Feudalism and the Ancien Régime: A Socio-Political Overview
Seigneurial Rights
Lords received income and benefits based on their land ownership. These economic rights stemmed from the exploitation of their properties, with peasants performing various tasks (personal prestations). The lord also required fees for using monopolies and exercised jurisdictional powers over a broader territory. This included the tithe, where farmers gave a tenth of their crops to the church.
The Estates System
The Ancien Régime society was divided into three closed classes determined by birth: the clergy (responsible for prayer), the nobility (responsible for protection), and the Third Estate (responsible for production). This system created inequality, dividing society into the privileged (with rights and tax exemptions) and the non-privileged (bearing the burdens).
The Privileged
The clergy, a small part of the population, paid no taxes. The high clergy, from aristocratic classes, lived luxuriously, while the low clergy, of common origin, lived modestly. The nobility, comprising 2-3% of the population, included the wealthy court nobility, the more modest provincial nobility, and the nobility of the robe.
The Non-Privileged
The Third Estate constituted the majority of the population. The most dynamic group was the bourgeoisie, including the rentier bourgeoisie (living off income from property or capital), the manufacturing/industrial bourgeoisie, and the petty bourgeoisie (artisans). Urban classes included manual laborers in cities. The rural population consisted of free peasants (owners or tenants), laborers, and serfs under the manorial system.
Monarchy of Divine Right
The absolute monarchy, believed to derive power from God, formed the political system’s core. The state held absolute power, appointing judges, administering justice, and conducting foreign policy. This power was restricted only by divine law, natural law, and the kingdom’s fundamental laws. The main governing body was the Council of State, with bureaucrats executing royal orders.
Crisis of the Ancien Régime
The Enlightenment (18th century) was an intellectual movement that inspired the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The Enlightenment thinkers, especially in France, advocated reason as the primary means of understanding the world.
Critique of the Ancien Régime
Enlightenment thinkers criticized the Ancien Régime’s foundations and proposed a new socio-political model based on freedom and equality. They criticized absolutism and laid the groundwork for liberalism. Montesquieu advocated for the separation of powers. Rousseau championed a social contract between rulers and the ruled, guaranteeing individual rights and establishing national sovereignty based on citizens’ free consent through voting. They opposed the estate system, advocating social mobility, equality of origin, and valuing merit and intelligence. Voltaire defended freedom of conscience and tolerance. Physiocrats like Quesnay opposed mercantilism and established the foundations of economic liberalism.
Economic Liberalism and Capitalism
Adam Smith advocated individual initiative over class interests, believing self-interest drove economic development. He argued that individual interests, mediated by market pricing, balanced supply and demand. David Ricardo argued that labor, being abundant, functioned as a commodity, preventing wage increases. Thomas Malthus posited that population growth outstripped resources, leading to declining living standards.