92 The Swiss and Their Neighbours, 1460–1560
years later. In early 1510 he had promised to return all documents and titles in his
possession, and to retain none, but clearly failed to do so.185 It appears that he con-
tinued to enjoy the support of Fribourg, for that summer rumours circulated that
the city was preparing to seize the commune of Belmont by Yverdon in retaliation
for the murder of its citizen Franz Bertoz, Dufour’s servant, by François de
Luxembourg, Duke Charles’s lieutenant in the Vaud, who was lord of Belmont.186
For its part, Bern was urging Savoy to hear Dufour’s grievances in open court,
providing him with letters of credence and a passport, but the latter refused to seek
justice in Savoy courts (which would certainly find against him) or at Payerne (the
place of arbitration for the Vaud).187 Instead, he found himself pursued by his
enemies in court at Payerne!188
Dufour’s response was to put further pressure on Savoy by producing a second
forged testament, whereby the sum promised by the first will was increased to
400,000 fl and extended to the remaining VIII cantons, with a further cession of
territory in the Lower Valais to the seven Valais Zenden.189 Dufour’s purpose in
perpetrating this absurd forgery remains opaque, though he was cunning enough
to recognize the cantons’ general need for cash since the papacy had failed to pay
the wages of their mercenaries.190 In January 1511 Duke Charles expressed aston-
ishment to Bern over these new claims, given that Savoy had renewed its Burgrecht
with Bern and Fribourg two years previously.191 With breath-taking effrontery
Dufour then produced an even more preposterous third forged testament which
raised the total payment due to the Swiss to 800,000 fl, with yet more territories
nominated as sureties.192
Katharina Simon-Muscheid has suggested that Dufour intended to drive a wedge
between Bern and Fribourg, and the remaining cantons. The two cities certainly
had good reason to be apprehensive that such an outcome would prejudice their
chances of territorial expansion in the west, since any default on payment to the VIII
cantons would have entailed the mortgage devolving upon the Swiss collectively
and the lands being administered as a common lordship.193 In a sense, though, the
wedge already existed. At a diet in Zug in March 1511 Fribourg defended itself
against the charge of profiteering by declaring that it had received nowhere near as
much as its loyal service to Savoy had cost it over many years.194
185 Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 174; Tallone, ‘Frode’, 238.
186 François de Luxembourg (c.1445–c.1511) was a Savoy vassal whose marriage to Louise of Savoy
(1467–1530) brought him various lordships in the Vaud, including Belmont-sur-Yverdon. HLS, s.v.
Luxembourg-Martigues.
187 AEF, Diplomatische Korrespondenz a) Bern: 26 (July 1508), 28 (July 1509).
188 SABE, Teutsche Missiven-Buch 15 M, pp. 134r-v, 199.
189 Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 132, 174–5. The places in question were St-Gingolphe, Martigny,
St-Brancher, Orsey, and Val d’Entremont.
190 Tallone, ‘Frode’, 238–9. 191 Tallone, ‘Frode’, 239–40.
192 Simon-Muscheid, ‘Jean Furno’, 287; Caviglia, Claudio di Seyssel, 132, 175; Marini, Savoiardi e
Piemontesi, 336. The pledge now embraced the county of Villars, the Maurienne and Tarentaise, the
lordship of Gex, and sovereignty over Bresse, Bugey, and Dombs.
193 Simon-Muscheid, ‘Jean Furno’, 288–9.
194 AEF, Ratsmanuale 28, fo. 69v–70r. That was not, of course, an argument Bern could use.