View source for Estates of the realm

[[File:Cleric-Knight-Workman.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A 13th-century French representation of the tripartite social order of the [[Middle Ages]] – {{lang|la|Oratores}} ("those who pray"), {{lang|la|Bellatores}} ("those who fight"), and {{lang|la|Laboratores}} ("those who work").]]
[[File:Mittelalterliches Ständebild 15. Jahrhundert.png|thumb|15th-century French artwork depicting the Three Estates, with [[Charles VII of France|King Charles VII]] at centre.]]
[[File:Troisordres.jpg|thumb|Satire of the three estates from 1789; the hard-working Third Estate carries the lazy nobility and clergy. The legend reads {{lang|la|A faut espérer q[u]'eu jeu là finira b[i]entôt}} ("Hopefully, this game will be over soon"), prefiguring the [[French Revolution]].]]
The '''estates of the realm''', or '''three estates''', were the broad orders of [[social stratification|social hierarchy]] used in [[Christendom]] (Christian Europe) from the [[Middle Ages]] to [[early modern Europe]]. Different systems for dividing society members into [[The estates|estates]] developed and evolved over time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ancien Regime {{!}} History of Western Civilization II |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-ancien-regime/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Taxes and the Three Estates {{!}} History of Western Civilization II |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/taxes-and-the-three-estates/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref>

*The best known system is the French ''[[Ancien Régime]]'' (Old Regime), a three-estate system which was made up of a First Estate of [[clergy]], a Second Estate of titled [[nobles]], and a Third Estate of all other subjects (both [[peasant]]s and [[bourgeoisie]]).
* In some regions, notably [[Sweden]] and Russia, [[Burgher (title)|burghers]] (the urban [[merchant]] class) and rural commoners were split into separate estates, creating a four-estate system with rural commoners ranking the lowest as the Fourth Estate.
* In [[Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)|Norway]], the taxpaying classes were considered as one, and with a very small aristocracy; this class/estate was as powerful as the monarchy itself. In Denmark, however, only owners of large tracts of land had any influence. Furthermore, the non-landowning poor could be left outside the estates, leaving them without political rights.
* In England, a two-estate system evolved that combined nobility and clergy into one lordly estate with "commons" as the second estate. This system produced the two [[houses of parliament]], the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
* In southern Germany, a three-estate system of nobility (princes and high clergy), [[ritter|knights]], and [[Burgher (social class)|burgher]]s was used; this system excluded lower clergy and peasants altogether.
* In [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]], the Three Estates were the Clergy (First Estate), Nobility (Second Estate), and [[Shire Commissioners]], or "burghers" (Third Estate), representing the [[bourgeoisie]] and lower commoners. The Estates made up a [[Parliament of Scotland|Scottish Parliament]].

Today, the terms ''three estates'' and ''estates of the realm'' may sometimes be re-interpreted to refer to the modern [[separation of powers]] in government into the [[Three branches of government|legislature, administration, and the judiciary]].{{cn|date=July 2022}} The modern term ''the [[fourth estate]]'' invokes medieval three-estate systems, and usually refers to some particular force outside that medieval power structure, most commonly the independent press or the [[mass media]].<ref name="thoughtco">{{cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-fourth-estate-3368058|title=What Is the Fourth Estate?|website=ThoughtCo|author=Kathy Gill|date={{date|16jan20}}|access-date={{date|16apr24}}}}</ref><ref name="oxfordref">{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095831292|title=fourth estate|website= Dictionary of Media and Communication|publisher=Oxford Reference|access-date={{date|16apr24}}}}</ref>

==Social mobility==
During the [[Middle Ages]], advancing to different social classes was uncommon and difficult, and when it did happen, it generally took the form of a gradual increase in status over several generations of a family rather than within a single lifetime.

One field in which commoners could appreciably advance within a single lifetime was the Church. The medieval Church was an institution where social mobility was most likely achieved up to a certain level (generally to that of [[vicar general]] or [[abbot]]/[[abbess]] for commoners). Typically, only nobility were appointed to the highest church positions (bishops, archbishops, heads of religious orders, etc.), although low nobility could aspire to the highest church positions. Since clergy could not marry, such mobility was theoretically limited to one generation. [[Nepotism]] was common in this period.

==Dynamics==

[[Johan Huizinga]] observed that "Medieval political speculation is imbued to the marrow with the idea of a structure of society based upon distinct orders".<ref name=huiz>Huizinga ''[[The Autumn of the Middle Ages|The Waning of the Middle Ages]]'' (1919, 1924:47).</ref> The virtually synonymous terms ''estate'' and ''order'' designated a great variety of social realities, not at all limited to a class, Huizinga concluded applying to every social function, every trade, every recognisable grouping.

