The English occupation, and the siege of 1429 in particular, ruined the town which maintained, despite all these difficulties, the central bodies of the royal government (Parliament, Chamber of Counts, etc.). To control the town, the king did not grant a Charter of commune to Paris. In compensation, he granted the Parisians, notably the Merchants (of water, butchers, drapers, …), important privileges. This guild became so important in this period that its representatives awarded themselves a commercial court, the levying of taxes and a headquarters. This increase in the power of the merchants enabled them to elect a first town council.