 Most prisoners were punished with banishment from the city.Beginning in the reign of Philip VI, political executions, while rare, became more frequent; In 1346 a merchant from Compiègne was tried for saying that Edward III of England had a better claim to the French throne than Philip VI; he was taken to the market square of Les Halles and chopped into small pieces in front of a large crowd.The time of day in medieval Paris was announced by the church bells, which rang eight times during the day and night for the different calls to prayer at the monasteries and churches