Assembly of Notables at Versailles — February
Timeline of the French
Included are events that took place
before the year 1789 and that led up
to the French Revolution of 1789.
August 20, 1786
Minister of Finances,
King Louis XVI with the
request to summon the Assembly of Notables.
In order to put something into the country's empty purse, Calonne
wants to impose a land tax and implement other financial
Eventually, Calonne will have to get
his reforms registered as new laws by the parlement. But, given the parlement's tendency to oppose reforms, Calonne figures that his reform package will have more
success of approval by the parlement once the Notables have agreed.
Thus, Calonne wants to speak before an
Notables with the aim of acquainting His Majesty's subjects with his financial reforms.
Time is of the essence.
Calonne wants to
avoid giving the opposition time to grow. But King Louis hesitates. Either as per habitude, or he really has a bad
feeling about this.
December 29, 1786
The Notables receive an ordonnance to assemble.
King Louis XVI.
Who are the Notables?
High-ranking men from all across the country, appointed and summoned
as deputies by His Majesty in times of a national
crisis. This assembly's Notables were
princes, dukes, field-marshals, various other nobles, archbishops,
magistrates, and then some — all in all
Assemblies of Notables were strictly
deliberative. In other words, the Notables were expected to give advice, but
could not make any decisions.
By the way, the last Assembly of Notables had met
on December 2, 1626, back in the days of
This time, the Notables are ordered to meet on
January 29, 1787. With a delay, they will commence the assembly on February 22, 1787.
What does this have to do with the
The French have outgrown their absolute monarchy.
Coincidentally, this transformation of an entire society overlaps with a desperate need
for major fiscal reforms.
The outcome of this assembly will be the first loosened pebble of the avalanche that
would become the
Revolution of 1789.
February 22, 1787
Assemblée des Notables
(Assembly of the Notables) commences. It will be in session until
May 25, 1787.
Controller-general of finances,
Charles Calonne, explains to a flabbergasted audience that their
country is in the red to a degree that equals bankruptcy. He had
been the King's finance minister since 1783 and, in spite of his
reforms to this day, the Notables will have to pitch in if actual
bankruptcy is desired to be avoided.
March 12, 1787
Calonne's speech at the Assembly of Notables. He is a little bit too
cocky, and acts like he already has the go-ahead from the Notables in
The Notables grow increasingly unenthusiastic during
his speech and interrupt frequently with muttering, mumbling,
and the crackling of candy wrappers.
By the way, if I unwrap a candy
very slowly, will it be less noisy?
March 13, 1787
After Calonne's overconfident speech yesterday, the Archbishop of
Narbonne, Arthur Richard Dillon, declares that Calonne has deceived the King, France, and
Europe by assuming that his entire reform package has been approved
fact, he, the Archbishop of Narbonne, for one is against it.
Other members of the assembly
Other than that, the Notables would like to
have a better look at the King's accounts, including cash receipts.
March 31, 1787
Deadlock at the Assembly of Notables.
Calonne is desperate but not
without ideas. To rally the support of the public opinion, Calonne
publishes a Collection des Mémoires, prefaced by an
aggressively worded Avertissement, that pitted the Third Estate against the Nobles. ("Privileges will be sacrificed!")
This pamphlet was drafted by the lawyer
Gerbier and designed to promote Calonne's answers to the
objections of the Notables. It simultaneously attacks the stance of
the Notables but asks to give them a break because they have already
agreed to fix the problem (100% not true.) Calonne sends this memorandum to all parishes
in the kingdom. Many people will hear it read to them from the
This entire promotional scheme will utterly backfire because the
public doesn't trust Calonne and, on top of that, the Notables will feel betrayed.
In fact, this step seals the definitive rupture between Calonne and the
Here you can read the entire
Collection des Mémoires including
April 8, 1787
King Louis XVI dismisses his finance minister Calonne, whose entire
performance — previous work record and present propositions — is
evaluated as completely dissatisfactory by the Notables.
Loménie de Brienne
will become his successor on May 1, 1787.
Also on April 8, 1787:
Armand Thomas Hue de Miromesnil,
the King's Keeper of the Seals (garde des sceaux) gets the
boot as well. His successor will be
Chrétien François de Lamoignon.
April 23, 1787
King Louis XVI's speech before the Assembly. He concedes to nearly
all objections of the Notables, even agrees to let them have a peak into his
accounts. But he still wants the land tax.
