The estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society, usually distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners recognized in the Middle Ages, and, later, in some parts of Europe. An illuminated manuscript is a Manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration such as decorated Initials borders and Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. In British law a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. While various realms inverted the order of the first two, commoners were universally tertiary, and often further divided into burghers (also known as bourgeoisie) and peasants, and in some regions, there also was a population outside the estates. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground An estate was usually inherited and based on occupation, similar to a caste,

Legislative bodies or advisory bodies to a monarch were traditionally grouped along lines of these estates, with the monarch above all three estates. Castes are Hereditary systems of occupation, Endogamy, social culture, Social class, and Political power. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or Meetings of the estates of the realm became early legislative and judicial parliaments (see The States). TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A  parliament is a Legislature, especially in those The States or the Estates signifies in different countries and Dominions the assembly of the ( feudalistic) representatives of the Estates of Two medieval parliaments derived their name from the estates of the realm: the primarily tricameral Estates-General (French: États-Généraux) of the Kingdom of France (the analogue to the bicameral Parliament of England but with no constitutional tradition of vested powers: the French monarchy remaining absolute); and the unicameral Estates of Parliament, also known as the Three Estates (Scots: Thrie Estaitis), the parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland (which had more power over the monarch than the French assembly, but less than the English one), and its sister institution the Convention of Estates of Scotland. Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or Parliamentary chambers In France under the Ancien Regime, the States-General or Estates-General (French états généraux) was a Legislative assembly French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people In Government, bicameralism (bi + Latin la ''camera'' chamber is the practice of having two legislative or Parliamentary chambers Thus a bicameral The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity List of Queens and Empresses of France Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below Absolute monarchy is a monarchical Form of government where the king and queen have absolute power over everything Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber This article is about the pre-1707 parliament The article on the devolved legislative body established in 1999 is at Scottish Parliament. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern The Kingdom of Scotland ( Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a State in northwest Europe The monarch of Scotland was the Head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. The Convention of Estates of Scotland was a sister institution to the Scottish Parliament which sat from the early sixteenth century

Contents 1 In France 1.1 First Estate 1.2 Second Estate 1.3 Third Estate 1.4 The French Estates-General 1.5 End of feudalism in France 2 In Scotland 3 United Kingdom 4 Sweden and Finland 5 Holy Roman Empire 6 Russian Empire 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

In France

Kingdom of France
Structure
Estates of the realm Parlements French nobility Taille Gabelle Seigneurial system

Main article: Ancien Régime in France

France under the Ancien Régime (before the French Revolution) divided society into three estates: the First Estate or clergy; the Second Estate or nobility; and the Third Estate or commoners. The Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as “Old Rule” “Old Kingdom” or simply “Old Regime” refers primarily to the aristocratic This article is for the Ancien Régime institution For the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution see French Parliament. The Nobility (la noblesse in France, in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period had specific legal and financial rights and Taille was also a name used in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Baroque Cor anglais. The following article is about a Tax. If you are looking for information about a literary character see A Tale of Two Cities. This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here The Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as “Old Rule” “Old Kingdom” or simply “Old Regime” refers primarily to the aristocratic Ancien Régime ( pronounced: /ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim/ refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. The Nobility (la noblesse in France, in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period had specific legal and financial rights and In British law a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. The king was in his own special estate.

First Estate

The First Estate (Fr. premier état) was the clergy. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion.

In principle, the responsibilities of the First Estate included "the registration of births, marriages and deaths; they collected the tithe (in France, called the "dîme", usually 10%); they censored books; served as moral police; operated schools and hospitals; and distributed relief to the poor. A tithe (from Old English teogoþa "tenth" is a one-tenth part of something paid as a (usually voluntary contribution or as a Tax or levy The Mutaween (مطوعين muṭawiʿiyn; variant English spellings mutawwain muttawa mutawallees mutawa’ah mutawi’ mutawwa' means "volunteer" in Arabic They also owned 10–15% of all the land in France. This land was all held tax-free. [2] The church did however pay the state a so-called "free gift" known as a don gratuit, which was collected via the "décime", a tax on ecclesiastic offices.

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. In the time of Louis XVI, every bishop in France was a nobleman, a situation that had not existed before the eighteenth century^[1]At the other extreme, parish priests and many monks were drawn from peasant families and had more in common with the Third Estate. Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre

In 1789, the First Estate numbered somewhat over 100,000, with about 10% of these being "higher clergy. " The lower clergy would have been about equally divided between parish priests on the one hand and monks and nuns on the other.

