520 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE however, had not shown much wisdom in the type of taxes which they levied, and they had to alter them twice in the course of the next six months. Meanwhile, the king sus- pected Charles the Bad of Navarre of fomenting the opposi- tion and of having designs upon the throne, and in April, 1356, suddenly arrested him and beheaded his councilors. This act caused many of Charles's followers to go over to the English side. The defeat of Poitiers and the capture of the king by the English occurred in September. This absence of the king Revolution- lessened the authority of the central government nlntin e ' anc * emboldened the opposition. One could say Paris things to ministers or a regent which one would hardly utter to the king's face, and one felt less scruples about disobeying them than resisting a command made by the king in person. When the dauphin summoned the Estates General in October, they would do nothing for him unless he released the King of Navarre, reformed govern- mental abuses such as the debased currency, and replaced his advisers by men chosen by the three Estates. He there- upon prorogued them and tried in vain to secure taxes through the provincial estates. Meanwhile Marcel had armed the burghers of Paris. By February, 1357, the dauphin was forced to resort to the Estates General again. They released Charles of Navarre, appointed a committee composed of twelve representatives from each of the three Estates to direct the government, and issued a long program of reform, demanding, among other things, that henceforth the Estates General should meet every three years whether summoned by the king or not, that the administration of justice should be reformed, and that private war among the nobility should cease. When the dauphin showed himself unwilling to submit to these conditions and began to recall his former advisers, the Parisian mob killed some of his ministers, while others fled, and forced upon his head a cap with the red and blue colors of the popular party. But the other towns of France were not ready to go so far as this, and when the dauphin escaped from Paris he received suj
