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France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
under the
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for ...
, the Estates General (french: États généraux ) or States-General was a legislative and consultative assembly of the different classes (or estates) of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates (
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
,
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
and
commoners A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
), which were called and dismissed by the king. It had no true power in its own right as, unlike the
English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...
, it was not required to approve royal
tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
ation or
legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
. It served as an advisory body to the king, primarily by presenting petitions from the various estates and consulting on
fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...
. The Estates General first met in 1302 and 1303 in relation to King Philip IV's conflict with the
papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. They met intermittently until 1614 and only once afterward, in 1789, but were not definitively dissolved until after the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. The Estates General were distinct from the ''
parlements A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fr ...
'' (the most powerful of which was the
Parliament of Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...
), which started as appellate courts but later used their powers to decide whether to publish laws to claim a legislative role. The Estates General had similarities with institutions in other European polities, generally known as the Estates, such as the States General of the Netherlands, the
Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
, the Estates of Parliament of
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, the
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
of Poland-Lithuania, the
Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...
of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
or
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, the Imperial Diet (''Reichstag'') of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, the Diets (german:
Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...
e) of the "
Lands Land is the solid surface of the Earth that is not covered by water. Land, lands, The Land, or the Lands may also refer to: Entertainment and media Film * ''Land'' (1987 film), a British television film by Barry Collins * ''Land'' (2018 film), ...
", the Parliamentum Publicum of Hungary, and the Swedish
Riksdag of the Estates Riksdag of the Estates ( sv, Riksens ständer; informally sv, Ståndsriksdagen) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to t ...
. Unlike some of these institutions, however, France's Estates General were only summoned at irregular intervals by the king, and never grew into a permanent legislative body.


Origin

The first national assembly of the Estates General was in 1302, summoned by King Philip IV, to address a conflict with Pope Boniface VIII. The letters summoning the assembly of 1302 are published by
Georges Picot Georges Marie René Picot (; 24 December 1838 – 16 August 1909) was a French lawyer and historian. His main work is ''Histoire des États généraux'' for which he twice gained the prize of the French Academy in 1873 and 1874. Biography Ge ...
in his collection of ''Documents inédits pour servir à l'histoire de France''. During Philip's reign the Estates General were subsequently assembled several times to give him aid by granting
subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
. Over time, subsidies came to be the most frequent motive for their convocation. The composition and powers of the Estates General remained the same: they always included representatives of the First Estate (
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
), Second Estate (the
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
), and
Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...
(
commoners A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
: all others), and monarchs always summoned them either to grant subsidies or to advise
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
, to give aid and counsel. Their composition, however, as well as their effective powers, varied greatly at different times. In their primitive form in the 14th and the first half of the 15th centuries, the Estates General had only a limited elective element. The lay lords and the ecclesiastical lords (
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
s and other high clergy) who made up the Estates General were not elected by their peers, but directly chosen and summoned by the king. In the order of the clergy, however, certain ecclesiastical bodies, e.g.
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...
s and chapters of
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
s, were also summoned to the assembly. Since these bodies, being persons in the moral but not in the physical sense, could not appear in person, their representative had to be chosen by the
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s of the
convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...
or the
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
s of the chapter. Only representatives of the Third Estate were chosen by election. Originally, all commoners were not called upon to seek representation in the estates. Only the '' bonnes villes'', or the privileged towns, were called upon. They were represented by elected '' procureurs'', who were frequently the municipal officials of the town, but deputies were also elected for the purpose. The country districts, the '' plat pays'', were not represented. Even within the ''bonnes villes'', the franchise was quite narrow.


