The humorous spirit in which he disposed of obstructive nobles is illustrated by a note to an unsuspecting victim.

"Fair cousin, come and give us your advice.

We have need of so wise a head as yours." And in the morning the fair cousin's wise head was in a basket filled with sawdust! When all was done, a town council meant more than the "Order of the Golden Fleece"; and, _pari passu_, with the humiliation of the noble came the elevation of the bourgeois.

A nameless adventurer would be admitted to confidential intimacy when a Montmorenci could not get beyond his antechamber.
In fact, this levelling up and levelling down was the object of all this king's odious crimes and the central purpose of his cold-blooded reign.

If a patent of nobility was a pretty good passport to the scaffold, good service in a town council was an open door to elevation.
So, judged by results, Louis XI.