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In this article Michel Hébert reviews the surviving sources for pursuing the history of Estates and representative assemblies in France in the later middle ages. It is based on his own experience of working in this field and as a result of the pattern of survival, is focused on Estates in the south of France. Four areas of interest are discussed, the documentation originating from the assemblies themselves; the organised archives of Estates; the problems that arise in using these materials; and the supplementary sources that are to be found. The formal documents arise from the nature of the assemblies as occasion for dialogue between the ruler and the subjects. They tend to take the form of petitions and responses, but may incidentally carry other information depending on the inclinations of the recording secretary. Their usefulness is limited by the uneven rate of survival of such materials. The keeping of official archives was a mainly fifteenth-century development and they arc supplemented by collections of urban charters and collections of privileges. The main problem with these materials for the researcher, besides the uneven survival rate, for example some were conserved in the family papers of the secretaries, is their strictly legal character, reflecting the practical reasons for their conservation. Among the most valuable supplementary sources are the range of fiscal records, though these can bias history writing into exaggerating the purely fiscal function of the assemblies, and the survival in urban archives of documents relating to the activities of their delegates. The article concludes by urging the need to compile and publish a comprehensive index of the surviving materials.
