Patrician

With the "economic boom" a new class rose to the top of society: the merchant bourgeoisie. Its members were called "notabilities". The standing of this money aristocracy was not based on birthright, but on property and assets. This new aristocracy, to which representatives of the nobility also belonged, soon recognised the advantages of the French system. They used the new laws, commercial freedom and the Continental System, to trade with the French state. In the process its members adopted the French form of company, in order to impress their partners and to gain advantages.

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