Groups of bandits consisted of several dozen men from the lower classes. Many bands acted under direct orders from nobles who employed them and offered them refuge. Jaume Masferrer, known as Toca-son, Perot Rocaguinarda and Joan Sala, known as Serrallonga, are some of the more famous bandits. Their strength and the fact that they could call on a network of accomplices and helpers in all social classes meant that banditry was more than a simple crime, but instead a political problem. Royal troops took harsh steps to quash the bandits, including burning down woods and demolishing houses and castles. Such measures were combined with mercy, however, and those who entered the royal armies in Naples or Flanders were pardoned.