As a prison, the Bastille held common criminals such as forgers and thieves, as well as people put in prison for religious reasons, such as the Huguenots. Some had been put in prison for printing or writing things against the government or the King. People of high rank were sometimes held there too. The prison, which could only hold about 50 prisoners, was not as bad most of the prisons in Paris. But secrecy about the prison and its prisoners gave it an evil reputation.