Rise and fall of power

The effective powers of the Estates General likewise varied over time. In the 14th century they were considerable. The king could not, in theory, levy general
taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
. Even in the provinces attached to the domain of the Crown, he could levy it only where he had retained the ''haute justice'' over the inhabitants, but not on the subjects of lords having the ''haute justice''. The privileged towns generally had the right of taxing themselves. To collect general taxes, the king required consent of the lay and ecclesiastical lords, and of the towns. This amounted to needing authorization from the Estates General, which granted these subsidies only temporarily and for fairly short periods. As a result, they were summoned frequently and their power over the Crown became considerable. In the second half of the 14th century, however, certain royal taxes, levied throughout the Crown's domain, tended to become permanent and independent of the vote of the estates. This result drew from many causes, particularly, the Crown endeavoured to transform and change the nature of the "feudal aid" to levy a general tax by right, on its own authority, in such cases as those in which a lord could demand feudal aid from his
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s. For instance, the Crown thus raised the necessary taxes for twenty years to pay the
ransom of King John II of France The ransom of John II of France was an event during the Hundred Years War, between France and England. King John was captured by the English during the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, and held for ransom by the English crown. Finally settled in the ...
without a vote of the Estates General, although the assembly met several times during this period. Custom confined this tendency. During the second half of the 15th century, the chief taxes, the ''
taille The ''taille'' () was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in ''Ancien Régime'' France. The tax was imposed on each household and was based on how much land it held, and was directly paid to the state. History Originally o ...
'', '' aids'' and ''
gabelle The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself ...
'' became definitely permanent for the benefit of the Crown. In some cases there was formal consent of the Estates General, as in 1437 in the case of the ''aids''. The critical periods of the Hundred Years' War favoured the Estates General, though at the price of great sacrifices. Under the reign of King John II, from 1355 to 1358, the Estates General had controlled not only the voting but, through their commissaries, the administration of and jurisdiction over the taxes. In the first half of the reign of Charles VII, they had been summoned almost every year and had dutifully voted subsidies for the Crown. But when the struggle was over, they renounced the
power of the purse The power of the purse is the ability of one group to manipulate and control the actions of another group by withholding funding, or putting stipulations on the use of funds. The power of the purse can be used positively (e.g. awarding extra fun ...
. At the estates of 1484, however, after the death of
Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...
, the Duke of Orleans sought to obtain the regency during the minority of Charles VIII. The Estates sided with Charles's sister Anne de Beaujeu and refused. Deputies of the three orders united their efforts in the hope of regaining the right of periodically sanctioning taxation. They voted the ''taille'' for two years only, at the same time reducing it to the amount it had reached at the end of the reign of Charles VII. They demanded, and obtained, the promise of the Crown that they should be summoned again before the two years had ended. But this promise was not kept, and the Estates General were not summoned again until 1560. During this 76-year interim, successive kings expanded the role of the centralised state through various means. In the mid-16th century, public officials (''officiers'') explored the option of forming a fourth order of their own kind but their attempts went nowhere, largely because of the attractiveness of becoming nobility to many of them.


