ing
the number of their horses, etc.; and so great was the suspicion and
distrust at this time, that a special edict was directed against the
mysterious strangers who were seen in the streets of the city, all with
long beards and carrying heavy sticks. The use of the latter was
strictly forbidden, and the wearing of the former, "which seemed to
conceal some pernicious designs against the peace of the State." Among
the minor social revolutions which this monarch effected, in consequence
of a wound received on his head, was that in the manner of wearing the
hair and beard, which had prevailed since the time of Louis VII;
Francois I reversed the ancient custom, and cut his hair short, but not
his beard.

Paris, which had celebrated his accession with even more than the usual
ceremonial, jousts, and tourneys, was greatly alarmed at the threat of
the Connetable de Bourbon to march upon it with the allied forces of the
King of England and of Charles V. The king, to reassure them, sent them
the Sire de Brion, who declared to them that their monarch "had so much
consideration for the city of Paris that he would sacrifice himself
rather than allow it to be taken, that he was willing to expose his life
in order to defend it, to live and to die with the Parisians, and that,
if he could not come to it in person, he would send to it his wife, his
children, and his mother, and all that he had and possessed, persuaded
as he was that when he had lost the rest of the kingdom, he would
readily recover all his losses if he could preserve Paris; that he had
the intention to bring to it ten thousand Swiss, that he was aware of
the attachment which the Parlement and the city bore to his person, that
he thanked them for it, and exhorted them to continue a fidelity which
was so useful to him."

All these fine words gave great pleasure to the citizens, and they were
thrown into corresponding consternation when the news was received, on
the 7th of March, 1525, that he had been taken prisoner at Pavia. His
mother, Louise de Savoie, subordinated the evil traits of her character
to constitute herself an intelligent regent; and on the 14th of April,
1527, the king made a triumphal re-entry into his capital after his
release. Some doubts seem to have been entertained as to the genuineness
of the welcome, for, it is recorded, the _prevot_ of the merchants, the
_echevins_, and the school-masters were ordered to station, at a dozen
points on the route