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The Great Ordinance of 1357 was an edict through which Étienne Marcel attempted to impose limits on the French monarchy, in particular in fiscal and monetary matters. ==Historical context== Since the year 1000 and the Cluny renaissance, medieval society had evolved considerably. Europe had made great technical, artistic and demographic advances. Towns had developed, creating new social classes centred on the trades and commerce.〔''L’enfance au Moyen-Âge : la Ville.'' (Site of the bibliothèque Nationale de France )〕 Just as agricultural society had adapted to a feudal and religious system where nobility protected the lands and dispensed justice, so the new classes of craftsmen and merchants needed to be free to develop their business enterprises. With more and more matters of state to attend to, kings and their lords could no longer rule alone, and had to delegate part of their judicial powers to parliaments and other courts of justice. In England, the setbacks that John (considered as illegitimate and as usurping the throne from his brother Richard the Lionheart) faced against the Dauphin (heir apparent) led city-dwellers in 1215 to impose the Magna Carta on the king, a charter that instituted liberty for the cities and parliamentary checks on royal taxation. In France the Capetians held onto their power while favoring the development of strong cities as a counterbalance to strong (often over-strong) nobles. Starting with Philip IV, this was done by favouring the development of villes franches (towns granted special franchises), and by consulting with legislative assemblies known as States-General for making important decisions. In fact, the royal domain was considerably extended and most of the dukedoms progressively became appanages entrusted to the king's sons, avoiding the progressive division of the Capetians' possessions.〔http://www.cliohist.net. Les ''Communautés rurales et urbaines'' : (cliohist.net )〕 In France, the outset of the Hundred Years' War had been catastrophic and royal power was greatly contested after the defeat at Crécy in 1346. In effect, Philip VI was enthroned to the detriment of Edward III thanks to a series of legal technicalities. In the same way, Charles II of Navarre (called "Charles the Bad") was a pretender to the throne, his mother Jeanne having been removed in order to avoid a powerful foreigner taking control of France by marriage. In this era the nobility justified the divine essence of its power by chivalrous conduct, especially on the battlefield. Thus, Crécy was a disaster against a very numerically inferior army and Philip VI fled, calling into question the divine legitimacy of the Valois. This disrepute was worsened by the appearance of the Black Death in 1348, supporting the idea that this dynasty was not supported by God. Edward III and Charles of Navarre therefore saw their chance to emphasize their respective claims to the crown of France and attempted to win over the cities then losing hope in the institution of a controlled monarchy. In 1356, at the Battle of Poitiers, King John the Good - not wanting to flee as his father had after Crécy - fought heroically and was captured by the English, but acquired an enormous prestige. His son, and Dauphin, Charles, who was able to leave the battlefield, assumed the regency and attempted to negotiate with England. The grandes compagnies (demobilized mercenary soldiers) pillaged the countryside, and to counteract them the Dauphin suggested a permanent army of 30,000 men. To raise such an army, he had to raise taxes, and so he summoned the States-General. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Ordinance of 1357」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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