On what date did the Tennis Court Oath take place?

The Tennis Court Oath took place on 20 June 1789. Deputies of France’s Third Estate swore in Versailles that they would not separate until a constitution had been established for the kingdom.

The deputies had recently declared themselves the National Assembly, challenging the traditional division of the Estates-General into separate voting orders. On 20 June, they found their usual meeting hall closed and guarded. Fearing an attempt to stop their deliberations, they gathered in a nearby indoor tennis court and made their famous pledge.

Jean-Sylvain Bailly, who presided over the Assembly, signed first. Traditionally, 576 of the 577 deputies present are said to have taken the oath; Joseph Martin-Dauch declined to sign without qualification. The event strengthened the Assembly’s claim to represent the nation and helped push Louis XVI toward concessions.

The oath is often mixed up with the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July or the abolition of feudal privileges on 4 August. Those were separate milestones later in 1789.