122 The Swiss and Their Neighbours, 1460–1560
with Savoy but also with Bern.453 A further issue—which had no direct link to
the mediation—was that Bern and Fribourg had demanded 15,000 écus from
Geneva for their military aid. It was clearly impossible for the city to raise such a large
sum in short order. It took out a substantial loan for 8,000 écus from Basel in January
1531, but it was to take well over a century for the debt to be discharged in full.454
Although 1531 saw Bern and Fribourg renew their Burgrechte with Lausanne
and Geneva,455 the latter protested that Duke Charles was still refusing to release
his prisoners.456 That rendered attempts to obtain formal ratification of the Payerne
judgement otiose.457 Between Bern and Fribourg, in any case, the confessional
divisions began to obtrude. Bern continued to rebuff Avenches’s efforts to conclude
a Burgrecht, but found itself at odds with Fribourg over the latter’s attempts to pre-
vent Guillaume Farel from preaching there.458 Similar difficulties arose over Farel’s
activities in their common lordship of Orbe.459 A Confederal diet held at
Bremgarten in June failed to reconcile the adherents of the old and new faiths.460
Savoy meanwhile was endeavouring to mend its fences with Bern and Fribourg,
but the two cities refused to play ball unless Duke Charles recognized the validity
of the St-Julien treaty and Payerne arbitration.461 In a seemingly friendly gesture
Savoy’s envoys offered the cities monetary compensation rather than the mortga-
ging of the Vaud if the treaty were breached, but since Savoy was asking at the end
of August for a delay in the payment of the first instalment of 7000 écus the gesture
was thoroughly disingenuous.462
Fribourg was coming under increasing pressure from the Catholic cantons to
declare its hand by coming to their aid.463 But the city itself felt threatened, having
been called upon thrice by Bern and once by Solothurn to take up arms on their
behalf.464 It also found itself at odds with Savoy—no doubt because the duke’s
failure to make payment caused Bern to reaffirm its claim to the Vaud, to which
Fribourg was party.465
By the end of the year Bern had reached an accommodation with the V Catholic
cantons,466 and was pursuing an amicable arrangement over the common lord-
453 Santschi, Crises et Révolutions, 10. 454 Monter, Calvin’s Geneva, 46–7.
455 EA IV, 1b, 887–8 (no. 452: a; to a) (Jan. 1531); 907 (no. 467) (March 1531).
456 EA IV, 1b, 896 (no. 460: I; II) (Jan. 1531).
457 See EA IV, 1b, 899–900 (no. 463: b) (Feb. 1531).
458 EA IV, 1b, 889–900 (no. 454: b) (Jan. 1531); 933 (no. 481: I; II) (March–April 1531).
459 EA IV, 1b, 933 (no. 481: III) (March–April 1531); 950–1 (no. 489: a) (April 1531); 967
(no. 498: I; II) (April 1531); 985–6 (no. 509) (May 1531); 1069 (no. 560: I, 1; II, 2) (July 1531).
460 EA IV, 1b, 1034–46 (no. 540) (June 1531).
461 EA IV, 1b, 954 (no. 493: 1) (April 1531); 1005 (no. 517) (May 1531); 1029 (no. 534: I) (June
1531); 1047 (no. 542: I; II) (June 1531); 1048 (no. 544: c); 1059–60 (no. 554) (July 1531); 1072–3
(no. 564: I, 2; II, 2) (July 1531).
462 EA IV, 1b, 1072–3 (no. 564: II, 4) (July 1531); 1128–9 (no. 598) (Sept.–Oct. 1531). The delay
was rejected, but the mortgage was postponed until Christmas.
463 EA IV, 1b, 1151–2 (no. 608) (Sept. 1531); 1194–5 (no. 636: to III) (Oct. 1531); 1197
(no. 640: a, 1) (Oct. 1531).
464 EA IV, 1b, 1194–5 (no. 636) (Oct. 1531).
465 EA IV, 1b, 1196 (no. 638: II, 4) (Oct. 1531).
466 EA IV, 1b, 1221–4 (no. 652) (Nov. 1531); this followed a similar agreement with Zürich:
1214–19 (no. 650) (Nov. 1531).