102 The Swiss and Their Neighbours, 1460–1560
Such are the bare bones of the story. Duke Ulrich of Württemberg’s involvement
with the Swiss was by no means over: his attempts to regain his duchy under cover
of the Peasants’ War in 1525 by hiring Swiss mercenaries have been explored in
Part I. For the present argument what matters is that Bern’s involvement in the
conflict over Montbéliard may have been peripheral in comparison with that of
Solothurn and Basel, but it underscores how vital its alliances with the other
western cities continued to be. The strategic and commercial importance of the
Franche-Comté remained undiminished, even as events in Geneva caused Bern
and Fribourg to switch their attention back to the south.
Montbéliard—Wurtemberg 600 Ans des Relations (Schriften zur südwestdeutschen Landeskunde, 26)
(Leinfelden–Echterdingen, 1999), 285–302, here at 287. Blamont had already been handed back to
Duke Ulrich in 1532. SASO, Missiven 12, p. 91 (April 1532).