Estates General (France)
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In France under the ancien régime, the Estates General or States-General was a legislative and consultative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of
Opening of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 in the Grands Salles des Menus-Plaisirs in Versailles
Caricature from 1789 with the Third Estate carrying the First Estate and Second Estate on its back
Estates of the realm
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The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members in
Estates General (France)
…ancien régime, the Estates General (French: États généraux ) or States-General was a legislative and consultative assembly of the different classes (or estates) of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates (clergy, nobility and commoners), which were called and dismissed by the…
A 13th-century French representation of the tripartite social order of the Middle Ages – Oratores ("those who pray"), Bellatores ("those who fight"), and Laboratores ("those who work").
The Three Estates of Christendom by Bartholomäus Bruyn c. 1535
French miniature depicting the Three Estates, with King Charles VII at centre, 1400/50