May 1, 1787
The new finance
minister is one of the Notables — Étienne-Charles de Loménie de Brienne,
Archbishop of Toulouse. What will his strategy be?
privileges and impose a land tax.
Louis fired Calonne, but not his reforms.
May 9, 1787
Lomenie de Brienne redirects the attention of the Notables to the
disaster at hand, the current debt. He would like to implement the
edited land tax.
May 10, 1787
The Notables (Lafayette)
ask for the
Go here for today's minutes.
May 19, 1787
The Notables declare that they will not accept the land tax.
May 23, 1787
Lafayette's proposal in favor of giving the Protestants a civil
status is accepted by the Assembly. It will now be brought before
the King, who will ponder it and finally, in November 1787, will
decide it should be law (Edict of Toleration).
May 25, 1787
Loménie de Brienne
Assemblée des Notables
(Assembly of the Notables). This assembly had begun on February
:: What is
the outcome of this assembly?
In a nutshell, the Notables declare that they are not willing to pay
any new taxes. Moreover, reforms of this caliber should be
discussed, not by the Assembly of Notables, but by the
Estates-General, which would more adequately represent the French
Nation. (The deputies of the Estates-General were elected by
the people, whereas the members of the Assembly of Notables were
picked by the King.)
By refusing to cooperate and saying No to the king,
the Notables have just triggered the
Aristocratic Revolt (1787-1789), or
Révolte Nobiliaire. This revolt will blossom in 1788 and
eventually make way for the real hammer in 1789.
It is interesting to observe that, ironically, while the French
Revolution of 1789 is generally considered to have been the uprising
of the lower class, it had been sparked by the upper class.
And the perceptive historian
enjoys a déjà-vu. No taxation without representation. No say
in the decision making, no tax paying. Vive la révolution
Back to 1787 France.
The King's reaction to the negative response from his Notables?
Loménie de Brienne
will go over the proposed reforms, edit them, but not much, and re-submit them for
registration with the parlement. We will implement our reforms regardless.
After all, this is an absolute monarchy.
Or is it?
July 2, 1787
The Paris parlement examines the long royal declaration
regarding a new stamp tax (timbre). It takes
Tandeau two hours just to read the entire thing to the
audience. After a long debate parliament decides to say yes to the
new tax IF the King provides statements that would clarify expenses.
Lecoigneux de Belâbre and
Pasquier de Coulans argue that
they are always expected to try and adjust the income to match
expenses. But has anyone ever tried to reduce expenses in order to
match the income?
Comte d'Artois (King Louis
XVI's younger brother) says right away that that is out of the
question. Parlement can not and must not demand the present
state of affairs of earnings and expenses.
de Minière says the Comte d'Artois makes a good point,
and gets booed.
After two hours of reading and four
hours of debate it is decided by 80 votes to 3 to assign a group of
commissioners with the task of reviewing the declaration and
composing a request to have a look at the current state of affairs
of debt, reforms, and improvements.
Only three votes are in favor of a
registration of the royal declaration.
July 5, 1787
The parlement's commissioners have completed their task and
July 6, 1787
After the commissioners' report has been read, the parlement
says that it cannot be convinced of the necessity for a tax after
five years of peace, without first verifying the deficit.
July 9, 1787
At the Paris parlement, the King's answer is read. His
Majesty reminds the parlement that he already had put forward
his state of finances "to the eyes of the Notables, among whom were
several magistrates of parlement" and that it won't be
possible to provide more specific numbers before the end of the
The parlement votes to renew
the demand for a report on the state of finances and again assigns
commissioners to draft a request.
July 12, 1787
The commissioners have drafted the request to the King. In it, the
parlement asks the King to disclose his accounts because "the need
for the new tax has not been demonstrated, its duration is
uncertain, and its revenue is unknown."
July 15, 1787
The King's response to the parlement's request from July 12,
1787, reads as follows:
It is evident that there is a deficit in the
finances of my kingdom that can't be met by lowering or cutting
expenses. New taxes are still necessary to not having to take loans
beyond those announced. Any delay in registration of new taxes will
be detrimental to the trust and confidence, and would only increase
July 16, 1787
The parlement discusses the royal response and votes to
assign the commissioners once more with a "very humble and very
respectful representation." Particularly, the hope was expressed "to
see the Nation assembled before any new tax." The commissioners,
headed by D'Aligre, get to work.
