Estates-General Opens at Versailles
May 5, 1789
For the first time in 175 years, France's three estates met - clergy, nobles, and a Third Estate double the size of the other two. Louis XVI wanted money; the delegates wanted reform. Within six weeks they had declared themselves a National Assembly and sworn an oath on a tennis court.
In context
Also in 1789 (6 other events on record)
- Storming of the Bastille · Europe · Politics
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen · Europe · Politics
- Washington's Inauguration · North America · Politics
- Tennis Court Oath · Europe · Politics
- Women's March on Versailles · Europe · Politics
- Mutiny on the Bounty · Oceania · Exploration
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Politics
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.