Tennis Court Oath

Last updated

Tennis Court Oath
Serment du Jeu de Paume
Le Serment du Jeu de paume.jpg
Tennis Court Oath
General information
TypeSport
LocationRoyal Tennis Court of Versailles
Coordinates 48°48′3.6″N2°7′26″E / 48.801000°N 2.12389°E / 48.801000; 2.12389

The Tennis Court Oath (French : Serment du Jeu de Paume ) was taken on 20 June 1789 by the members of the French Third Estate in a tennis court on the initiative of Jean Joseph Mounier. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever necessary until the Constitution of the kingdom is established" became a pivotal event in the French Revolution.

Contents

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 it outnumbered the other two estates by a large margin). On 17 June, the Third Estate began to call itself the National Assembly, led by Jean Sylvain Bailly. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, took a prominent role. [1]

On the morning of 20 June, the deputies were shocked to discover that the door of the Salle des Menus-Plaisir was locked and guarded by soldiers. They immediately feared the worst and were anxious that a royal attack was imminent from King Louis XVI, so upon the suggestion of one of their members Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, [2] the deputies congregated in a nearby indoor royal tennis court near the Palace of Versailles.

The 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate took the oath [3] Jean Sylvain Bailly was the first one who signed; the only person who did not join was Joseph Martin-Dauch, who would only execute decisions that were made by the monarch. [4] To prevent further sessions, the tennis court was rented on 21 or 22 June by the count of Artois, a brother of the King. Meanwhile, the Assembly moved to the Versailles Cathedral.

Background

The deputies of the third estate meeting in the tennis court, swearing not to disperse until a constitution is assured. 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, swearing not to disperse until a constitution is assured.
Etching by Helman after C. Monnet, "Serment du Jeu de Paume a Versailles" on 20 June 1789 Gravure Serment du Jeu de Paume a 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 20 June 1789

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, [5] but this had not happened since 1614, under the reign of Louis XIII. 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. [6]

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

Minutes of the taking of the Jeu de Paume oath Signature page Proces verbal de la prestation du serment du Jeu de Paume Page de signatures - Archives Nationales - AE-I-5.jpg
Minutes of the taking of the Jeu de Paume oath Signature page

The deputies' fears, even if wrong, were reasonable and the importance of the oath goes above and beyond its context. [7] 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. [1] This oath was vital to the Third Estate as a protest that led to more power in the Estates General, every governing body thereafter. [8] Among the oath-takers were also five delegates from the colony of Saint-Domingue.

The text was prepared by Antoine Barnave and Isaac Le Chapelier. An English-language translation of the oath reads:

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. [9]

Significance and aftermath

The Tennis Court was built in 1686 near the Palace of Versailles. Salle du jeu de paume Versailles.jpg
The Tennis Court was built in 1686 near the Palace of Versailles.

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, especially the preamble.[ citation needed ] 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. [11]

The Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789) preceded the Storming of the Bastille, Abolition of feudalism (4 August 1789) and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (26 August 1789). The members of the National Constituent Assembly became increasingly divided. The French Constitution of 1791 redefined the organization of the French government, taxation system, male census suffrage and the limits to the powers of government.

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. [12]

See also

In the western gallery of the Salle du Jeu de Paume, reproductions of the engravings are on display. 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.

Related Research Articles

1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1789th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 789th year of the 2nd millennium, the 89th year of the 18th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1780s decade. As of the start of 1789, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis XVI</span> King of France from 1774 to 1792

Louis XVI was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution.

<i>Jeu de paume</i> Indoor precursor of tennis

Jeu de paume, nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or courte paume, is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, and so "game of the hand", though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago. The term also refers to the court on which the game is played and its building, which in the 17th century was sometimes converted into a theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Constituent Assembly (France)</span> Revolutionary legislature of France, 1789 to 1791

The National Constituent Assembly was a constituent assembly in the Kingdom of France formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789 during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the French Revolution</span> Timeline

The following is a timeline of the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estates General (France)</span> Consultative assembly in France, 1302 to 1789

In France under the Ancien Régime, the Estates General or States-General was a legislative and consultative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king. It had no true power in its own right as, unlike the English Parliament, it was not required to approve royal taxation or legislation. It served as an advisory body to the king, primarily by presenting petitions from the various estates and consulting on fiscal policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph-Ignace Guillotin</span> French physician, politician and freemason

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was a French physician, politician, and freemason who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out executions in France, as a less painful method of execution than existing methods. Although he did not invent the guillotine and opposed the death penalty, his name became an eponym for it. The actual inventor of the prototype was a man named Tobias Schmidt, working with the king's physician, Antoine Louis.

