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Estates General of 1789
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Estates General of 1789
The Estates General of 1789 (French: États Généraux de 1789) was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). Summoned by King Louis XVI, it opened on 5 May 1789 at Versailles, marking the first such meeting since 1614. The assembly was a desperate attempt to resolve a catastrophic fiscal crisis. Previous attempts at structural reform, including a universal land tax, had been blocked by the Assembly of Notables and the Parlements. These bodies claimed that only the Estates General possessed the authority to approve new taxes. The Estates General ultimately failed due to a fundamental deadlock over voting procedures. The First and Second Estates sought to vote by estate to preserve their tax exemptions and political dominance. Conversely, the Third Estate demanded voting by head to reflect their numerical majority. This procedural dispute paralyzed the body for six weeks, preventing any progress on the financial crisis. The failure became definitive when the Third Estate broke away to declare itself the National Assembly on 17 June 1789.
As a result of the financial support given to the Americans during the war against Great Britain, the amount totaled 1.25 billion livres, France was heavily in debt. For a total income of 475 million livres the annual defict was some 150 million. In 1786, Calonne informed the king that increasing taxes would be impossible, that continued borrowing would be disastrous, and that merely cutting expenses would be inadequate. He added that the only way to bring real order to the finances would be to revitalise the entire state by reforming everything that was defective in its constitution. Calonne did not want the Parlements involved due to their opposing stance. He preferred an assembly of notables as they were only the most important and enlightened magnates of the realm to whom the king could communicate his views and from whom he sought their opinions. Calonne received little cooperation from the assembly as his reforms included a land-tax which was rejected by the nobility within the assembly. Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, president of the Assembly of Notables, succeeded Calonne as the Controller-General of Finances. Frustrated by his inability to obtain money, he required 240 million livres in short-term advances budgeted for 1788, the king ordered Brienne on 25 May to dissolve the Assembly. Their proposals reverted to the Parlement.
Turning again to the parlements, the king found that they were inclined to continue the issues that had been raised in the Assembly of Notables. The proper legal function of the parlements, besides giving advice to the king, was only to register or record the king's edicts as law unless the registered edicts were not lawful. On 6 July 1787, Brienne forwarded the Subvention Territoriale (land tax) and the edit du timbre, (stamp act), for registration. On 6 August the king ordered the Parlement to assemble at Versailles where Louis held a Lit de justice to register the taxes. On 7 August back in Paris, parlement declared the registration illegal and the lit the justice null and void, calling for the Estates General to assemble.
Following the arrestment of some leading magistrates on 15 August the king exiled the Parlement from Paris to Troyes. When negotiations with Parlement were at deadlock, Louis XVI was forced to give in. On 19 September, Louis XVI agreed to withdraw the Edict of the land tax and promised to convene the Estates-General in 1792 and the Parlement returned back to Paris. No longer able to rely on revenue from the land tax Brienne was forced to propose a loan of 420 million livres, before Parlement on 19 November. The rejection of the registration led to the exile of the Duke of Orléans and the arrest of two magistrates. In May 1788, Louis XVI and his ministers Brienne and Lamoignon attempted to limit the Parlements to judicial duties by creating a royal plenary court for political acts. On 3 May, the Parlement responded with a declaration of fundamental laws that rejected arbitrary arrests and stated that only the Estates-General could authorize new taxes.
Two days later, the King annulled this declaration and ordered the arrest of Duval d’Éprémesnil and Goislard de Monsabert, who were eventually taken after a thirty-hour resistance within the Parlement walls. During a lit de justice on 8 May, the King enacted reforms that transferred parlementary powers to forty-seven new courts of appeal and the Plenary court. He argued that a single king required a single law and a single register, subsequently suspending all Parlements. This move led to widespread provincial opposition, including the Day of the Tiles in Grenoble and an unauthorized assembly in Vizille that called for an institutional change where the Third Estate would have doubled representation.
The King found it impossible to establish the Plenary court as several peers refused to participate and civil unrest increased. By 8 August 1788, the King and Brienne cancelled the Plenary court and scheduled the Estates-General for the following May. Following Brienne's resignation on 24 August, the King reappointed Necker as Director-General of Finance, who restored the Parlements to their previous status. However, the Parlement of Paris lost its public standing in September by demanding that the Estates-General follow the 1614 format, which restricted the influence of commoners. Although the Assembly of Notables supported this traditional format in November, the King chose to support the Third Estate's demand for doubled representation. By 5 December 1788, the King informed the parlementarians that he would no longer consult them, preferring to seek measures for the state through the national assembly.
The Estates-General were summoned by a royal edict dated to 24 January 1789.
Nous avons besoin du concours de nos fidèles Sujets, pour nous aider à surmonter toutes les difficultés où nous nous trouvons relativement à l'état de nos finances .... Ces grands motifs nous ont déterminés à convoquer l'assemblée des États de toutes les Provinces de notre obéissance...We have need of a concourse of our faithful subjects, to assist us surmount all the difficulties we find relative to the state of our finances... These great motives have resolved us to convoke the assemblée des États of all the provinces under our authority ....
