General Staffs in France (fr. États Généraux) - the highest estate-representative institution in 1302-1789.

The emergence of the States General was associated with the growth of cities, the exacerbation of social contradictions and class struggle, which necessitated the strengthening of the feudal state.

The forerunners of the States-General were the enlarged meetings of the royal council (with the involvement of the city leaders), as well as the provincial assemblies of the estates (which laid the foundation for the provincial states). The first States General were convened in 1302, during the conflict between Philip IV and Pope Boniface VIII.

The states-general were an advisory body convened at the initiative of the royal government at critical times to assist the government. Their main function was tax quotas. Each estate - nobility, clergy, third estate - sat in the States General separately from the others and had one vote (regardless of the number of representatives). The third estate was represented by the elite of the townspeople.

The importance of the States General increased during the Hundred Years War of 1337-1453, when the royal power was especially in need of money. During the period of popular uprisings of the XIV century (the Paris uprising of 1357-1358, Jacquerie in 1358), the States General claimed to be actively involved in governing the country (similar demands were expressed by the States General of 1357 in the "Great March Ordinance"). However, the lack of unity between the cities and their irreconcilable enmity with the nobility made fruitless the attempts of the French States General to achieve the rights that the English parliament was able to win.

At the end of the 14th century, the States-General were convened less and less frequently and were often replaced by meetings of notables. From the end of the 15th century, the institution of the States General fell into decay due to the beginning of the development of absolutism, during 1484-1560 they were not convened at all (a certain revival of their activity was observed during the period of the Religious Wars - the States General were convened in 1560, 1576, 1588, and 1593 years).

From 1614 to 1789, the States General never met again. Only on May 5, 1789, amid an acute political crisis on the eve of the Great French Revolution, the king convened the States General. On June 17, 1789, the deputies of the third estate declared themselves the National Assembly, on July 9, the National Assembly declared itself By the Constituent Assembly, which became the highest representative and legislative body of revolutionary France.

In the 20th century, the name States General was adopted by some representative assemblies addressing current political issues and expressing broad public opinion (for example, the Assembly of the States General for Disarmament, May 1963).

abstract
Discipline: History of State and Law of Foreign Countries

On the subject: States General in France

Completed: student of the group YUZVDs + in 7.1 / 0-10
Rassakhatsky I.S.
Checked by: prep. Chemnitz Vadim Ernestovich

Introduction 3
Period of the Hundred Years War 5
During the Huguenot Wars 8
Dominance of absolutism 9
List of used literature 12

Introduction
General Staffs in France (fr. Etats Generaux) - in France, the highest estate-representative institution in 1302-1789, which had the character of an advisory body. The states-general were convened by the king at critical moments in French history and were supposed to provide the royal will with the support of society. In its classic form, the French States-General consisted of three chambers: representatives of the nobility, the clergy and the third, taxable estate. Each estate sat in the States General separately and issued a separate opinion on the issue under discussion. More often than not, the States-General approved decisions on the collection of taxes.
The emergence of the States General was associated with the growth of cities, the exacerbation of social contradictions and class struggle, which necessitated the strengthening of the feudal state.
The forerunners of the States-General were the enlarged meetings of the royal council (with the involvement of the city leaders), as well as the provincial assemblies of the estates (which laid the foundation for the provincial states). The first States General were convened in 1302, during the conflict between Philip IV and Pope Boniface VIII.
Wanting to prevent confusion, Philip IV called a meeting, to which he invited not only church and secular feudal lords, but also two deputies from each city. The meeting took place in the main church of Paris - Notre Dame Cathedral. According to eyewitnesses, the king "asked as a friend and demanded as a lord" help from the estates in his struggle against the claims of the pope. City deputies spoke for him. They declared that they were ready to die for the cause of the king.
The convening of the States General defused the situation in the country and prevented a possible open rebellion against the central government. But there was no agreement between the estates. Unlike the English feudal lords, the French nobility not only did not engage in farming and trade, but also did not admit townspeople into their midst.

Meeting of the States General.

