The Dufour Affair 91
equally between Orléans and the cantons.176 Be that as it may, Dufour presented
his forgery at a diet in Bern in March 1508. The testament was immediately recog-
nized as a fake (despite allegedly being signed and sealed by two abbots): Savoy
officials pointed out that Charles I had no right to dispose of his patrimony to the
detriment of his successors; in any case, the document was not couched in the
correct chancery language.177 But Bern and Fribourg went along with the deception
(though there were councillors, especially in Bern, who had their scruples)178
since, if payment were not forthcoming, they would gain control of the mortgaged
territories. The cities even sent high-ranking councillors to Chambéry to receive
copies of the testament, which were inspected—authenticated is perhaps putting it
too strongly—by notaries from Payerne and Neuchâtel. At the beginning of April
the two cities staged a lavish banquet in honour of their generous benefactor!179
It was clear to all, despite the theatrics, that this was a game of smoke and
mirrors. The two cities’ desire for money coupled with their fear that the fraud
would quickly be exposed caused them to insist on a deadline of no more than a
week for Savoy to comply.180 The situation was regarded as sufficiently serious for
France and the papacy to offer mediation. Their envoys succeeded in reducing the
payment from 350,000 to 100,000 fl,181 but some Fribourg citizens were holding
out for the original figure or else implementation of the mortgage; otherwise, they
would quit the city. One reason was that Fribourg, years after the Burgundian settle-
ment, had still not formally been released from its erstwhile feudal obligations to
Savoy; moreover, it was still awaiting the surrender of Montagny-les-Monts and the
payment of a ransom (i.e. compensation). As a result, the envoys found it necessary
to restore the suggested payment to 200,000 fl.182 The Estates of the Vaud were
summoned to give their assent, and by June Duke Charles II had agreed to pay
120,000 fl over nine years, with the Vaud, Chablais, and Gex as sureties, though he
resolutely refused to recognize the validity of the testament. He also agreed to meet
Fribourg’s demands in full.183 Spread out over so many years, Savoy could probably
have afforded that sum, though Dufour clearly hoped to bankrupt the duchy.184
After his machinations in 1508 he seems to have resided in the Dauphiné and
plotted revenge against Savoy, which culminated in a yet more audacious fraud two
176 Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 130. Agnes of Savoy was the sister of Duke Amadeus of Savoy, not
his daughter, as Caviglia incorrectly states.
177 Tallone, ‘Frode’, 228–9; Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 140–1.
178 The French envoy, Claude de Seyssel (jurist, humanist, and later bishop of Marseille), reported
to the French king that among Bern’s elite ‘la faulseté de la dite donation et la meschanceté de l’ouvrier
[Dufour]’ were well-known, but it was difficult to convince the commons of the city. Caviglia, Claudio
di Seyssel, 143.
179 Simon-Muscheid, ‘Jean Furno’, 284.
180 Tallone, ‘Frode’, 232; cf. EA III, 2, 425–6 (no. 303: b) (April 1508).
181 Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 149. 182 Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 149–51.
183 Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 152–3; cf. EA III, 2, 428–9 (no. 305) (June 1508); 429 (no. 306)
(June 1508).
184 Tallone, ‘Frode’, 232–3; Simon-Muscheid, ‘Jean Furno’, 286. In March 1509 Piedmont
granted a subsidy of 180,000 fl. Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 154 (Koenigsberger, ‘Parliament’, 65, puts
the total subsidy at 215,400 fl over three years). The previous August the Estates of Savoy had granted
a levy of 1 fl pro hearth over eight years, and a subsidy of 8000 fl. Tallone, ‘Frode’, 237.