InNo+samuelguo0801+8.26.2010

InNo 8.26.2010 media type="custom" key="6775039" width="2106" height="2106" align="center"

This is a flow chart of the French social hierarchy of five main social classes: Clergy, Nobles, Middle Class, Workers, and Peasants.I put this graphic because I think it better illustrates social classes in an easier to understand visual graphic. This relates to the notes because in the textbook notes it mentioned a great amount about the social classes.

QUESTIONS: What were the social classes? List them in descending order. What were the priveledges that some of the social classes enjoyed? Did poverty exist in France? In what form?

NOTES:


 * Four social classes
 * Peaseants
 * lived in the countryside
 * worked on the farms
 * more than 20 million of population were peasant
 * Workers
 * about two million people were workers
 * they worked and lived in towns
 * consisted of shopkeepers, traders, craftsmen, builders, and labourers.
 * Middle class
 * about 2 million people were of the middle class
 * these were the people that were somewhere between workers and nobles
 * Nobles
 * between 120,000 and 350,000 people were nobles
 * these people were the landowning ruling class
 * Estates
 * There were three estates according to French law.
 * Clergy
 * consisted of monks, bishops, canons, priors, nuns, parish priests
 * had their own courts of law
 * did not have to pay certain taxes
 * Nobility
 * consisted of king, queen, princes of royal blood, dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts, barons, and knights
 * had a right to carry a sword
 * were treated specially in courts of law
 * were exempted from certain taxes
 * were exempted from military service
 * Everybody Else
 * consisted of lawyers, doctors, businessmen, merchants, soldiers, craftsmen, shopkeepers, and peasants
 * they had no privileges


 * The people that belonged to higher estates used to be more important
 * nobles had been soldiers that fought to protect France during war time
 * the clergy were in charge of France's education and religious life
 * Poverty
 * some of the middle class were rich but most people were really poor
 * millions of people had to rely on charity to stay alive
 * Unequal taxation
 * two kinds of tax: directly to the government, tax placed on goods
 * average family paid 10-15% income to the government
 * nobles and clergy were often exempt from some taxes
 * peasants also had to pay tax to landlords
 * the landlords were the nobles
 * this included the feudal rights and dues
 * right of oven
 * right of mill
 * right of press
 * right of the hunt
 * right of the warren-could not harm landlord's rabbits
 * right of the dovecote-could not harm landlord's pigeons
 * market rights
 * the covee-a few days of unpaid work each year
 * the cens-pay a tax to landlord each year
 * the champart-give a portion of crops to landlord
 * they also had to pay the church a tithe-a tenth of anual income or produce
 * critics of french society
 * most people just lived their lives
 * some educated people stared to question how things were
 * these people were called philosophes.
 * a group of writers, journalists, and scientists
 * only believed in concept of Reason
 * refused to accept anything without questioning it
 * a good philosophe was a scientist called Lavosier
 * discovered they way things burn
 * built an experimental farm to test out new farming methods
 * introduced the taille that helped the poor
 * old age pensions and new hostpitals
 * another good philosophe called Volitaire
 * questioned view of French Church
 * came to an injustice alled the Calas affair
 * Jean Calas was suspected of hanging his son
 * he was executed
 * Volitaire thought he was innocent
 * next three years Volitaire carried out a campaign and appealed to the court in 1765
 * court found him not guilty and pardoned
 * also eliminated the cruelty of execution