Urbain Grandier was a Catholic priest popular among his parishioners and influential with the Loudun community and local government. He supported Loudun's govenor, angering Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIII, who wanted to centralize power in Paris. Grandier was also accused of romantic indiscretions by powerful people in town. When the nearby Ursuline nuns began experiencing visions and hallucinations, labeled witchcraft, Grandier was accused of causing them. Despite proclaiming his innocence, he was condemned by Richelieu and Louis XIII and executed.