Cahiers de doléances
LISTS OF GRIEVANCES DRAWN UP BY EACH OF THE THREE ESTATES IN FRANCE, BETWEEN MARCH AND APRIL 1789, THE YEAR IN WHICH THE FRENCH REVOLUTION BEGAN
Cahiers de Doleances; Cahiers; Cahiers de doleances; Lists of grievances
The Cahiers de doléances (or simply Cahiers as they were often known) were the lists of grievances drawn up by each of the three Estates in France, between January and April 1789, the year in which the French Revolution began. Their compilation was ordered by Louis XVI, who had convened the Estates General of 1789 to manage the revolutionary situation, to give each of the Estates – the First Estate (the clergy), the Second Estate (the nobility) and the Third Estate, which consisted of everyone else, including the urban working class, the rural peasantry, and middle class and professional people, who were the only ones in the group likely to have their voices heard – the chance to express their hopes and grievances directly to the King.