The feudal regime, in spite of the survival of seigniorial courts and tolls, was no longer of any political importance; but it still furnished the common form of real property. The fief, although it still implied homage from the vassal, no longer involved any service on his part (excepting that of the _arriere-ban_ due to the king); but when a fief changed hands the lord still exacted his _profits_. Tenures held by _roturiers_, in addition to some similar rights of transfer, were generally subject to periodical and fixed contributions for the profit of the lord. This system was still further complicated by tenures which were simply real and not feudal, e.g. that by payment of ground rent, which were superadded to the others, and had become all the heavier since, in the 18th century, royal rights of transfer had been added to the feudal rights. The inhabitants of the country districts were longing for the liberation of real property. Serfdom. The three estates. Serfdom had disappeared from most of the provinces of the kingdom; among all the _coutumes_ which were officially codified, not more than ten or so still recognized this institution. This had been brought about especially by the agency of the custom by which serfs had been transformed into _roturiers_. An edict of Louis XVI. of 1779 abolished serfdom on crown lands, and mitigated the condition of the serfs who still existed on the domains of individual lords. The nobility still remained a privileged class, exempt from certain taxes. Certain offices were restricted to the nobility; according to an edict of Louis XVI. (1781) it was even necessary to be a noble in order to become an officer in the army. In fact, the royal favours were reserved for the nobility. Certain rules of civil and criminal procedure also distinguished nobles from _roturiers_. The acquisition of fiefs had ceased to bring nobility with it, but the latter was derived from three sources: birth, _lettres d'anoblissement_ granted by the king and appointment to certain offices. In the 17th and 18th centuries the peers of France can be reckoned among the nobility, forming indeed its highest grade, though the rank of peer was still attached to a fief, which was handed down with it; on the eve of the Revolution there were thirty-eight lay peers. The rest of the nation, apart from the ecclesiastics, consisted of the _roturiers_, who were not subject to the disabilities of the serfs, but had not the privileges of the nobility. Hence the three orders (estates) of the kingdom: the clergy, the nobility and the _tiers etat_ (third estate). An edict of Louis XVI. had made a regular civil status possible to the Protestants, and had thrown open offices and professions to them, though not entirely; but the exercise of their religion was still forbidden.