July 29, 1787
In the evening, the parlement's delegation, headed by
D'Aligre, is at Versailles. The
King still insist on a registration of the stamp tax but doesn't
exclude the possibility of limiting its duration, or setting a
revenue ceiling which, once it has been reached, its surplus could
reduce other taxes like the gabelle or the tailles.
Also, he announces to install a land tax (subvention territoriale).
However, the King threatens that if the parlement refuses the
registration, he will proceed alone.
But before the delegation leaves,
d'Aligre has an interview with the King and convinces him of the
disadvantages of such an insistent response. The King then sends the delegation
back, exchanging his last threat with the message that its only necessity
is the call for a provision of taxes.
July 30, 1787
At 3 AM, the king's reply from July 29, 1787, reaches the Palais de
D'Aligre reads the King's response
before the parlement and they consider their response. With a 70 to
48 vote, the parlement decides against the registration of the royal
declaration, and for an assembly of the Estates General.
Their official response reads:
The Nation, represented by the Estates
General, alone is authorized to grant to the King the relief that is
Thus, the parlement of Paris refuses
to register the new reforms and, just as the Notables did, calls for
the Estates General.
August 2, 1787
The King receives the parlement's delegation. He listens to the
parlement's decision and, visibly displeased, simply replies,
will let you know my intentions."
A forced registration is
August 5, 1787
In the afternoon, the summons to a lit de justice reaches the Palais de Justice.
The Court ponders and drafts a complaint in
less than two hours. It will be read tomorrow at the lit de justice.
August 6, 1787
Lit de justice at Versailles. The King registers by force the new laws on stamp
tax and subvention territoriale (land tax) which replaces the
Interestingly, the text on the stamp
tax has been altered and the registered declaration differs
significantly from the text the judges had considered.
It is also
dated August 4, 1787. The preamble seems to respond to questions
raised on July 24, 1787: It provides for a cap at 20 million livres,
the surplus being allocated to the reduction of other taxes. Article
1 establishes the duration of the tax. It will be in effect until
January 1, 1798.
These amendments were definitely thrown in to
sweeten the procedure for the judges and to keep the opposition as
little as possible.
The parlement complaints that "the
constitutional principle of the French monarchy is that the taxes
are agreed by those who have to pay them" and asks again for
a convocation of the Estates General.
August 7, 1787
The parlement passes an order of illegality, by which it
officially protests against yesterday's lit de justice, calls it
a violence of the law and nullifies the edicts.
August 10, 1787
The Paris parlement officially denounces
Calonne, who in turn gets his
hide out of the country with the quickness.
August 13, 1787
During a very animated 8-hour-session, the parlement persists and refuses to allow a
collection of taxes that is "contrary to all principles."
This is the rupture.
In the evening, a ministerial
committee and the royal advisory council meet. They will meet again
August 14, 1787
Ministerial committee and the advisory council meet again. It is
decided to transfer the Parlement of Paris to Troyes.
August 15, 1787
The King responds to the parlement's refusal to register His
Majesty's edicts and exiles the magistrates of the Paris parlement to Troyes,
two car hours southeast of Paris.
August 16, 1787
The members of the Paris parlement arrive at Troyes.
August 21, 1787
The parlement at Grenoble also denounces
Calonne, accusing him to
have squandered 3 billion livres in less than four years.
August 22, 1787
The exiled parlement at Troyes persists and confirms its orders from August 7
and 13, and again calls for the Estates General.
August 26, 1787
In the evening, the King makes Loménie
de Brienne his prime minister (principal ministre).
August 27, 1787
The ministers of war and marine resign.
Marquis de Ségur had
been Secretary of War (Secrétaire d'État à la Guerre) since December 23, 1780. On
September 24, 1787, his successor will be Louis-Marie-Athanase de
Loménie, Comte de Brienne, brother of the Minister of Finances.
Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix,
Marquis de Castries was Secretary of the Navy (Secrétaire d'État à la Marine). He will be
replaced by Armand Marc, Comte de Montmorin Saint-Hérem, and in
December by César Henri de La Luzerne.
The parlement at Toulouse also passes
an order in which
Calonne is accused of misusing the State's
September 2, 1787
Loménie de Brienne motivates the
royal Council to pass an order by which the orders of the parlement
are declared void.
