Estates of Brittany

The Estates of Brittany was the

. It gathered members of the high clergy, a large number of nobles and delegates from the 42 towns and cities of Brittany. In 1788, it included nearly 1,000 nobles as opposed to fewer than 100 representatives of the other two orders.

History

The Estates were founded in the Middle Ages by

Ancien Régime

.

In addition to founding the Estates, Duke Arthur II introduced the innovation of permitting the third estate to be represented.

The

between 1670 and 1690, writing:

I did not want to see the opening, it was too early. The Estates do not have to be long. It only needed to ask what the King wanted. He need not say a word; and, voilà, it is done. For the Governor, he found there, I don't know how, over 40,000 écus which returned to him. An infinity of other presents, pensions, road and town repairs, 15 or 20 grandes tables, continual gaming, eternal balls, comedies three times a week, a grand 'braverie' : that's the Estates. I forget 400 pipes of wine that were drunk, but if I forget that little thing, the others did not forget it, and this was the first.[1]

Meetings were the opportunity for an intense nightlife, with banquets (paid for on the provincial budget) offering the chance to continue disputes begun at the daily sittings by competition in consumption, drinking and card games.

In more serious matters, the Estates' interests were essentially the same as the

, which was severely repressed by the monarchy.

See also

• History of Brittany

References