For those living comfortable, prosperous lives, witnessing grain carts being robbed was almost unimaginable. But when the common people had no work, no food, and had already been driven into a corner, how could they not take desperate risks?
Hunger brought despair, and despair made any crime seem forgivable. Groups of peasants, armed with clubs and carrying empty sacks, rushed at the grain carts. Cavalrymen brandished sabers and charged into the unfortunate crowd, while women sat on the ground, crying out to Heaven in wails of grief...
Sometimes the incident ended with order prevailing, and the cavalry held the grain carts. Other times, it did not. The carts and horses would be taken away, leaving only empty frames for the reinforcements rushing to the scene.
Besides the roads, grain depots were also prime targets for attack. Grain could once have been transported into castles, but Louis XIV had demolished those castles, just as he had torn down Paris's city walls.
Louis XIV, whom the French took such pride in, was in fact a king quite obsessed with war. Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu had been Louis XIII's chief minister, yet he laid the foundations for Louis XIV's glory. Cardinal Richelieu ordered the demolition of noble castles and stud farms. While breaking the feudal fragmentation for the king, he also destroyed the horse-breeding industry that sustained feudal lords' rule.
Without horses, the nobles could not arm cavalry. Without cavalry, they could not contend with the king's army. Combined with the expenses required to maintain Versailles's lavish lifestyle, Louis XIV kept those nobles firmly under control through debt.
Although the royal government later continually encouraged animal husbandry, it was useless without stallions. They could only rely on imports from abroad. Foreigners were no fools; the horses they sold France were either