left the Ciompi guildless and without power or representation in government. The procrastination of the Signoria and half measures adopted therefore is perhaps what contributed to the second phase of the revolt. Revolt On July 21, the lower classes forcibly took over the government, placing the wool carder Michele di Lando in the executive office of gonfaloniere of justice, and showing their banner, the blacksmith's flag, at the Bargello, the palace of the podestà. On this day, thousands of armed wool workers (the Ciompi) and those from the Sotto posti, besieged the Signoria and pointedly hanged the public executioner by his feet in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The Ciompi then compelled the governing body, the Signoria, to establish three additional guilds in order to grant them access to political office. In demanding the creation of an arte del pololo minuto, the Ciompi requests were not especially radical: they were simply demanding the same rights as the other minor guilds currently had. Most of the Ciompi (and Sotto Posti involved) acted for reform rather than radical or revolutionary innovation. The total membership of the three new guilds was roughly 13,000 men whereas the twenty-one previously existing guilds had a membership of about 4000 to 5000 between them. After the incorporation of these new guilds, almost every man in Florence was able to participate in city government. Considering how the Ciompi had seized power, their demands both politically and socially, were modest. Their main concerns included the formation of a guild for wool workers and they also wished to tackle unemployment by increasing wool production. The Ciompi in fact did not demand ownership of cloth production or the cloth factories and their ideals were still based around the traditional guild idea, wishing to protect their economic interests and the situation of their workers. However the new Ciompi government, once they had pushed out the Signoria, experienced early problems. Even though they made demands such as the right to elect three of their own priors, the reduction of judicial corporal punishment, and reform the tax system in fact the new government was rather weak and lacked strong bargaining skills. An analysis of those within the newly appointed Balia suggests that only half were actually Ciompi, the rest being of middle class and other professions. The clash of interests and resulting struggle and sense of betrayal experienced by the Ciompi when their leader