Only the king could give the title of nobleman, and he did it not so much for money as rewarding for service. The nobility and the townspeople were very far from each other, and it is no coincidence that the townspeople more often preferred to negotiate with the king.
The lack of an alliance between nobles and townspeople was reflected in the structure of the States General. Unlike parliament, they were divided into three chambers (according to the number of estates). The first was attended by the highest churchmen - archbishops, bishops, abbots. In the second - representatives of the nobility. The third chamber was made up of the messengers of the cities.
The division of the estates in the States-General deprived them of the influence that the British Parliament had acquired. The states-general were convened irregularly, they could not approve laws.
The states-general were an advisory body convened at the initiative of the royal government at critical times to assist the government. Each estate sat in the States-General separately from the others and had one vote (regardless of the number of representatives).

Period of the Hundred Years War
The predecessors of the French States-General were enlarged meetings of the royal council with the involvement of the city leaders, as well as assemblies of representatives from various estates in the provinces, which laid the foundation for the provincial states. The emergence of the institution of the States General was due to the situation that developed after the creation of the French centralized state. In addition to the royal domain, the state included vast lands of secular and spiritual feudal lords, as well as cities that had numerous and traditional freedoms and rights. For all his power, the king did not yet have sufficient rights and authority to make decisions on these traditional freedoms alone. In addition, the still fragile royal power on a number of issues, including foreign policy, needed the visible support of the entire French society.
The first nationwide states-general were convened in April 1302, during the conflict between Philip IV the Fair and Pope Boniface VIII. This meeting rejected the pope's claim to the role of supreme arbiter, stating that the king in secular affairs depends only on God. In 1308, preparing a reprisal against the Templars, the king again found it necessary to rely on the support of the States General. August 1, 1314 Philip IV the Handsome summoned the States General to approve the decision on the collection of taxes to finance the military campaign in Flanders. Then the nobility made an attempt to unite with the townspeople to repel the excessive monetary demands of the king.
In the years of the decline of the Capetian dynasty, the importance of the States General increases. It was they who made the decision to remove the daughter of King Louis X from the succession in 1317, and after the death of Charles IV the Fair and the suppression of the Capetian dynasty, they handed over the crown to Philip VI of Valois.
Under the first Valois, and especially during the Hundred Years War of 1337-1453, when the royal government needed extraordinary financial support and the consolidation of all the forces of France, the States General achieved the greatest influence. Using the right to approve taxes, they tried to initiate the adoption of new laws. In 1355, under King John II the Brave, the States General agreed to allocate funds to the king, only if a number of conditions were met. In an effort to avoid abuse, the States-General themselves began to allocate trustees to collect taxes.
After the Battle of Poitiers (1356), King John II the Brave was captured by the British. Taking advantage of the situation, the States-General, led by the Provost of Paris, Etienne Marcel and the Bishop of Lannes, Robert Lecoq, came up with a reform program. They demanded that the Dauphin Karl Valois, who took control of France (the future Charles V the Wise, replaced his advisers with representatives of the three estates and did not dare to take independent decisions. These demands were supported by the provincial states. The States-General expressed their claims to power in the Great Ordinance of March 1357. According to Its provisions recognized only those taxes and fees that were approved by the States-General.
Dauphin Karl was forced to accept the terms of the Great March Ordinance, but immediately began to fight for its abolition. A cunning and resourceful politician, he managed to win over most of the nobles and clergy to his side. Already in 1358, the Dauphin announced the abolition of the ordinance, which provoked the outrage of the Parisian townspeople led by Etienne Marcel (see the Paris uprising of 1357-1358. The Parisians were supported by some other cities and detachments of peasants. and the Paris uprising was suppressed.
Having achieved the obedience of the estates, the Dauphin Charles, who since 1364 became king of France, preferred to solve financial problems with the meetings of notables, leaving only the problems of consolidating the forces of France in the fight against the British to the share of the States General. His successors adhered to a similar policy. However, during the period of rivalry between the Bourguignons and Armagnacs, it was the States-General who supported Charles VII of Valois in strengthening the royal power. In the 1420s and 1430s, they again played an active political role. Of particular importance were the states of 1439, assembled in Orleans. They forbade the lords to have their own army, recognizing such a right only for the king; imposed a talyu tax on the maintenance of the king's standing army.
At the same time, the enmity of the townspeople with the nobles, the disunity of the cities did not allow the States General to achieve an expansion of their rights, like the English parliament. Moreover, by the middle of the 15th century, most of French society agreed that the king had the right to impose new taxes and fees without asking permission from the States General. The widespread introduction of talya (permanent direct tax) provided the treasury with a solid source of income and relieved the kings of the need to coordinate financial policies with representatives of the estates. Charles VII did not fail to take advantage of this. Having entrenched himself on the throne, from 1439 until the very end of his reign in 1461, he never once assembled the States General.

