<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> It has been suggested that The Estates be merged into this article . (Discuss) Proposed since September 2017 . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> It has been suggested that The Estates be merged into this article . (Discuss) Proposed since September 2017 . </Td> </Tr> <P> The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the medieval period to early modern Europe . Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and evolved over time . </P> <P> The best known system is the French Ancien Régime (Old Regime), a three - estate system used until the French Revolution (1789--1799). Monarchy was for the king and the queen and this system was made up of clergy (the First Estate), nobles (the Second Estate), and peasants and bourgeoisie (the Third Estate). In some regions, notably Scandinavia and Russia, burghers (the urban merchant class) and rural commoners were split into separate estates, creating a four - estate system with rural commoners ranking the lowest as the Fourth Estate . Furthermore, the non-landowning poor could be left outside the estates, leaving them without political rights . In England, a two - estate system evolved that combined nobility and bishops into one lordly estate with "commons" as the second estate . This system produced the two houses of parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords . In southern Germany, a three - estate system of nobility (princes and high clergy), ritters (knights), and burghers was used . </P>

What were the three estates in the estate stratification system of the middle ages