es without
the annoyance of having direct communication with their humble subjects,
they appointed deputies, who were authorised to collect them in their
names.

The most celebrated of these deputies were the _rois des merciers_, who
lived on the fat of the land in complete idleness, and who were surrounded
by a mercantile court, which appeared in all its splendour at the trade
festivals.

[Illustration: Fig. 235.--Banner of the Corporation of the United Boot and
Shoe Makers of Issoudun.]

The great officers of the crown exercised in their own interests, and
without a thought for the public advantage, a complete magisterial
jurisdiction over all crafts; they adjudicated in disputes arising between
masters and men, decided quarrels, visited, either personally or through
their deputies, the houses of the merchants, in order to discover frauds
or infractions in the rules of the trade, and levied fines accordingly. We
must remember that the collectors of court dues had always to contend for
the free exercise of their jurisdiction against the provost of Paris, who
considered their acquisitions of authority as interfering with his
personal prerogatives, and who therefore persistently opposed them on all
occasions. For instance, if the head baker ordered an artisan of the same
trade to be imprisoned in the Chatelet, the high provost, who was governor
of the prison, released him immediately; and, in retaliation, if the high
provost punished a baker, the chief baker warmly espoused his
subordinate's cause. At other times the artisans, if they were
dissatisfied with the deputy appointed by the great officer of the crown,
whose dependents they were, would refuse to recognise his authority. In
this way constant quarrels and interminable lawsuits occurred, and it is
easy to understand the disorder which must have arisen from such a state
of things. By degrees, however, and in consequence of the new tendencies
of royalty, which were simply directed to the diminution of feudal power,
the numerous jurisdictions relating to the various trades gradually
returned to the hand of the municipal provostship; and this concentration
of power had the best results, as well for the public good as for that of
the corporations themselves.

Having examined into corporations collectively and also into their general
administration, we will now turn to consider their internal organization.
It was only after long and difficult struggles that these tr