On 17 August 1539 a number of guilds—which included the millers, the cordwainers, the old shoemakers, the smiths, and the shipmakers—demanded the right to choose their own deans and the arrest of the city's aldermen, who they believed had capitulated to Mary's demands against their wishes. Over the next few days, they armed themselves and took over the city, forcing the city's aldermen to flee or be imprisoned. On 21 August they formed a committee of nine men to administrate the city's affairs. A 75-year-old retired alderman by the name of Lieven Pyn was executed on 28 August in part for supposedly tampering with documents that legitimized Ghent's autonomy. Pyn was involved in tax negotiations back in 1537. He was tortured to death on the rack. On 3 September the parchment upon which the "Calfvel" was written was ceremonially torn apart.