Tennis Court Oath – iTopper IAS Academy

The King ordered to lock the hall where the next meeting of the third Estates was scheduled to be held.
Consequently, in June 1789, the third Estate decided to meet in a nearby indoor tennis court.
Third Estate members took oath not to disperse until constitutional reform had been achieved and declared themselves a National Assembly, thus the meeting took the so-called Tennis court oath.
While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution, the rest of France seethed with turmoil.
Within a week, most of the clerical deputies and liberal nobles had joined them.
On June 27, 1789, Louis XI reluctantly absorbed all three orders into the new assembly.