13. The Slum Residents Had Their Own Social Hierarchy
While it would seem natural for so many desperate people to work together, sadly it is rarely the case. The slums of the Court of Miracles were no different. Instead of a unified front, the residents of the slums found themselves sorted into veritable classes within a slum social hierarchy. People were categorized by the jobs they undertook in the slums, whether it was thievery, begging or prostitution.
Within the broader classes defined by jobs, there were further hierarchies. Particularly within the community of beggars, levels were strictly limited and sometimes even carried limitations on when one could beg. Beggers referred to as the courtads de Boutange, for example, were only allowed to solicit during the winter.
Other classes included the malingreux, who faked illness for their begging. The marfaux were agents who worked for prostitutes, possibly similar to pimps today. The narquois were those who pretended to be injured or disabled for their begging, often pretending to be veterans of Louis XIV’s ongoing wars. Thieves were quite high in the social order since they received regular wages from their employers higher up in the thief hierarchy. Young thieves were treated almost as apprentices and would therefore also have enjoyed much higher social standings than beggars.