The 3 Medieval Estates: Origin, History And Characteristics
On August 4, 1789, estate society was abolished in France. A new era was born and, in this way, the medieval classes, which had been the pillar of society for centuries, were abandoned. A class society that was seen then, in the midst of the Revolution, as something archaic and obsolete that needed to be suppressed.
However, is everything that is said about the Medieval estates true? Is it true that the medieval establishments were something rigid and lacking flexibility? Let us remember that the Middle Ages is a period of 10 centuries, during which many changes occurred and different realities occurred. While it is true that the general hierarchy (which divided society into three classes) was maintained well into the 19th century, it is no less true that this division suffered some fluctuations depending on the context of the time.
Let’s see, then, what the estates were in the Middle Ages, their origin and their characteristics
First of all, it is necessary to clarify this concept. The RAE defines estate as “stratum of a society, defined by a common lifestyle or analogous social function.” And, specifically, it refers to the social strata that constituted the bases of the Old Regime that is, of society before the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.
The difference between a class society and a class society is that, while in the latter there is a certain permeability based on the economic capabilities of the individual, the former is more or less closed to changes, and the members of each class belong to it. by blood ties. It is from this perspective that we must understand society in the Middle Ages, as an eminently hierarchical universe in which each person belonged to a specific class and from which, most likely, they could never leave.
Origin of medieval estates
As we have already said, the social hierarchy in the Middle Ages was based on three very different classes: the nobility, the clergy and the so-called third estate (the rest of the population). Despite representing only 10% of the total, the first two groups had special privileges, among which were the monopoly of power and exemption from paying taxes. But where did this division come from?
The Indo-European world
This tripartite society is not something exclusive to the Middle Ages; in fact, has its roots in the Indo-European cultures that, several millennia ago, populated Europe and part of Asia These cultures were made up of three groups: the rulers, the warriors and the producers. Many of the European and Asian cultures come from these tribes; In the extensive Indo-European family tree we find the Germanic, Greek, Slavic and Latin peoples, in addition to the ancient culture of India. In fact, the caste system, which is still more or less in force today, is a direct heir to this strict hierarchy.
Plato’s ideal city and its influence in the Middle Ages
Already in classical Greece, Plato (5th – 4th centuries BC) includes this division in his work The Republic, when he states that the ideal society must be made up of three social groups: those who govern (who must possess the gift of wisdom), those who fight (who must be strong) and the artisans who work (who must enjoy temperance) . According to the Greek philosopher, only in this way can we guarantee that society flows harmoniously towards a common good
This Platonic concept is collected by Saint Augustine, already in the Christian era, in his work The City of God, where he maintains that the earthly city, the pale reflection of the heavenly city, must be composed of these 3 social groups. Only with the harmony of these 3 estates can the order of the cosmos created by God occur. There is a document where the estate division of the Middle Ages is clearly expressed, and it has gone down in history as a cultural statement: and it is the poem that Aldebarón of Laón, French canon, sent to Robert II of France, where he quotes the 3 estates and calls them, literally, orators (those who pray), bellatores (those who go to war) and labradors (those who work).
This division is the one that, in general, can be applied to the entire Middle Ages; although, as we will see below, with some nuances.
The medieval estates
These are the main characteristics of the estates of the Middle Ages.
The nobility and the establishment of the feudal regime
The political system of the Germanic tribes that penetrated the Roman Empire, basically formed by a king and his knight advisors, merged with the concept of State that still prevailed in Roman territory.
So, The early Germanic kingdoms still maintained a network of civil service or public servants For example, in the Carolingian Empire, the territory was divided into counties, where a come or count exercised authority on behalf of the king. As the years went by, these counts or public delegates settled permanently in the assigned territory, which became part of their personal assets, especially after the capitulations of Querzy (877), where the hereditary system of land transfer. In short, in Europe the concept of state was forgotten, and all its territories fell into the hands of lords who were, in reality, the owners of said lands.
Lords and peasants
The old Carolingian aristocracy, made up of those closest to the king, gave rise to the nobility The nobility was exempt from paying taxes and, together with the knights, formed the group of bellatores mentioned by Aldebarón in his poem.
