In the article on the French Revolution Wikipedia says:
"The Estates-General convened in the Grands Salles des Menus-Plaisirs in Versailles on 5 May 1789 and opened with a three-hour speech by Necker. The Third Estate demanded that the credentials of deputies should be verified by all deputies, rather than each estate verifying the credentials of its own members; but negotiations with the other estates failed to achieve this. The commoners appealed to the clergy, who asked for more time. Necker then stated that each estate should verify its own members' credentials and that the king should act as arbitrator."
This conflict, as far as I can see, is the very beginning of the French revolution. However, I don't understand what that process of verification of deputies credentials was all about. What exactly were the deputies verifying? What kind of credentials were to be verified then? Why were they not verified prior to the meeting? And why was it so important for The Third Estate that the credentials be verified by all deputies?