French nobility

The hereditary aristocratic estate of pre-revolutionary France, whose members held distinct legal privileges, social status, and obligations.

Estates of the realm: The legally distinct social orders that structured society in medieval and early modern Europe. French nobility formed the Second Estate within this social order.
Ancien Régime: The political and social order of France before the Revolution of 1789. The monarchy and institutions of the Ancien Régime defined noble rights and limits.
French feudalism: The regional systems of landholding and personal lordship that developed in medieval France. Its fragmented lordships supplied an early foundation for aristocratic power.
French Third Estate: The estate comprising commoners in pre-revolutionary France, including peasants, workers, and the bourgeoisie. Its members bore burdens and lacked many privileges assigned to nobles.
Feudalism: A political and social system organized around landholding, personal obligations, and decentralized authority. Feudal rights and duties shaped the historical basis of noble status.
Noble privilege: The legal and fiscal advantages attached to noble status in pre-revolutionary France. These exemptions and exclusive rights distinguished nobles from commoners.
French monarchy: The hereditary kingship that governed France until the monarchy's abolition in 1792. Kings granted titles and privileges while also seeking to bring nobles under royal authority.
French clergy: The First Estate in pre-revolutionary France, comprising members of the Catholic clergy. Like nobles, clergy held corporate privileges, but their estate rested on ecclesiastical status.
Seigneurial system: A system of rural authority in which lords held land rights and exercised specified powers over dependent communities. Seigneurial rights supplied many nobles with income and local authority.
Parlements of France: High courts of the French monarchy that registered royal legislation and judged appeals. Nobles served in these courts, where judicial office could reinforce elite influence.

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