säätyjärjestelmä
The säätyjärjestelmä, or estate system, was a hierarchical social structure prevalent in many pre-modern European societies, including Finland. This system divided society into distinct legal and social classes, or estates, each with its own rights, privileges, and obligations. The primary estates typically included the clergy, the nobility, and the burghers (townspeople). In some regions, a fourth estate, the peasantry, was also recognized, though their status could vary significantly.
Membership in an estate was generally hereditary, though exceptions existed, such as the clergy being recruited
The säätyjärjestelmä gradually eroded with the rise of Enlightenment ideas, industrialization, and the French Revolution, which