Hugues Aubriot

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Hugues Aubriot, born in Dijon (date unknown) and died around 1391 in Dijon, was a French administrator and heretic. He served as Provost of Paris under King Charles V. He built the Bastille between 1370 and 1383, created the first sewers in Paris, and strengthened the city’s defenses.

Aubriot had very poor relations with both the Church and the University of Paris. After Charles V died in 1380, he arrested people who had harassed Paris’s Jews. For this, he was put on trial on charges that included heresy, sodomy, and extortion. He was saved from execution by Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and instead sentenced to life in prison on bread and water.

During later disturbances in Paris, a mob rioted against taxes and freed him. He then fled from the Bastille.