The Vagaries of Conquest 147
Franz Nägeli’s original mission was accomplished. The auxilliary troops from
Neuchâtel, Valangin, and Neuveville, as well as the volunteers from Lausanne, and
the men from Aigle and the Pays d’Enhaut (the Upper Gruyère) were stood down
and headed home.670 But Bern’s task was far from accomplished. It had reached an
accommodation with the Valais communes over control of the southern Chablais,
but what was to happen on the north shore of the lake where the Chablais stretched
from Villeneuve to Vevey? At the outset, Fribourg and the count of Gruyère had
stood aside, hoping to remain neutral.671 But Bern was not likely to tolerate a situ-
ation so inherently unstable. Fribourg was in constant touch with the V Catholic
cantons and the Valais, who were urging it to sever its ancient ties to Bern and
to offer the Bernese no military support. Yet Fribourg could not help but view
with apprehension Bern’s designs upon the bishopric of Lausanne and the county
of Gruyère.672 By the beginning of February Fribourg had abandoned any pretence
of neutrality. Instead, it sought to carve out a share of the Vaud for itself.673 The
struggle for control of the Vaud had only just begun.
670 Gilliard, Eroberung, 99 [164].
671 Paquier, Pays de Vaud, 2, 255. In late February the army wrote to Count Jean and his son,
instructing them to report to Payerne to swear allegiance. Vasella, ‘Krieg Berns’, B 18.
672 EA IV, 1c, 612 (no. 374) (Jan.–Feb. 1536).
673 Paquier, Pays de Vaud, 2, 260. The count of Gruyère swore fealty in March. SABE, Teutsche
Missiven-Buch 24 W, pp. 232–4.