And whatever existed in the form of property or wealth in feudal times was produced by the _Tiers Etat_.
The lowest stratum of the third estate was composed of "serfs." A serf belonged absolutely, with all that he possessed, to his lord.

He was attached to his land, as are the trees which are rooted in it.

There was, however, a class of serfs above this whom we should now call slaves, but who were by French law then designated as _Freemen_.
A freeman might go and come under certain restrictions.

But this did not by any means imply that he was freed from the proprietor to whom he belonged, to whom he was inevitably bound for military service, or for such contributions or claims as might be levied upon him.
As was to be expected, it was in the cities that this half-emancipated class congregated; these cities as naturally becoming the centres of the various industries required to supply the necessities and luxuries of the two ruling classes.

In this way there were being created various centres of wealth, which meant power, and which would have to be reckoned with in the future.
The thin edge of the wedge was inserted when individual freemen offered money to their hard-pressed feudal lords in exchange for certain privileges, and then for charters.