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The French Revolution: The Nobility During The Ancién Regime

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The French Revolution: The Nobility During The Ancién Regime
Up until the French Revolution, the aristocratic and noble classes ruled France, quite literally. Gentlemen, or nobility under the rule of the king during the Ancién Regime, helped enforce orders from the crown at a local level, unpaid. In return, the crown allowed these gentry to not pay taxes. It was a deal that kept both the nobility and royalty satisfied. Nobility continued to flatter the king at his home in Versailles, while the king, in return, gave legal passes to the first and second estate.

This long established trade made it difficult for the revolutionaries to encourage many of the nobility to join the rebel cause. But revolutionaries allowed anyone to join their fight, regardless of faction. Nobility who took up arms with the revolution

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