The Dufour Affair 95
The frauds were recorded in both Swiss and Piedmont chronicles,214 yet seem to
have had few long-term consequences. That is largely because the parties found
their attention diverted to the deteriorating situation in the west, where a second
front had opened up in the Italian Wars between Habsburg and Valois over control
of Burgundy and the Franche-Comté, which sucked in the Swiss both territorially
and militarily. The conflict left Savoy largely side-lined, an uneasy client of Bern
and Fribourg, whose backing the enfeebled duchy needed in the face of an increas-
ingly aggressive France. In November 1517—a year after the historic alliance
between the Confederation and France!—Duke Charles took up residence for a
week in the two cities as a token of his gratitude for their help against France.215
One wonders who paid.
214 Tallone, ‘Frode’, 225. 215 Freymond, ‘Politique’, 53–4.