Tennis Court Oath
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Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment
du jeu de paume) was a pivotal event during
the first days of the French Revolution. The
Oath was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577
members from the Third Estate who were
locked out of a meeting of the
Estates-General on 20 June 1789. The only
person who did not sign was Joseph
Martin-Dauch, a politician who would not
execute decisions not sanctioned by the
king. They made a makeshift conference
room inside a tennis court located in the
Saint-Louis district of the city of Versailles,
near the Palace of Versailles.
Sketch by Jacques-Louis David of the Tennis Court Oath. David later became a
deputy in the National Convention in 1792
On 17 June 1789 this group, led by Honoré
Gabriel Riqueti, began to call themselves the National Assembly.[1] On the morning of 20 June, the deputies were
shocked to discover that the chamber door was locked and guarded by soldiers. Immediately fearing the worst, and
anxious that a royal attack by King Louis XVI was imminent, the deputies congregated in a nearby indoor tennis
(Jeu de paume) court where they took a solemn collective oath "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever
circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established".[2] It later transpired that the most
probable reason why the hall was closed was that the royal household was still in mourning over the death of the
Dauphin (the king's oldest son) two weeks earlier; ordinarily, political matters could not be conducted until the King
had emerged from mourning. The oath is therefore a contentious point in French political history, since
pro-monarchists then and now characterize it as a duplicitous and hysterical over-reaction which deliberately made
capital out of a private tragedy in the royal family. Other historians have argued that given political tensions in
France at that time, the deputies' fears, even if wrong, were reasonable and that the importance of the oath goes
above and beyond its context.[3]
The deputies pledged to continue to meet until a constitution had been written, despite the royal prohibition. The
oath was both a revolutionary act, and an assertion that political authority derived from the people and their
representatives rather than from the monarch himself. Their solidarity forced Louis XVI to order the clergy and the
nobility to join with the Third Estate in the National Assembly.[1]
Significance
The Oath signified the first time that French citizens formally stood in opposition to Louis XVI, and the National
Assembly's refusal to back down forced the king to make concessions. The Oath also inspired a wide variety of
revolutionary activity in the months afterwards, ranging from rioting across the French countryside to renewed calls
for a written French constitution. Likewise, it reinforced the Assembly's strength and forced the King to formally
request that voting occur based on head, not order.
Moreover, the Oath communicated in unambiguous fashion the idea that the deputies of the National Assembly were
declaring themselves the supreme state power. From this point forward, Louis XVI would find the Crown
increasingly unable to rest upon monarchical traditions of divine right. In terms of his political sympathies, Louis
XVI was noticeably more liberal than any of his predecessors or immediate family. However, given personal
circumstances and the death of his son, he had badly mismanaged the mood of the Assembly.[4]
Tennis Court Oath
As well as bolstering the Left and reformist movement, the Oath also galvanized the French Right. In royalist and
conservative circles, the oath was seen as an indicator of the Assembly's commitment to anarchy and it was felt that a
more robust form of counter-revolutionary politics were needed to ensure the survival of the monarchy.[3]
Painting
Christophe Antoine Gerle is one of the three men in the middle, with whom he discussed the balance between state
and religion. The only deputy recorded as not taking the oath was Joseph Martin-Dauch from Castelnaudary.[5] He
can be seen on the right of David's sketch, seated with his arms crossed and his head bowed. This drawing was
originally intended to be a print for a commissioned painting, but the painting was never finished.
References
[1] Doyle, William (1990). The Oxford History of the French Revolution. p. 105. ISBN 978-0192852212.
[2] Thompson, Marshall Putnam (1914). "The Fifth Musketeer: The Marquis de la Fayette" (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=qbvW7zpvRg8C). Proceedings of the Bunker Hill Monument Association at the annual meeting. p. 50. . Retrieved 10 February
2011.
[3] Osen, James L. (1995). Royalist Political Thought during the French Revolution. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
ISBN 9780313294419.
[4] Hardman, John (1994). Louis XVI. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300060775.
[5] Hanson, Paul R. (2004). Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810850521.
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Anne97432, Bukk, Coyau, Herbythyme, Kirtap, Man vyi, Martin H., Mu, Mutter Erde, Paola Severi Michelangeli, Sammyday, Tablar, 9 anonymous edits
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