With Charles VII’s son, Louis XI (1461-1483), the modern history of France may be said to begin, since he substituted the use of brain for the use of muscle in the management of affairs. His earliest attempts at government seem not to have been successful, since at the end of four years he had alienated every class of society. The League of the Public Welfare was formed to oppose him, and it included nobles, clergy, burghers and populace, each of whom had its own serious grievance. Louis had a well-disciplined army but he could not be in all parts of his kingdom at once, and while his attention was given elsewhere his enemies approached Paris. The moral effect of the capture of Paris was to be dreaded almost as much as its actual loss, and the king made himself active in trying to prevent the misfortune. Unlike any ruler preceding him his first efforts were always diplomatic. Instead of rushing troops to Paris he sent messages of appeal to every class within the walls. They roused no response. There were in the University some twenty-five thousand students, no inconsiderable force, but the Rector refused to arm them for their monarch’s support. The burghers were similarly lacking in enthusiasm. Marching in person to Paris Louis sacrificed a part of his army to engage the attention of the enemy whose forces he passed, and entered the city. His presence accomplished what his messages could not bring to pass. He and the queen reviewed a militia force of some 70,000 men, for the burghers became willing to fight for a king who had the good sense to ask their advice--even if he did not follow it--and he never failed to work for their esteem. For the first time in French history merit ranked position. The story of Louis’ reign is a tale of fighting and intrigue, with a constantly increasing settlement of power in the monarch. Provinces fell into his hands; his enemies once in his grasp, never escaped. He was Louis the Spider, always weaving his webs, seldom doing it in vain. France had a greater feeling of unity now than before the English wars, and the power was still more solidly centralized in the crown. Such activities left the king not much time for Paris. When he was there he lived in the Hôtel des Tournelles which Charles V had built, persisting in his affection for it although he was [Illustration: THE CHURCHES OF SAINT ÉTIENNE-DU MONT AND OF SAINTE GENEVIÈVE IN 17TH CENTURY. See page 207.] [Illustration: JUBÉ IN THE CHURCH OF SAINT ÉTIENNE-DU-MONT. See page 193.] nearly captured there at one time by some of his followers who were in a plot to seize his person. He curried favor with the people by calling himself simply a “burgher of Paris,” he himself lighted the Saint John’s Eve bonfire on the Grève, he walked about the city in a fashion unknown to royalty before, and he dined in shabby dress at the public table of any tavern that seemed convenient.