{{quote|There are, first of all, the estates of the realm, but there are also the trades, the state of matrimony and that of virginity, the state of sin. At court, there are the 'four estates of the body and mouth': bread-masters, cup-bearers, carvers, and cooks. In the Church, there are sacerdotal orders and monastic orders. Finally there are the different orders of chivalry.<ref name=huiz/>}}

This static view of society was predicated on inherited positions.<!--where? While several of the various realms inverted the relative prominence of the first two orders--> Commoners were universally considered the lowest order. The higher estates' necessary dependency on the commoners' production, however, often further divided the otherwise equal common people into [[bourgeoisie|burghers]] (also known as [[bourgeoisie]]) of the realm's cities and towns, and the [[peasant]]s and [[serfdom|serfs]] of the realm's surrounding lands and villages. A person's estate and position within it were usually inherited from the father and his occupation, similar to a [[caste]] within [[Caste system|that system]]. In many regions and realms, there also existed population groups born outside these specifically defined resident estates.

[[Legislature|Legislative]] bodies or advisory bodies to a [[monarchy|monarch]] were traditionally grouped along lines of these estates, with the monarch above all three estates. Meetings of the estates of the realm became early legislative and judicial [[parliament]]s. Monarchs often sought to legitimize their power by requiring oaths of fealty from the estates. Today, in most countries, the estates have lost all their legal privileges, and are mainly of historical interest. The nobility may be an exception, for instance due to legislation against [[false titles of nobility]].<!--not true since reforms in 1876, 1958 and especially 1999: ; similarly British government well maintains the distinction – witness its House of Lords, and the House of Commons.-->

One of the earliest political pamphlets to address these ideas was called "[[What Is the Third Estate?]]" ({{langx|fr|Qu'est-ce que le tiers-état?}}) It was written by [[Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès|Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès]] in January 1789, shortly before the start of the French Revolution.

==Background==
{{Integralism}}
After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], numerous geographic and ethnic kingdoms developed among the endemic peoples of Europe, affecting their day-to-day secular lives; along with those, the growing influence of the [[Catholic Church]] and its [[Papacy]] affected the ethical, moral and religious lives and decisions of all. This led to mutual dependency between the secular and religious powers for guidance and protection, but over time and with the growing power of the kingdoms, competing secular realities increasingly diverged from religious idealism and Church decisions.

The new lords of the land identified themselves primarily as warriors, but because new technologies of warfare were expensive, and the fighting men required substantial material resources and considerable leisure to train, these needs had to be filled. The economic and political transformation of the countryside in the period were filled by a large growth in population, agricultural production, technological innovations and urban centers; movements of reform and renewal attempted to sharpen the distinction between clerical and lay status, and power, recognized by the Church also had their effect.

In his book ''The Three Orders: Feudal Society Imagined'', the French [[medievalism|medievalist]] [[Georges Duby]] has shown that in the period 1023–1025 the first theorist who justified the division of European society into the three estates of the realm was [[Gerard of Florennes]], the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai|bishop of Cambrai]].<ref>[[Georges Duby]], ''The Three Orders: Feudal Society Imagined'', Part 1</ref>

As a result of the [[Investiture Controversy]] of the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the powerful office of [[Holy Roman Emperor]] lost much of its religious character and retained a more nominal universal preeminence over other rulers, though it varied. The struggle over investiture and the reform movement also legitimized all secular authorities, partly on the grounds of their obligation to enforce discipline.<ref name="EB tp2tm">''Encyclopædia Britannica'', [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe "History of Europe – Middle Ages – From territorial principalities to territorial monarchies"]</ref>

In the 11th and 12th centuries, thinkers argued that human society consisted of three orders: those who pray, those who fight, and those who labour. The structure of the first order, the clergy, was in place by 1200 and remained singly intact until the [[Reformation|religious reformations]] of the 16th century. The second order, those who fight, was the rank of the politically powerful, ambitious, and dangerous. Kings took pains to ensure that it did not resist their authority. The general category of those who labour (specifically, those who were not knightly warriors or nobles) diversified rapidly after the 11th century into the lively and energetic worlds of peasants, skilled artisans, merchants, financiers, lay professionals, and entrepreneurs, which together drove the European economy to its greatest achievements.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe "History of Europe – Middle Ages – From territorial principalities to territorial monarchies – The three orders"]</ref>

By the 12th century, most European political thinkers agreed that monarchy was the ideal form of governance. This was because it imitated on earth the model set by God for the universe; it was the form of government of the [[Judaism|ancient Hebrews]] and the Christian Biblical basis, the later Roman Empire, and also the peoples who succeeded Rome after the 4th century.<ref name="EB tp2tm"/>

==Kingdom of France==
{{Main|Ancien Régime}}
France under the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'' (before the [[French Revolution]]) divided society into three estates: the First Estate ([[clergy]]); the Second Estate ([[French nobility|nobility]]); and the Third Estate ([[commoner]]s). The king was not part of any estate.

