Metro: who was Etienne Marcel, after whom the metro station is named?

Published by Margot de Sortiraparis · Photos by My de Sortiraparis · Published on December 18th, 2023 at 11:18 a.m.
If you've ever taken the Paris metro, and more specifically, line 4, chances are you've passed (or even got off) at the Etienne Marcel stop, on the border of the 1st and 2nd arrondissements. Yet few of us know the story of the man behind the name.

To discover the story ofEtienne Marcel, let's go back a few centuries, to the 14th century and, more precisely, to the 1300s, when Monsieur Marcel was born in Paris. Under the reign of Jean le Bon, Etienne Marcel was Provost of the Merchants of Paris - responsible for city supplies, public works, taxes and the jurisdiction of the river trade, the equivalent of today's mayor of Paris.

During the creation of the Estates General, Etienne Marcel distinguished himself by becoming a delegate for the Third Estate, and then became involved in the defense of artisans, eventually leading a reform movement that wished to establish a controlled French monarchy, even if this meant confronting the dauphin Charles, the future king Charles V (according to Wikipedia). The conflict with the king eventually became an open civil war, in which King Charles V emerged victorious: Etienne Marcel was assassinated on July 31, 1358, by Parisian bourgeois, who accused him of having gone too far in his fight against the monarchy.

Since the metro station was opened in April 1908, it was decided to name it Etienne Marcel, in tribute to the man who left his mark on French history through his involvement in the Estates General.

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Location

34, Rue Etienne Marcel
75002 Paris 2

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