ABSTRACT

Louis had sanctioned the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, but was increasingly distressed by the divisions it had brought to the surface. The Estates-General he had convened to offer him advice in May 1789 had developed into a sovereign parliament that had sharply limited his powers. Louis fled Paris on 21 June, presumably for the safety of Bouille’s garrison at Nancy, leaving behind a lengthy document which publicly repudiated the direction the Revolution had taken. Louis made an appeal to his subjects to return to the certainties they had once known.