Question

Which estate paid taxes out of all three estates in the French revolution?

Answer 1

Hint: Before the French Revolution, society in France was divided into three estates: the First Estate (clergy), the Second Estate (nobility), and the Third Estate (commoners) (commoners). The king was not regarded as a member of any estate. The burden of taxation was a significant distinction between the realm's estates.

Complete answer:
Peasants paid a land tax to the state (the taille) and a 5% property tax in the decades leading up to the French Revolution. Depending on the taxpayer's status, they all paid a tax based on the number of persons in the family (capitation) (from poor to prince). Further royal and seigneurial duties may be fulfilled in a variety of ways, including labour, in goods, or, on rare occasions, with money. In addition, peasants owed their landlords cash rent, a payment based on their annual productivity, and fees on the use of the nobility' mills, wine presses, and bakeries.

Pre-revolutionary France's tax system largely excused nobles and clergy from paying taxes. Peasants, wage earners, and the professional and business classes, collectively known as the Third Estate, bore the brunt of the tax load. Furthermore, persons from less fortunate backgrounds were barred from even obtaining minor positions of influence within the dictatorship, causing further anger.

Therefore only members of the third estate paid taxes.

Note: Under both Louis XIV and Louis XV, attempts were made to change the imbalanced system as the French state faced an economic deficit. The main impediment to systemic change was an old agreement between the French monarchy and the nobles, according to which the king could rule without much opposition from the nobility if he didn't tax them.