The non-aristocratic, middle-class members of the Third Estate now represented 98 percent of the people but could still be outvoted by the other two bodies. Rise of the Third Estateįrance’s population, of course, had changed considerably since 1614. The meeting was scheduled for in the meantime, delegates of the three estates from each locality would compile lists of grievances ( cahiers de doléances) to present to the king. To garner support for these measures and forestall a growing aristocratic revolt, the king summoned the Estates General ( les états généraux) – an assembly representing France’s clergy, nobility and middle class – for the first time since 1614. In the fall of 1786, Louis XVI’s controller general, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, proposed a financial reform package that included a universal land tax from which the aristocratic classes would no longer be exempt. Many expressed their desperation and resentment toward a regime that imposed heavy taxes-yet failed to provide any relief-by rioting, looting and striking. Not only were the royal coffers depleted, but several years of poor harvests, drought, cattle disease and skyrocketing bread prices had kindled unrest among peasants and the urban poor.
