Page "History of France" Paragraph 175

In August 1788 the King agreed to convene the Estates-General in May 1789.

While the Third Estate demanded and was granted " double representation " so as to balance the First and Second Estate, voting was to occur " by orders " – votes of the Third Estate were to be weighted – effectively canceling double representation.

This eventually led to the Third Estate breaking away from the Estates-General and, joined by members of the other estates, proclaiming the creation of the National Assembly, an assembly not of the Estates but of " the People.

" In an attempt to keep control of the process and prevent the Assembly from convening, Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Salle des États where the Assembly met.

After finding the door to their chamber locked and guarded, the Assembly met nearby on a tennis court and pledged the Tennis Court Oath on 20 June 1789, binding them " never to separate, and to meet wherever circumstances demand, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and affirmed on solid foundations.

" They were joined by some sympathetic members of the Second and First estates.

After the king fired his finance minister, Jacques Necker, for giving his support and guidance to the Third Estate, worries surfaced that the legitimacy of the newly formed National Assembly might be threatened by royalists.