[[File:Ständeordnung.jpg|thumb|upright|Representation of the Three Estates under the lordship of [[Jesus Christ]].  They are labeled {{lang|la|Tu supplex ora}} (you pray), {{lang|la|Tu protege}} (you protect), {{lang|la|Tuque labora}} (and you work).]]

===First Estate===
The First Estate comprised the entire [[clergy]] and the religious orders, traditionally divided into "higher" and "lower" clergy. Although there was no formally recognized demarcation between the two categories, the upper clergy were, effectively, clerical nobility, from Second Estate families. In the time of Louis XVI, every bishop in France was a nobleman, a situation that had not existed before the 18th century.<ref>R. R. Palmer, ''A History of the Modern World'' 1961, p. 334.</ref>

The "lower clergy" (about equally divided between parish priests, monks, and nuns) constituted about 90 percent of the First Estate, which in 1789 numbered around 130,000 (about 0.5% of the population).{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}}

===Second Estate===<!-- This section is linked from [[Ancien Régime]] -->
The Second Estate ({{lang|fr|deuxieme état}}) was the [[French nobility]] and (technically, though not in common use) [[Royal family|royalty]], other than the [[monarch]] himself, who stood outside of the system of estates.

The Second Estate is traditionally divided into {{lang|fr|[[noblesse d'épée]]}} ("nobility of the sword"), and {{lang|fr|[[noblesse de robe]]}} ("nobility of the robe"), the magisterial class that administered royal justice and civil government.

The Second Estate constituted approximately 1.5% of France's population.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} Under the {{lang|fr|ancien régime}} ("old rule/old government", i.e. before the revolution), the Second Estate were exempt from the {{lang|fr|[[corvée]] royale}} (forced labor on the roads) and from most other forms of taxation such as the {{lang|fr|[[gabelle]]}} (salt tax), and most important, the {{lang|fr|[[taille]]}} (France's oldest form of direct taxation). This exemption from paying taxes was a major reason for their opposition to political reform.

===Third Estate===<!-- This section is linked from [[Ancien Régime]] -->
{{Ancien Régime}}

The Third Estate ({{lang|fr|Tiers état}}) comprised all of those who were not members of either of the above, and can be divided into two groups, urban and rural, together making up over 98% of France's population.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pelz|first=William A.|chapter=The Rise of the Third Estate: The French People Revolt|date=2016|title=A People's History of Modern Europe|pages=40–51|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=978-0-7453-3246-8|jstor=j.ctt1c2crfj.8 }}</ref> The urban included wage-labourers. The rural included [[free peasants]] (who owned their own land and could be prosperous) and [[Villein (feudal)|villeins]] (serfs, or peasants working on a noble's land). The free peasants paid disproportionately high taxes compared to the other Estates and were unhappy because they wanted more rights. In addition, the First and Second Estates relied on the labour of the Third, which made the latter's inferior status all the more glaring.

There were an estimated 27 million {{lang|fr|paysans}} in the Third Estate when the French Revolution started.

They had a hard life of physical labour and food shortages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Botham|first1=F. W.|last2=Hunt|first2=E. H.|date=August 1987|title=Wages in Britain during the Industrial Revolution|journal=The Economic History Review|volume=40|issue=3|pages=380|doi=10.2307/2596251|issn=0013-0117|jstor=2596251}}</ref> Most people were born in this group, and most remained in it for their entire lives. It was extremely rare for people of this [[ascribed status]] to become part of another estate; those who did were usually being rewarded for extraordinary bravery in battle, or entering religious life.<ref name=estatehem/> A few commoners were able to marry into the Second Estate, but this was a rare occurrence.<ref name=estatehem>{{cite book|last=Henslin|first=James M.|title=Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach|year=2004|publisher=[[Allyn & Bacon]]|isbn=978-0205407354|page=[https://archive.org/details/sociology00jame/page/225 225]|chapter=9|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sociology00jame/page/225}}</ref>

===Estates General===
{{main|French Estates General|Estates General of 1789}}
The Estates General (not to be confused with a "class of citizen") was a general citizens' assembly that was first called by [[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]] in 1302 and then met intermittently at the request of the King until 1614; after that, it was not called again for over 170 years.

