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Third Estate
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Auguste Couder: Opening of the Estates-General, May 5, 1789
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Auguste Couder: Opening of the Estates-General, May 5, 1789
Auguste Couder: Opening of the Estates-General, May 5, 1789 Opening of the Estates-General, May 5, 1789, oil on canvas by Auguste Couder, 1839; in the Museum of the History of France, Palace of Versailles.

Third Estate

French history
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Also known as: Tiers État
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Quick Facts
French:
Tiers État
Date:
April 1302 - June 17, 1789
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Third Estate, in French history, with the nobility and the clergy, one of the three orders into which members were divided in the pre-Revolutionary Estates-General. It represented the great majority of the people, and its deputies’ transformation of themselves into a National Assembly in June 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Heather Campbell.