TheAssembly of Vizille (French:Assemblée de Vizille) orEstates General of Dauphiné (Réunion des états généraux du Dauphiné) was the result of a meeting of various representatives inGrenoble. Its purpose was to discuss the events ofThe Day of the Tiles, one of the first revolts preceding theFrench Revolution.
On 7 June 1788, riots broke out all over the town ofGrenoble. Soldiers sent to quell the disturbances forced the townspeople off the streets. Some sources say that the soldiers were sent to disperse parliamentarians, who were attempting to assemble a parliament.[1] However, the townspeople climbed onto the roofs of buildings, hurling roof-tiles at the soldiers in the streets below, hence the name. This drove royal troops out of the city in the first outbreak of political violence that became the revolution.
In July,Claude Perier, inspired by all of the liberal ideas around him, assembled a meeting in the room of theJeu de Paume in hisChateau de Vizille and hosted the meeting which was previously prohibited in Grenoble. Almost 500 men gathered that day at the banquet hosted by Claude. In attendance there were many "notables" including churchmen, businessmen, doctors, notaries, municipal officials, lawyers, and landed nobility of the province ofDauphiné.[2]
Demanded at this meeting: the Convocation in Paris of anEstates-General (a form of national parliament). This meeting marked the first portion of theFrench Revolution.[3] Opposition to absolutist monarchy finally came out into the open, with increasing support for its demands, culminating in the meeting of theEstates General.
