---
title: "The Tennis Court Oath of June 1789 | Model Diplomat"
description: "Learn how a locked door and an indoor tennis court turned a tax dispute into a constitutional revolution as deputies swore the Tennis Court Oath in June 1789."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/the-tennis-court-oath"
---

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The Tennis Court Oath

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Lesson 12 min 20 XP

# The Tennis Court Oath

How a locked door and an indoor tennis court transformed a tax dispute into a constitutional revolution in June 1789.

## From Estates-General to National Assembly

When the Estates-General convened at Versailles on May 5, 1789, the Third Estate — representing roughly 97% of France's population — immediately clashed with the First and Second Estates over voting procedures. The clergy and nobility wanted each estate to vote as a bloc, which would give them a permanent two-to-one majority. The Third Estate demanded voting by head, which would leverage their numerical superiority and the sympathy of reform-minded clerics.

For six weeks, the deadlock held. On June 17, the Third Estate took a radical step: they declared themselves the National Assembly, claiming to represent the French nation as a whole rather than a single estate. This was not merely a procedural maneuver. It was an assertion that sovereignty resided in the people, not in the king or the traditional corporate orders of society. Within days, sympathetic members of the clergy began joining them.

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