September 15, 1787
The royal ministry makes a deal with the parlements: The land tax and
stamp duty will be repealed. In turn, the vingtieme tax will be
imposed for the next five years. Then, at the end of
these five years, in 1792, the Estates-General will be assembled.
The parlements are recalled.
September 21, 1787
Last meeting of the exiled parlement at Troyes. The exiled members
will return to Paris tomorrow. Paris will be celebrating for
a week with bonfires and mild turmoil.
September 24, 1787
New Defense Minister is Louis-Marie-Athanase
de Loménie, Comte de Brienne, brother of the Finance
October 10, 1787
Thanks to Prussian support,
William V of
Orange has the
Dutch Crisis under control for
the moment. The Dutch Patriots are miffed because they were counting
on French help, which never materialized. Now, many patriots
(patriotten) will emigrate to France.
King Louis XVI signs the Edict of
Toleration, granting Protestants civil status. This edict
will be registered by parlement on January 29, 1788.
November 19, 1787
Royal session with, or rather at, the parlement at
Louis declares that he will not allow
the basic principles of a monarchy to be disregarded or altered.
After that quick reminder, the King lets his garde des sceaux
(Keeper of the Seals)
Chrétien François de Lamoignon, mark His Majesty's
territory by reflecting on the fact that Louis is accountable to no one
an excerpt of Lamoignon's speech before the parlement:
These principles, universally acknowledged
by the entire kingdom, are that the King
alone must possess the sovereign power in
That He is answerable only to
God in the exercise of his power, that the
tie which binds the King to the Nation is by
nature indissoluble, that the interests and
reciprocal obligations between the King and
his subjects serve only to reassure that
union, that the Nation's interest is that
the powers of its head not be altered, that
the King is the chief sovereign of the
Nation and everything he does is with her
interests in mind, and that finally the
legislative power resides in the person of
the King independent of and unshared with
all other powers.
These, sirs, are the invariable powers of the
As a consequence of these principles and of
our history, it is clear that only the King has the right to convoke an Estates-General,
that he alone must judge if this convocation
is necessary, and that he needs no other
power for the administration of his kingdom.
History Sourcebook (Fordham) and Roy
Rosenzweig Center, who in turn draws from Discours de M. de Lamoignon, Garde des
Sceaux de France à la Séance du Roi au
Parlement le 19 novembre 1787 (Bibliothèque
nationale de France: [Microfiche LB39-467]).
After this speech, the King orders his
edicts, providing for a loan of 420 million livres, to be registered. The Duke d'Orléans
(Louis' cousin) protests that this
registration is illegal, others join him. The King insists.
The parlement decrees to refuse the registration of the King's orders.
For challenging the King's authority,
the King bans the following members from future sittings of the
parlement: the Duke d'Orléans,
November 21, 1787
The parlement is
ordered to Versailles, where the King declares the parlement's
refusal from November 19,
1787, void. He announces the summoning of the Estates General for 1791,
latest. By popular demand, the King revokes his orders regarding the
ban of certain men from sessions of parlement.
January 29, 1788
The parlement registers the King's edict from November 1787
April 11, 1788
The official objection of the parlement to the Royal Session of November 19,
1787, had been long postponed. But here it is. The parlement
formally objects, claiming that the authority of the parlement
Furthermore, and regarding the 120
million livres that creditors are trying to recover from the State,
"A la vérité,
le moyen n'en est plus dans les mains de
votre parlement, mais il reste aux prêteurs
une ressource dans l'assemblée des États
In other words,
"In truth, it
is no longer in the power of your
parliament. But for loan creditors exists
the option of an assembly of the Estates
April 17, 1788
The King answers that everything was completely legal on November
April 29, 1788
Parlement's objection regarding the royal edict on the second
vingtieme. This objection was prepared by
Goislard de Montsabert.
May 3, 1788
The Paris parlement adopts a motion, prepared by
Duval d'Epremesnil, in which
they declare it their duty "to oppose firmly ... all plans that
could jeopardize the rights and obligations of the Nation." They
further establish that it is "the right of the Courts to verify in
every province the King's will and to refuse the registration except
if they are consistent with constitutive laws of the province and
the fundamental laws of the State."
The Paris parlement sends a copy of
this resolution to all parlements in the kingdom.
