Estates General

Estates General
French Hist.
the States-General.

* * *

or States General French États-Généraux.

In pre-Revolutionary France, the representative assembly of the three "estates" or orders of the realm: the clergy and the nobility (both privileged minorities) as well as the Third Estate, which represented the majority of the people.

Usually summoned by monarchs in times of crisis, the Estates General met at irregular intervals from the 14th century on; it was of limited effectiveness because the monarchy usually dealt with local Estates instead. The last meeting of the Estates General was at the start of the French Revolution in 1789, when the deputies of the Third Estate led in founding the National Assembly.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Estates-General — [ə stāts′ jen′ər əl, istāts′jen′ər əl] n. STATES GENERAL (sense 1) * * * Es·tates Gen·er·al (ĭ stātsʹjĕnʹər əl) pl.n. See States General.   [Translation of French états généraux.] * * * ▪ French history a …   Universalium

  • Estates-General — [ə stāts′ jen′ər əl, istāts′jen′ər əl] n. STATES GENERAL (sense 1) …   English World dictionary

  • Estates General — (États généraux)    The national representative body in France before 1789, the basic function of the Estates General, or États généraux, was to give assent to royal taxation. Its members represented the three estates, or classes clergy, nobility …   France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present

  • Estates-General —    The national council of the 17 provinces of the Netherlands, the Estates General met in Brussels beginning in 1548 1549. The body dealt with issues of concern common to all the Estates of the provinces. Measures it took included determining… …   Historical Dictionary of Brussels

  • Estates-General of 1789 — The Estates General (or States General) of 1789 ( fr. Les États Généraux de 1789) was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French… …   Wikipedia

  • Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec — The Estates General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec is the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000. The mandate which the government gave to the commission: to identify and analyze the …   Wikipedia

  • Estates General — noun assembly of the estates of all France; last meeting in 1789 • Hypernyms: ↑States General …   Useful english dictionary

  • Estates General — /əsteɪts ˈdʒɛnrəl/ (say uhstayts jenruhl) noun → States General (def. 2) …  

  • National assizes of 1967 (Estates General of French Canada) — The National assizes of 1967 were the second meeting of the Estates General of French Canada. They were held from November 23 to 26 at Place des Arts in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Contents 1 Preparation 2 Participants 3 Progress …   Wikipedia

  • Estates of the realm — Cleric, Knight, and Workman : the three estates in a French medieval illumination The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”