During the Huguenot Wars
Having lost the right to vote on taxes, the States General are losing real political significance and are entering a period of decline. During the years of his reign, King Louis XI of Valois gathered the General States only once in 1467 and then only to receive formal authority to make any decisions for the good of France without convening the States General. In 1484 the states were convened due to the minority of King Charles VIII of Valois. They are interesting in that for the first time not only the urban, but also the rural tax-paying population was represented in the composition of the deputies of the third estate. These States General made a number of decisions to control the royal power, but they all remained well-intentioned. Subsequently, Charles VIII, until the end of his reign, never once convened the States General.
Since the end of the 15th century, the system of absolute monarchy has finally taken shape in France, and the very idea of ​​limiting the prerogatives of royal power becomes blasphemous. Accordingly, the institution of the States General fell into complete decay. Louis XII of Valois collected them only once in 1506, Francis I of Valois - never at all, Henry II of Valois - also once in 1548, and then he appointed many deputies by his own will.
The importance of the States-General increased again during the Huguenot Wars. And the weakened royal power, and both hostile religious camps, and the estates themselves were interested in using the authority of the states in their own interests. But the split in the country was so deep that it did not allow to assemble the composition of the deputies, whose decisions would be legitimate for the warring parties. However, Chancellor L'Hôtal in 1560 assembles the Estates-General in Orleans. The following year they continued their work in Pontoise, but without the clergy deputies, who sat separately in Poissy for a religious debate between Catholics and Huguenots. As a result of the work of the deputies, the "Orleans Orleans" was developed, on the basis of which Lopital tried to start reforms in France. In general, the deputies spoke in favor of the transformation of the States General into a permanent body of state power overseeing the activities of the king.
Unsurprisingly, the royal government avoided the convening of new states. But, nevertheless, in 1576 King Henry III of Valois was forced to reassemble the States General in Blois. The majority of the deputies supported the Catholic League, formed in May 1574, which sought to limit royal power. In the legislative sphere, the States-General demanded that the laws of the kingdom be placed above the decrees of the king; the decrees of the States General could only be canceled by the States General themselves, and if the law received the unanimous support of all estates, then it entered into force without royal approval. The deputies also demanded participation in the appointment of ministers. Representatives of the third estate demanded the restoration of traditional municipal rights and liberties, constrained by the royal administration over the previous decades. By the Ordinance of Blois, Henry III expressed solidarity with the demands of the States General, but this step had no real significance due to the general chaos in France during the Huguenot wars.
In 1588, the Catholic League gained strength again and achieved the convening of new States General in Blois. And this time the majority of the deputies belonged to the Catholic camp. Under the slogans of limiting royal power and recognizing the supreme sovereignty of the States General, they sought to take power from Henry III and transfer it to the leader of the Catholics, Heinrich Guise. This rivalry ended in the tragic death of both Henrys, and the former leader of the Huguenot camp, Henry IV Bourbon, became king. In 1593 in Paris, opponents of the new king convened the States General, but his deputies did not represent the political forces of all of France and could not prevent Henry IV from taking all power into their own hands.

