Why was the use of the word constitution in the Tennis Court Oath a challenge to the Old Regime?

Because a constitution would subject political power to defined laws and limits.

The Old Regime rested on hereditary monarchy, social privilege and the idea that the king possessed extensive authority by tradition and divine right. In the Tennis Court Oath, the demand for a constitution implied that government should operate according to publicly defined rules rather than the ruler’s personal will. A constitution could establish institutions, rights and limits on executive power, thereby making authority accountable to the nation. Option A is therefore correct. Option B reverses the meaning: constitutional government restricts arbitrary power instead of making it unlimited. Option C refers to feudal obligations, not the central constitutional demand, and option D wrongly reduces a political constitution to a Church rule.

This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: The French Revolution. Topic: The Outbreak of the Revolution.