<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>
<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>
who are the members of the second estate
who are the members of the second estate
nobles
nobles