The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom of France. Summoned by King Louis XVI, the Estates General of 1789 ended when the Third Estate formed the National Assembly and, against the wishes of the King, invited the other two estates to join. This signaled the outbreak of the French Revolution. The decision to summon the Estates First Assembly of Notables and peasants The suggestion to summon the Estates General came from the Assembly of Notables installed by the King on 22 February 1787. This institution had not been called since 1614. In 1787, the Parlement of Paris was refusing to ratify Charles Alexandre de Calonne's program of badly needed financial reform, due to the special interests of its noble members. Calonne was the Controller-General of Finances, appointed by the King to address the state deficit. As a last measure, Calonne was hoping to bypass them by reviving the archaic institution. The initial roster of Notables included 137 nobles, among them many future revolutionaries, such as the Comte de Mirabeau and the Marquis de Lafayette, known at this time for his central role in the American Revolution. Calonne received little cooperation from the assembly, being dismissed on 8 April 1787 and banished shortly after for proposing a 'Subvention Territoriale', or land tax. He continued to comment on the French political scene from London. Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, President of the Assembly of Notables, succeeded Calonne as the Controller-General of Finances. He was offered the post of Prime Minister by the king, which was to include being Controller. The Notables nevertheless remained recalcitrant. They made a number of proposals but they would not grant the King money. Lafayette suggested that the problem required a national assembly. Brienne asked him if he meant the Estates General. On receiving an affirmative answer, Brienne recorded it as a proposal. Frustrated by his inability to obtain money, the King staged a day-long harangue, and then on 25 May dissolved the Notables. Their proposals reverted to the Parlement. Rebellion of the Parlements Turning again to the parlements, the king found that they were inclined to continue the issues that had been raised in the Assembly of Notables. Their proper legal function, besides