French nobility

E494193

The French nobility were the hereditary aristocratic class of pre-revolutionary France, holding significant social prestige, legal privileges, and often large landholdings under the Ancien Régime.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form Occurrences
French aristocracy 3
Burgundian nobility 1

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf estate of the realm
hereditary aristocracy
social class
alsoKnownAs noblesse
noblesse française NERFINISHED
belongedToEstate Second Estate NERFINISHED
couldBeAcquiredBy inheritance
purchase of office
royal ennoblement
couldBeLostBy derogation
royal punishment
country France
existedBefore French Revolution NERFINISHED
existedInPeriod Ancien Régime NERFINISHED
hadCenter Versailles court NERFINISHED
hadEconomicBase feudal dues
landed estates
rents from peasants
hadLegalStatus privileged order
hadObligation loyalty to the monarch
military service to the king
hadPopulationShare small minority of French population
hadPrivilege exclusive access to many high offices
exemption from many direct taxes
honorific precedence at court
hunting rights
jurisdictional rights in their seigneuries
right to bear arms
right to collect feudal dues
seigneurial rights over peasants
hadReligion predominantly Roman Catholic
includedRank baron
count
duke
marquis
prince of the blood
seigneur
viscount
influenced European aristocratic models
French culture and manners
French politics under Ancien Régime
lostFeudalRightsBy August Decrees of 1789 NERFINISHED
lostPrivilegesIn French Revolution NERFINISHED
wasCriticizedBy Enlightenment philosophers
wasDividedInto noblesse d'épée
noblesse de cour
noblesse de province
noblesse de robe
wasReformedBy Louis XIV NERFINISHED
wasRegulatedBy edicts of the king
royal letters patent

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Thérèse de La Rochefoucauld associatedWith French nobility
this entity surface form: French aristocracy
Second Estate composedOf French nobility
Lafayette family memberOf French nobility
this entity surface form: French aristocracy
Louvois memberOf French nobility
Rudolf Auguste d’Ornano memberOf French nobility
de Rochechouart memberOf French nobility
this entity surface form: French aristocracy
Lord of Arlay partOf French nobility
this entity surface form: Burgundian nobility
Gendarmes de la Garde recruitment French nobility