What is the difference between the three estates of France?

Answer 1

The Clergy (First Estate) owned 10% of all of the land and wealth of the Nation and represented about 2% of the total population and paid no taxes.

The nobles (Second Estate) owned vast estates and represented 1% of the population and paid not taxes.

The Third Estate (represented 97% of the population and) ranged from the rich and powerful to the street, urchins and beggars. Salt was taxed, bread was taxed and they all paid a 10% tax to the Catholic Church plus taxes to the nobles on whose land they lived. It was an ancient feudal system fighting to enter a modern world.

Answer 2

The First Estate was the Catholic Clergy representing about 2% of the population of France. That grouping included Bishops. Priests, Abbots, Monks and Nuns. They owned 10% of the land, which was usually held by Monasteries who rented out parcels for farmers, vintners and laborers. The Catholic Church collected a tithe (10%) on the income from each person in the Parrish, in addition to any taxation that was imposed by the State or the Nobles. They were tax free as institutions and as individuals. The Monarchy had long ago granted that privilege to the Catholic Church knowing (or at least assuming) that such funds would care for the poor, lame, mad, widows and orphans within the Parish at no additional cost to the State.

Also living tax free were the Nobles of the Second Estate who owned about 80% of the land and represented only 1% of the population. Within their sphere of influence they raised taxes as needed and set the rental rates on land as they saw fit. They ran the show subject only to the whim of the King.

Paying the taxes were the 97% who were in the Third Estate, all of which were taxed based on their income and possessions. Some were street urchins and beggars, some were what today would be called billionaires, some were classed as very wealthy, a tiny element would have been called middle class, and the vast majority of which were poor. All paid taxes on essentials like bread and salt.

Answer 3

The three estates were: the nobility, the clergy and thirdly, all others. The major distinction usually made is that the first two were exempt from taxation. This is however only true in a strictly technical sense: nobility and clergy did not have to pay taxes, but instead they had to pay 'voluntary contributions'. The State carefully worked out how much these contributions had to be, based on everyone's wealth and income, and saw to it that these 'voluntary' contributions were paid every year.

So in practice everyone paid taxes and the only difference left was the noble or clerical rank of the first two estates.