The army also was organized. On the one hand, the military service attached to the fiefs was transformed for the profit of the king, who alone had the right of making war: it became the _arriere-ban_, a term which had formerly applied to the _levee en masse_ of all the inhabitants in times of national danger. Before the 14th century the king had only had the power of calling upon his own immediate vassals for service. Henceforth all possessors of fiefs owed him, whether within the kingdom or on the frontiers, military service without pay and at their own expense. This was for long an important resource for the king. But Charles VII. organized an army on another footing. It comprised the _francs-archers_ furnished by the parishes, a militia which was only summoned in case of war, but in time of peace had to practise archery, and companies of _gendarmerie_ or heavy cavalry, forming a permanent establishment, which were called _compagnies d'ordonnance_. It was chiefly to provide for the expense of the first nucleus of a permanent army that the _taille_ itself had been made permanent. The new army led to the institution of the governors of provinces, who were to command the troops quartered there. At first they were only appointed for the frontiers and fortified places, but later the kingdom was divided into _gouvernements generaux_. There were at first twelve of these, which were called in the middle of the 16th century the _douze anciens gouvernements_. Although, strictly speaking, they had only military powers, the governors, always chosen from among the great lords, became in the provinces the direct representatives of the king and caused the _baillis_ and seneschals to take a secondary place. The law courts.