On 20 June 1789, the members of the French
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 ...
took the Tennis Court Oath (french: Serment du
Jeu de Paume
''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, a ...
) in the tennis court which had been built in 1686 for the use of the Versailles palace. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever necessary until the Constitution of the kingdom is establishe
became a pivotal event in 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
.
The Estates-General had been called to address the country's
fiscal and agricultural crisis, but they had become bogged down in issues of representation immediately after convening in May 1789, particularly whether they would vote by order or by head (which would increase the power of the Third Estate, as they outnumbered the other two estates by a large margin). On 17 June, the Third Estate began to call 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 ...
, led by
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau.
On the morning of 20 June, the deputies were shocked to discover that the chamber door was locked and guarded by soldiers. They immediately feared the worst and were anxious that a royal attack was imminent from
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 e ...
, so upon the suggestion of one of their members
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (; 28 May 1738 – 26 March 1814) was a French physician, politician, and freemason who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France, as a less painful method of execution than e ...
, the deputies congregated in a nearby indoor
royal tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
court near the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
. There 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate took the oath — the only person who did not join was
Joseph Martin-Dauch from
Castelnaudary
Castelnaudary (; oc, Castèlnòu d'Arri) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world cap ...
, who would only execute decisions that were made by the monarch.
Background
![Salle du jeu de paume Versailles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Salle_du_jeu_de_paume_Versailles.jpg)
Before the Revolution, French society—aside from royalty—was divided into three
estates. The First Estate comprised the clergy; the Second Estate was the nobility. The rest of France—some 97 per cent of the population—was the Third Estate, which ranged from very wealthy city merchants to impoverished rural farmers. The three estates had historically met in the
Estates General, a legislative assembly, but this had not happened since 1614.
The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the Nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom of France. Summoned by King Louis XVI, the Estates General of 1789 ended when the Third Estate formed the National Assembly and, against the wishes of the King, invited the other two estates to join. This signaled the outbreak of the French Revolution.
![Estatesgeneral](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Estatesgeneral.jpg)
The Third Estate comprised the overwhelming majority of the French population but the structure of the Estates-General was such that the Third Estate comprised a bare majority of the delegates. A simple majority was sufficient—as long as delegate votes were cast together. The First and Second Estates preferred to divide the vote; a proposal might need to receive approval from each Estate or there might be two "houses" of the Estates-General (one for the first two Estates, and one for the Third) and a bill would need to be passed by both houses. Either way, the First and Second Estates could exercise a veto over proposals enjoying widespread support among the Third Estate, such as reforms that threatened the privileges of the nobility and clergy.
Oath
The deputies' fears, even if wrong, were reasonable and the importance of the oath goes above and beyond its context.
The oath was a revolutionary act and an assertion that political authority derived from the people and their representatives rather than from the monarchy. Their solidarity forced Louis XVI to order the clergy and the nobility to join the Third Estate in the National Assembly to give the illusion that he controlled the National Assembly.
This oath was vital to the Third Estate as a protest that led to more power in the
Estates General, every governing body thereafter.
An English-language translation of the oath reads:
The National Assembly,
Considering that it has been called to establish the constitution of the realm, to bring about the regeneration of public order, and to maintain the true principles of monarchy; nothing may prevent it from continuing its deliberations in any place it is forced to establish itself; and, finally, the National Assembly exists wherever its members are gathered.
Decrees that all members of this Assembly immediately take a solemn oath never to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require until the constitution of the realm is established and fixed upon solid foundations; and that said oath having been sworn, all members and each one individually confirms this unwavering resolution with his signature.
We swear never to separate ourselves from the National Assembly, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require until the constitution of the realm is drawn up and fixed upon solid foundations.
Significance and aftermath
![Procès verbal de la prestation du serment du Jeu de Paume Page de signatures - Archives Nationales - AE-I-5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Proc%C3%A8s_verbal_de_la_prestation_du_serment_du_Jeu_de_Paume_Page_de_signatures_-_Archives_Nationales_-_AE-I-5.jpg)
The Oath signified for the first time that French citizens formally stood in opposition to Louis XVI. The National Assembly's refusal to back down forced the king to make concessions. It was foreshadowed by and drew considerably from the 1776
United States Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...
, especially the preamble. The Oath also inspired a wide variety of revolutionary activities in the months afterwards, ranging from
rioting in the French countryside to renewed calls for a written constitution. It reinforced the Assembly's strength, and although the King attempted to thwart its effect, Louis was forced to relent and on 27 June 1789 he formally requested that voting occur based on head counts, not on each estates' power.
The Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789) preceded the
abolition of feudalism (4 August 1789) and the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...
(26 August 1789) as the National Assembly became increasingly radical.
Following the 100 year celebration of the oath in 1889, what had been the Royal Tennis Court was again forgotten and deteriorated. Prior to World War II, there was a plan to convert it into a table tennis room for Senate administrators at the Palace. In 1989 the bicentenary of the French Revolution was an opportunity to restore the tennis court.
Gallery
File:Oath of the Tennis Court; the deputies of the third estate m Wellcome V0048256.jpg, The deputies of the third estate meeting in the tennis court at the Château of Versailles, swearing not to disperse until a constitution is assured.
File:Gravure Serment du Jeu de Paume à Versailles le 19 juin 1789 1 - Archives Nationales - AE-II-3691.jpg, Etching by Helman after C. Monnet, “Serment du Jeu de Paume à Versailles” on 19 June 1789
File:Galerie de la Salle du Jeu de Paume de Versailles.jpg, In the western gallery of the Salle du Jeu de Paume, reproductions of the engravings are on display.
See also
*
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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
*
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 ...
*
Estates General of 1789
The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...
*
Real tennis
References
External links
* *
*
Official site of the French ''Courte Paume'' Comité (''Real tennis'' in french)
*
ttp://www.realtennissociety.org The Real Tennis SocietyThe Tennis Court Oath by Robinson, James HarveyTennis court VersaillesThe Tennis Court Oatk Author(s): James Harvey Robinson Source: Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Sep., 1895), pp. 460-474 Published by: The Academy of Political Science, Accessed: 01-01-2022 17:18 UTC
{{Authority control
1789 events of the French Revolution
18th century in Paris
Oaths