In France of the 1700s, the Catholic clergy was a social class. It was often called the First Estate. The Church had money and a wide scope of powers. It had kept both of them for more than 800 years. Clergy were supposed to register births, marriages and deaths. They also collected taxes, censor books, served as moral police, and operated schools and hospitals. The clergy was divided into two sections -- the lower and the upper clergy. Members of the lower clergy were usually village priests. They were poorly paid and overworked. Members of the upper clergy included the bishops and abbots. They saw their office as a way of securing a larger income and the property that went with it. They also owned 10-15 percent of all the land in France. This land, of course, was all held tax-free. Most of the upper clergy sold their offices to subordinates. They kept the money and went to live in Paris or at the seat of royal government at Versailles.
