The Old Regime: Society, Economy, and Politics in Pre-Revolutionary Europe
The Old Regime: Society, Economy, and Politics
1. The Agrarian Economy
1.1 Land Ownership
During the Old Regime, the name designating the former social, economic, and political system, agriculture was the most important source of wealth. This system emerged from the decomposition of medieval feudalism and remained in force in Europe until the liberal bourgeois revolutions. Very little land was considered private property; most were linked mainly to a title of nobility or the Church. The land in the hands of a lord was called an honorable territory. It consisted of a stately reserve, and the rest was divided into separate plots called farms.
1.2 Manorial Rights
Manorial rights were the benefits and revenues that lords received by virtue of their domain over the land. The villagers had to make personal payments to the lord. In addition, the lord demanded fees for the use of manorial monopolies. In this way, the lords had royalties that granted them functions of military, justice, taxation, and government. The lords also had the obligation to deliver the tithe, a tenth of the harvest, to the Church.
1.3 Insufficient Production
The economy was based on subsistence agriculture with multiple crops, basically cereals. The open field system was practiced, where fallow land was used as pastures. Livestock production was also insufficient, and the population periodically suffered subsistence crises.
1.4 A Stagnant Population
The Old Regime corresponds to the old demographic cycle, characterized by high mortality and high birth rates.
1.5 Inadequate Transportation
Roads and highways constituted the primary system of communication. The most common vehicles were the cart and the stagecoach. The second most important means of transportation were shipping and inland waterways.
1.6 Internal and Colonial Trade
The market usually had a local or regional scope. Colonial trade increased commerce between more extensive territories. The need for income to subsidize commercial expeditions led to the creation of trading companies and financial institutions.
2. The Estates System
2.1 Social Organization
Society was divided into estates, which were groups to which individuals belonged by birth, and where upward mobility was very difficult. There were three estates: the clergy, whose role was to pray and ensure divine protection; the nobility, who fought and protected the community; and the commoners or Third Estate, whose function was to produce goods and services.
2.2 The Privileged Estates
The clergy was the first privileged group and represented a very small proportion of the population. It was divided into the high clergy and the low clergy. The nobility was the second privileged estate, representing between 2% and 3% of the population.
2.3 The Non-Privileged Estate
The Third Estate comprised most of the population. The bourgeoisie was the most economically powerful group among the non-privileged, and sometimes even more so than some nobles. Other groups within the Third Estate included the urban working class and the peasants.
3. Absolute Monarchy
3.1 The Divine Right of Kings
The absolute monarchy was based on the concept of divine right, meaning that the monarch’s authority came from God. Consequently, the monarch had absolute power. The main governing body was the Council of State, whose members were elected by the king. The provincial administration was run by governors and a legion of civil servants and bureaucrats who executed the king’s orders. Parliaments were the only bodies that could somewhat influence the king’s decisions.