C
CABOCHIENS
. The butchers and flayers of Paris, nicknamed the Cabochiens after one of their leaders,
Simon Caboche, created a reign of terror in Paris in 1413, evidently at the instigation of
the duke of Burgundy, who hoped to thwart the plans the duke of Guyenne was forming
against him.
On April 28, some of Burgundy’s officers led the Cabochiens on a rampage against
the Bastille and the residence of the duke of Guyenne, arresting a number of Guyenne’s
officers whom they considered traitors. On May 11 and 22, more prisoners were taken,
including the queen’s brother. The actions of the Cabochiens were successful because
Charles VI, often ill during this period, issued no order against them. At their request,
Charles held a lit de justice in the Parlement on May 26 and 27, promulgating a list of
reforms that a government-sponsored commission had been working on for several
months. The list, still unfinished, contained 258 articles and was written in the form of a
royal ordinance, dated May 25, 1413. Historians have called it the Ordonnance
Cabochienne. The commission, using more than twenty old reform ordinances as sources,
dealt with every facet of government. The general objective of the Ordonnance was to
bring money back into the king’s coffers and prevent the dilapidation of his resources.
The excesses committed in the summer of 1413 alienated many Parisians from the
Cabochiens. This, along with the king’s willingness to negotiate with the Armagnacs and
allow the duke of Guyenne to free the prisoners taken in the spring, led to the fall of the
Cabochiens. Their silent partner, John of Burgundy, was fearful of the duke of Guyenne’s
revenge and fled Paris. On September 5, 1413, the Ordonnance Cabochienne was
revoked in its entirety because it had been published in haste without proper deliberation
in the royal council or the Parlement and because it contained a final clause that “injured”
the king’s authority.
Richard C.Famiglietti
[See also: ARMAGNACS; CAUCHON, PIERRE; CHARLES VI; JOHN THE
FEARLESS; LOUIS, DUKE OF GUYENNE]
Coville, Alfred. Les Cabochiens et l’ordonnance de 1413. Paris: Hachette, 1888.
——. L’Ordonnance Cabochienne. Paris: Picard, 1891.
Famiglietti, Richard C. Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI 1392–1420. New York:
AMS, 1986.
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