The Social and Economic Structure of the Old Regime 315the life of lavish dinners and balls. Yet a position at
court was often the route to political office, military
command, or perhaps a pension providing a lifetime in-
come. Most provincial nobles lacked the opportunities
for such advancement.
The provincial aristocracy, living on inherited lands
in the rural world, encompassed a great range of social
and economic conditions. The Spanish, for example,
distinguished between grandees (a term for the greatest
nobles, such as the dukes of Alba) who possessed im-
mense estates and national influence, locally important
aristocrats (called caballeros) who owned enough land to
live as a privileged elite, and a comparatively poor gen-
try (called hidalgos) who were said to have more titlesIncome or expenses Amount
Income from land owned by the count
Rent for lands in region #1 (annual average, 1696–1730) 5,000+
Rent for lands in region #2 (annual average, 1699–1726) 3,500+
Rent for lands in region #3 (annual average, 1698–1723) 8,700+
Income from sale of wood from forest in region #3 (1788) 40,000+
Gross revenue from all land (after paying upkeep and wages) in 1788 86,269Income from pensions given by the king
Total pensions for 1754 46,900
Pension as commander of royal forces in Burgundy 26,250
Income from seigneurial dues (obligations paid by peasants)
Total dues paid in 1788 26,986Income from the inheritance of the countess (1725)
Income from four houses in Paris (value = 200,000) 10,000
Income from investments (value = 367,938) 8,698
Total capital inherited in 1725 803,924
Wages paid to the count’s staff (1780–86)
Annual wages for the count’s agent in Paris 800
Annual wages for a forest warden in Burgundy 200
Annual wages for a gardener or a maid in Burgundy 70
Annual wages for a chef in Paris 945
Annual wages for a coachman in Paris 720Personal expenses
Total personal expenses in 1788 62,000
Expenses for clothing, jewelry, and gifts in 1788 20,000
Expenses for the theater in 1788 2,000
Monthly expenses for Roquefort cheese (January 1784) 32
Monthly expenses for cognac (January 1784) 30
Monthly expenses for cayenne coffee (January 1784) 30
Source: Data from Robert Forster, The House of Saulx-Tavannes: Versailles and Burgundy, 1700–1830(Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971),
passim.TABLE 17.3The Finances of a Great Noble in the Eighteenth CenturyThis table has excerpts from the financial records of a French
noble family, the counts and countesses of Tavannes. The
unit of measure is the livre, which had approximately thesame value as an English shilling (one-twentieth of the
pound sterling). Figures are given for mixed years because
only partial records have survived.