History: EstatesGeneral

The Estates-General or French Parliament was a political organization in the fourteenth century. The Estates-General was made up of representatives from clergy, nobility and the common people. The Estates-General did not hold significant power, and was mostly subordinate to the rule of the king. Since the burden of taxation weighted heavily on the French people, the Estates-General made a deal with the monarchy when an emergency increase in taxes was required to ransom King John II. The Estates-General acquiesced to the taxes, on condition that once the dauphin, John's son Charles, gained power, all taxation must be approved by the Estates-General. Though it was a valiant attempt, the political coalition eventually collapsed under the weight of the powerful monarch, Charles V.