nobility of 18th century essays

nobility of 18th century essays The Nobility of the 18th century in Western Europe made up 2 to 3 percent of the total population, but they were the major influences of economic and social roles and also had a hand in the politics in society of the time. The nobility of the time were the chief contributors to the financial system of the West. These contributions were based on the ownership of all the land in the areas. The land that the nobility possessed was the farmlands and the lands that produced the raw materials. By owning the land that produced these valuable goods the nobility could gain much wealth by trading their goods. Trading was not however considered a noble thing to do it was left to the trading middle class and many nobles thought they were above trading, but there was also a large amount of wealth to gain and this usually persuaded the nobles to make some mercantilist endeavors. Another way the nobles dominated the economy with their land ownership was by leasing their land to peasants and t enet farmers. This allowed the crops to be produced and the labor done and the landlord gets the money. The control of the economy was in the hands of the nobles but there was a rising middle class that also had a grip on the economy, but the middle class controlled the trading and mercantilistic aspect of the economy and would never completely control without the land ownership. By having this wealth the nobility lived lavished lifestyles that set the social standards of the time. Social life for the nobles all they could want. One display of how lavish their lifestyle is by their eating habits they commonly ate meat, fish, cheese, and sweets. These diets were far from the normal diets of the lower class people. Social activities of the nobility were the background for the major revolution of the time, The Scientific Revolution. The leisure time of the nobles included things such as reading books and poetry all of this made possible due to their...