Revival in 1560–1614

The Estates General was revived in the second half of the 16th century because of scarcity of money and the quarrels and
Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
. There would be estates at Orleans in 1560, followed by those of Pontoise in 1561, and those of
Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...
in 1576 and 1588. Those of 1588 ended with a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
effected by Henry III, and the States summoned by the League, which sat in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1593 and whose chief object was to elect a
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
king, were not a success. The Estates General again met in Paris in 1614, on the occasion of the disturbances that followed the death of Henry IV; however, though their minutes bear witness to their sentiments of exalted patriotism, dissensions between the three orders rendered them weak. They dissolved before completing their work and were not summoned again until 1789. As to the question whether the Estates General formed one or three
chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...
s for the purposes of their working, from the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
al point of view the point was never decided. What the king required was to have the consent, the resolution of the three estates of the realm; it was in reality of little importance to him whether their resolutions expressed themselves in common or separately. At the Estates General of 1484 the elections were made in common for the three orders, and the deputies also arrived at their resolutions in common. But after 1560 the rule was that each order deliberate separately; the royal declaration of 23 June 1789 (at the outbreak of the French Revolution) even stated that they formed three distinct chambers. But Necker's report to the ''conseil du roi'' according to which the convocation of 1789 was decided, said (as did the declaration of 23 June), that on matters of common interest the deputies of the three orders could deliberate together, if each of the others decided by a separate vote in favour of this, and if the king consented. The working of the Estates General led to an almost exclusive system of deliberation by
committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s. There were, it is true, solemn general sessions, called ''séances royales'', because the king presided; but at these there was no discussion. At the first, the king or his chancellor announced the object of the convocation, and set forth the demands or questions put to them by the Crown; at the other royal sessions each order made known its answers or observations by the mouth of an ''orateur'' elected for the purpose. But almost all useful work was done in the ''sections'', among which the deputies of each order were divided. At the estates of 1484 they were divided into six ''nations'' or ''sections'', corresponding to the six ''
généralité ''Recettes générales'', commonly known as ''généralités'' (), were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are often considered to prefigure the current ''préfectures''. At the time of the French Revolution, there ...
s'' then existing. Subsequently, the deputies belonging to the same ''gouvernement'' formed a group or ''bureau'' for deliberating and voting purposes. Certain questions, however, were discussed and decided in full assembly; sometimes, too, the estates nominated commissaries in equal numbers for each order. But in the ancient Estates General there was never any personal vote. The unit represented for each of the three orders was the ''bailliage'' or ''sénéchaussé'' and each ''bailliage'' had one vote, the majority of the deputies of the ''bailliage'' deciding in what way this vote should be given. At the estates of the 16th century voting was by ''gouvernements'', each ''gouvernement'' having one vote, but the majority of the ''bailliages'' composing the ''gouvernement'' decided how it should be given. The Estates General, when they gave counsel, had in theory only a consultative faculty. They had the power of granting subsidies, which was the chief and ordinary cause of their convocation. But it had come to be a consent with which the king could dispense, as permanent taxation became established. In the 16th century, however, the estates again claimed that their consent was necessary for the establishment of new taxation, and, on the whole, the facts seemed to be in favour of this view at the time. However, in the course of the 17th century the principle gained recognition that the king could tax on his own sole authority. Thus were established in the second half of the 17th century, and in the 18th, the
direct tax Although the actual definitions vary between jurisdictions, in general, a direct tax or income tax is a tax imposed upon a person or property as distinct from a tax imposed upon a transaction, which is described as an indirect tax. There is a di ...
es of the '' capitation'' and of the '' dixième'' or '' vingtième'', and many indirect taxes. It was sufficient for the law creating them to be registered by the ''
cours des aides The Courts of Aids (French: ''Cours des aides'') were sovereign courts in ''Ancien Régime'' France, primarily concerned with customs, but also other matters of public finance. They exercised some control over certain excise taxes and octroi dutie ...
'' and the '' parlements''. It was only in 1787 that the ''parlement'' of Paris declared that it could not register the new taxes, the land-tax and stamp duty (''subvention territoriale'' and ''impôt du timbre''), as they did not know whether they would be submitted to by the country, and that the consent of the representatives of the tax-payers must be asked. The Estates General had legally no share in the legislative power, which belonged to the king alone. The Estates of Blois demanded in 1576 that the king be bound to turn into law any proposition voted in identical terms by each of the three orders; but Henry III would not grant this demand, which would not even have left him a right of veto. In practice, however, the Estates General contributed largely to legislation. Those who sat in them had at all times the right of presenting complaints (''doléances''), requests and petitions to the king; in this, indeed, consisted their sole initiative. They were usually answered by an ''ordonnance'', and it is chiefly through these that we are acquainted with the activity of the estates of the 14th and 15th centuries. In the latest form, and from the estates of 1484 onwards, this was done by a new and special procedure. The Estates had become an entirely elective assembly, and at the elections (at each step of the election if there were several) the electors drew up a ''cahier de doléances'' (statement of grievances), which they requested the deputies to present. This even appeared to be the most important feature of an election. The deputies of each order in every ''bailliage'' also brought with them a ''cahier des doléances'', arrived at, for the third estate, by a combination of statements drawn up by the primary or secondary electors. On the assembly of the estates the ''cahiers'' of the ''bailliages'' were incorporated into a ''cahier'' for each ''gouvernement'', and these again into a ''cahier general'' or general statement, which was presented to the king, and which he answered in his council. When the three orders deliberated in common, as in 1484, there was only one ''cahier général''; when they deliberated separately, there were three, one for each order. The drawing up of the ''cahier general'' was looked upon as the main business (''le grand œuvre'') of the session. By this means the Estates General furnished the material for numerous ''ordonnances'', though the king did not always adopt the propositions contained in the ''cahiers'', and often modified them in forming them into an ''ordonnance''. These latter were the ''ordonnances de reforme'' (reforming ordinances), treating of the most varied subjects, according to the demands of the ''cahiers''. They were not, however, for the most part very well observed. The last of the type was the ''grande ordonnance'' of 1629 ('' Code Michau''), drawn up in accordance with the ''cahiers'' of 1614 and with the observations of various assemblies of notables that followed them.œuvre The peculiar power of the Estates General was recognized, but was of a kind that could not often be exercised. It was, essentially, a constituent power. The ancient public law of France contained a number of rules called "the fundamental laws of the realm" (''lois fondamentales du royaume''), though most of them were purely customary. Chief among these were rules that determined the succession to the Crown and rules forbidding alienation of the domain of the Crown. The king, supreme though his power might be, could not abrogate, modify or infringe them. But it was admitted that he might do so by the consent of the Estates General. The Estates could give the king a dispensation from a fundamental law in a given instance; they could even, in agreement with the king, make new fundamental laws. The Estates of Blois of 1576 and 1588 offer entirely convincing precedents in this respect. It was universally recognized that in the event of the line of
Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...
becoming extinct, it would be the function of the States-General to elect a new king. The Estates General of 1614 proved the last for over a century and a half. A new convocation had indeed been announced to take place on the majority of
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
, and letters were even issued in view of the elections, but this ended in nothing. Absolute monarchy progressively became definitely established, and appeared incompatible with the institution of the Estates General.
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
minds, however, in the entourage of Louis, duc de Bourgogne, who were preparing a new plan of
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
in view of his expected accession to the French throne in succession to Louis XIV, thought of reviving the institution. It figures in the projects of Saint-Simon and Fénelon though the latter would have preferred to begin with an assembly of non-elected notables. But though St Simon stood high in the favor of the regent Orléans, the death of Louis XIV did not see a summoning of the Estates.


