-Généraux), the analogue to the British Parliament but with no constitutional tradition of vested powers: the French monarchy remained absolute.
