preview

Catholic Church During The French Revolution Essay

Decent Essays

Many challenges were put towards the church in 1789 during the outbreak of the French revolution, it was a turning point that ultimately changed and shaped the church. France had a population of approximately 28 million, almost entirely catholic and the church had immense power. Before the revolution the country was divided into 3 groups or estates, which divided many people. This all changed very quickly and so did the church, as it faced persecution and massive challenges, which later reformed the Catholic church establishing its place presently.

Prior to the beginning of the French revolution, the Catholic church was enormously powerful and very controlling, as it divided society apart and into estates. The first estate was the clergy, the second was the nobility and they accounted for only 500 000 of the country's population. Whilst the third estate was made up of the rest of society, all of which had to pay hefty taxes. As one of the three estates, the church had considerable political power that did not match their number of …show more content…

The third estate had revolted and came together forming a group known as the national assembly, they pledged to make new laws, were everyone was treated with fairness. Tensions arose from the inequality of wealth enjoyed by the clergy. Many bishops and abbots lived in great luxury, taking income from their land and property even though most parish priests were poorly paid and overworked. Nobles held the most powerful positions in the church, the government and so on. But in a matter of months, the church had given up its tithe, property was at the disposal of the state and was soon seized and sold off. The government restricted the churches political power and the church was stripped of all its property. By 1794, Frances churches and religious orders were closed down and religious worship

Get Access