Who were the wealthiest members of the Third Estate?

The bourgeois were the wealthiest members of the Third Estate. The bourgeois mainly consisted of prosperous businessman who eventually sparked the French Revolution. By modern standards, the bourgeois would be considered middle class.

The Third Estate was the largest estate because it was made up of everyone else not included in the first two. Although the Third Estate accounted for 98 percent of the population, members of this estate had almost no political power. The system of the Three Estates under the rule of a monarch became known as the “Old Regime” in France because the system was soon to be replaced.