The noblesse de robe (‘nobles of the robe’) gained noble titles from non-military services, such as their work as financiers, administrators, magistrates or court officials.

These exemptions became a significant cause of the French Revolution, as France’s Third Estate (commoners) realised they were carrying the financial burden of the nation.

At the top of society was Louis XVI, the absolute monarch of France. The First Estate occupied a prestigious place in the social order. Ministers in the royal government during the 17th and 18th centuries often demanded the church contribute a greater share toward the running of the state.
Others made their fortunes from colonial investments, banking and finance or tax farming.

It was also an integral part of France’s social and political framework. Many noblemen had become energetic businessmen, capitalist and progressive in their thinking.

These demands could produce heightened tensions and fierce negotiations, particularly in times of war when the government was raising funds for its military needs. It contained all French citizens who possessed a noble title, either through birth, royal gift or venal purchase.

Around two-thirds of bishops and archbishops had noble titles, either given as gifts from the crown or purchased venally. All citizens who were members of the Second Estate possessed a noble title either through birth, royal gift, or venal purchase. These criticisms could be found within the ranks of the church itself, with many members of the lower clergy demanding a greater say and more accountability. Many of them resented the rising bourgeoisie, who had outstripped them in land, wealth and status. Around one-third of all clergy were parish priests or curés. Most hobereaux lived modestly on small estates in rural areas, in a similar fashion to English country squires. A historian’s view:

The state gave the Catholic church a virtual monopoly over religious matters; there were no other approved religions in France. Most of the church’s higher clergy – cardinals, archbishops and bishops – acquired significant levels of personal wealth from land rents, sinecures or simple graft. Court nobles (those closest to the monarch) were usually considered the most prestigious. Title: “The Second Estate” URL: https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/first-estate/ They lived in cities or towns and relied on investments, royal pensions or sponsorship from other nobles. Wealthier nobles owned large estates and ran them as businesses. Several factors led to the growth of a small but vocal group of liberal nobles: economic modernisation, the entry of former bourgeoisie into the Second Estate, the growth of the Enlightenment, access to liberal political texts by Rousseau and other philosophes, and the circulation of British and American political ideas. It contains 231,430 words in 354 pages and was updated on September 8th 2020. The largest of these estates was the Third Estate, containing around 27 million people or 98 percent of the population. Some members of the Second Estate were completely landless. Hundreds of men also acquired titles venally, by purchasing them from the crown rather than having them bestowed for service. The clergy was not only exempt from paying personal taxation: its members could not be called up for military service. On the eve of the French Revolution, the church was subject to disillusionment and criticism, with many of its parishioners concerned about the corruption and failings of the clergy.

While the First Estate’s hold over French society was not in serious jeopardy, it was being criticised on several fronts. Its members, both men and women, possessed aristocratic titles like Duc (‘Duke’), Comte (‘Count’), Vicomte (‘Viscount’), Baron or Chevalier. A minor office could cost 20,000 livres, while higher offices with immediate noble status were in excess of 50,000 livres.

1. JH Shennan.

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The stereotypes in Les Liaisons Dangereuses were true of some nobles but not all. Many of these grievance ledgers called for a constitution; a few even petitioned to end noble exemptions from taxation.

Provincial nobles with lesser titles and smaller land holdings were called hobereaux (‘old birds’).
In this respect, they were little different from the businessmen of the bourgeoisie. While all ordained persons belonged to the First Estate, there was a diversity of political and theological viewpoints in their ranks. Before the revolution, French society was divided into three estates or orders. Liberal nobles would become prominent leaders of the French Revolution, particularly in its early phase (1789-91). Some were honorific, like the right to wear a sword in public, to display a coat of arms… some again were judicial: the right to have their cases heard in a high court of law, to be exempt from corporal punishment, to be beheaded rather than hanged if found guilty of a capital offence. A historian’s view:

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