The town also becomes chief town of the district from 1790 to 1795. The parish then depends on the bishop of Mende (Concordat of 1803). In 1791, Michel Papel, parish priest since 1784, refuses to take the constitutional oath. He leaves his post in July 1792 to take the path of exile. Arrived at Aigues-Mortes, he turns back for lack of money or the desire to return to his flock, and returns to hide with other exiles in a cave of the Gorges du Tarn (the "cave of outlaws " at La Malene). Denounced, he is led to Mende, convicted and executed on the spot on November 1, 1794. The same year, Meyrueis witnesses the execution of Father Geraud Arnal, refractory priest of Saint-Pierre-des-Tripiers, also one of the introducers of the steamboat in France (1781), inventor of a steam mill (Nîmes, 1783).