Society cannot consist of any one class, no matter how people want it. Over the centuries, it has differentiated into different layers and classes. The concept of "class" is characteristic of the pre-capitalist period of the development of history.
The estate is a social group for which certain rights and obligations are assigned. They are either prescribed in law or preserved in customs and passed on from generation to generation. It is believed that the formation of estates is closely connected with the class structure of society. Moreover, their number exceeds the number of classes. This discrepancy occurs because in addition to economic methods of coercion, there are others that are not related to material values. For example, many classes stood out in accordance with their social functions: military, religious, etc. It should be noted that this process was quite lengthy, and several centuries could pass before one estate was formed. Unlike castes, the principle of heredity in the estates is not fundamental. Access to some of them could be bought or earned. A sign of belonging to a particular class was the mandatory symbolism. It could be various decorations, specific insignia, items of clothing and even hairstyles. In addition, most estates developed their own moral principles. France of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is a classic example of a class society. During this period, the whole country was divided into three classes: the clergy, the nobility and the third estate. Their rights and obligations were clearly delineated. From each of the classes nominated their representatives in the General States. So, all 3 classes were involved in the process of governing the country. However, the nobility and the clergy were exempted from taxes, had preferential access to high government posts and cultivated their way of life, different from that of commoners. The existing estate system began to crumble in the middle of the 16th century and was completely destroyed by the French Revolution.