1789

At the time of the revolution, the First Estate comprised 100,000 Catholic clergy and owned 5–10% of the lands in France—the highest per capita of any estate. All property of the First Estate was tax exempt. The Second Estate comprised the nobility, which consisted of 400,000 people, including women and children. Since the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the nobles had enjoyed a resurgence in power. By the time of the revolution, they had almost a monopoly over distinguished government service, higher offices in the church, army, and parliaments, and most other public and semi-public honors. Under the principle of feudal precedent, they were not taxed. The Third Estate comprised about 25 million people: the bourgeoisie, the peasants, and everyone else in France. Unlike the First and Second Estates, the Third Estate were compelled to pay taxes. The bourgeoisie found ways to evade them and become exempt. The major burden of the French government fell upon the poorest in French society: the farmers, peasantry, and working poor. The Third Estate had considerable resentment toward the upper classes. In 1789, the Estates General was summoned for the first time since 1614. As François Fénelon had promoted in the 17th century, an
Assembly of Notables An Assembly of Notables (French: ''Assemblée des notables'') was a group of high-ranking nobles, ecclesiastics, and state functionaries convened by the King of France on extraordinary occasions to consult on matters of state. Assemblymen were ...
in 1787 (which already displayed great independence) preceded the Estates General session. According to Fénelon's model of 1614, the Estates General would consist of equal numbers of representatives of each Estate. During the Revolution, the Third Estate demanded, and ultimately received, double representation, which they already had achieved in the provincial assemblies. When the Estates General convened in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
on 5 May 1789, however, it became clear that the double representation was something of a sham: voting was to occur "by orders", which meant that the collective vote of the 578 representatives of the Third Estate would be weighed the same as that of each of the other, less numerous Estates. Royal efforts to focus solely on taxes failed totally. The Estates General reached an immediate impasse, debating (with each of the three estates meeting separately) its own structure rather than the nation's finances. On 28 May 1789, Abbé Sieyès moved that the Third Estate, now meeting as the ''Communes'' ( en, Commons), proceed with verification of its own powers and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. They proceeded to do so, completing the process on June 17. They voted a measure far more radical, declaring themselves the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
, an assembly not of the Estates but of "the People". They invited the other orders to join them, but emphasized that they intended to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them. King
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
of France tried to resist. When he shut down the Salle des États where the Assembly met, the Assembly moved its deliberations to a nearby tennis court. They swore the
Tennis Court Oath On 20 June 1789, the members of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath (french: Serment du Jeu de Paume) in the tennis court which had been built in 1686 for the use of the Versailles palace. Their vow "not to separate and to reas ...
(20 June 1789), under which they agreed not to separate until they had given France a constitution. A majority of the representatives of the clergy soon joined them, as did forty-seven members of the nobility. By 27 June the royal party had overtly given in. But military forces began to arrive in large numbers around Paris and Versailles. Messages of support for the Assembly poured in from Paris and other French cities. On 9 July the Assembly reconstituted itself as the National Constituent Assembly.


