Estates-General
Topic: Medieval Europe: Feudalism and the Three Orders · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "The Three Orders"
Meaning
The Estates-General was France's advisory assembly. It had three houses, one for each of the three orders: the clergy, the nobility and everyone else. It met in 1614 under Louis XIII. After that, French kings did not want to share power, so they did not call it again until 1789. This long gap shows how strong royal absolutism had become in France.
Example
When Louis XVI finally called the Estates-General in 1789, the meeting started the French Revolution. This path helps explain why France today is a republic.
Don't confuse with
- English Parliament: Parliament kept meeting and kings had to ask it before taxing. The Estates-General went unsummoned for 175 years.