May 5, 1788
At the courthouse in Paris:
The parlement orders the burning of a pamphlet entitled "The
Parliament's Decree of May 3, 1788," which contained fabrications to
the King's disadvantage and "accuses the Court of sentiments and
expressions inconsistent with the deepest respect for the sacred
person of the King."
After this decree,
and Goislard de Montsabert get
the podium and relate details of their attempted arrest
that took place last night at their homes.
The parlement sends a
delegation to Versailles "to the effect of representing to the King
the misfortunes that threaten the nation", in other words to
inquire what's going on. The parlement stays
assembled in the Palace the Justice at Paris until the delegation returns.
May 6, 1788
At a quarter past midnight, 900 guards, bayonets at the ready and led
by Capitaine d'Agon, enter the Palace de Justice at Paris. Everyone
in the building is declared prisoner for the night.
D'Agon presents an order of arrest for
Anne Louis Marie François Goislard (Goeslard), Comte
de Montsabert (Monsabert) and
Jean-Jacques Duval d'Éprémesnil, members of the
parlement of Paris and leaders of the parliamentary opposition
to Loménie de Brienne's reforms.
D'Agon asks the assembled to point
these two individuals out to him.
The court enjoys an always delightful
Life of Brian moment, "We all are Goislard and Duval, you will have
to arrest us all."
Standoff at the courthouse. D'Agon
withdraws to consult with his superiors. The parlement's delegation
that went to Versailles was put on eternal hold there, in effect was
refused to see anyone.
Finally, Duval and Goislard identify
themselves and d'Agon takes them into custody.
Also on May 6, 1788:
All members of the parlement are summoned to Versailles for May 8, 1788.
May 7, 1788
The parlement gathers to discuss the lettre de cachet
that summons them to be at Versailles tomorrow. They prepare a list
of grievances to present to the King.
May 8, 1788
The May Edicts: Lit de justice, or royal session, at Versailles. The King enforces the registration of the edict
that was prepared by his Keeper of the Seals,
Lamoignon. It establishes a cour plénière, a plenary court,
that would henceforth register royal edicts.
As for the parlements'
other tasks, Lamoignon came up with the idea of having 47 bailiwicks
take over these duties.
The power of the parlement has been
Members of the parlement are ordered
to stay at Versailles to sit at the plenary court session tomorrow.
The parlement sends a memo to Louis that
they will attend the session of the new plenary court out of
respect, but they can't accept the new functions allocated to them
by the King in His new edicts, and therefore it is asked to allow
them to have no part in it. Signed, parlement, unanimously.
May 9, 1788
First session of the plenary court. The members of the parlement put
another objection on record, "We cannot abstain from the ancient and
lawful formation of parliament."
From this day on, all parlements
are suspended, all members of parlement are on permanent vacation,
and the courthouse at Paris is closed and guarded
The Paris parlement is the only
parlement in the country that obeys the royal order not to
assembly hereafter. Other parlements roll up their sleeves
and accept the challenge. In particular, the parlements at Rennes in Brittany
(Bretagne) and Grenoble in Dauphiny (Dauphiné) will
become centers of deep rooted opposition.
May 10, 1788
Lit de justice at the parlement at Rennes. The King sent
the Comte de Thiard to clarify
June 3, 1788
The King sends lettres de cachet and his troops to arrest 12 judges
June 7, 1788
At Grenoble, big protests against the dismissal of the Grenoble
parlement. The protesters demand an assembly of all three
orders. The King will send in the troops.
In France, the 1788 harvest is a disaster. A long
drought and wicked hail storms did great damage.
July 21, 1788
At the Château de Vizille, just outside Grenoble, the three estates
gather illegally. Gathered were 165 nobles, 50 members of the
clergy, and 325 deputies of the Third Estate. They demand to recall the parlements and to
summon an assembly of the Estates-General, in which the number of
deputies of the Third Estate would match the combined number of the
deputies of the other two orders.
August 8, 1788
Louis revokes his edict from May 8, 1788, that had established the
plenary court (cour plénière) and summons the Estates-General to assemble on May 1, 1789.
August 16, 1788
All payments on government loans are suspended.
August 24, 1788
Brienne resigns as finance minister. Tomorrow, Necker will sit in
August 25, 1788
Jacques Necker, former head
of treasury and finances from 1776 to 1781, is recalled to duty to
replace Loménie de Brienne.