In the period leading up to the [[Estates General of 1789]], France was in the grip of an unmanageable public debt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/frenchrev/section1.html|title=France's Financial Crisis: 1783–1788|access-date=26 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Alison|first=Archibald|title=History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution to the Restoration of the Bourbons in MDCCCXV|publisher=AMS Press|year=1860|isbn=0-404-00391-5|edition=1973 reprint of 10th|location=New York|pages=274, 275}}</ref> In May 1776, finance minister [[Anne Robert Jacques Turgot|Turgot]] was dismissed, after failing to enact reforms. The next year, [[Jacques Necker]], a foreigner, was appointed [[Controller-General of Finances]]. (He could not officially be made the finance minister because he was a Protestant.)<ref name="Hib35">Hibbert, pp. 35, 36</ref> Drastic inflation and simultaneous scarcity of food created a major famine in the winter of 1788–89. This led to widespread discontent, and produced a group of Third Estate representatives (612 exactly) pressing a comparatively radical set of reforms, much of it in alignment with the goals of acting finance minister Jacques Necker, but very much against the wishes of [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]]'s court and many of the hereditary nobles who were his Second Estate allies (allies at least to the extent that they were against being taxed themselves and in favour of maintaining high taxation for commoners).

Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General to deal with the economic problems and quell the growing discontent, but when he could not persuade them to rubber-stamp his 'ideal program', he sought to dissolve the assembly and take legislation into his own hands. However, the Third Estate held out for their right to representation. The lower clergy (and some nobles and upper clergy) eventually sided with the Third Estate, and the King was forced to yield. Thus, the 1789 Estates General meeting became an invitation to revolution.

By June, when continued impasses led to further deterioration in relations, the Estates General was reconstituted in a different form, first as the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] (June 17, 1789), seeking a solution independent of the King's management. (The Estates General, under that name and directed by the King, did continue to meet occasionally.) These independently-organized meetings are now seen as the [[epoch event]] of the [[French Revolution]], during which – after several more weeks of civil unrest – the body assumed a new status as a revolutionary legislature, the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] (July 9, 1789).<ref name="ReferenceA">"Terror, Reign of"; ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref>{{fcn|reason=which edition?|date=May 2024}}

This unitary body of former representatives of the three estates began governing, along with an emergency committee, in the power vacuum after the [[Bourbon dynasty|Bourbon]] monarchy [[Flight to Varennes|fled from Paris]]. Among the Assembly was [[Maximilien Robespierre]], an influential president of the [[Jacobin]]s who would years later become instrumental in the turbulent period of violence and political upheaval in France known as the [[Reign of Terror]] (5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794).<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Great Britain and Ireland==
{{unreferenced section|date = October 2020}}
{{details|Parliament of the United Kingdom}}
Whilst the estates were never formulated in a way that prevented social mobility, the English (subsequently the British) parliament was formed along the classic estate lines, being composed of the "Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons". The tradition where the Lords Spiritual and Temporal sat separately from the Commons began during the reign of [[Edward III]] in the 14th century.

Notwithstanding the [[House of Lords Act 1999]], the British Parliament still recognises the existence of the three estates: the Commons in the House of Commons, the nobility ([[Lords Temporal]]) in the House of Lords, and the clergy in the form of the Church of England bishops also entitled to sit in the upper House as the [[Lords Spiritual]].

===Scotland===
{{Main|Parliament of Scotland}}
The members of the Parliament of [[Scotland]] were collectively referred to as the '''Three Estates''' ([[History of the Scots language|Older Scots]]: Thre Estaitis), also known as the community of the realm, and until 1690 composed of:
* the '''first estate''' of [[prelate]]s ([[bishop]]s and [[abbot]]s)
* the '''second estate''' of [[laird]]s ([[duke]]s, [[earl]]s, [[Lord of Parliament|lords of parliament]] (after 1437), [[Baronage of Scotland|barons]] and [[Laity|lay]] [[tenants-in-chief]])
* the '''third estate''' of [[burgh commissioners]] (representatives chosen by the [[royal burghs]])

The First Estate was overthrown during the [[Glorious Revolution]] and the accession of [[William III of England|William III]].<ref>Kidd, Colin ''Subverting Scotland's Past: Scottish Whig Historians and the Creation of an Anglo-British Identity 1689–1830'' Cambridge University Press (2003) pp. 133</ref> The Second Estate was then split into two to retain the division into three.

A ''[[commissioner (Scottish Parliament)|shire commissioner]]'' was the closest equivalent of the [[England|English]] office of ''[[Member of Parliament]]'', namely a [[commoner]] or member of the lower nobility. Because the Parliament of Scotland was unicameral, all members sat in the same [[legislative chamber|chamber]], as opposed to the separate English [[House of Lords]] and [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].