The French inheritance system of primogeniture meant that nearly all French fortunes would pass largely in a single line, through the eldest son. Primogeniture is the Common law right of the Firstborn son to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings Hence, it became very common for second sons to join the clergy. Although some dedicated 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. Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes Religious (generally Catholic institutional power and influence real or alleged in all aspects of public and political

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 term Gallican Church usually refers to the Roman Catholic Church in France from the time of the Declaration of the Clergy of France ( The King had the right to make appointments to the bishoprics, abbeys, and priories and the right to regulate the clergy. [3]

Second Estate

The Second Estate (Fr. deuxieme état) was the French nobility and (technically, though not in common use) royalty, other than the monarch himself, who stood outside of the system of estates. The Nobility (la noblesse in France, in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period had specific legal and financial rights and A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. Generally the head of a royal family is a king or queen regnant

The Second Estate is traditionally divided into "noblesse de robe" ("nobility of the robe"), the magisterial class that administered royal justice and civil government, and "noblesse d'épée" ("nobility of the sword"). See also French nobility Under the Old Regime, the Nobles of the Robe or Nobles of the Gown (noblesse de robe were French Aristocrats See also French nobility The Nobles of the Sword (noblesse d'épée refers to the class of traditional or old nobility in France during the Middle

The Second Estate constituted approximately 1% of France's population. Under the ancien régime, the Second Estate were exempt from the corvée royale (forced labor on the roads) and from most other forms of taxation such as the gabelle (salt tax) and most important, the taille (the oldest form of direct taxation). Corvée is labour often but not always unpaid that persons in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform unless commuted in some way such as by a cash payment sometimes this was The following article is about a Tax. If you are looking for information about a literary character see A Tale of Two Cities. Taille was also a name used in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Baroque Cor anglais.

The French nobility was not a closed class, and many means were available to rich land owners, good or state office holders for gaining nobility for themselves or their descendants. The Nobility (la noblesse in France, in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period had specific legal and financial rights and

Noblemen shared honorary privileges such as the right to display their unique coat of arms and the prestige right to wear a sword. This helped to reinforce the idea of their natural superiority. They could also collect taxes from the third estate called feudal dues, this was to be for the third estate's protection.

Third Estate

The Third Estate (Fr. tiers état) was the generality of people which were not part of the other estates.

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 96%^[2] 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. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types

They had to pay taxes to estate 1 (the roman catholic church). =]

The French Estates-General

See main articles French States-General, Estates-General of 1789

The first Estates-General was called by Philip IV in 1302, in order to obtain national approval for his anticlerical policy. In France under the Ancien Regime, the States-General or Estates-General (French états généraux) was a Legislative assembly The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (Les États-Généraux de 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes Religious (generally Catholic institutional power and influence real or alleged in all aspects of public and political Philip organized the assembly into three divisions, and the divisions were maintained through to 1789 . Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

The Third Estate demanded a greater role. The lower clergy (and some nobles and upper clergy) eventually sided with them, and the king was forced to yield. The Estates-General was reconstituted first as the National Assembly (June 17, 1789) and then as the National Constituent Assembly (July 9, 1789), a unitary body composed of the former representatives of the three estates. The National Assembly of France is the lower legislative house under the French Fifth Republic. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée nationale constituante was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

End of feudalism in France

The formation of the National Constituent Assembly marked the end of the Estates-General, but not of the three estates. The momentum continued rapidly in that direction. On August 4, 1789, seigniorial dues were abolished, along with religious tithes. Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A tithe (from Old English teogoþa "tenth" is a one-tenth part of something paid as a (usually voluntary contribution or as a Tax or levy The nobility were subjected to the same taxation as their co-nationals, but for the moment they retained their titles.

Notions of equality and fraternity would soon triumph over official recognition of a noble class. Some nobles such as the Marquis de Lafayette supported the abolition of legal recognition of nobility, but even some other liberal nobles who had happily sacrificed their fiscal privileges saw this as an attack on the culture of honor. Nonetheless, the French Nobility was disbanded outright by the National Constituent Assembly on June 19, 1790, during the same period in which they were debating the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. The National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée nationale constituante was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 1790 ( MDCCXC) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Civil Constitution of the Clergy ( "Constitution civile du clergé") was a law passed on July 12, 1790 during the French Revolution

In Scotland

Main article: Parliament of Scotland

The members of the parliament of Scotland were collectively referred to as the Three Estates (Scots: Thrie Estaitis), composed of:

• the first estate of prelates (bishops and abbots)
• the second estate of lairds (dukes, earls, parliamentary peers (after 1437) and lay tenants-in-chief)
• the third estate of burgh commissioners (representatives chosen by the royal burghs)

