<P> The Nobles in the Second Estate were the richest and most powerful in the kingdom . The King could count on them, but that was of little use to him in the succeeding course of history . He had also expected that the First Estate would be predominantly the noble Bishops . The electorate, however, returned mainly parish priests, most of whom were sympathetic to the Commons . The Third Estate elections returned predominantly magistrates and lawyers . The lower levels of society, the landless, working men, though present in large numbers in street gangs, were totally absent from the Estates - General, as the King had called for "the most notable persons". </P> <P> The grievances returned were mainly about taxes, which the people considered a crushing burden . Consequently, the people and the King were totally at odds from the very beginning . Aristocratic privilege was also attacked . The people resented the fact that nobles could excuse themselves from most of the burden of taxation and service that fell on the ordinary people . A third type complained that the ubiquitous tolls and duties levied by the nobility hindered internal commerce . </P> <P> On 5 May 1789, amidst general festivities, the Estates - General convened in an elaborate but temporary Île des États set up in one of the courtyards of the official Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs in the town of Versailles near the royal château . With the étiquette of 1614 strictly enforced, the clergy and nobility ranged in tiered seating in their full regalia, while the physical locations of the deputies from the Third Estate were at the far end, as dictated by the protocol . When Louis XVI and Charles Louis François de Paule de Barentin, the Keeper of the Seals of France, addressed the deputies on 6 May, the Third Estate discovered that the royal decree granting double representation also upheld the traditional voting "by orders", i.e. that the collective vote of each estate would be weighed equally . </P> <P> The apparent intent of the King and of Barentin was for everyone to get directly to the matter of taxes . The larger representation of the Third Estate would remain merely a symbol while giving them no extra power . Director - General of Finance Jacques Necker had more sympathy for the Third Estate, but on this occasion he spoke only about the fiscal situation, leaving it to Barentin to speak on how the Estates - General was to operate . </P>

Where did the meeting of the estates general take place