The parliament also had [[university constituency|university constituencies]] (see [[Ancient universities of Scotland]]). The system was also adopted by the [[Parliament of England]] when [[James I of England|James VI]] ascended to the [[English throne]]. 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 [[Acts of Union 1707|1707]] and the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] until 1950.<ref>Mann, Alastair, "A Brief History of an Ancient Institution: The Scottish Parliament", ''Scottish Parliamentary Review'', Vol. I, No. 1 (June, 2013) [Edinburgh: Blacket Avenue Press]</ref>

===Ireland===
{{Main|Parliament of Ireland}}
After the 12th-century [[Norman invasion of Ireland]], administration of the Anglo-Norman [[Lordship of Ireland]] was modelled on that of the [[Kingdom of England]]. As in England, the Parliament of Ireland evolved out of the [[Magnum Concilium]] "great council" summoned by the [[chief governor of Ireland]], attended by the council ([[curia regis]]), magnates ([[feudal lord]]s), and prelates (bishops and [[abbot]]s). Membership was based on [[fealty]] to the king, and the preservation of the [[Queen's peace|king's peace]], and so the fluctuating number of autonomous Irish [[Gaels|Gaelic]] kings were outside of the system; they had their own local [[Early Irish law|brehon law]] taxation arrangements. Elected representatives are first attested in 1297 and continually from the later 14th century. In 1297, counties were first represented by elected [[knights of the shire]] ([[sheriff]]s had previously represented them). In 1299, towns were represented. From the 14th century, a distinction from the English parliament was that deliberations on church funding were held in Parliament rather than in [[Convocations of Canterbury and York|Convocation]]. The separation of the [[Irish House of Lords]] from the elected [[Irish House of Commons]] had developed by the fifteenth century. The clerical [[proctor]]s elected by the lower clergy of each diocese formed a separate house or estate until 1537, when they were expelled for their opposition to the [[Irish Reformation]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Irish Parliament Rolls of the Fifteenth Century |first=H. G. |last=Richardson |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=58 |number=232 |date=October 1943 |pages=448–461 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/ehr/LVIII.CCXXXII.448 |jstor=553673 }}</ref> The Parliament of Ireland was dissolved after the [[Act of Union 1800]], and instead Ireland was joined to the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] to form the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]; 100 Irish MPs instead represented the Third Estate in the [[House of Commons]] in London, while a selection of hereditary peers (typically about 28 [[representative peer]]s) represented the Irish nobility in the [[House of Lords]]. In addition, four seats as [[Lords Spiritual]] were reserved for [[Church of Ireland]] clergy: one [[archbishop]] and three bishops at a time, alternating place after each [[legislative session]]. After the [[disestablishment]] of the Church of Ireland in 1871, no more seats were created for Irish bishops.<ref name="diocese">{{cite web |title=A Brief History |publisher=[[Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough]] |url=https://dublin.anglican.org/about-us/history |access-date=21 September 2017 }}</ref>

==Sweden and Finland==
The Estates in [[Sweden]] (including [[Finland]]) and later also Russia's [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] were the two higher estates, [[nobility]] and [[clergy]], and the two lower estates, [[Bourgeoisie|burghers]] and land-owning [[peasants]]. Each were free men, and had specific rights and responsibilities, and the right to send representatives to the [[Riksdag of the Estates]]. The Riksdag, and later the [[Diet of Finland]] was [[Tetracameralism|tetracameral]]: at the Riksdag, each Estate voted as a single body. Since early 18th century, a bill needed the approval of at least three Estates to pass, and constitutional amendments required the approval of all Estates. Prior to the 18th century, the King had the right to cast a deciding vote if the Estates were split evenly.

After Russia's conquest of Finland in 1809, the estates in Finland swore an oath to the Emperor in the [[Diet of Porvoo]]. A [[Finnish House of Nobility]] was codified in 1818 in accordance with the old Swedish law of 1723. However, after the Diet of Porvoo, the [[Diet of Finland]] was reconvened only in 1863. In the meantime, for a period of 54 years, the country was governed only administratively.

