Etat

Under the Ancien Régime, the “estates” were synonymous with “orders” of society, and designated the socio-political condition of a person. After the Peace of Fexhe (1316), the legislative power in the Principality was shared between the Prince-Bishop and three Estates: the primary Estate (Chapitre, representing all clergy), the noble Estate (made up of a few important nobles) and the Third Estate (made up of bourgeois who were serving as burgomasters in the 23 “bonnes villes”, 12 speaking a dialect of Dutch and 11 speaking the Walloon language, in the country).