In France during medieval times, a separate group emerged that were not quite peasants, but at the same time were not exactly nobility. They were originally called the bourgeoisie. This new group was right in the middle of the two classes. During the medieval time period, according to the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, the bourgeoisie were normally comprised of "merchants, trades people, artisans, and later bankers and entrepreneurs." Eventually, with the rise of the towns as …showed first 75 words of 1196 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1196 total…Congressman Martin Olav Sabo remarks." 14Sept. 2002 www.house.gov/sabo/issues11.htm Frequently Asked Questions about Income Statistics from the Current Population Survey. August 22, 2002. U.S. Census Burau. 14Sept. 2002-09-15 http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/incfaq.html "Middle class." Readers Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder. 1st ed. 1996. "President Bill Clinton's State Of The Union Address." 28 Jan.1998. CNN. 15 Sept. 2002 www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/27/sotu/transcripts/clinton/ "upper class." Readers Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder. 1st ed. 1996.