There was also 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]]) was exempt from tax, had an inherited [[Ranks of nobility and peerage|rank]] and the right to keep a [[fief]], and had a tradition of military service and government. Nobility was codified in 1280 with the Swedish king granting exemption from taxation (''frälse'') to land-owners that could equip a cavalryman (or be one themselves) for the king's army. Around 1400, [[letters patent]] were introduced, in 1561 the ranks of [[Count]] and [[Friherre|Baron]] were added, and in 1625 the House of Nobility was codified as the First Estate of the land. Following [[Axel Oxenstierna]]'s reform, higher government offices were open only to nobles. However, the nobility still owned only their own property, not the peasants or their land [[serfdom|as in much of Europe]]. Heads of the noble houses were hereditary members of the assembly of nobles. The Nobility is divided into [[titled nobility]] ([[count]]s and [[baron]]s) and lower nobility. Until the 18th century, the lower nobility was in turn divided into [[Knight]]s and [[Esquire]]s such that each of the three classes would first vote internally, giving one vote per class in the assembly. This resulted in great political influence for the higher nobility.
* Clergy, or priests, were exempt from tax, and collected [[tithe]]s for the church. After the [[Swedish Reformation]], the church became [[Lutheran]]. In later centuries, the estate included teachers of universities and certain state schools. The estate was governed by the [[state church]] which consecrated its ministers and appointed them to positions with a vote in choosing diet representatives.
* Burghers were city-dwellers, tradesmen and craftsmen. Trade was allowed only in the cities when the [[mercantilism|mercantilistic]] ideology had got the upper hand, and the burghers had the exclusive right to conduct commerce within the framework of [[guild]]s. Entry to this Estate was controlled by the autonomy of the towns themselves. Peasants were allowed to sell their produce within the city limits, but any further trade, particularly foreign trade, was allowed only for burghers. In order for a settlement to become a city, a royal charter granting [[market right]] was required, and foreign trade required royally chartered [[staple port]] rights. After the annexation of Finland into Imperial Russia in 1809, mill-owners and other proto-industrialists would gradually be included in this estate.
* Peasants were land-owners of land-taxed farms and their families (comparable in status to [[yeomen]] in England), which represented the majority in medieval times. Since most of the population were independent farmer families until the 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, which was not generally for sale but a hereditary property. After 1809, Swedish 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. Their representatives to the Diet were elected indirectly: each municipality sent electors to elect the representative of an electoral district.
* To no estate belonged propertyless [[Serfdom|cottagers]], [[villein]]s, [[Tenant farmer|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). To reflect how the people belonging to the estates saw them, the Finnish word for "obscene", ''säädytön'', has the literal meaning "estateless". They had no political rights and could not vote. Their mobility was severely limited by the policy of "legal protection" (Finnish: ''laillinen suojelu''): every estateless person had to be employed by a taxed citizen from the estates, or they could be charged with [[Vagrancy (people)|vagrancy]] and sentenced to forced labor. In Finland, this policy lasted until 1883.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://portti.kansallisarkisto.fi/fi/aineisto-oppaat/irtolaisuus | title=Teema: Irtolaisuus – Portti}}</ref>

In Sweden, the Riksdag of the Estates existed until it was replaced with a bicameral Riksdag in 1866, which gave political rights to anyone with a certain income or property. Nevertheless, many of the leading politicians of the 19th century continued to be drawn from the old estates, in that they were either noblemen themselves, or represented agricultural and urban interests. Ennoblements continued even after the estates had lost their political importance, with the last [[ennoblement]] of explorer [[Sven Hedin]] taking place in 1902; this practice was formally abolished with the adoption of the new [[Constitution of Sweden|Constitution]] January 1, 1975, while the status of the [[Swedish House of Nobility|House of Nobility]] continued to be regulated in law until 2003.

In Finland, this legal division existed until 1906, still drawing on the Swedish constitution of 1772. However, at the start of the 20th century most of the population did not belong to any Estate and had no political representation. 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 [[serf]]s.) Furthermore, the industrial workers living in the city were not represented by the four-estate system.

The political system was reformed as a result of the [[Finnish general strike of 1905]], with the last Diet instituting a new constitutional law to create the [[Eduskunta|modern parliamentary system]], ending the political privileges of the estates. The post-independence constitution of 1919 forbade ennoblement, and all tax privileges were abolished in 1920. The privileges of the estates were officially and finally abolished in 1995,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/saadoskokoelma/1995/971|title=FINLEX ® - – Säädökset alkuperäisinä: Laki säätyjen erioikeuksien lakkauttamisesta 971/1995|website=finlex.fi}}</ref> although in legal practice, the privileges had long been unenforceable. As in Sweden, the nobility has not been officially abolished and records of nobility are still voluntarily maintained by the [[Finnish House of Nobility]].

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

==Low Countries==
The [[Low Countries]], which until the late sixteenth century consisted of several counties, prince bishoprics, duchies etc. in the area that is now modern [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]] and the [[Netherlands]], had no States General until 1464, when [[Philip III, Duke of Burgundy|Duke Philip of Burgundy]] assembled the first States General in [[Bruges]]. Later in the 15th and 16th centuries, [[Brussels]] became the place where the States General assembled. On these occasions, deputies from the States of the various provinces (as the counties, prince-bishoprics and duchies were called) asked for more liberties. For this reason, the States General were not assembled very often.

As a consequence of the [[Union of Utrecht]] in 1579 and the events that followed afterwards, the States General declared that they no longer obeyed [[King Philip II of Spain]], who was also [[Lord|overlord]] of the Netherlands. After the reconquest of the [[southern Netherlands]] (roughly Belgium and Luxemburg), the States General of the Dutch Republic first assembled permanently in [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]], and in [[The Hague]] from 1585 onward. Without a king to rule the country, the States General became the [[Sovereignty|sovereign]] power. It was the level of government where all things were dealt with that were of concern to all the seven provinces that became part of the [[Dutch Republic|Republic of the United Netherlands]].

During that time, the States General were formed by representatives of the States (i.e. provincial parliaments) of the seven provinces. In each States (a [[plurale tantum]]) sat representatives of the nobility and the cities (the clergy were no longer represented; in [[Friesland]] the peasants were indirectly represented by the ''[[Grietman]]nen'').

In the Southern Netherlands, the last meetings of the States General loyal to the Habsburgs took place in the [[Estates General of 1600]] and the [[Estates General of 1632]].

As a government, the States General of the Dutch Republic were abolished in 1795. A new parliament was created, called ''Nationale Vergadering'' (National Assembly). It no longer consisted of representatives of the States, let alone the Estates: all men were considered equal under the 1798 Constitution. Eventually, the Netherlands became part of the French Empire under [[Napoleon]] (1810:'' La Hollande est reunie à l'Empire'').

After regaining independence in November 1813, the name "States General" was resurrected for a legislature constituted in 1814 and elected by the [[States-Provincial]]. In 1815, when the Netherlands were united with Belgium and Luxemburg, the States General were divided into two chambers: the First Chamber and the Second Chamber. The members of the First Chamber were appointed for life by the King, while the members of the Second Chamber were elected by the members of the States Provincial. The States General resided in The Hague and Brussels in alternate years until 1830, when, as a result of the [[Belgian Revolution]], The Hague became once again the sole residence of the States General, Brussels instead hosting the newly founded [[Belgian Federal Parliament|Belgian Parliament]].

From 1848 on, the Dutch Constitution provides that members of the Second Chamber be elected by the people (at first only by a limited portion of the male population; universal male and female suffrage exists since 1919), while the members of the First Chamber are chosen by the members of the States Provincial. As a result, the Second Chamber became the most important. The First Chamber is also called Senate. This however, is not a term used in the Constitution.

Occasionally, the First and Second Chamber meet in a ''Verenigde Vergadering'' (Joint Session), for instance on [[Prinsjesdag]], the annual opening of the parliamentary year, and when a new king is [[Inauguration|inaugurated]].

==Holy Roman Empire==
[[File:Die drei Stände Tirol um 1800 ÖMV.jpg|thumb|Image of the Three Estates under the [[Trinity]] in heaven ([[Tyrol]], 1800)]]
The [[Holy Roman Empire]] had the [[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] (''Reichstag''). The clergy was represented by the independent [[prince-bishop]]s, prince-archbishops and [[prince-abbot]]s of the many [[monastery|monasteries]]. The nobility consisted of independent aristocratic rulers: secular [[prince-elector]]s, kings, dukes, margraves, counts and others. Burghers consisted of representatives of the independent [[Free imperial city|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 Knight]]s 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.

The [[Swabian League]], a significant regional power in its part of Germany during the 15th Century, also had its own kind of Estates, a governing Federal Council comprising three Colleges: those of Princes, Cities, and Knights.

==Russian Empire==
{{Main|Social estates in the Russian Empire}}
In the late [[Russian Empire]], the estates were called ''[[sosloviye]]s''. The four major estates were: nobility (''[[dvoryanstvo]]''), [[clergy]], rural dwellers, and urban dwellers, with a more detailed stratification therein. The division in estates was of mixed nature: traditional, occupational, as well as formal: for example, voting in [[Duma]] was carried out by estates. [[Russian Empire Census]] recorded the reported estate of a person.

