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.

All labels observed (7)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf estate of the realm
hereditary aristocracy
social class
alsoKnownAs noblesse
noblesse française
linked to: French nobility
belongedToEstate Second Estate
couldBeAcquiredBy inheritance
purchase of office
royal ennoblement
couldBeLostBy derogation
royal punishment
country France
existedBefore French Revolution
existedInPeriod Ancien Régime
hadCenter Versailles court
linked to: Versailles
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
lostPrivilegesIn French Revolution
wasCriticizedBy Enlightenment philosophers
wasDividedInto noblesse d'épée
noblesse de cour
noblesse de province
noblesse de robe
wasReformedBy Louis XIV
linked to: Louis XIV of France
wasRegulatedBy edicts of the king
royal letters patent

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (27)

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

Second Estate composedOf French nobility
Louvois memberOf French nobility
de Rochechouart memberOf French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Gendarmes de la Garde recruitment French nobility
Lord of Arlay partOf Burgundian nobility
linked to: French nobility
Lafayette family memberOf French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Thérèse de La Rochefoucauld associatedWith French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Rudolf Auguste d’Ornano memberOf French nobility
French nobility alsoKnownAs noblesse française
linked to: French nobility
Deuxième État alsoKnownAs French nobility
Deuxième État relatedConcept Ancien Régime nobility
linked to: French nobility
Henri d’Harcourt memberOf French nobility
Peers of France relatedTo French peerage
linked to: French nobility
Peers of France alsoKnownAs French peerage
linked to: French nobility
Duchess of Mazarin partOf French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Hôtel de Bourbon-Condé usedBy French nobility
Katherine Briçonnet partOf French nobility
Lord of Harcourt isPartOf French noble hierarchy
linked to: French nobility
Marquis of Nomeny partOf French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Duke of Armagnac partOf French peerage
linked to: French nobility
Count of Vexin partOf French peerage
linked to: French nobility
Let Them Eat Cake mainSubject French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Duc d'Elbeuf partOf French peerage
linked to: French nobility
Maurice de La Tour d’Auvergne associatedWith French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility
Une poignée de gens depicts French aristocracy
linked to: French nobility