USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The First Estate was the clergy, who were people, including priests, who ran both the Catholic church and some aspects of the country. In addition to keeping registers of births, deaths and marriages, the clergy also had the power to levy a 10% tax known as the tithe.

Detailed explanation-2: -The First Estate consisted of members of the Catholic Church (the clergy). The Second Estate consisted of members of the aristocracy (the nobility). The Third Estate comprised all other members of french society (the commoners).

Detailed explanation-3: -France under the Ancien Régime (before the French Revolution) divided society into three estates: the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners). The king was considered part of no estate.

Detailed explanation-4: -The First Estate occupied a prestigious place in the social order. Belief in God, religion and the afterlife dominated late 18th century Europe, so for ordinary people the church and its clergy were the only avenues for understanding or accessing God and the afterlife.

Detailed explanation-5: -This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners – who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution.