The Estates General of 1789: How France's Last Medieval Parliament Sparked Revolution

In May 1789, King Louis XVI convened the Estates General for the first time in 175 years, hoping to solve France's financial crisis. Instead, the meeting at Versailles became the spark that ignited the French Revolution. This episode explores the tangled voting disputes, the walkout of the Third Estate, and the Tennis Court Oath that transformed delegates into a National Assembly. We meet key figures like Abbé Sieyès, whose pamphlet 'What is the Third Estate?' crystallized grievances, and Mirabeau, the fiery orator who bridged noble and commoner. We also look at the ancient rules—voting by order rather than by head—that doomed the old system. How did a simple procedural question about how to count votes lead to the storming of the Bastille? And what lessons does this moment hold for political crises today? Join Lucas and Luna as they unpack the dramatic weeks when France's old regime cracked open. #EstatesGeneral #FrenchRevolution #TennisCourtOath #ThirdEstate #AbbéSieyès #Mirabeau #LouisXVI #Versailles #1789 #NationalAssembly #AncienRégime #Necker #CahiersDeDoléances #WhatIsTheThirdEstate #SalleDesMenusPlaisirs #VotingByOrder #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo