The Third Estate. A common depiction of the Third Estate, carrying the burden of the other Estates. Before the revolution, French society was divided into three estates or orders. The Third Estate was by far the largest of these, containing around 27 million people or 98 per cent of the nation.easants were at the bottom of the Third Estate’s social hierarchy. Peasant farmers comprised between 82 and 88 per cent of the population and were the nation’s poorest social class. Though levels of wealth varied, even within the peasantry, it is reasonable to suggest that most French peasants were poor.