Dominance of absolutism
The rise to power of Henry IV was largely the result of a compromise between the warring layers of French society. Having taken an openly pro-Catholic position during the Huguenot Wars, the States General found themselves out of work in the new political situation. Henry IV ruled as an absolute monarch. Only at the beginning of his reign, he called a meeting of notables, the deputies of which he himself appointed. The notables approved taxes for three years in advance and later asked the king to rule on his own.
During the minority of King Louis XIII of Bourbon, the penultimate States General in the history of France took place in 1614. They revealed serious contradictions between the interests of the third estate and the upper classes. Representatives of the clergy and nobility insisted on exemption from taxes, granting new and consolidating old privileges, that is, they defended not national, but narrow class interests. They refused to see the deputies of the third estate as equal partners, treating them as servants. The humiliated position of the third estate was also supported by the court. If the nobles and clergy could sit in hats in the presence of the king, then the representatives of the third estate were obliged to kneel before the monarch and with their heads uncovered. The complaints of the third estate about the severity of taxes, legal insecurity did not find understanding. As a result, the states did not make a single meaningful decision. The only thing that the estates could agree on was the wish to the king to collect the States-General every ten years. In early 1615, the states were dissolved.
In 1617 and 1626, meetings of notables were convened, and later, until the Great French Revolution, the state did without a nationwide representative institution. Nevertheless, on the ground, representative institutions continued to operate - provincial states and parliaments, although not in all provinces. And the very idea of ​​the States-General was not forgotten and was revived in the midst of a deep crisis of royal power at the end of the 18th century.
Only the most acute political crisis forced King Louis XVI of Bourbon to convene new States General. They began their work on May 5, 1789. And on June 17, the deputies of the third estate declared themselves the National Assembly, responsible for the formation of the legislative power in the country. At the request of King Louis XVI of Bourbon, deputies from the nobility and the clergy also joined the National Assembly. On July 9, 1789, the National Assembly proclaimed itself a Constituent Assembly with the aim of developing a new legislative framework for the French state. The events of the first stage of the Great French Revolution are closely connected with the activities of the States General in 1789.
etc.................

Each monarch solved the problems of the state in different ways, someone borrowed money, but the kings of France turned to a special authority - the supreme assembly. What is the history of the emergence of the states general, what is it, and why the first convocation of the states general in France in 1789 ended with a revolution.

There is a widespread belief that the monarchy is ruled only by the king, but it should be noted that this is not the case. In any monarchy, most often the supreme body of power, the parliament or council, acted on a par with the supreme ruler.

In France, there also existed the States-General or the highest estate-representative institution.

The creation of the States General in France was associated, first of all, with the active expansion of settlements and the accompanying sharp exacerbation of negative sentiments in society.

The struggle between classes grew, and the king needed such an organ of power that would help strengthen the feudal state. Previously, extended council meetings were used for this purpose, at which city officials gathered, and provincial assemblies.

The date of the first convocation is considered the day of foundation of the General States - 1302. Circumstances developed in such a way that Philip IV the Handsome opposed Boniface VIII.

After that, there were several convocations for the following reasons:

1. The Hundred Years War and the urgent need of the court for finances.
2. The Paris uprising demanding to limit the power of the monarch ("Great March Ordinance" - decree), which ended in failure.
3. A period of wars and religious divisions.
4. First and last convocation before the revolution.

Louis XVI called the meeting for the last time on May 5, 1789 in the hope of solving the acute socio-economic crisis in the country after long attempts to resolve it on his own. The discontent of the people manifested itself at meetings that became the National Assembly, and the third estate took the leading positions in it.

The structure and work of the organ

How the States General were arranged during the time of monarchs in France. They represented a parliament, consisting of three chambers, which included representatives of the nobility (feudal lords), the clergy and the "third estate" - the bourgeoisie.

At the same time, the first two chambers had great advantages and could veto all proposals of deputies from the bourgeoisie. The parties met separately, and the time of the meetings was also determined by the monarch.

The real reason why the monarch convened the states-general was most likely: the desire to have the support of the entire nation in some sensitive issue (the war with the Templars) and the need to fill the empty treasury with taxes or loans.

The body could independently turn to the monarch, expressing to him in writing discontent or problems in society that demanded his attention.

