Stratified Society in the Old Regime
A class society is one organized in
levels. In the Old Regime these constituted closed groups that were accessed
mainly by birth. Although there could be some small possibility of transfer
from one group to another (merit-based ennoblement, purchase of noble titles,
etc.), what characterized that society were its stability. Unlike the
capitalist system, in which we live in, that is divided into groups according
to their wealth and, therefore, more variable and dynamic, the social classes
in this social organization of the Old Regime was almost immutable (did not
change).
Legally, it was unequal. Each one of
the people who composed had or not privileges, according to its place inside of
the stratified structure of the society. The privileges consisted in the
exemption of obligations ( payment of taxes) and the right to exclusive
advantages. There was a privileged class that
included the nobility and the clergy and another non-privileged that was compassed by: bourgeois, artisans,
peasants and marginal groups.The privileged class was accessed
(except in the case of the clergy) by birth or by special concession of the
monarch. But, from the 17th century, it became more common for
bourgeois individuals to achieve ennoblement by buying titles from monarchs.
Social stratification:
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| Nobility |
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| Clergy |
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| Bourgeois |
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| Peasants |
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