Modern France

1 . Estates General (14th to 18th Century ) This was the national representative body in France . It had numerous duties and responsibilities and its major responsibility was to levy taxes . There were three components to the EG and they included the clergy , nobility and the Third Estate

2 . Abby Sieyis (Born Emmanuel Joseph Sieyis May 3 , 1748 . Died June 20 1836 ) Sieyes was a chief theorist of the French Revolution . From his position as a Roman Catholic Abbey , Sieyes had a forum to profess his political theories and beliefs . He would later publish

an interesting pamphlet entitled What is the Third Estate ' which was a massively popular populist piece of literature among the masses

3 . Sans-culottes (18th century ) This was a very derogatory term for the poorer members of the Third Estate . It was a term devised by French nobility as a play on the types of clothes some of the poorer members of the third estate were prone to wear . Needless to say , such terms did little to stop divisions among the classes

4 . The Paris Insurrection (18th Century ) Considered a seminal event during the French Revolution , the Paris Insurrection was a revolt of the populace against the nobility . Actually , it was the Paris Insurrection that led many nobles to flee France due to the revolt

5 . The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (18th Century ) This was a law passed in France in 1790 during the French Revolution . One of its main goals was integrating the Roman Catholic Church into...