September 23, 1788
The parlement of Paris passes an order that decrees that the
Estates-General should assemble the way it had been assembled in
1614, i.e. each order has one third of representatives, giving the
majority to the privileged orders (clergy and nobility). Louis will
void this order on December 27, 1788.
November 6, 1788
Assemblée des Notables
(Assembly of the Notables) gets together once more. On the agenda is
the question of how to assemble the Estates-General and whether to
double the number of deputies for the Third Estate. The Notables are
against it. This assembly will be held until December 12, 1788.
November 30, 1788
The new Defense Minister is
Pierre-Louis de Chastenet, Comte de Puységur. He succeeds
Loménie, Comte de Brienne.
December 12, 1788
Assemblée des Notables
(Assembly of the Notables) ends. It had begun on November 6, 1788.
The notables refuse to double the deputies of the Third Estate.
December 27, 1788
Encouraged by Necker, Louis XVI doubles the number of
deputies for the Third Estate, thus overruling the Paris parlement's
decision from September 23, 1788.
pamphlet Qu’est-ce que le tiers état? (What Is the Third
Estate?) is published.
Within the next two months, 30 000 copies
will be sold and many an eye will be opened.
Third Estate embraces then all that which
belongs to the nation; and all that which is
not the Third Estate, cannot be regarded as
being of the nation. What is the Third
Estate? It is the whole.
Qu’est-ce que le tiers état?, January
Read the pamphlet:
in English /
January 24, 1789
Following up on his decision from August 8, 1788, to assemble the
Louis XVI issues a decree that provides the regulations for the election
of the deputies to the Estates General and the drafting of the
Cahiers de Doléances.
Elections for the Estates General and writing of the cahiers begin. This will
April 27 and 28, 1789
Réveillon Riots, also
called the Réveillon Affair, named after
J.-B. Réveillon, owner of a wallpaper factory located at
Rue de Montreuil, in the faubourg Saint-Antoine at Paris.
The economic crisis of 1788 / 1789
took its toll when, after rumors circulated that Réveillon was going
to lower wages, Réveillon's workers looted and burned down his
factory and his home (April 28). Other workers in the district
joined the riot, the army had to step in and the entire affair
caused 300 victims.
The next riot in the faubourg
St Antoine will have a little bit more zing.
April 30, 1789
On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York,
Washington takes his oath of office as the first
President of the United States.
May 5, 1789
généraux) opens session at Versailles.
Not at the royal Palace, but at the Hotel des Menus-Plaisirs on
the avenue de Paris. It is the same venue in which the Assemblies of
Notables in 1787 and 1788 were hosted.
In this building, the nobility and the
clergy each had their own meeting hall. Meetings that included all
deputies were held in the main hall, which also served as the
meeting hall for separate meetings of the Third Estate.
In the attendance are 291 deputies representing the clergy, 270
deputies representing the nobles, and 578
deputies of the Third Estate.
They soon discover major discord regarding their voting system. Should votes count per estate
or per head? Clergy and nobles want the vote per estate, the commons
(Third Estate) want the vote per head.
No agreement is possible.
Furthermore, around 21 million of the
26 million people living in 1789 France, are peasant farmers. But
not one peasant farmer has a seat in the assembly of the
Estates-General. The Third Estate is represented by lawyers,
businessmen, bankers, and doctors (
Dr. Guillotin was one of them).
The representation at the
Estates-General is askew and calls for a constitutional revision.
Clergy and nobility, however, would rather like to keep their
June 4, 1789
Louis-Joseph, the second child
King Louis XVI and heir to the
throne (dauphin), dies today. Wee Louis-Joseph was 7 years old.
June 10, 1789
The hot issue of how voting powers should be distributed needs to be
settled. In order to do so, the Third Estate calls on nobles and
clergy to get together once more. A no-show would not hinder
June 17, 1789
Proclamation of the
(Assemblée Nationale), created by the Third
Estate. Unofficially, the
French Revolution has just begun.
Here is the
of the National Assembly.
In response to this proclamation, the
king closes the doors of the meeting hall at the Hotel des Menus-Plaisirs,
Avenue de Paris, Versailles. The official reason is that the hall
needs to be prepared for the scheduled royal session on June 22,
June 20, 1789
The members of the National Assembly, now without a meeting hall,
gather in Louis' indoor tennis court. They declare their goal to switch from absolute
monarchy to constitutional monarchy.