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Estates General of 1789
The Estates General of 1789 (French: États Généraux de 1789) was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). Summoned by King Louis XVI, it opened on 5 May 1789 at Versailles, marking the first such meeting since 1614. The assembly was a desperate attempt to resolve a catastrophic fiscal crisis. Previous attempts at structural reform, including a universal land tax, had been blocked by the Assembly of Notables and the Parlements. These bodies claimed that only the Estates General possessed the authority to approve new taxes. The Estates General ultimately failed due to a fundamental deadlock over voting procedures. The First and Second Estates sought to vote by estate to preserve their tax exemptions and political dominance. Conversely, the Third Estate demanded voting by head to reflect their numerical majority. This procedural dispute paralyzed the body for six weeks, preventing any progress on the financial crisis. The failure became definitive when the Third Estate broke away to declare itself the National Assembly on 17 June 1789.
As a result of the financial support given to the Americans during the war against Great Britain, the amount totaled 1.25 billion livres, France was heavily in debt. For a total income of 475 million livres the annual defict was some 150 million. In 1786, Calonne informed the king that increasing taxes would be impossible, that continued borrowing would be disastrous, and that merely cutting expenses would be inadequate. He added that the only way to bring real order to the finances would be to revitalise the entire state by reforming everything that was defective in its constitution. Calonne did not want the Parlements involved due to their opposing stance. He preferred an assembly of notables as they were only the most important and enlightened magnates of the realm to whom the king could communicate his views and from whom he sought their opinions. Calonne received little cooperation from the assembly as his reforms included a land-tax which was rejected by the nobility within the assembly. Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, president of the Assembly of Notables, succeeded Calonne as the Controller-General of Finances. Frustrated by his inability to obtain money, he required 240 million livres in short-term advances budgeted for 1788, the king ordered Brienne on 25 May to dissolve the Assembly. Their proposals reverted to the Parlement.
Turning again to the parlements, the king found that they were inclined to continue the issues that had been raised in the Assembly of Notables. The proper legal function of the parlements, besides giving advice to the king, was only to register or record the king's edicts as law unless the registered edicts were not lawful. On 6 July 1787, Brienne forwarded the Subvention Territoriale (land tax) and the edit du timbre, (stamp act), for registration. On 6 August the king ordered the Parlement to assemble at Versailles where Louis held a Lit de justice to register the taxes. On 7 August back in Paris, parlement declared the registration illegal and the lit the justice null and void, calling for the Estates General to assemble.
Following the arrestment of some leading magistrates on 15 August the king exiled the Parlement from Paris to Troyes. When negotiations with Parlement were at deadlock, Louis XVI was forced to give in. On 19 September, Louis XVI agreed to withdraw the Edict of the land tax and promised to convene the Estates-General in 1792 and the Parlement returned back to Paris. No longer able to rely on revenue from the land tax Brienne was forced to propose a loan of 420 million livres, before Parlement on 19 November. The rejection of the registration led to the exile of the Duke of Orléans and the arrest of two magistrates. In May 1788, Louis XVI and his ministers Brienne and Lamoignon attempted to limit the Parlements to judicial duties by creating a royal plenary court for political acts. On 3 May, the Parlement responded with a declaration of fundamental laws that rejected arbitrary arrests and stated that only the Estates-General could authorize new taxes.
Two days later, the King annulled this declaration and ordered the arrest of Duval d’Éprémesnil and Goislard de Monsabert, who were eventually taken after a thirty-hour resistance within the Parlement walls. During a lit de justice on 8 May, the King enacted reforms that transferred parlementary powers to forty-seven new courts of appeal and the Plenary court. He argued that a single king required a single law and a single register, subsequently suspending all Parlements. This move led to widespread provincial opposition, including the Day of the Tiles in Grenoble and an unauthorized assembly in Vizille that called for an institutional change where the Third Estate would have doubled representation.
The King found it impossible to establish the Plenary court as several peers refused to participate and civil unrest increased. By 8 August 1788, the King and Brienne cancelled the Plenary court and scheduled the Estates-General for the following May. Following Brienne's resignation on 24 August, the King reappointed Necker as Director-General of Finance, who restored the Parlements to their previous status. However, the Parlement of Paris lost its public standing in September by demanding that the Estates-General follow the 1614 format, which restricted the influence of commoners. Although the Assembly of Notables supported this traditional format in November, the King chose to support the Third Estate's demand for doubled representation. By 5 December 1788, the King informed the parlementarians that he would no longer consult them, preferring to seek measures for the state through the national assembly.
The Estates-General were summoned by a royal edict dated to 24 January 1789.
Nous avons besoin du concours de nos fidèles Sujets, pour nous aider à surmonter toutes les difficultés où nous nous trouvons relativement à l'état de nos finances .... Ces grands motifs nous ont déterminés à convoquer l'assemblée des États de toutes les Provinces de notre obéissance...We have need of a concourse of our faithful subjects, to assist us surmount all the difficulties we find relative to the state of our finances... These great motives have resolved us to convoke the assemblée des États of all the provinces under our authority ....
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