An oppressed class under the sway of the feudal nobility, an armed and self governing association in the mediaeval commune; here independent urban republic (as in Italy and Germany), there taxable third estate of the monarchy (as in France), afterwards, in the period of manufacture proper, serving either the semi feudal or the absolute monarchy as a counterpoise against the nobility, and, in fact, cornerstone of the great monarchies in general, the bourgeoisie has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway.