Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Resolution by deputies of the National Assembly, made in the context of the french revolution of 1789, that they would not disperse until a constitution was granted. On June 17, 1789 members of the Third Estate at the estates general , together with some nobles and clerics, adopted the title of National Assembly. This threw the Court into a quandary and louis xvi was persuaded to hold a royal session of all the deputies. In anticipation of this, the National Assembly's meeting-place was locked. Fearing an imminent royal coup, those involved in the Assembly then gathered on June 20 in the nearby covered tennis court and, with a single exception, swore the oath drafted by sieyès . The event was immortalized in a painting by Jacques-Louis David that suggests more resolve than was in fact the case. The Oath nevertheless forced the king to make sweeping concessions. ... log in or subscribe to read full text