Marcel, Étienne
Marcel, Étienne
(ātyĕn` märsĕl`), d. 1358, French bourgeois leader, provost of the merchants of Paris. In the States-General of 1355 he and Robert Le Coq bargained for governmental reforms with the French king, John II, who needed funds for the English war. After John's capture (1356) by the English, Marcel dealt with the dauphin (later Charles VCharles V(Charles the Wise), 1338–80, king of France (1364–80). Son of King John II, Charles became the first French heir apparent to bear the title of dauphin after the addition of the region of Dauphiné to the royal domain in 1349.
..... Click the link for more information. ). In 1357, the dauphin was forced to agree to the Grande Ordonnance, which granted the States-General far-reaching powers. Shortly afterward, Charles managed to escape from Paris and raise an army. Marcel's popularity waned, partly because of his alliance with Charles IICharles II
(Charles the Bad), 1332–87, king of Navarre (1349–87), count of Évreux; grandson of King Louis X of France. He carried on a long feud with his father-in-law, John II, king of France, procuring the assassination (1354) of John's favorite, Charles de
..... Click the link for more information. of Navarre, who coveted the throne, and partly because of his intrigues with the English. The dauphin's troops besieged Paris, and on July 31, 1358, a royalist faction assassinated Marcel as a traitor; the dauphin then entered Paris.