The corporation of nautes " the traders of the water " had obtained a jurisdiction installed in the xiiie century in the " Visiting room to the Middle-class persons " situated near the Pantheon, in the location of the current N 20 of the street Soufflot. The middle-class persons obtained a Provost of the traders whose skills were limited to the commercial domain. The provost of the traders, assisted by four aldermen, took care of the supply of the city, the public works, the plate of the taxes and had the jurisdiction on the river business. The first provost of the traders of Paris was Evrard de Valenciennes.