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On May 5, 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear their grievances. The deputies of the Third Estate representing the common people (the two others were clergy and nobility) decided to break away and form a National Assembly.
On June 20 the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath (named after the place where they had gathered which was a place where an ancestor of tennisReal tennis is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis, or tennis, is descended. Real tennis is still played at a small number of active courts in UK, Australia, the United States and France. It is also known as court tennis (, the " jeu de paumeJeu de paume was originally a French precursor of tennis played without rackets. The players hit the ball with their hands, as with volleyball or the hand-played varieties of pelota. The term is used in France today to denote real tennis or a court in whi" was played), swearing not to separate until a Constitution had been established. To show their support, the people of ParisEiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. Paris is the capital and largest city of France. The city is built on an arc of the River Seine, and is thus divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank to stormed the BastilleBastille is a French word meaning castle' or 'stronghold'. Used as a single word ("la Bastille" in French, "the Bastille" in English) it invariably refers to the former Bastille Saint-Antoine Number 232, Rue Saint-Antoine in Paris. The storming of the Bas, a prison where people were jailed by decision of the King. Thus the Bastille was a symbol of the absolutismAbsolutism is a political theory which argues that one person (generally, a monarch) should hold all power. This is often referred to as the " Divine Right of Kings", implying that a ruler's authority stems directly from God. Prominent theorists associate of the monarchy.
Some find significance in the fact that there were only 7 inmates housed at the time of the siege. Among those inmates, Marquis de SadeVan Loo (~1761) Donatien Alphonse Francois, Comte de Sade better known as the Marquis de Sade ( June 2, 1740 December 2, 1814) was a French aristocrat, now best known as a writer of pornography but also the author of philosophical works; much of his writi is believed to have triggered the assault by shouting that people were being executed inside. Many historians believe that the storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying point and symbolic act of rebellion than any practical act of defiance. No less important in the history of France, it was not the image typically conjured up of courageous French patriots storming the Bastille and freeing hundreds of oppressed peasants.
Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, on August 26August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). There are 127 days remaining. Events Monday, August 26, 55 BC Julius Caesar invades Britain Saturday, August 26, 1071 Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed.