With the end of the cycle, the last great social elite of Brazil also came to an end: after the sugar mill owners and the great miners, there were the so-called "coffee barons" (in Portuguese: "barões do café"). The baronage ended up being a kind of legitimization of local power, making them intermediaries between the people and the government. Pedro II distributed the title of baron in a significantly higher proportion than those who preceded him on the throne. In the last year of the monarchy, 1889, Brazil had 316 barons. This honor was generally dedicated to landowners who were noted for their material wealth. Thus, the baronage became the distinguishing mark of this class. These measures by the monarch aimed to maintain the elite's support for the regime, especially after the promulgation of the Golden Law. After this law, the granting of titles increased dramatically. Even so, many coffee barons supported the military coup that established the republican regime in Brazil.