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Since the middle of the twentieth century, French medievalists have been interested in the economic relations between the city and the countryside. However, French historiography has neglected urban-rural political relations. By using the rich archives of the city of Béziers and the village of Sérignan (Hérault), the present article aims to elucidate the urban-rural political relations in the second half of the fourteenth century. At the time, the urban elites of Béziers—the governing group of the city, that is, the citizens who held municipal office—showed different faces toward the villagers of Sérignan. They could be: 1. Royal officers of Béziers; 2. Those who held ad hoc judicial or administrative functions; 3. collectors of royal subsidy or of regional tax in Biterrois; 4. consuls of Béziers; 5. money lenders, money changers, buyers of wheat or of the right to levy income tax; 6. those who gave personal aid or advice; 7. advocates/consultants; 8. seigneurial or ecclesiastical agents in Sérignan. These urban elites of Béziers had superiority over the leaders of Sérignan, in terms of economic, intellectual, and political capital. By means of these various capitals, they commanded or protected the village community, depending on the situation. In order to survive the difficult circumstances caused by the Hundred Years’ War, the village reinforced its self-defense competence. But it also required the protection of the governing group of Béziers. As the governmental regime was gradually changing from seigneury to royal state, the role of protector of the village was no longer played by the seigneur, and not yet by the prince; it was in fact performed by the urban elites.