==Kingdom of Portugal==
{{Main|Portuguese Cortes}}
In the [[Medieval]] [[Kingdom of Portugal]], the '''"Cortes"''' was an assembly of representatives of the estates of the realm – the [[nobility]], [[clergy]] and [[bourgeoisie]].  It was called and dismissed by the [[King of Portugal]] at will, at a place of his choosing.<ref name=C>O'Callaghan, J.F. (2003) "Cortes, Leon, Castile and Portugal" in E.M. Gerli, editor, ''Medieval Iberia: an encyclopedia'', London: Routledge</ref>  Cortes which brought all three estates together are sometimes distinguished as '''"Cortes-Gerais"''' (General Courts), in contrast to smaller assemblies which brought only one or two estates, to negotiate a specific point relevant only to them.<ref name = R>Coelho da Rocha, M.A. (1851) ''Ensaio sobre a historia do governo e da legislação de Portugal: para servir de introducção ao estudo do direito patrio'' Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, pp. 102–103.</ref>

==Principality of Catalonia==
{{Main|Catalan Courts}}
The [[Catalan Parliament|Parliament of Catalonia]] was first established in 1283 as the [[Catalan Courts]] (Catalan: ''Corts Catalanes''), according to American historian [[Thomas N. Bisson|Thomas Bisson]], and it has been considered by several historians as a model of medieval [[parliament]]. For instance, English historian of constitutionalism [[Charles Howard McIlwain]] wrote that the General Court of Catalonia, during the 14th century, had a more defined organization and met more regularly than the parliaments of England or France.<ref>[[Joaquim Albareda]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20040103005104/http://www.uvic.es/central/campus/gabinet/aulass/ca/albareda.html "Estat i nació a l'Europa moderna"]</ref>

The roots of the parliament institution in [[Catalonia]] are in the Peace and Truce Assemblies (''assemblees de pau i treva'') that started in the 11th century.
The members of the Catalan Courts were organized in the Three Estates (Catalan: ''Tres Estats'' or ''Tres Braços''):
* the "military estate" (''braç militars'') with representatives of the feudal nobility
* the "ecclesiastical estate" (''braç eclesiàstic'') with representatives of the religious hierarchy
* the "royal estate" (''braç reial'' or ''braç popular'') with representatives of the free municipalities under royal privilege
The parliamentary institution was abolished in 1716, together with the rest of institutions of the [[Principality of Catalonia]], after the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].

==See also==
* [[Churches Militant, Penitent, and Triumphant]]
* [[Communalism before 1800]]
* [[Four occupations]] (Asian equivalents)
* [[Fourth Estate]]
* [[Fifth Estate]]
* [[Sphere sovereignty]]
* [[Trifunctional hypothesis]]
* [[Varna (Hinduism)]]
* ''[[What Is the Third Estate?]]''

===Location-specific===
* [[Prussian estates]]
* [[Estates of the Netherlands Antilles]]
* [[Estates of Brittany]]
* ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' (the division of society into three estates is one of the key themes)
* ''[[A Satire of the Three Estates]]''

===General===
* [[Honorary male]]s
* [[Social class]]
* [[Caste]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html Steven Kreis lecture on "The Origins of the French Revolution"]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20181004111452/http://www.esuhistoryprof.com/france_and_the_old_regime.htm Notes on France and the Old Regime]}}
* Giles Constable. "The Orders of Society", chap. 3 of ''Three Studies in Medieval Religious and Social Thought''. Cambridge–New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp.&nbsp;249–360.
* Bernhard Jussen, ed. ''Ordering Medieval Society: Perspectives on Intellectual and Practical Modes of Shaping Social Relations''. Trans. by Pamela Selwyn. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
* Jackson J. Spielvogel, ''Western Civilization'', West Publishing Co. Minneapolis, 1994 for the English-language version of the quote from Abbé Sieyès, quoted at [https://web.archive.org/web/20040413180428/http://www.magnesium.net/~locutus/work/eurohist2.htm].
* [http://vdaucourt.free.fr/Mothisto/Sieyes2/Sieyes2.htm Abbé Sieyès : Qu'est-ce que le Tiers-Etat ? Tout. Qu'a-t-il été jusque-là dans l'ordre politique ? Rien. Que demande-t-il ? A être quelque chose.] 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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20041204105931/http://www3.uakron.edu/hfrance/reviews/crubaugh.html H-France Reviews].
* Konstantin M. Langmaier: Felix Hemmerli und der Dialog über den Adel und den Bauern (De nobilitate et rusticitate dialogus). Seine Bedeutung für die Erforschung der Mentalität des Adels im 15. Jahrhundert, in: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 166, 2018 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331481048_Felix_Hemmerli_und_der_Dialog_uber_den_Adel_und_den_Bauern (PDF) Felix Hemmerli und der Dialog über den Adel und den Bauern]

==External links==
* {{Commonsinline}}

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