States-General (also called Estates-General), in European history, a national assembly composed of representatives from the various estates (social classes) meeting in separate bodies. The term is best known in reference to the French national assembly (1302–1789), which met in three bodies—the First Estate, or clergy; the Second Estate, or nobles; and the Third Estate, or common people. The assembly had little power and met only when summoned by the king. It went out of existence in June, 1789, when the Third Estate withdrew and declared itself the National Assembly.
States-General
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