The seigniors -- The peasants -- The obligations of the peasantry -- The privileges of the seigniors -- Peasants, large, middling and small -- The retardation of agriculture: techniques and implements -- The retardation of agriculture: crops and livestock -- The rural economy -- The condition of the peasantry -- Absolute monarchy and the nobility -- First attempts at reform -- New directions in agriculture -- The improvers -- The old order attacked and defended -- Peasant unrest -- Background of the emancipation -- The reforms -- Pluses and minuses -- From order to class.

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