Editing Tennis Court Oath (section)

==Background==

[[File:Oath of the Tennis Court; the deputies of the third estate m Wellcome V0048256.jpg|thumb|The deputies of the third estate meeting in the tennis court, swearing not to disperse until a constitution is assured.]]
[[File:Gravure Serment du Jeu de Paume à Versailles le 19 juin 1789 1 - Archives Nationales - AE-II-3691.jpg|thumb|Etching by Helman after C. Monnet, “Serment du Jeu de Paume à Versailles” on 20 June 1789]]

Before the [[French Revolution|Revolution]], French society—aside from royalty—was divided into three [[Estates of the realm#Kingdom of France|estates]]. The First Estate comprised the clergy; the Second Estate was the nobility. The rest of France—some 97 per cent of the population—was the Third Estate, which ranged from very wealthy city merchants to impoverished rural farmers. The three estates had historically met in the [[Estates General (France)|Estates General]], a legislative assembly,<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/193320/Estates-General Estates-General] in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> but this had not happened since 1614, under the reign of [[Louis XIII]]. It was the last of the Estates General of the [[Kingdom of France]]. Summoned by King [[Louis XVI]], the [[Estates General of 1789]] ended when the Third Estate formed the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] and, against the wishes of the king, invited the other two estates to join. This signaled the outbreak of the French Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-23 |title=Summoning of the Estates General, 1789 |url=https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/summoning-estates-general-1789 |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Palace of Versailles |language=en}}</ref> 

The Third Estate comprised the overwhelming majority of the French population, but the structure of the Estates-General was such that the Third Estate comprised a bare majority of the delegates. A simple majority was sufficient—as long as delegate votes were cast together. The First and Second Estates preferred to divide the vote; a proposal might need to receive approval from each Estate or there might be two "houses" of the Estates-General (one for the first two Estates, and one for the Third) and a bill would need to be passed by both houses. Either way, the First and Second Estates could exercise a veto over proposals enjoying widespread support among the Third Estate, such as reforms that threatened the [[abolition of feudalism in France|privileges of the nobility]] and [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy|clergy]].