French Lord

France was still essentially a feudal nation with lords, due to a range of ancient and modern rights from their peasants who comprised about 80 percent of the population and the majority lived in rural contexts. France was a predominantly agricultural nation, even though this agriculture was [blank] in productivity, wasteful, and using out of date methods. An attempt to introduce modern techniques from Britain had not succeeded. Inheritance laws [blank] estates were divided up among all the heirs, had [blank] France divided into many tiny farms; [blank] the large estates were small when compared to other European nations. The only major region [blank] large-scale farming was around Paris, where the always hungry capital city provided a convenient market. Harvests were critical but fluctuating, causing famine, high prices, and riots.