Second Estate

In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term Second Estate (Fr. second état) indicated the French 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.

Related Topics:
France - Ancien régime - French Revolution - French nobility - Royalty - First Estate - Clergy - Third Estate - Estates-General - Parliament - Monarchy - Absolute

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The Second Estate is traditionally divided into "noblesse d'epee" ("nobility of the sword") and "noblesse de robe" ("nobility of the gown"), the magisterial class that administered royal justice and civil government.

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The French inheritance system of primogeniture meant that nearly all French fortunes would pass largely in a single line, through the eldest son.

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Under the ancien régime, the Second Estate were exempt from most forms of taxation.

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The French nobility was not a closed class, and many means were available to rich land owners or state office holders for gaining nobility for themselves or their descendants.

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