Society cannot consist of any one class, no matter how much people want it. Over the centuries, it has differentiated into different strata and estates. The concept of "estate" is characteristic of the pre-capitalist period in the development of history.
An estate is a social group that is assigned certain rights and responsibilities. They are either prescribed by law or preserved in customs and passed down from generation to generation. It is believed that the formation of estates is closely related to the class structure of society. Moreover, their number exceeds the number of classes. This discrepancy takes place because, in addition to economic methods of coercion, there are others that are not related to material values. For example, many estates were distinguished in accordance with their social functions: military, religious, etc. It should be noted that this process was quite lengthy, and it could take several centuries before one estate was formed. Unlike castes, the principle of heredity in estates is not fundamental. Access to some of them could be bought or earned. Mandatory symbols were a sign of belonging to a particular class. It could be various decorations, specific insignia, garments and even hairstyles. In addition, most estates developed their own moral principles. France of the XIV-XV centuries is a classic example of an estate society. During this period, the whole country was divided into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate. Their rights and responsibilities were clearly delineated. Each of the estates nominated their representatives to the States General. So, all three estates were involved in the process of governing the country. However, the nobility and clergy were exempted from paying taxes, had preferential access to high government posts and cultivated their own way of life, different from that of commoners. The established system of estates began to collapse in the middle of the 16th century and was completely destroyed by the Great French Revolution.
