FRANCE

old order; system of government in pre-revolution France

a monarchy that is not limited or restrained by laws or a constitution.

wages as compared to the cost of living

compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces.

Judicial courts of appeal. There were 13 local parlements in France at this time, of which the one in Paris was the most powerful. They were not elected or representative bodies.

A group of nobles and aristocrats invited by the king of France to discuss reform of the government.

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.

a social system that existed in Europe during the Middle Ages in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and the use of land in return

the period, from mid-1793 to mid-1794, when Maximilien Robespierre France nearly as a dictator and thousands of political figures and ordinary citizens were executed

Members of the Old Regime (nobles and clergy) who fled from France to Germany, Britain, and Switzerland during the Revolution and conspired to end the Revolution.

Paper currency created by the French government and originally backed up by the church lands, but that soon expired and caused massive inflation

They were the urban poor; they were the cooks/servants who were paid low wages and were often out of work

The sudden and often violent, overthrow of government power by a group of citizens or military personnel.

fortress in Paris used as a prison; French Revolution began when Parisians stormed it in 1789

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.