Society and Economy in Old Regime Europe

1. Society & Economy Under The Old Regime 18th Century AP Euro Chapter 15

2. Pre-Revolutionary Europe • Society Prior to 1789 • Is referred to the • “Ancien regime”, or “old regime”

3. Features of Old Regime • 1. Aristocrats with inherited privileges • 2. Urban labor force organized into guilds • 3.Rural peasantry subject to taxes

4. Visible Social Hierarchy • 1. Laws dictated what different classes could wear • 2. Rights depended on social class • 3. Not all had to pay taxes • 4. Certain activities restricted to upper class

5. The Aristocracy… • 1. Consisted of 1% to 5% of the Population in any given European Country • 2.They Inherited wealth & Land • 3. The Ruling Class

6. The Aristocracy • 4. Set the example of manners & conduct • 5. Led “lives of idleness” • 6. Had certain privileges

7. 400 elite families Average estate size: a thousand to 50 thousand acres !! Owned ¼ of arable (good) farming land Great Britain: British Nobility

8. How Big is an Acre?

9. British Nobility • Law of primogeniture: • Oldest son inherited: • 1. Title • 2. Land • 3. Right to sit in House of Lords = Political power

10. British Nobility • Younger Sons had to Choose Profession: • Commerce, Military Officer, Church Office. • Daughters had to find a husband 

11. Peerage System :Titles of Nobility Amongst Aristocracy • The peerage a collective term for people who possessed certain titles of honor. • The Titles in The Peerage ( In descending order): • Duke or Duchess • Marquess or Marchioness • Earl or Countess • Viscount or Viscountess • Baron or Lady

12. Peerage System :Titles of Nobility Amongst Aristocracy

13. English Game Laws • 1671-1831 • Exclusive right of aristocrats to hunt hares, partridges, pheasants, deer etc.

14. I am a Pheasant, not a Peasant

15. Modern Day Male Heirs to the Aristocracy in Great Britain • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIApFA4Oi80 • Sense of tradition and gender roles…

16. British Noble Women • "...the greatest challenge faced by females of the leisured classes was how to be leisured..." • Upper class women had tutors, learned “womanly activities” and had lots of free time!

17. 18th Century British Trends: Men • Wealthy traveled • and would show off by wearing clothes inspired by their travels • decorating home with souvenirs from far away lands

18. Noble Hairstyles 18th Century Europe • By 1780’s younger men wore lightly powdered natural hair • 1795 English established tax for hair powder • Which caused the demise of the powdered wig/hair  in Great Britain • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rziWXnRKmrw

19. 18th Century British Trends: Women • Clothes Reflected: • “softness, prettiness, delicacy” • Colors reflected natural world • With Decorative elements

20. 18th Century British and French Trends: Women & Cosmetics • Pieces of leather or fabric applied with adhesive on face to hide imperfections  • Lead face powder  • Rouge made from plaster of Paris & Carmine  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHuLW8khoGo&list=PLuHwdLRLQumAocexBAqVJXtGrZ2pc3cU0

21. Aristocrats In France • Different From England • Nobility acquired through: • 1. Birth- inherited • 2. office - awarded • 3. “letters”- King’s order

22. French Titles of Nobility • Duke • Marquis • Comte (Earl) • Vicomte (viscount) • Baron

23. French Aristocratic Families & Prestige • how long had a given family been noble (l'ancienneté), • into what other families did it marry (les alliances), • what positions its members achieved and what offices they held (les dignités), • what actions they performed (les illustrations)

24. French Aristocrats • 400,000 nobles • Divided Into: • “Nobles of the sword”-military service • “Nobles of the robe”- bureaucracy • Second estate

25. French Nobility • Hobereaux – provincial nobility • Not as wealthy • But “nobles” non -the less

26. French Aristocrats • Exempt from taxes • Rarely had to pay vingtieme income tax in full • Hunting & Fishing privileges

27. French Aristocrats • Known for extravagance in manner , dress, court culture • Remember Versailles? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8WZw5-FDiA

28. Peasants & Serfs Rural Reality

29. Key point! • Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture • oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, the manor.

30. The Importance of Land • Land – the Economic basis 18th century Europe • Foundation of status & power for nobility • Source of oppression for peasants

31. Rural Reality • 3/4ths of all Europeans lived in rural areas • Worked the land

32. Peasants & Serfs: What’s the Difference? • Peasants – are “free” tenants (Western Europe) • Serfs- are not free. More like slaves (Eastern Europe)

33. French Peasants • Seigneur or Land owner could: • Require labor from peasants • Charge feudal dues for allowing them to live on his land

34. Russian Serfs • Nobles’ wealth measured by serfs, not land acreage • Barshchina- 6 day work week • Serfs could punished like slaves

35. Russian Serf Rebellions • Over 50 rebellions in 1762 • Pugachev’s Rebellionin Southern Russia (1773-1775 ) • EmelyanPugachev Promised Serfs: • land of their own • Freedom from landlord • Russian govt. crushed the rebellion

36. The Family Economy & The Household Rural Living Pre-Industrial / Pre- Revolution

37. Key Point! • The family remained the primary social and economic institution of early modern Europe and took several forms, including the nuclear family.

38. The Family Economy • The Household the Basic unit of production • 2 models: • 1. North Western Europe • 2. Eastern Europe

39. 1. North Western Household • Household consisted of the Nuclear Family: • Married couple, children , maybe a servant (younger person, a social equal, works until marriage). • Children lived with parents until teen years

40. 1.North Western Household • Neocalism- when a child moves away from home • Men married at 26 • Women married at 23 • Considered “late” marriage

41. 2. Eastern Europe Household • Household consisted of Extended Family: • Married couple, children, grandparents etc. • Larger households • Younger Parents • Idea is to “add” to household, not leave

42. TheFamily Economy • 1. Impossible for ordinary people to support themselves independently • 2. Everyone in household worked • 3. Goods produced for benefit of household • 4. “self contained” unit • 5. Men and women engaged in separate but complimentary tasks

43. Those Who Lived By Themselves… • seen as suspicious! • Potential criminals, or beggars • Remember, even servants lived with a family…

44. Women and the Family Economy • Marriage regardless of class, an economic necessity! • Number 1 concern: maintaining house • Number 2 concern : bearing and rearing children

45. Life of Lower Class Women • At age 7, girls considered old enough to help around the house • Once a girl left home, she had to support family, and save up for her dowry

46. Women & Children • High mortality rates for children – disease • Unsanitary conditions • The desperately poor sometimes could not afford babies

47. Foundling Hospitals • Paris, London • Homes for abandoned children “orphans” • Most children illegitimate • Parents could not afford them/gave them up

48. Abandoned Children • Link between movement of people and an increase in abandoned children • Link between rise of food prices and abandoned children

49. The Sad Truth… • Only 10 % of abandoned children lived to the age of ten.

50. The Agricultural Revolution Changes in the midst…