The members of the third estate were Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, peasants, artisans, small peasants, landless labour and servants. They were required to serve the members of the other two estates, the nobles and the clergy.
What was life like for members of the Third Estate?
The rural peasantry made up the largest portion of the Third Estate. Most peasants worked the land as feudal tenants or sharecroppers and were required to pay a range of taxes, tithes and feudal dues. 3. A much smaller section of the Third Estate were skilled and unskilled urban workers, living in cities like Paris.
What class type of person was in the 3rd estate?
Third Estate: This estate constituted most of the population of (about 98%). They included the peasants, craftsmen, and labourers. They paid taxes including the gabelle (a tax on salt).
What was the Third Estate in French history?
You can learn more about this topic in the related articles below. Alternative Title: Tiers État. Third Estate, French Tiers État, in French history, with the nobility and the clergy, one of the three orders into which members were divided in the pre-Revolutionary Estates-General.
Who are the members of the Third Estate?
The First Estate was comprised of the clergy, the Second Estate the nobility, and the Third Estate everyone else. The Third Estate was thus a vastly larger proportion of the population than the other two estates, but in the Estates General, they only had one vote, the same as the other two estates had each.
What did estates do during the French Revolution?
They played a vital role in the early days of the French Revolution, which also ended the common use of the division. Sometimes, in late medieval and early France, a gathering termed an ‘Estates General’ was called.
Who was in control of land in the 18th century?
Peasants made up about 90 percent of the population. However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60 percent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer members of the third estate. The members of the first two estates, the clergy, and the nobility enjoyed certain privileges by birth.
