1.-The Clergy (ceux qui prient, those who pray): it was 0.5% of the population. it was the first order of the kingdom, the most privileged order, the closest to the King, and with more influence on the affairs of State. 2.- The Nobles, composed of about 25 thousand families, with about 350,000 people. They had fiscal privileges (did not pay the taille, the real tax), political privileges, since they occupied the high administrative positions in the government.3.- and the third state, the Poor and all those who did not belong to the clergy or the nobility. Of 28 million inhabitants, they were about 27 and a half million. They did not have special rights or privileges in general, but on the contrary, they bore all the tax burdens: the ecclesiastical taxes (tithe), the direct and indirect manors, the royal taxes ( taille), etc.
