Facing a severe financial crisis and pressure for reform, King Louis XVI called the Estates-General, a traditional assembly representing clergy, nobility, and commoners. It was the first meeting of the Estates-General since 1614, raising public expectations for major political change.
After disputes over voting rules (by estate versus by head), deputies of the Third Estate declared they represented the nation and renamed themselves the National Assembly. This was a direct challenge to the old system of social orders and royal control over national decision-making.
Locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles, the deputies gathered in a nearby indoor tennis court and vowed not to separate until France had a written constitution. The oath helped keep the deputies united and signaled that constitutional change would not depend on the king’s permission.
At a formal meeting called by Louis XVI, the king tried to control the pace and limits of reform, while the deputies insisted they would continue meeting as a national body. The confrontation made clear that sovereignty—who had the right to make laws—was now the central issue.
Under growing pressure, Louis XVI instructed the clergy and nobility to join the National Assembly. This step effectively ended the Estates-General as a separate three-order body and strengthened the Assembly’s claim to speak for the nation.
The Assembly formally took on the task of writing a constitution and renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly. From this point, it acted not only as a debating forum but as the central institution reshaping the French state.
Amid widespread rural unrest, the Constituent Assembly voted to abolish many feudal rights and noble privileges. The later written decree captured and expanded these decisions, signaling that the legal foundations of the old regime were being replaced.
The Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, setting out principles like equality before the law and protection against arbitrary arrest. It became a foundational statement for the revolution’s political goals and later served as a preamble to the 1791 constitution.
Tens of thousands of Parisians marched to Versailles on October 5–6, demanding bread and political action, and pressured the royal family to relocate to Paris. The move placed the monarchy under closer public and political scrutiny and reshaped the Assembly’s working environment.
The Assembly reorganized the Catholic Church in France, placing it under state authority and changing how bishops and priests were selected and paid. The policy split public opinion and created conflict between revolutionary law and religious loyalty.
Louis XVI and his family tried to escape Paris during the night of June 20–21 but were stopped at Varennes and returned. The failed flight badly damaged trust in the king and intensified debate over whether a constitutional monarchy could still work.
The National Constituent Assembly finalized France’s first written constitution, aiming to replace absolute monarchy with a constitutional system. It drew on earlier revolutionary principles, including the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and laid out new institutions and limits on royal power.
Louis XVI swore an oath accepting the constitution, formally becoming a constitutional monarch. This was meant to stabilize the revolution after Varennes, but deep distrust of the king remained and continued to shape political conflict.
The National Constituent Assembly dissolved and was replaced by the Legislative Assembly, which began meeting in October 1791. This transition marked the end of the constitution-writing phase that began with the Estates-General and the Tennis Court Oath, and it opened a new, more unstable stage of the Revolution.
Estates-General, National Constituent Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath (May 1789–July 1791)