Marcel, Etienne

Étien Marceille ( fr. Étienne Marcel ; born between 1302 and 1310 ^[1] , killed in Paris on July 31, 1358 ) is a merchant rector of Paris, who held this post during the reign of John II , a rich clothmaker. Like other large merchants, Marseille was entirely obliged by his position to the state: his mother came from a family of palace servants, his father came from a family of suppliers to the court. By virtue of this, initially he was completely loyal to the royal power ^[2] and, in the words of historian Jean Favier, "was on the threshold of obtaining nobility" ^[3] .

Etienne Marcel
Étienne marcel
Date of Birth	between 1302 and 1310
Place of Birth
Date of death	July 31, 1358 ( 1358-07-31 )
Place of death	Paris
A country
Occupation	merchant provo paris

However, abuses by individual courtiers, observed by Marcel, the excessive amount of taxes established by the States General in December 1355 and the subsequent military defeat of the royal army at Poitiers (1356) led to a sharp financial crisis in the country, which he proposed as a means to resolve it the project, according to which the personal funds of the king and the funds allocated for public needs were strictly separated; at the same time, the administration of the latter was entrusted to elected representatives of various classes ^[4] .

Twice seriously injured due to the financial speculations of the royal entourage ^[5] , Marseille became the head of the reform movement, whose members in 1357 tried to establish a controlled monarchy in France, opposing the royal authority and the dauphin in particular. Marcel was a representative of the third estate and played an important role at the meetings of the States General in France during the Hundred Years War .

In the General States of 1357, the delegates of the third estate obtained from the Dauphin Charles, who at that time actually ruled the country in the absence of King John II who was in English captivity (and after a few years became the French king Charles V ), the edition of the so-called. the Great March Ordinance , which contained a promise of a series of reforms and, to a certain extent, limited royal power in favor of the General States. This document, in particular, established the obligation of the king to regularly convene the General States, as well as the prohibition to impose taxes and change the value of the coin without their consent. Soon, however, the Dauphin issued several orders that reduced the authority of the General States to zero.

The murder of Etienne Marcel. Miniature from the Chronicles of Jean Froissart . XV century.

In response, a rebellion broke out in Paris in February 1358. On February 22, 1358, the rebels, led by Étienne Marcel, broke into the royal palace, killed several of his entourage in front of the dauphin’s eyes, and obtained from the dauphin a confirmation of the Great March Ordinance.

After this event, Etienne Marcel for several months became the actual dictator of Paris. In March 1358, the Dauphin secretly fled from Paris to Senlis , where he called his loyal States-Generals and began to gather troops for action against the rebels. Soon he managed to block the insurgent capital and cut off the ways of delivering food to it. The king of Navarre, Carl the Evil, also spoke in the Paris region.

In May 1358 a large peasant uprising broke out in the north of France, known as Jacquerie . Etienne Marcel established contact with the leaders of the uprising, and even sent them to the aid of an armed detachment, but soon recalled him back. Soon, Jacquerie was crushed by the troops of Charles the Evil and the Dauphin.

Marcel, meanwhile, entered into negotiations with Karl Evil, intending, apparently, to surrender Paris to him, but did not have time to do this - on July 31, 1358, the Dauphin's supporters killed Marcel during his rounds of guard posts.

Chronist Jean Frouassard claimed that Jean Maillard and his brother Simon were at the head of those who killed Marcel:

Appropriately armed, they shortly before midnight approached the gates of Saint-Antoine, where they found a merchant's bell with the keys to the gate in their hands. Upon seeing him, Jean Mylar said, calling him by name: "Etienne, what are you doing here at this hour of the night." Prevost replied: “Jean, why are you asking this? I am here to take care of the guard and protect the city that I govern. ” “By golly! - Jean replied, referring to those who were next to him, - this is not the case. You are not here at this hour for a good deed, which I will show you now. Look, see why the keys to the city gates are in his hand, if not to betray the city. ” Prevost said: "Jean, you're lying." Jean answered: “It’s you, Etienne, lying,” and attacked him, shouting to his people: “Kill him, kill him. Now we will hit the house, for there are all traitors. ” A very big commotion arose, and the provost would have been happy to run, but Jean brought such an ax blow to him on the head that he fell to the ground, although he had been his comrade before, and had never left him before the murder. Of those who were here, six more people were killed, and the rest were taken to prison.

Soon after this, the Dauphin entered Paris, the uprising was crushed, the Great March Ordinance canceled.