Tennis Court Oath

Tennis Court Oath
Tennis Court Oath
Serment du Jeu de Payment
	Drawing by Jacques-Louis David of the Tennis Court Oath.
General information
Type	Sport
Location	Royal Tennis Court of Versailles
Coordinates	48°48′3.6″N 2°7′26″E / 48.801000°N 2.12389°E

The Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment du Jeu de Paume, pronounced [sɛʁmɑ̃ dy ʒø də pom]) was taken on 20 June 1789 by the members of the French Third Estate in a tennis court on the initiative of Jean Joseph Mounier. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever necessary until the Constitution of the kingdom is established" became a pivotal event in the French Revolution.

The Estates-General had been called to address the country's fiscal and agricultural crisis, but they had become bogged down in issues of representation immediately after convening in May 1789, particularly whether they would vote by order or by head (which would increase the power of the Third Estate, as it outnumbered the other two estates by a large margin). On 17 June, the Third Estate began to call itself the National Assembly, led by Jean Sylvain Bailly. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, which took a prominent role in much of early stages of the Revolution.^[1]

On the morning of 20 June, the deputies were shocked to discover that the door of the Salle des Menus-Plaisir was locked and guarded by soldiers. They immediately feared the worst and were anxious that a royal attack was imminent from King Louis XVI, so upon the suggestion of one of their members Joseph-Ignace Guillotin,^[2] the deputies congregated in a nearby indoor royal tennis court near the Palace of Versailles.

The 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate took the oath^[3] Jean Sylvain Bailly was the first one who signed; the only person who did not join was Joseph Martin-Dauch, who would only execute decisions that were made by the monarch.^[4] To prevent further sessions, the tennis court was rented on 21 or 22 June by the count of Artois, a brother of the King. Meanwhile, the Assembly moved to the Versailles Cathedral.

^ Doyle, William (1990). The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0192852212.^{[page needed]}
^ Donegan, Ciaran F. (1990). "Dr Guillotin – reformer and humanitarian". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 83 (10): 637–639. doi:10.1177/014107689008301014. PMC 1292858. PMID 2286964.
^ Thompson, Marshall Putnam (1914). "The Fifth Musketeer: The Marquis de la Fayette". Proceedings of the Bunker Hill Monument Association at the annual meeting. p. 50. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
^ Hanson, Paul R. (2004). Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810850521.^{[page needed]}

[Doyle-1] Doyle, William (1990). The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0192852212.^{[page needed]}

[2] Donegan, Ciaran F. (1990). "Dr Guillotin – reformer and humanitarian". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 83 (10): 637–639. doi:10.1177/014107689008301014. PMC 1292858. PMID 2286964.

[3] Thompson, Marshall Putnam (1914). "The Fifth Musketeer: The Marquis de la Fayette". Proceedings of the Bunker Hill Monument Association at the annual meeting. p. 50. Retrieved 10 February 2011.

[4] Hanson, Paul R. (2004). Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810850521.^{[page needed]}

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