 The demonstrators lit the houses of the "procurators" who went to the Cortes of La Coruña to vote in favour of the taxes and obligations levied by Emperor Charles V. The Duke of Infantado played a cautious waiting game to see which side would win, finally choosing to endorse the Emperor in 1521.He ordered the beheading of the local leaders of the insurgency and the deportation of his own son and successor Íñigo López de Mendoza, who had leaned towards the "comunero" cause.By the late 16th century, in 1591, the city had a population of 6,754.