A department of the French Post Office, established in the reign of Louis XIV, for the surveillance of the correspondence of suspected persons. Napoleon III availed himself of its services freely, and it was only abolished in 1886.
The guild of butchers in Paris, so called from Caboche, one of their leaders. They were bitter opponents of the Armagnacs, and were guilty of terrible atrocities on the persons of their political foes. The corporation was dissolved in 1416.
A political party in Guatemala in 1820, who favoured complete separation from Spain, and the establishment of a republic. The word means pickpockets.
A treaty between the leading German Princes, signed in 1534, by which Ferdinand of Austria acknowledged Ulrich, Duke of Würtemberg, with the proviso that Würtemberg was to be considered an _arrière-fief_ of the Empire, dependent on Austria. The League of Schmalkald acknowledged Ferdinand as King of the Romans, but stipulated that in future that dignity should only be conferred by the unanimous vote of the electors.
A treaty between William Rufus and Robert of Normandy, signed in 1091, by which Robert renounced all claim to England, and recognized William’s feudal rights over certain Norman Seigneuries, among others those of Cherbourg, Fécamp, and Mont St. Michel.
The instructions given to the Deputies of the States-General, as to the grievances to be laid before the King in 1789. The principal demands were: equality in punishments; suppression of the sale of public offices; suppression of seignorial judicial powers, of the Gabelle, the corvée and the militia ballot; religious toleration, and amelioration of the condition of the parish clergy.
A species of bank, established at Poissy, near Paris, under municipal control, to secure the proper provisioning of the Paris market. It proceeded by way of loan to the butchers, charging interest on the advances and a percentage on all meat purchased, and as none could enter the markets without a certificate of the payment of this fee, it had absolute control of the trade. It was abolished in 1791, re-established in 1810, under the control of the Prefect of the Seine, and finally abolished in 1858.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry, established by Papal Bull in 1164. The rules of the order were similar to those of the Benedictines, the knights being bound, among other vows, to perpetual celibacy. The object of the order was the expulsion of the Mussulman power from Spain.