From the 16th century, the second estate was reorganised by the selection of shire Commissioners: this has been argued to have created a fourth estate. This article is about the pre-1707 parliament The article on the devolved legislative body established in 1999 is at Scottish Parliament. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern A prelate is a high-ranking member of the Clergy who either is an Ordinary or ranks in precedence with ordinaries A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight The word abbot, meaning Father, is a title given to the head of a Monastery in various traditions including Christianity. A Laird (Lord is a Hereditary title for the owner of a landed estate in Scotland. A duke is a member of the Nobility, historically of highest rank below the Sovereign, and historically controlled a Duchy or a Dukedom Earl was the Anglo-Saxon form and jarl the Scandinavian form of a title meaning " Chieftain " and referring especially to chieftains A Lord of Parliament is a member of the lowest rank of Scottish Peerage, ranking below a Viscount. In medieval and Early modern European society a tenant-in-chief, sometimes vassal-in-chief, denotes the high nobles who held their lands as A royal burgh was a type of Scottish Burgh which had been founded by or subsequently granted a Royal charter. Commissioner is a designation that may be used for a variety of official positions especially referring to a high-ranked public (administrative or Police) official or an analogous During the 17th century, after the Union of the Crowns, a fifth estate of royal office holders (see Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland) has been identified as well. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The Union of the Crowns was the Accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England in March 1603 thus uniting Scotland and England The Lord High Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland, sometimes referred to as the fifth estate of the Estates of Scotland, were the Scottish Sovereign These latter identifications remain highly controversial among parliamentary historians. Regardless, the term used for the assembled members continued to be 'the Three Estates'.

A Shire Commissioner was the closest equivalent of the English office of Member of Parliament, namely a commoner or member of the lower nobility. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. In British law a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Because the parliament of Scotland was unicameral, all members sat in the same chamber, as opposed to the separate English House of Lords and House of Commons. Many Parliaments or other Legislatures consist of two chambers (or houses) an elected Lower house, and an Upper house The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords

The Parliament also had University constituencies (see Ancient universities of Scotland). A university constituency is a Constituency, used in elections to a Legislature, that represents a University rather than a geographical area The ancient universities of Scotland are medieval and renaissance universities that continue to exist until the present day The system was also adopted by the Parliament of England when James VI ascended to the English throne. The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James The Kings of Wessex, who conquered Kent and Sussex from Mercia in 825 became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during It was believed that the universities were affected by the decisions of Parliament and ought therefore to have representation in it. This continued in the Parliament of Great Britain after 1707 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1950. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, an analogous division exists to this day, although with attenuated significance, between Lords Temporal, Lords Spiritual, and Commons. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the secular members of the British House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 Clergymen of the established Church of England The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords

One contrast between the French and British systems: the lower clergy in France were part of the First Estate, but in Britain they were commoners. Similarly, in Britain only titled peers are Lords Temporal. The Peerage is a system of Titles of Nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. Other members of aristocratic families are also considered commoners.

Sweden and Finland

The Estates in Sweden and Finland were nobility, clergy, burghers, and land-owning peasants. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Each were free men, and had specific rights and responsibilities, and the right to send a representative to the governing assembly, the Riksdag of the Estates in Sweden and the Diet of Finland (only after 1809), respectively. The Riksdag of the Estates, or Ståndsriksdagen, was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm, or Rikets ständer, when they were assembled The Diet of Finland ( Finnish Suomen maapäivät, later valtiopäivät; Swedish Finlands Lantdagar) was the legislative Year 1809 ( MDCCCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Also, there was a population outside the estates; unlike in other areas, people had no "default" estate, and were not peasants unless they came from a land-owner's family. A summary of this division is:

• Nobility (see Finnish nobility and Swedish 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. The Finnish nobility (Fi Aateli, Sw Adel) was historically a privileged class in Finland, deriving from its period as part of Sweden The Swedish nobility ( Adeln) were historically a legally privileged class in Sweden, part of the so-called Frälse (a classification Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing Nobility was established with the Swedish king granted tax-free status (frälse) to peasants who could equip a cavalryman (or be one themselves) in the king's army. Later, the noble status was usually inherited, and following Axel Oxenstierna's reform, government positions were open only to nobles. ( June 16, 1583 &ndash August 28, 1654) Count of Södermöre was a Swedish statesman However, the nobility still owned only their own property, not the peasants or their land as in much of Europe. Heads of the noble houses were hereditary members of the assembly of nobles.
• Clergy is the Lutheran ministers, and in later centuries included teachers of universities and certain state schools, exempt from tax, governed by the state church which consecrated its ministers and appointed them to positions with a vote in choosing diet representatives. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially
• Burghers are city-dwellers, tradesmen and craftsmen. Trade was allowed only in the cities when the mercantilistic ideology had got the upper hand, and the burghers had the exclusive right to conduct commerce. Mercantilism is the idea that a colony should export more goods than it imports and that a colony should sell at higher prices and buy at lower prices Entry to this Estate is controlled by the autonomy of the towns themselves. Peasants were allowed to sell their produce within the city limits, but any further trade was allowed only for burghers. After 1809 mill-owners and other proto-industrialist would gradually be included among the burghers.
• Peasants are land-owners of land-taxed farms and their families, which represented the majority in medieval times. Since most of the population were independent farmer families until 19th century, not serfs nor villeins, there is a remarkable difference in tradition compared to other European countries. Entry was controlled by ownership of farmland, not generally for sale but generally a hereditary property. After 1809 tenants renting a large enough farm (ten times larger than what was required of peasants owning their own farm) were included as well as non-nobility owning tax-exempt land.
• To no estate belonged propertyless cottagers, villeins, tenants of farms owned by others, farmhands, servants, some lower administrative workers, rural craftsmen, travelling salesmen, vagrants, and propertyless and unemployed people (who sometimes lived in strangers' houses). In modern usage a cottage is a dwelling typically in a rural or semi-rural location (although there are cottage-style dwellings in cities To reflect how the people belonging to the estates saw them, the Finnish word for "obscene", säädytön, has the literal meaning "estateless".