Good to know! Despite the limited opinion of the bourgeoisie, it was this party that eventually started the Great French Revolution.

The states-general in France became an advisory body, which met only by the decision of the king in especially difficult times for the country, most often the reason for convening was the need to resolve the issue by voting, for example, to raise taxes. At the same time, their peculiarity was the presence of representatives of all three classes of society.

Useful video: estate-representative monarchy in France in the XI-XIV centuries

Consequences of the convocation of 1789

Why was the convocation of the States General in France in 1789? For what purpose did the king call general assemblies after a long break, in more than 100 years, because the last time the deputies were convened in 1614?

As in the case of any other convocation of the States General, the reason lay in the area of ​​the economic and social crisis in which the country found itself.

Initially, meetings and meetings of this body were not planned, but at the meeting of the notables in 1787, Charles Colonne expressed such an idea, since the rulers could not independently come to any effective solution, and the program of financial reforms was rejected by the Paris Parliament. The decision to convene the three estates for negotiations was an attempt to return to the archaic institution of governing the country, but changed it forever.

The convocation was carried out by the edict of Louis XVI in the winter of 1789, in the document the king asked his subjects to get together and help the court overcome financial difficulties. In return, the monarch promised to consider all the complaints of the people, which were recorded by his representatives and also to hold elections of deputies to parliament from the people. Wanting to hold the meetings as they had in 1614, the court hoped to gain control of the people.

Why was this important? Voting in 1614 took place by estates, that is, the clergy, the nobility and the bourgeoisie voted by party, and then the first two received the advantage. In addition, Louis promised to increase the number of participants in the third party in order to make the vote fair (there were more nobility and clergy than representatives of the third estate).

Several meetings were held during May and June. However, the estates could not agree with each other in any way, even the first issue of the agenda was not resolved, how to vote - word by word or all together. The third bourgeois party did not agree with the decision to vote in parties, because it understood what advantages the opponents received.

Members of the meetings were represented by:

1. The clergy, which included 100,000 members. It should be mentioned that the church collected a tax (tithe) from the peasants and owned a total of 10% of all land in France.
2. The nobility, a total of 400,000 people (men and women), who owned 25% of the land and set their own fees.
3. The bourgeoisie, which numbered only 578 deputies, although they represented 95% of the total population of the country.

By decree of Louis, the tax districts voted and nominated delegates to the bourgeois class, and the judicial districts to the clergy and nobility class. Each party had to submit a list of complaints at the meeting, with the most complaints from representatives of peasants and underprivileged citizens. A total of 1139 deputies were elected.

• clergy - 291 members;
• nobility - 270 people;
• bourgeoisie - 578 members.

The meetings began on May 5, 1789 after the grand opening. The king, speaking at the opening, stressed the need for these meetings only to solve the financial problems of the country, while the people of France were waiting for cardinal changes in society.

The conflict between the parties took place on the second day, when the third estate refused to sit separately, as prescribed by the regulations, and invited the first two parties to the collective meeting. In addition, voting had to take place by party, and this gave an advantage to the first two estates.

Good to know! In the 20th century, some congregations that dealt with sensitive political issues, expressing the general opinion of the people, called themselves the States General.

Consequences of the convocation of 1789

The result of long negotiations and the impossibility of finding a common solution that would suit everyone was the formation by the bourgeoisie of the National Constitutional Assembly, which included fully the deputies of the third party and representatives from the clergy. After several futile attempts by the assembly to get together and draft a constitution, a meeting of all parties took place on 23 June.

At the meeting, the king announced the cancellation of all innovations and refused to subject his power to restrictions, as well as the rights of the nobility. He surrounded the deputies with troops and ordered everyone to disperse. After the refusal of the third estate, an attempt was made to disperse the audience by force, but it was not crowned with success. On June 27, by order of the king, all three parties were united, and the States General were transformed into the National Assembly, and then into the Constituent Assembly.

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States General in France

The states-general in France was the highest estate-representative institution in 1302-1789.

