Etienne Marcel

The treasury was empty, the countryside was being ravaged by armies and bandits, and Paris was seething with anger at royal incompetence and heavy taxation.

At the head of the Parisian opposition stood a remarkable figure named Étienne Marcel, the provost of the merchants, which made him effectively the head of the city's municipal government.

Marcel was a wealthy cloth merchant who demanded reforms and greater control over royal finances by the estates.

and on the 22nd of February 1358, he led an armed crowd into the royal palace on the Île de la Cité and burst into the Dauphin's chamber.

The States-General met at the end of 1356, and went to work in the spirit of sobered and earnest, but not hopeless men.

Rejecting all the dishonoured scions of the royalty, they chose Charles of Blois as their nominal president, but the real leader of the assembly was Étienne Marcel, the provost of the merchants.

The defenceless state of Paris was the first anxiety, and immediate steps were taken under the auspices of Marcel to fortify the town and train the citizens to the use of arms.

Resolutions were unanimously passed that the king's ministers should be replaced by a council to be chosen by the States, and that the king of Navarre should, for the good of the kingdom, be released from captivity.

At the same time, Paris was in the grip of its own political drama.

A powerful merchant named Étienne Marcel, who was the head of the city's guilds, seized control of the capital and demanded sweeping reforms.

He wanted to limit the power of the monarchy and give more authority to the common people, a truly radical idea for the time.

He even tried to ally with the rebellious peasants, but his movement ultimately failed.

Of course France has been on the whole a successful and war and a conquering country, otherwise the territory between Belgium, the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Atlantic would not now be called France.

France 1100 to 1914 Louis VI 1108 to 1137 1104 to 1106 England 1106 to 1128 England 1108 to 1116 Civil War Louis VII 1137 to 1180 1142 War with Thibault de Champagne 1147 to 1149 Second Crusade 1154 to 1155 Attack on Normandy 1173 to 1174 Aid given the revolting English princes Philip Augustus 1180 to 1223 1188 to 1189 Aid given Richard and John of England against Henry II 1190 to 1191 Third Crusade 1194 to 1200 England 1202 to 1204 England 1207 to 1208 War with Aquitaine 1207 to 1215 Raymond of Toulouse First Albigensian War Crusade 1213 to 1214 England Campaign of Bouvines 1215 to 1216 England 1216 to 1217 England 1216 to 1222 Raymond of Toulouse Second Albigensian War Louis VIII 1223 to 1226 1223 to 1225 England 1223 to 1226 Third Albigensian War Regency 1226 to 1236 1226 to 1229 Fourth Albigensian War Ended by Treaty of Paris 1226 to 1231 Strife with the Barons 1233 to 1234 Strife with the Barons Louis IX 1236 to 1270 1241 to 1243 England Recovery of Poitou by the French 1244 Fifth Albigensian War An extermination of Albigensians 1245 England 1248 to 1254 Seventh Crusade 1251 First Rising of the Pestero 1253 to 1255 War in Flanders 1259 England 1268 Expeditions of Charles of Anjou in Italy 1270 Eighth Crusade Philip III 1270 to 1285 1276 Castile Philip IV 1285 to 1314 1284 to 1291 Aragon 1294 to 1298 England and Flanders 1300 to 1305 War in Flanders Campaign of Courtrai 1314 War in Flanders Louis X 1314 to 1316 1315 War in Flanders Philip V 1316 to 1322 1320 Second Pestero Rising Charles IV 1322 to 1328 1324 to 1327 England in Guyenne 1328 Flemish War Campaign of Cassel Philip VI 1328 to 1350 1337 to 1340 England Beginning of the Hundred Years' War 1341 to 1347 England Campaign of Crécy Loss of Calais Hundred Years' War John II 1350 to 1356 1355 to 1357 England, Campaign of Poitiers, Hundred Years' War Charles V, 1356 to 1360 1357 to 1358, Rebellion of Etienne Marcel 1359 to 1360, England, Hundred Years' War broken by Peace of Bretigny John II, 1360 to 1364 1363 to 1364, War of Bretagne Charles V, 1364 to 1380 1365 to 1368, Interference in Castilian War in favour of Henry of Trastamara 1369 to 1375, England, John of Gaunt's failure and French gains 1377 to 1380, England, Hundred Years' War Regency, 1380 to 1388 1381 to 1382, Popular risings in Paris, Les Maillitourines, etc.

1382, War in Flanders, Campaign of Roosbek 1383, Repression in Northern France 1383 to 1389, England, Hundred Years' War Charles VI, 1388 to 1422 1395 to 1396, 10,000 troops sent against the Turks 1405, Naval resumption of Hundred Years' War 1405 to 1407, Civil War of Burgundians against Orléanists 1406, Renewal of Hundred Years' War 1408, Civil War resumed by Burgundians and Orléanists 1410, Civil War between Burgundians and Armagnacs, Orléanists 1411 to 1415, Civil War between Burgundians and Armagnacs 1415 to 1420, England, Campaign of Agincourt, ended by Treaty of Troyes 1418, Second Cabochian Atrocities 1421 to 1422, England, Hundred Years' War End of Section 6 Section 7 of Is War Diminishing by Frederick Adams Woods and Alexander Pulsie This is a LibriVox recording.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

Though the uprising was eventually suppressed, it revealed deep social tension.

At the same time, political unrest stirred in Paris under the leadership of Étienne Marcel, a prominent figure in the city's administration.

Marcel sought reforms that would limit royal power and increase representation for urban interests.

With the king in captivity, negotiations between the Crown and the Estates General became complex.