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. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on 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 Russia, there were no slaves or serfs. ) Furthermore, the industrial workers living in the city were not represented by the four-estate system. The political system was reformed, and the last Diet was dissolved in 1905, to create the modern parliamentary system. See also Russian Revolution (1917 The 1905 Russian Revolution also known as the Failed Russian Revolution of 1905 was an empire-wide struggle of Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The Eduskunta (in Finnish) or the Riksdag (in Swedish) is the Parliament of Finland.

Nevertheless, the old traditions and in particular ownership of property changed slowly, and the rent-farmer problem became so severe that it was a major cause to the Finnish Civil War. The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national and social turmoil caused by World War I (1914&ndash1918 in Europe Although the division became irrelevant following the establishment of a parliamentary democracy and political parties, industrialization and urbanization, their traditions live on in the political parties of Sweden and Finland. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one Urbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existing

In Finland, it is still illegal and punishable by jail time (up to one yarr) to defraud into marriage by declaring a false name or estate (Rikoslaki 18 luku § 1).

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire had the Imperial Diet. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The clergy was represented by the independent prince-bishops, prince-archbishops and abbots of the many monasteries. The nobility consisted of independent aristocratic rulers: secular electors, kings, dukes, margraves, counts and others. Burghers consisted of representatives of the independent imperial cities. Many peoples whose territories within the Holy Roman Empire had been independent for centuries had no representatives in the Imperial Diet, and this included the imperial knights and independent villages. The power of the Imperial Diet was limited, despite efforts of centralization.

Large realms of the nobility or clergy had estates of their own that could wield great power in local affairs. Power struggles between ruler and estates were comparable to similar events in the history of the British and French parliaments.

Russian Empire

In late Russian Empire the estates were called sosloviyes. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Social estates in the Russian Empire were denoted by the term soslovie ( sosloviye) which approximately corresponds to the notion of the Estate of the realm The four major estates were: nobility (dvoryanstvo), clergy, rural dwellers, and urban dwellers, with a more detailed stratification therein. The Russian Nobility (Дворянство Dvoryanstvo) arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. The division in estates was of mixed nature: traditional, occupational, as well as formal: for example, voting in Duma was carried out by estates. A Duma (Ду́ма is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history Russian Empire Census recorded the reported estate of a person. The Russian Empire Census of 1897 was the first and the only Census carried out in the Russian Empire.

See also

• Communalism before 1800
• Diet (assembly)
• Diet of Finland
• Estates-General of the Netherlands
• Estates-General of 1789
• États Généraux
• Fifth Estate
• Fourth Estate
• French States-General
• French revolution
• Generalitat de Catalunya
• Generalitat Valenciana
• Landtag
• Medieval commune#Medieval christianity
• Reichstag
• Riksdag of the Estates
• Social class
• States of Jersey
• States of Guernsey
• States of Holland
• States of Flanders
• States of Brabant
• Staten Generaal
• Swiss Council of States
• The States
• Third World (coined by demograph Alfred Sauvy in 1952 in reference to the French Third Estate and Sieyès' famous saying)
• The Canterbury Tales (the division of society into three estates is one of the key themes)

References

• Steven Kreis lecture on "The Origins of the French Revolution"
• Notes on France and the Old Regime
• Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization, West Publishing Co. Minneapolis, 1994 for the English-language version of the quote from Abbé Sieyès, quoted at http://www.magnesium.net/~locutus/work/eurohist2.htm. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)
• http://vdaucourt.free.fr/Mothisto/Sieyes2/Sieyes2.htm for French-language original of this quotation.
• Michael P. Fitzsimmons, The Night the Old Regime Ended: August 4, 1789 and the French Revolution, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-271-02233-7, quoted and paraphrased at http://www3.uakron.edu/hfrance/reviews/crubaugh.html.

External links

• An excellent discussion of how one qualified as noble in ancien régime France.

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