Tennis Court Oath
On the morning of June 20, the deputies were shocked to discover the doors to their chamber locked and guarded by soldiers. Immediately fearing the worst and anxious that a royal coup was imminent, the deputies congregated in the king's nearby indoor tennis court, where they took a solemn collective oath "never to separate, and to meet wherever circumstances demand, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and affirmed on solid foundations". The deputies pledged to continue to meet until a constitution had been written, despite the royal prohibition. 576 men signed the oath, with only one refusing. 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.
Read more about this topic: National Assembly (French Revolution)
Famous quotes containing the words tennis, court and/or oath:
“The boneless quality of English conversation, which, so far as I have heard it, is all form and no content. Listening to Britons dining out is like watching people play first-class tennis with imaginary balls.”
—Margaret Halsey (b. 1910)
“We should have learnt by now that laws and court decisions can only point the way. They can establish criteria of right and wrong. And they can provide a basis for rooting out the evils of bigotry and racism. But they cannot wipe away centuries of oppression and injustice—however much we might desire it.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“I’ll have my bond, speak not against my bond,
I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)