It takes its name from Saint Medard, the bishop of Noyon in northern France, who was protector of Queen Radegund, and helped her found a convent at Noyon to escape her abusive husband, King Chlothar I. Medard is the patron saint of French farmers.

[1] Early Christian tombs from the Merovingian period were found by archeologists a few meters from the present church.

[2] In the ninth century, following the Norman invasions, there was a chapel dedicated to Saint Medard, close to the route of the Roman road which connected Roman Lutetia with Lyon, near the point where the road crossed the Bievre River.

The existence of this church, whose parish was later attached to the Abbey of Saint Genevieve, is documented in a papal bull in 1163 from Pope Alexander III.

[3] In 1655, the church was placed directly under the Archbishop of Paris, but kept a close relationship with the nearby Abbey of Saint-Genevieve.

The Convulsionnaires believed that going into a trance and having convulsions could cure illnesses, and was a valid expression of Christian faith.

The Pope declared Jansenism a heresy, and issued a decree forbidding access to the cemetery.

The carved wooden tower of the pulpit (1718) between the nave and choir is the classical centerpiece of the church.

Until recent times, the chapel was closed off from view of the rest of the church by a wall of stone rubble.

[5] Several vestiges of sculpture from the earlier churches can be seen in the column capitals and in places where the arches meet the walls of the nave.

They include: The work by Zurbaran was originally painted for the altarpiece in a convent in Seville, then was sold to a French banker who placed it in the church.

[9] In the chapels the church has preserved a number of old panels of stained glass from the 16th century, which have been inserted into newer windows.

The carved oak case of the organ was made in 1644–46 by the master wood artist Germain Pillon, and is one of the oldest in Paris.