The Tennis Court Oath

Author Bio: No single person wrote the Tennis Court Oath, but it was signed by all but one (576/577) of those who were members of the Third Estate and who were locked out of the Estates-General on June 20, 1789. This men were likely biased in the fact that they were upper class men part of the French political system. They were likely upset with the current status of government, being that Louis XVI wanted to be the absolute ruler but they wanted to institute reforms and have influence as well as the king.

Speaker: See above.

Date/Context: From its inception, the Estates-General was in contention over organizational practices. To combat this, the Third Estate convened to form a new legislative body known as the National Assembly which was formed on June 17, 1789. Three days later, the members of this were locked out of their meeting place (albeit unintentionally) and so they marched to a tennis court to draft a new constitution for France; this would come to be one of the most important documents of the revolution.

Summary: The oath is rather short, but it conveys its meaning with the few words it presents. Essentially, it is split into two parts: (a) naming the extent of influence regarding the National Assembly and (b) stating the purpose of the aforementioned oath. The first part essentially states that the National Assembly was created to establish a constitution for the kingdom, to restore public order, and to maintain the monarchy. It cannot be stopped by anything and wherever its members are assembled there is the National Assembly. The second part of the oath states that this Assembly will not separate and will reassemble when necessary under the constitution of the king. Each member shall ratify this document with their signature. In hindsight, all but one of the 577 members of the Third Estate did indeed ratify it.

Key Quotations: "Decrees that all members of this Assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm foundations..."