List

* Reign of Philip IV (1285-1314) ** 1302, at Notre-Dame de Paris ** 1303, at the Louvre Palace in Paris ** 1308, at Poitiers then
Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
** 1312, at
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
** 1313, at
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
** 1314, at the
Palais de la Cité The Palais de la Cité (), located on the Île de la Cité in the Seine River in the centre of Paris, is a major historic building that was the residence of the Kings of France from the sixth century until the 14th century, and has been the center ...
in Paris * Reign of
Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
(1316-1322) ** 1317, in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
** 1320; in
Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...
** 1321, in Poitiers * Reign of Charles IV (1322-1328) ** 1322 ** 1326, at
Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...
* Reign of Philip VI (1328-1350) ** 1343 ** 1346, at
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
* Reign of
John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...
(1350-1364) ** 1355-1356, in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
** 1356, at
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
** 1357, at
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
** 1358, at
Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...
** 1359 ** November 1363, at
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
* Reign of
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...
(1364-1380) ** December 1369, at the
Palais de la Cité The Palais de la Cité (), located on the Île de la Cité in the Seine River in the centre of Paris, is a major historic building that was the residence of the Kings of France from the sixth century until the 14th century, and has been the center ...
in Paris * Reign of Charles VI (1380-1422) ** 1380-81, several meetings in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and
Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...
whose qualification as Estates-General is disputed ** 1413, at the
Hôtel Saint-Pol The Hôtel Saint-Pol was a royal residence begun in 1360 by Charles V of France on the ruins of a building constructed by Louis IX. It was used by Charles V and Charles VI. Located on the Right Bank, to the northwest of the Quartier de l'Arsenal ...
in Paris ** 1420, at the
Hôtel Saint-Pol The Hôtel Saint-Pol was a royal residence begun in 1360 by Charles V of France on the ruins of a building constructed by Louis IX. It was used by Charles V and Charles VI. Located on the Right Bank, to the northwest of the Quartier de l'Arsenal ...
in Paris * Reign of Charles VII (1422-1461) ** 1439, at
Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and
Bourges * Reign of
Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...
(1461-1483) ** 1468, at
Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
* Reign of Charles VIII (1483-1498) ** 1484, at
Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
* Reign of Charles IX (1560-1574) ** 1560-1561, at
Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and
François II) **
1561 Year 1561 ( MDLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 31 – The Edict of Orleans suspends the persecution of the Huguenots in ...
, at
Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...
* Reign of Henry III (1574-1589) ** 1576-1577, at the Château de Blois ** 1588-1589, at the Château de Blois * Reign of Henry IV (1589-1610) ** 1593, at the Louvre Palace in Paris (meeting organized by the Catholic League) * Reign of
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
(1610-1643) ** 1614-1615, at the Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon (by then a dependency of the Louvre Palace) in Paris * Reign of
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
(1774-1792) **
1789 Events January–March * January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet '' What Is the Third Estate?'' ('), influential on the French Revolution. * January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential electio ...
, at the Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs fr.html" ;"title=":fr:Hôtel_des_Menus_Plaisirs.html" ;"title="/nowiki>:fr:Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs">fr">:fr:Hôtel_des_Menus_Plaisirs.html" ;"title="/nowiki>:fr:Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs">fr/nowiki> in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...


See also

* States General of the Netherlands *Estates General of French Canada *The Estates *States provincial (France)


Citations


References

* * {{Authority control 1302 establishments in Europe 1300s establishments in France 1789 disestablishments in France Historical legislatures in France Kingdom of France Political history of the Ancien Régime Tricameral legislatures