it was instead awarded to Canon Jean Mignon, a nephew of Monsieur Trincant. The Archbishop of Bordeaux intervened and ordered the nuns sequestrated, upon which the instances of possession seemed to have stopped. Richelieu Grandier had gained the enmity of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of France. In its continuing efforts to consolidate and centralize power, the Crown had ordered the walls around Loudun to be demolished. The populace were of two minds concerning this, whether to keep the wall or rely on the central government for protection. Grandier supported those who wished to retain the walls. In addition, not only had Grandier written a book attacking the discipline of clerical celibacy, he had also penned a scathing satire on the cardinal. Around the time of the nuns' accusations, M. Jean de Laubardemont, a relative of the Mother Superior of the convent of Loudun, was sent to demolish the town tower. He was prevented from doing so by the town militia, and upon returning to Paris reported on the state of affairs in Loudun including the recent disturbance at the Ursuline convent. In November 1633, Laubardemont was commissioned to investigate the matter. Grandier was arrested and confined to the prison at Angers. Laubardemont returned to Paris, where letters in support of Grandier from the Bailly of Loudun to the Procurator-General of the Parliament, stating that the possession was an "imposture" were intercepted. Trial Laubardemont returned to Loudun with a Decree of the Council, dated 31 May 1634, confirming all his powers and prohibiting Parlement and all other judges from interfering in the matter, and forbidding all parties concerned from appealing, under penalty of a fine of five hundred livres. Grandier, who had been held at the prison of Angers was returned to Loudun. Both the examination of witnesses and the exorcisms of the Ursulines continued. After Grandier had been tortured, documents were introduced purportedly signed by him and several demons as evidence that he had made a diabolical pact. It is not clear whether Grandier wrote or signed the pacts under duress, or whether they were forged. Grandier was found guilty and sentenced to death. The judges who condemned Grandier ordered that he be put to the "extraordinary question", a form of torture which was usually, but not immediately, fatal, and was therefore administered to only those victims who were to be executed soon afterwards. In addition, Grandier