During the life of his father, Louis was not a dutiful subject. His masterful spirit could brook no superior. He even conspired with the rebel vassals. But as king (1461-1483) he pursued the policy of his greatest predecessors with undaunted courage, patient perseverance, and political genius of the highest order. At first he was too much in a hurry. He tried to clip the wings of all his vassals at once. He irritated the industrial classes by severe taxation. He drove into exile or rebellion his father's ablest generals and councillors. This brought upon him the so-called "League of Public Welfare," headed by Charles the Bold, heir of Burgundy, which aimed at a virtual dismemberment of France. Persevering as Louis was, he had none of the weak obstinacy which cannot distinguish between means and ends. Finding himself overmatched, though he had cut his way through the hosts of rebels at Montlhery, he conceded to them everything they demanded. By the treaty of Conflans (1465) he might seem to have flung up the game in despair, and to have signed the ruin of France. But his high Court of Justice (Parlement), by refusing to register the treaty, gave him an excuse for evading its performance, and by negotiating with the princes separately he broke up their coalition. The peaceful and industrious classes stood by him, and he studiously cared for their interests; mixing familiarly with the citizens of Paris, dining at their houses, standing godfather to their children, putting aside all state and ceremony, and even dressing in humble attire. The precautions of his residence at Plessis belong only to the last months of his life, when he was old and paralytic. Never ashamed to own a mistake and to retrace false steps, he won back the most valuable of his father's servants, whom he had at first driven away. His designs against feudalism were not for a moment suspended. But instead of attacking all his vassals at once he took them in detail; while one was being crushed, others were humored till their turn came. [Illustration: Louis XI. and Olivier Le Dain.]