The
“Tennis Court Oath” had nothing to do with tennis. Or any other
sport, for that matter.
The
oath was a 1789 pact made by 576 of the 577 Frenchmen who represented
commoners in France's governing body, the Estates-General. These
Frenchmen, called the Third Estate, thought that they had been locked
out of the Estates-General, which also included the First Estate
(priests) and the Second Estate (nobles)—but the hall was probably
just locked because the king was mourning the death of his son. Not
knowing why they were locked out, the members of the Third Estate
made an indoor tennis court into a conference room and made a promise
that they would stay assembled together until France had a written
constitution.
 |
| Can you spot the one guy who disagreed with the oath, sitting with his head down on the right side of the group? |
This
was the first time that French citizens had formally opposed their
king, Louis XVI. The group called itself the National Assembly, and
it put forth the idea that political authority came from the people
who were ruled rather than from the king. About a week after the
Tennis Court Oath was written and signed, the king called for a
meeting of the Estates-General in order to write a constitution.
(However,
if you know your French history, you may remember that things didn't
go smoothly. The king tried to hold onto his absolute authority, the
rebellion against his rule got violent, and not only was Louis XVI
executed, but his queen and a whole lot of other people were executed
as well! It was a bad scene for a while there...)
Reading
about the Tennis Court Oath made me realize once again how often a
misunderstanding—in this case, thinking that someone was locking
the group out as a power move when it wasn't the case—can make a
situation worse. Let's use our words, assume the best (yet prepare
for the worst), and investigate non-violent solutions.
Also
on this date:
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