This glossary of the French Revolution generally does not explicate names of individual people or their political associations; those can be found in List of people associated with the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil Constitution of the Clergy</span> 1790 French law

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the French government. As a result, a schism was created, resulting in an illegal and underground French Catholic Church loyal to the Papacy, and a "constitutional church" that was subservient to the State. The schism was not fully resolved until 1801. King Louis XVI ultimately granted Royal Assent to the measure after originally opposing it, but later expressed regret for having done so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Causes of the French Revolution</span> Causes of the conflict

There is significant disagreement among historians of the French Revolution as to its causes. Usually, they acknowledge the presence of several interlinked factors, but vary in the weight they attribute to each one. These factors include cultural changes, normally associated with the Enlightenment; social change and financial and economic difficulties; and the political actions of the involved parties. For centuries, the French society was divided into three estates or orders.

The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which Republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article covers a period of time slightly longer than a year, from 14 July 1790, the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, to the establishment of the Legislative Assembly on 1 October 1791.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refractory clergy</span> French priests refusing loyalty to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

During the French Revolution, the National Assembly abolished the traditional structure of the Catholic Church in France and reorganized it as an institution within the structure of the new French government through the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. One of the new requirements placed upon all clergy was the necessity of an oath of loyalty to the State before all foreign influences such as the Pope. This created a schism within the French clergy, with those taking the oath known as juring priests, and those refusing the oath known as non-juring clergy or refractory clergy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estates General of 1789</span> Consultative assembly of France, summoned by Louis XVI

The Estates General of 1789(French: États Généraux de 1789) was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (French Revolution)</span> Revolutionary assembly in France from June to July 1789

During the French Revolution, the National Assembly, which existed from 17 June 1789 to 9 July 1789, was a revolutionary assembly of the Kingdom of France formed by the representatives of the Third Estate (commoners) of the Estates-General and eventually joined by some members of the First and Second Estates. Thereafter, it became a legislative body known as the National Constituent Assembly, although the shorter form was favored.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storming of the Bastille</span> Major event of the French Revolution

The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress and political prison known as the Bastille. After four hours of fighting and 94 deaths the insurgents were able to enter the Bastille. The governor de Launay and several members of the garrison were killed after surrender. The Bastille then represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained only seven inmates at the time of its storming and was already scheduled for demolition, but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy's abuse of power. Its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution.

<i>La Révolution française</i> (film) 1989 film

La Révolution française is a two-part 1989 historical drama co-produced by France, Germany, Italy and Canada for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. The full film runs at 360 minutes, but the edited-for-television version is slightly longer. It purports to tell a faithful and neutral story of the Revolution, from the calling of the Estates-General to the death of Maximilien de Robespierre. The film had a large budget and boasted an international cast. It was shot in French, German and English.

<i>The Tennis Court Oath</i> (David) Unfinished painting by Jacques-Louis David

The Tennis Court Oath is an incomplete painting by the French Neoclassical artist Jacques-Louis David, painted between 1790 and 1794 and showing the titular Tennis Court Oath at Versailles, one of the foundational events of the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis-François Allard</span> French physician and politician

Louis-François Allard was a French physician and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recollects Convent (Versailles)</span> Convent located in Yvelines, in France

The Recollects Convent was built originally in 1684 at the Palace of Versailles, France by order of Louis XIV as a house for the religious order of Recollects - a reform branch of the Franciscans created in 16th century in France, Germany, and Holland. After the order was suppressed during the French Revolution, the building was converted into a prison, and then later in the 19th century was used by the French army.

The term "Red Priests" or "Philosopher Priests" is a modern historiographical term that refers to Catholic priests who, to varying degrees, supported the French Revolution (1789-1799). The term "Red Priests" was coined in 1901 by Gilbert Brégail and later adopted by Edmond Campagnac. However, it is anachronistic because the color red, associated with socialist movements since 1848, did not signify supporters of the French Revolution, who were referred to as "Blues" during the civil wars of 1793–1799, in contrast to the royalist "Whites." Hence, a recent historian suggested using the term "Philosopher Priests" to describe this group, a term used at the time to refer to these priests.

References

  1. 1 2 Doyle, William (1990). The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN   978-0192852212.[ page needed ]
  2. Donegan, Ciaran F. (1990). "Dr Guillotin reformer and humanitarian". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 83 (10): 637–639. doi: 10.1177/014107689008301014 . PMC   1292858 . PMID   2286964.
  3. Thompson, Marshall Putnam (1914). "The Fifth Musketeer: The Marquis de la Fayette". Proceedings of the Bunker Hill Monument Association at the annual meeting. p. 50. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  4. Hanson, Paul R. (2004). Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution . Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-0810850521.[ page needed ]
  5. Estates-General in Encyclopædia Britannica
  6. "Summoning of the Estates General, 1789". Palace of Versailles. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  7. Osen, James L. (1995). Royalist Political Thought during the French Revolution. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0313294419.[ page needed ]
  8. John D Ruddy (12 January 2015), French Revolution in 9 Minutes , retrieved 29 February 2016
  9. "The Tennis Court Oath, June 1789" (PDF). Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  10. "The Royal tennis court" . Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. Hanson, Paul R. (2015). Historical dictionary of the French Revolution (Second ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p.  118. ISBN   9780810878914.
  12. "The Royal Tennis Court" . Retrieved 21 June 2021.