Hence, a written constitution is
needed. With only one vote (Martin Dauch) against it,
the Assembly takes an oath not to separate before they have given
France a constitution.
This is the Tennis Court Oath, or in French
Serment du Jeu de Paume.
is French for oath, by the way, and
Jeu de Paume is Game of the Palm,
an early form of tennis that saved players a
truckload of money on rackets and strings.
It took another 88 years until, in 1877,
won the first official lawn tennis
championship at Wimbledon. A ticket went for
one shilling. Two hundred people came to see
the finals and were delighted.
Today, in Castelnaudary
(7 car hours south of Paris), Martin Dauch's
birthplace, they have an avenue named after him. You gotta
appreciate the French.
to June 20, 1789. Here is the
snapshot of the day.
June 22, 1789
Their meeting hall is still closed for maintenance, and the indoor
tennis court got awfully stuffy. Therefore, the Assembly decides to
meet today at the Saint-Louis Church, Versailles.
Here are the original minutes of the meetings
on June 20 and June 22, 1789.
June 23, 1789
Royal session. But more interesting than the session today is its
aftermath. And it went down as follows:
At the end of the session, the king
orders the deputies to disperse immediately, and to come back
tomorrow to resume their sessions separately by order
(clergy, nobility, third estate) in their respective
The king leaves and the nobles and
some members of the clergy follow his example, while some other
members of the
clergy and the deputies of
the Third Estate remain quietly seated in the main meeting hall,
which was incidentally the separate meeting hall of the
Third Estate as well.
The 23 year-old royal Master of Ceremonies,
Henri Évrard, marquis de Dreux-Brézé,
while wearing a fabulous outfit, matching shoes, and a lovely
feather in his hat, asks the deputies if they didn't hear the King's orders.
The president of the Third Estate, the
respected astronomer Jean-Sylvain Bailly,
responds that he would take his orders from the Assembly. At this
point Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau,
a seasoned defender of constitutional monarchy and ex-prisoner, loses his calm.
jumps up from his chair and, utterly infuriated, thunders back at Dreux-Brézé that they
had understood very well, and that he (Dreux-Brézé) who does have
neither a place in the Estates-General, nor the right to speak
there, would be certainly not the man who should remind them of the
King's utterances. They were here by
the will of the people, and, just to be clear, if he (Dreux-Brézé)
in charge of ushering them out, he'd better grow a pair, because they weren't going anywhere except at gunpoint ("the
power of the bayonets").
The Assembly shouted agreement and Dreux-Brézé
left, leaving behind a gloomy silence in the room, and a reason to
paint for many artists to come.
Among the painters who captured this
powerful moment were Joseph D. Court, Eugene Delacroix, and Alexandre
Fragonard (see below).
Mirabeau Vs. Dreux-Breze
Oil on canvas by A.E. Fragonard
June 24, 1789
The National Assembly receives news that some of the nobles will
join them tomorrow.
June 25, 1789
Today, 48 liberal nobles join the Third Estate in the National
Assembly. Among them is the Duc d'Orleans.
June 27, 1789
orders the clergy and the nobility to
join the Third Estate in the
National Assembly. The three Estates are
June 30, 1789
A mob frees imprisoned French Guards from the Abbaye prison, Paris.
These guards had been arrested at various dates throughout the last
months for siding with the citizens against their superiors.
July 9, 1789
The Estates-General confirm the creation of the
(Assemblée Nationale), that had been proclaimed on
June 17, 1789.
To reflect its main purpose, which
is to give a constitution to the monarchy, the National Assembly is
renamed National Constituent Assembly
(Assemblée nationale constituante). It will exist until
September 30, 1791.
July 11, 1789
Director general of finance,
Jacques Necker, is dismissed.
Lafayette presents a draft
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
July 12, 1789
Riots in Paris. On the night to July 13, 1789, the mob steals arms
and ammunitions, robs churches and gunsmiths, and burns 40 tax
barriers. See also
of the Farmers-General
July 13, 1789
New Defense Minister is Victor-Francois,
Duc de Broglie. He succeeds
Pierre-Louis de Chastenet, Comte
Lafayette becomes vice-president of
National Constituent Assembly.
