Ståndssamhälle
Ståndssamhälle, or the estate system, was a stratified social structure prevalent in many pre-modern European societies. It divided the population into distinct legal and social orders, known as estates. The most common division included the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). In some regions, a Fourth Estate representing the peasantry or urban dwellers also existed.
Membership in an estate was largely hereditary, though upward or downward mobility was not entirely impossible.
The ståndssamhälle influenced all aspects of life, from legal proceedings and taxation to social interactions and