Wikipedia tells us that, On 5 May 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 20 June the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath (named after the hall where they had gathered which was frequently used for playing "jeu de paume", an ancestor of tennis), swearing not to separate until a Constitution had been established. To show their support, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, a prison where people were jailed by arbitrary decision of the King (lettre de cachet). The Bastille was, in particular, known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government. Thus the Bastille was a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy.
Hmm. "a prison were people were jailed by arbitrary decision of the King." Sounds familiar for some reason.
In France, they had a riot over that. I'm just sayin'.
1 comment:
Spouse and I hit Les Halles in DC for the annual wait staff races down PA Avenue and dessert and a glass of bubbly. In trying to think of what else we could do to celebrate, I came up with the idea of storming a prison, only there are so many that qualify that we couldn't decide which one to hit ;-)
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