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nThen“Tennis Court Oath” had nothing to do with tennis. Or any othernsport, for that matter.
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nThenoath was a 1789 pact made by 576 of the 577 Frenchmen who representedn commoners in France’s governing body, the Estates-General. ThesenFrenchmen, called the Third Estate, thought that they had been lockednout of the Estates-General, which also included the First Estaten(priests) and the Second Estate (nobles)—but the hall was probablynjust locked because the king was mourning the death of his son. Notnknowing why they were locked out, the members of the Third Estatenmade an indoor tennis court into a conference room and made a promisenthat they would stay assembled together until France had a writtennconstitution.
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| Can you spot the one guy who disagreed with the oath, sitting with his head down on the right side of the group? |
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nThisnwas the first time that French citizens had formally opposed theirnking, Louis XVI. The group called itself the National Assembly, andnit put forth the idea that political authority came from the peoplenwho were ruled rather than from the king. About a week after thenTennis Court Oath was written and signed, the king called for anmeeting of the Estates-General in order to write a constitution.
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(However,nif you know your French history, you may remember that things didn’tngo smoothly. The king tried to hold onto his absolute authority, thenrebellion against his rule got violent, and not only was Louis XVInexecuted, but his queen and a whole lot of other people were executednas well! It was a bad scene for a while there…)
(However,nif you know your French history, you may remember that things didn’tngo smoothly. The king tried to hold onto his absolute authority, thenrebellion against his rule got violent, and not only was Louis XVInexecuted, but his queen and a whole lot of other people were executednas well! It was a bad scene for a while there…)n
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nReadingnabout the Tennis Court Oath made me realize once again how often anmisunderstanding—in this case, thinking that someone was lockingnthe group out as a power move when it wasn’t the case—can make ansituation worse. Let’s use our words, assume the best (yet preparenfor the worst), and investigate non-violent solutions.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the adoption of the Great Seal of the United States
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nAnniversary of the adoption of the bald eagle as a national symbol
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nSolstice
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