The emergence of the States General was associated with the growth of cities, the exacerbation of social contradictions and class struggle, which necessitated the strengthening of the feudal state. The estate-representative monarchy was established at a certain stage of centralization of the country, when the autonomous rights of feudal lords, the Catholic Church, and city corporations were not completely overcome. Solving important national tasks and assuming a number of new state functions, the royal power gradually broke the political structure characteristic of the senior monarchy. But in the implementation of its policy, it faced powerful opposition from the feudal oligarchy, the resistance of which could not be overcome only by its own means. Therefore, the political strength of the king largely stemmed from the support he received from the feudal estates.

Since the emergence of the States General took place during the struggle of royal power for the centralization of the state and overcoming the resistance of the federal nobility, it was by the beginning of the XIV century that the alliance of the king and representatives of different estates, including the third estate, built on a political compromise, and therefore not always strong, was finally formed. The political expression of this union, in which each of the parties had its own specific interests, became special estate-representative institutions - the States General and the provincial states.

The creation of the States General in France marked the beginning of a change in the form of the state in France - its transformation into an estate-representative monarchy.

The reasons for the convening of the States General by King Philip IV the Fair in 1302 were the unsuccessful war in Flanders; serious economic difficulties, as well as a dispute between the king and the pope. However, these events were a pretext, another reason was the creation of a nationwide estate-representative institution and the manifestation of an objective pattern in the development of the monarchical state in France.

The states-general were an advisory body convened at the initiative of the royal government at critical times to assist the government. Their main function was tax quotas.

The states-general have always been the body representing the wealthy strata of French society. The estates of the States General included the clergy (the highest - archbishops, bishops, abbots); nobility (large feudal lords; middle and small nobility - except for the first convocations); urban population (deputies from churches, conventions of monasteries and cities - 2-3 deputies; lawyers - about 1/7 of the General States). Each estate - the clergy, the nobility, the third estate - sat in the States General separately from the others and had one vote (regardless of the number of representatives). The third estate was represented by the elite of the townspeople. The frequency of the convening of the States General was not established, this issue was decided by the king depending on the circumstances and political considerations.

In the States-General, each estate met and discussed issues separately. Only in 1468 and 1484 did all three estates meet together. Voting was usually organized according to balajas and seneschalties, where deputies were elected. If differences were found in the position of the estates, voting was carried out by estates. In this case, each estate had one vote, and in general the feudal lords always had an advantage over the third estate.

The questions brought before the States General and the duration of their meetings were also determined by the king. The king resorted to the convening of the States General in order to get the support of the estates for various reasons: the fight against the Knights Templar (1308), the conclusion of a treaty with England (1359), religious wars (1560, 1576, 1588). But most often the reason for the convening of the States General was the king's need for money, and he turned to the estates with a request for financial assistance or permission for another tax, which could only be collected within one year.

The importance of the States-General increased during the Hundred Years War of 1337-1453, when the royal power was especially in need of money. During the period of popular uprisings of the XIV century (the Paris uprising of 1357-1358, Jacquerie in 1358), the States General claimed an active role in governing the country. However, the lack of unity between the cities and their irreconcilable enmity with the nobility made fruitless the attempts of the French States General to achieve the rights that the English parliament was able to win.

The most acute conflict between the States-General and the royal power occurred in 1357 at the time of the uprising of the townspeople in Paris and the capture of King John of France by the British. The states-general, which were attended mainly by representatives of the third estate, put forward a reform program called the Great March Ordinance. In return for granting subsidies to the royal power, they demanded that the collection and expenditure of funds be made by the States-General themselves, which were to be collected three times a year and without being convened by the king. "General reformers" were elected, who were empowered to control the activities of the royal administration, to dismiss individual officials and punish them, up to and including the death penalty. However, the attempt by the States General to secure permanent financial, control, and even legislative powers was unsuccessful. After the suppression of the Paris uprising and Jacquerie in 1358, the royal authorities rejected the demands contained in the Great March Ordinance.

