Third Estate
of the Citizen in August, and a march on Versailles.
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1789 in France — Page 5
Explore 704 historical events and records for France in 1789.
Historical records for France in 1789
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June
Third Estate Transformation Leads toward Rights Declaration
The Third Estate's transformation into the National Assembly leads toward constitutional reform and the August Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Union with Third Estate
Talleyrand joined deputies of the Third Estate as the representative orders moved toward a single national assembly.
Bailly defends continuity of Assembly
The deputies resumed their constitutional deliberations after the Tennis Court Oath despite obstacles to their meetings. Bailly's presidency helped affirm that royal control of a meeting room could not dissolve national representation.
Annulment of Assembly Decisions
Louis XVI declared decisions taken by the self-proclaimed National Assembly invalid during the royal session.
Bailly becomes civilian counterpart to Mirabeau
While Mirabeau became famous for resisting royal commands, Bailly provided the procedural leadership of the National Assembly. The two roles together strengthened the deputies' collective challenge to the crown.
Bailly continues presidency under pressure
Bailly remained the presiding officer as deputies insisted that their collective authority survived the royal session. The consequences of royal session challenges national deputies reached well beyond the palace and its neighbouring legislative chambers.
Bailly presides during royal session crisis
Louis XVI challenged the Assembly's decisions at a royal session and instructed deputies to separate by order. Bailly remained president as deputies asserted that their mandate could not be cancelled in this way.
King attempts to restore separate orders
Louis XVI annulled the Assembly's resolutions and proposed reforms while retaining separate estate distinctions. The royal session challenges national deputies made Versailles a focal point in the struggle over royal and representative authority.
Mirabeau resists instruction to disperse
Mirabeau became identified with the deputies' refusal to abandon their work following royal orders. This development concerning royal session challenges national deputies exposed the limits of the old regime's political arrangements.
Order to Disperse Assembly
Louis XVI ordered the deputies to leave the hall after the royal session, but the National Assembly refused to disperse.
Royal Reform Concessions
Louis XVI offered reforms during the royal session while preserving important privileges and the traditional distinction between the three orders.
Royal Session
Louis XVI addressed the deputies in a royal session and attempted to restore separate deliberation by the three orders.
Royal session confrontation: Refusal to leave the hall
Mirabeau became associated with the deputies' refusal to abandon their meeting after Louis XVI's royal session. His defiance dramatized the Assembly's claim to independent deliberation.
Royal session confrontation: Representatives resist dissolution
Sieyes and the national representatives persisted after the king ordered separate deliberations. Their stance made national sovereignty more than a theory voiced in pamphlets.
Royal session confrontation: Royal orders lose authority
Louis XVI attempted to direct the estates through a solemn royal session. The representatives' refusal to submit exposed the limits of traditional royal command.
Royal Session Defiance
Mirabeau resisted the royal order to disperse after the Royal Session, symbolizing the Assembly's refusal to retreat.
Defection
During the mobbing of the Archbishop of Paris the French Guard refuse their duties
Defection
During the mobbing of the Archbishop of Paris the French Guard refuse their duties.
Demonstrations
During the mobbing of the Archbishop of Paris the French Guard refuse their duties
Bailly oversees admission of privileged deputies
When the king ordered remaining clergy and nobles to join the common Assembly, Bailly presided over the widened representative body. The union ended separate deliberation as the governing principle of the Estates General.
Gregoire helps integrate reformist clerics
Grégoire belonged to clergy representatives willing to join national deliberations across estate boundaries. This development concerning three orders brought into common assembly exposed the limits of the old regime's political arrangements.
Gregoire's reformist position validated by union
Grégoire's willingness to cooperate with commoners anticipated the final joining of the orders. The debate over final union ends separate meetings of orders demonstrated why electoral rules and parliamentary procedure mattered to constitutional reform.
King instructs privileged deputies to join
Louis XVI ordered remaining clergy and nobles to take their seats with the common assembly. The three orders brought into common assembly made Versailles a focal point in the struggle over royal and representative authority.
King orders common deliberation by all orders
The crown instructed remaining nobles and clerics to join the National Assembly, yielding to the failure of separate estate meetings. The final union ends separate meetings of orders formed part of the transition from estate-based consultation toward claims of national sovereignty.
Mounier sees constitutional forum broaden
The union of the orders gave Mounier's constitutional proposals a legislature embracing all three estates. The consequences of three orders brought into common assembly reached well beyond the palace and its neighbouring legislative chambers.
Sieyes sees national representation triumph
The merger of estates advanced Sieyes's claim that a single nation must have a common legislature. The consequences of final union ends separate meetings of orders helped redefine the place of the three orders in French public life.
Unification of three orders: Assembly consolidates authority
Mounier's constitutional project gained a broader institutional base when deputies of different orders assembled together. This union opened the way to constituent work.
Unification of three orders: Clerical supporters join reform
Grégoire belonged to the clergy sympathetic to the new national representation. Clerical participation weakened the rigid corporate divisions of the Estates General.
Unification of three orders: King accepts combined deliberations
Louis XVI instructed remaining privileged deputies to join the common assembly. The concession abandoned the old premise that each estate would independently control its consent.
Union of the Three Orders
Louis XVI ordered the remaining clergy and nobility to join the National Assembly, ending separate deliberation by the orders.
Defection
The French Guard addresses a crowd at the Palais Royal saying they will not attack
Defection
The French Guard addresses a crowd at the Palais Royal saying they will not attack.
Demonstrations
The French Guard address a crowd at the Palais Royal saying they will not attack
Demonstrations
The French Guard address a crowd at the Palais Royal saying they will not attack.
Club Breton
Mirabeau takes part in revolutionary political discussion while the Breton Club attracts wider national attention
Club Breton
Mirabeau takes part in revolutionary political discussion while the Breton Club attracts wider national attention.
La France Libre
Desmoulins wrote La France Libre, a radical pamphlet attacking the political structure of the old regime.
Point du Jour
Barere published the Point du Jour to report and interpret the proceedings of the revolutionary assemblies.
Union with Third Estate
Beauharnais was among the noble deputies who joined the Third Estate during the transformation of the Estates General.
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.