French Ordinance of 1357

Timeline

1. 1356–1357Paris · Île-de-FranceAfter John II's capture, the Dauphin Charles lacked authority and money, repeatedly convening the Estates-General to raise ransom and war funds. Marcel, representing the Third Estate, demanded the dismissal of advisers accused of misgovernment, the release of Charles II of Navarre, and consent to taxation in return. The Dauphin once dissolved the meeting and went to Metz to pay homage to his uncle Emperor Charles IV, but recalled the Estates-General in early 1357 as finances ran dry.
2. 1357Paris · Île-de-FranceAfter fierce debate, the Dauphin issued the Great Ordinance on 3 March. It provided for regular meetings of the Estates-General controlling taxation and currency, a supervisory committee of representatives of the three estates, a purge of the financial and judicial institutions, the end of noble tax exemption, and a ban on arbitrary levies by lords. Cities gained concessions in exchange for supplying troops by household. Within days many royal advisers were banished.
3. 1357–1358Paris · Île-de-FranceJohn II, still held in England or Bordeaux, repudiated the ordinance. The Dauphin increasingly relied on bureaucrats and forbade Marcel and Robert le Coq, bishop of Laon, from interfering in government. In early 1358, news of John's proposed territorial concessions for peace sparked renewed conflict in Paris; Marcel burst into the palace, forcing the Dauphin to reaffirm the ordinance, but the rift between them could no longer be healed.
4. 1358Paris · Île-de-FranceIn May 1358 the Jacquerie peasant uprising broke out in Île-de-France; Marcel at times contacted the rebels and leaned toward Charles II of Navarre. After the nobles suppressed the Jacquerie, the Parisians too grew weary of war. In late July Marcel was killed while trying to open the city gates to Navarre's troops, and the Dauphin recovered Paris. The Great Ordinance failed to establish a monarchy bound by the Estates-General, and royal authority was reorganized under Charles V.