Paris is out of control. A citizens'
militia (sporting the traditional colors of Paris - blue and red)
and a permanent committee is formed, aka a provisional government of
Jacques de Flesselles
(former intendant at Moulins, then Bretagne, then Lyon, and
finally provost of Paris) becomes the head of the city's provisional
government. However, the mob demands that all available arms and
ammunition be handed over with the quickness. Distributing guns to
an uncontrollable crowd makes Flesselles uncomfortable. The mob
decides that Flesselles is in it only half-heartedly. They will
lynch him tomorrow.
July 14, 1789
The Hotel des Invalides is plundered for
arms and ammunition. The logical next stop on the mob's tour in
search of more weapons and symbols of oppression that should be
attacked, is the Bastille.
Storming of the
The Revolution officially begins.
Flesselles (prévôt des marchands)
is killed. Tomorrow, Bailly will become mayor of Paris.
July 15, 1789
Lafayette is made commander of the
National Guard. Jean-Sylvain Bailly
becomes the first mayor of Paris.
July 16, 1789
Former director general of finance,
Jacques Necker, is reinstalled.
Many aristocrats flee the country,
among them King Louis XVI's brother
Comte D'Artois (later Charles X), and
Louis-Joseph, Prince de Condé.
July 17, 1789
The King visits Paris to inspect the new National Guard. He wears a blue, red, and white ribbon — blue and red being the
traditional colors of Paris and the royal white, which was added by
It will take until February 15, 1794,
until the tricolore will become the official French flag.
August 4, 1789
The new Defense Minister is
Jean-Frederic de La Tour du Pin-Gouvernet.
He succeeds Victor-Francois, Duc de
A night session of the National
Constituent Assembly results in the proclamation of the abolition of privileges
and the feudal regime.
August 18, 1789
The Revolution reaches Liège (Luik / Lüttich). The nobles, in
particular the prince-bishop Cesar
Constantin Francis de Hoensbroek, are forced to pack
their bags and terminate their rule, but no blood is shed here.
August 26 and 27, 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen,
a draft of a constitution is adopted by
the National Assembly.
October 5 and 6, 1789
also called the
Parisians march to Versailles and
force the royal family to move from Versailles to Paris.
October 6, 1789
The National Constituent Assembly
(Assemblée nationale constituante), now with nearly 1,200
members, moves from Versailles into the Salle du Manège, or
Riding Hall, that belongs to the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
The Tuileries Palace, by the way, will
be destroyed in 1871. Its gardens will survive.
October 8, 1789
The Assembly issues a decree by which Louis XVI will switch from
being King of France and Navarre to King of the French.
Today was also the day on which
Thomas Jefferson, who was pro
French Revolution, left France and returned to the U.S. where he
will become the Secretary of State. As diplomat and representative
of the U.S. Jefferson had been in France since August 6, 1784. In
1785, he became the Minister Plenipotentiary.
According to the U.S. Department of
State, when asked if he was replacing Benjamin Franklin as the next
American Minister to France, Jefferson famously responded, "I merely
succeed him, no one could replace him."
Jefferson's replacement as Minister to
France is Gouverneur Morris, who,
interestingly, will be anti French Revolution.
October 9, 1789
Before the National Constituent Assembly
(Assemblée nationale constituante),
Dr. Guillotin, argues for equality of the death penalty,
regardless of the privileges a perp had enjoyed before his
Beheading for everyone.
Here is more.
October 12, 1789
Comte D'Artois asks Emperor
Joseph II to intervene in French affairs on his family's behalf.
October 21, 1789
As a result of the
October Days, the National
Constituent Assembly passed a law for declaring martial law.
October 24, 1789
Battle of Turnhout. The French
Revolution has spread to
November 2, 1789
Nationalization of church lands: The National Assembly decrees the
confiscation of church property.
November 6, 1789
The Jacobin Club is established
at rue Saint-Honore.
December 1, 1789
Dr. Guillotin repeats his
argument for equality of death penalty before the
National Constituent Assembly
(Assemblée nationale constituante). But this time, he also
proposes to switch from executioner to machine.
Here is more.
December 19, 1789
New currency, the assignat, introduced.
December 24, 1789
Non-Catholics are now allowed to be elected to all government
offices and employed in all workplaces,
civil and military. In other words, Protestants are now fully
recognized French citizens.
Jews, however, will have to wait to
get equal rights until September 27, 1791.