From 1614 to 1789, the States General never met again. Only on May 5, 1789, amid an acute political crisis on the eve of the Great French Revolution, the king convened the States General. On June 17, 1789, the deputies of the third estate declared themselves the National Assembly, on July 9, the National Assembly proclaimed itself the Constituent Assembly, which became the highest representative and legislative body of revolutionary France.

In the 20th century, the name States General was adopted by some representative assemblies addressing current political issues and expressing broad public opinion (for example, the Assembly of the States General for Disarmament, May 1963).

Until the XIV century, the royal power in France was rather weakened, and in fact the king ruled only in his domain. Initially, the head of state was elected among the strongest representatives of the feudal lords, only in the XII century did the throne become be inherited... In practice, the king did not have all the power. He was recognized as having the right to command an army, to issue laws, and to rule a court. But all this was only in theory. In fact, the country was divided into separate regions, where one or another feudal lord ruled.

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Prerequisites

There were many problems in the state:

• centralized power was in decline;
• there was no inner unity;
• territorial fragmentation;
• weak position in foreign policy.

However, the very development of society created the preconditions for the centralization of royal power. In the XII - XIII centuries, an accelerated growth of cities began. Commodity-money relations also did not stand still. All this required the strengthening of royal power. With the coming to power of Louis XI and after the reforms he carried out, the king gradually became a true suzerain for his vassals.

The main estates of France

The innovations of Louis XI created the conditions for the formation of an estate-representative monarchy in France. If until that time the leading position among the estates was occupied by feudal lords, whose power was not limited by anything, now the position of the urban population and peasants has strengthened. This happened after the king banned feudal wars, during which a huge number of civilians were destroyed.

Three main estates that developed in France by that time:

Subsequently, it was these three categories that became part of the States General.

Establishment of the States General and their first convocation

By the beginning of the XIV century in France a rather difficult situation has developed:

• failure in the war with Flanders;
• the conflict between King Philip IV and the Pope;
• difficulties in the economy.

All this required the head of the kingdom to take some action to resolve it. And the natural result was the emergence of the States General in France and their first convocation in 1302 - a political consultative structure, which included representatives of all three main estates and consisted, respectively, of the same number of chambers. There was no specific date when the states were to meet. This happened at the request of the king in the most difficult situations (military operations, uprisings among the population). But the main purpose of their creation is to replenish the royal treasury and permit the introduction of the next tax.

Composition and principle of operation

When solving the questions raised, all the chambers did not gather for discussion together, but each met separately... Initially, representatives of the first and second estate (the highest clergy and the most noble nobles) were personally invited by the king.

Further, the practice of electing those who will represent the estate has developed - 2-3 deputies each from the leading churches, abbeys, monasteries, and the middle and small nobility. The third estate was represented by well-to-do townspeople. The peasants, although formally treated him, did not take any part in the meetings. This was the most dependent part of the population and nothing depended on their opinion - that is why the peasants were not invited to the States General. It was believed that their opinion was represented by the feudal lords, to whom the peasants belonged. That is, it was a gathering of only the privileged strata of the population.

The years 1468 and 1484 became an exception in the work of the meeting - the discussion was held simultaneously by all estates.

The elected deputies expressed the will of their voters, and after returning from the meeting, they had to give a report to them.

The need to convene and the duration of the meetings was determined by the king. He turned to the states when the support of the estates was needed on some issue. So, in 1308 they convened to fight the Knights Templar, in 1359 - to discuss a peace treaty with England. But more often than not, the king needed permission to introduce and collect an additional annual tax. And only in 1439 Charles VII obtained permission for levying permanent royal tax.

The states had the right to appeal to the king with complaints, to present claims to the administration appointed by the highest power, to make proposals. Basically, the king met all the requirements of the states so as not to lose the support of the estates. But if the deputies opposed the king and did not vote for the proposal made by him, then they simply did not convene for a long time.

Complete cessation of activity

After the end of the Hundred Years War, the importance of this authority has diminished significantly. From 1484 to 1560 there were practically no meetings. Further, the wars of religion began, and the States General were again in demand. The convening of the States General in France in 1789 is the last meeting of the council on the eve of the French Revolution, at which the third estate declared itself the National Assembly.