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Bourgeoisie
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<p>The bourgeoisie are a class of <a href="/facts/Business_owner/Eys9TX5M">business owners</a>, <a href="/facts/Merchant/bPb8WTBb">merchants</a> and <a href="/facts/Wealth/IkxfYrFc">wealthy</a> people, in general, which emerged in the <a href="/facts/Late_Middle_Ages/XNtcJjrU">Late Middle Ages</a>, originally as a "<a href="/facts/Middle_class/6EUq9Mue">middle class</a>" between the <a href="/facts/Peasant/LpXfJ1HH">peasantry</a> and <a href="/facts/Aristocracy_(class)/Ij9GVxCE">aristocracy</a>. They are traditionally contrasted with the <a href="/facts/Proletariat/pekPRsQd">proletariat</a> by their wealth, political power, and education, as well as their access to and control of <a href="/facts/Cultural_capital/qYkQKoUo">cultural</a>, <a href="/facts/Social_capital/06GsNBDK">social</a>, and <a href="/facts/Financial_capital/xlkBpxfD">financial capital</a>. </p><p>The bourgeoisie in its original sense is intimately linked to the <a href="/facts/Political_ideology/BWooMbq7">political ideology</a> of <a href="/facts/Liberalism/nj54a01U">liberalism</a> and its existence within cities, recognised as such by their urban <a href="/facts/Charter/MjzrwVDd">charters</a> (e.g., <a href="/facts/Municipal_charter/R65lVlJV">municipal charters</a>, <a href="/facts/Town_privileges/EcuqQqMB">town privileges</a>, <a href="/facts/German_town_law/7fX0Hul5">German town law</a>), so there was no bourgeoisie apart from the <a href="/facts/Burgher_(social_class)/2A6ocw4M">citizenry</a> of the cities. Rural <a href="/facts/Peasant/LpXfJ1HH">peasants</a> came under a different legal system. </p><p>In <a href="/facts/Communist_philosophy/PkUwa9xK">communist philosophy</a>, the bourgeoisie is the social class that came to own the <a href="/facts/Means_of_production/J7dkhvzF">means of production</a> during modern <a href="/facts/Industrialisation/h3QXzS6C">industrialisation</a> and whose societal concerns are the value of <a href="/facts/Private_property/w4nypYHj">private property</a> and the preservation of capital to ensure the perpetuation of their economic dominance in society. </p>