Estates-General - 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.
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