February 1581, while he ruled all the Gévaudan, he enforced the threat he had made to the people. He had in fact asked them to deliver 4,000 ecus, a sum that the Mendois could not collect. He partially destroyed Mende Cathedral built by Pope Urban V. He saved a bell tower to avoid damaging the episcopal palace where his home was established. It was at this time that the Non Pareille was melted, the biggest bell in the world, to manufacture culverins and other cannonballs. The city was liberated on bail that year thanks to the intervention of the King of Navarre. The city liberated, a seneschal was created to ensure the peace. Response to the attack of Merle was organised in 1586 against the town of Marvejols, led by baron de Saint-Vidal. It was during this response that the Peyre fortress disappeared from the rock of Peyre. The seneschal took its place. The Tower of Auriac, today known as the Tower of Penitents, was built to accommodate one hundred soldiers. The seneschal gradually took precedence over the diocese, which called for the help of the Duke of Languedoc in 1597. It was after this episode that the Seneschal of Mende disappeared. From the 17th century to the French Revolution The beginning of the 17th century was coloured by the work of reconstruction of the cathedral for an inauguration in 1605, although work had lasted until 1629. Far from the splendour of the original, while taking up the same plane, this new cathedral was characterised by a bell tower which was smaller than the other. Between 1645 and 1660, the city was the scene of strife between two rival factions: The Marmaux and the Catharinaux, all members of the consuls or the bourgeoisie, but not having the same opinion on the importance of episcopal power, the latter being opposed. The bishop was also the target of an attack while he officiated in Mende Cathedral in 1645 (he was actually not touched). After several trials, it was not without difficulty that the kingdom gave back his ancestral power, the consul remaining under his control. At the end of the century, landscaped a lane which joined to the Lot (since known as "Allée Piencourt") and especially acquired the Aubusson tapestries for the episcopal palace. These tapestries, classified, since adorn the cathedral. It was also behind the early educational development in the city