Ancien Regime -

Comprising the Catholic Church, they owned roughly 10% of French land and were exempt from most taxes. They provided social services like education and healthcare but were often criticized for the vast wealth held by higher-ranking bishops.

Intellectuals like Voltaire and Rousseau began questioning the legitimacy of absolute power and the inequality of the estate system, advocating for reason, liberty, and meritocracy. ancien regime

Politically, the Ancien Régime was defined by the "Divine Right of Kings." The monarch, most notably Louis XIV (the "Sun King"), centralized power to an extreme degree. By housing the nobility at the Palace of Versailles, the crown stripped them of regional power, turning them into courtiers dependent on royal favor. However, this centralization created a bottlenecked bureaucracy that was slow to react to national crises. The Catalyst for Collapse Comprising the Catholic Church, they owned roughly 10%

The Ancien Régime (Old Regime) refers to the social and political system of the Kingdom of France from the Late Middle Ages until the French Revolution of 1789. It was characterized by a rigid hierarchical structure, an absolute monarchy, and a complex web of feudal privileges that ultimately became unsustainable under the weight of economic crisis and Enlightenment ideals. The Social Hierarchy: The Three Estates Politically, the Ancien Régime was defined by the

Massive debt from wars (including support for the American Revolution) and a series of poor harvests led to widespread famine and skyrocketing bread prices.

By the late 18th century, several factors converged to destabilize the regime: