Ancien+Regime

=__Ancien Regime__=

The Ancien Regime was the backbone structure of France before 1789. It was a period of time often considered by many to be representative. It was the social and political system established by the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, and also very similar to the Feudal System. Ancien Regime means "Former Regime" and contains characteristics of the England's regime. In this system resided three Estates of Realm, Parliament, Gabelle, Taille and the Seigneurial system. = = = = = = = = = = = =

__**The 3 Estates**__
The Three Estates was a part of the Ancien Regime was the social ranking structure of France before 1789. Much like the feudal system of the Middle ages, land money and family name determined one's status. The first and highest estate was called the Clergy, it was divided into an upper and lower half. This rank consisted of aristocrats and people of the church. These people did parish work or none at all, although they collected a tithe from the lowest rank. The Clergy had the privilege of not paying a tax for the large amount of land they owned. Roman Catholicism was the dominating religion in the Clergy, it was behind the moral and spiritual welfare. The second estate was made up of Nobility, which included military personnel and royalty (not the monarch who was above all rankings). Nobles were exempt from most taxes such as Gabelle and Taille, no hard labor was forced upon this ranking. A top choice of occupations was also given to nobles. The first two estates were happy with their ranking because life was good. They were fine with King Louis the 16th being an absolute monarch, and believing in the Divine Right of Kings. The third and lowest estate was everyone else who wasn't in the first two classes. This rank was made up of the working class and the Bourgeoisie. These working class people did hard labor for little money, but they were heavily taxed. Most of people were apart of the agricultural nation, although the crops weren't very successful. This was partly because nobles rode over their crops while hunting and weren't punished. =__Being Underprivileged__=

The third estate were the most underprivileged people in France at the time. The nobles could run over their hard earned crops without a consequence. King Louis the 16th was the one who set these unfair laws. In fact, the third estate was sick and tired of being mistreated that on August 26th 1789 they started the National Assembly. One of the biggest issues for these people was the overtaxing. Third estate people had to pay the majority of taxes; which went to the financing of Versailles. See the following chart for comparisons between King Louis the 16th's life and the third estate.  King & Bourgeoisie ==
 * || King, Clergy || Bourgeoisie (lowest estate) ||
 * clothes || Divine robes || Dirty sweaty clothes ||
 * food || Feasts || Bread & beer, or in poverty ||
 * work || Did parish work if any at all. || Worked hard for little money, were heavily taxed. ||
 * house || Versailles Palace || Small homes, or homeless. ||

=__The Royal Family__= King Louis the 16th and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette had a lavished lifestyle. They had the amazing home of Versailles for them and members of the Clergy. In fact, Versailles symbolized the corruption in society. Louis had so much money from his taxing that he bought Marie Antoinette marvelous jewels, extra money went towards financing the army. Meanwhile some of the people in France were living in poverty.  Marie Antoinette;

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