The noble estate had direct domination of the land. And, when we say about the earth, we also refer to the human force that it contained. In effect, the lords were the effective owners of the land and, as such, collected rents from its inhabitants. The fiefs (the plots of land that corresponded to a lord) were complete and self-sufficient units, and were made up of the manorial reserve (the so-called terra indominicata) and the mansos. The manorial reserve was reserved to the lord, and the servant had the obligation to work it
On the other hand, the mansos were the plots that were granted in usufruct to the serfs to guarantee their own subsistence. In addition, there were a multitude of resources and assets (forests, bridges, mills…) that were, in effect, the property of the lord, so he could establish a use tax if he wanted it.
Lords and vassals
The basis of the feudal system is vassalage networks. Without them we cannot understand medieval society, since there were very complex ties of fidelity within the nobility. The main components of the vassalage system are the lord and the vassal; the former generally belonged to the nobility, while the latter was simply a knight. However, this was not always the case, and these ties were so complex that we sometimes find kings who are vassals of counts.
The relationship between lords and vassals implied a series of obligations: first, absolute fidelity between both parties and, second, the obligation of the vassal to offer auxilium and consilium, that is, help in case of war and advice. In exchange, the lord granted his vassal a set of lands and the income they brought him. These lands are what we call a fief, and they are the basis of feudal society, which reached its zenith during the 11th and 13th centuries.
2. The Church
During the feudal era, the clergy constituted another feudal lord. Many lands were owned by monasteries and abbeys so the abbots exercised the same functions as the nobles.
We must not confuse, however, the ecclesiastical establishment with the origin of its members. The estate as such enjoyed certain privileges (just like the nobility), but not all its members came from the higher classes. It was not the same, for example, to be a bishop as a monk in a humble abbey. Thus, we clearly differentiate a high clergy, made up of members from the high nobility (and even the royal family) and a lower clergy, made up of a more or less well-off peasantry, artisans and other workers.
Belonging to the ecclesiastical establishment in the Middle Ages had, of course, many advantages. To begin with, for many centuries it was practically the only access to culture, since The monasteries had been erected as temples of knowledge and knowledge
3. The third estate and the cities
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the cities entered into clear decline, and ceased to be the seat of local government and simply became places of residence for the bishop. During the first medieval centuries Europe became ruralized and, in this way, the village, assigned to a fief or manor, acquired great importance.
Gradually, and with the economic boom that began to be perceived from the 11th century onwards, cities or towns began to acquire new strength and importance. There are more and more agreements with the lords, which translate into municipal jurisdictions. From now on, The public power of the city is taking shape, and the municipal government bodies are born
The oligarchy of the cities: merchants and urban nobles
In this climate of economic prosperity, merchants are beginning to crystallize as a booming group. This social group, exclusive to the cities, is the one that will give rise to the bourgeois class, which will gradually acquire more and more influence and power. For their part, bankers intensify their activity, free from the bondage of the sin of usury (harshly condemned by the Church in previous centuries).
These bourgeois will be the ones who will make up, together with the nobles who settle in the city, the urban oligarchy This oligarchy will have a monopoly on municipal power and will enter into constant conflict with the so-called “popolo minute” or “small town”, always separated from power. Thus, we see that, at the end of the Middle Ages, the third state “opens up”, branches out, and configures what will later be the society of modern times.
Artisans and students
This “small town” is made up of a completely heterogeneous mass of population. Artisans, students, friars; the majority in perpetual struggle against that citizen oligarchy that exercises the same abuses of power that the lords had once exercised in rural Europe.
Indeed, attracted by economic growth and the increasingly high demand for products, Rural artisans migrate to the cities, and begin to group together in guilds These guilds are the ones that regulate the trades; The union jury is even the one that passes the verdict when deciding whether an official artisan can be promoted to master.
The birth of universities in the 12th and 13th centuries brought rivers of students to the towns. These students, mostly very young, are the protagonists of many fights and skirmishes against municipal power (as we see, things have not changed much since then). It should also be noted that the influx of both students and merchants passing through leads to a significant growth in prostitution, taverns and gambling houses.
Finally, We cannot forget the marginalized: sick, “crazy”, beggars ; beings that live outside order and social laws, and that are increasingly numerous in cities in full expansion and growth. Often, hospitals, lazarettos and almshouses (which, on the other hand, abound in medieval cities) are not enough to cover the needs of these poor people, and they are driven to delinquency and crime.
The Middle Ages is a much more complex time than is believed, but we hope that this brief review of the medieval estates will help you better understand both its social structure and its internal contradictions.
