The Revolt Defeated 209Union resolution was further undermined when the French endorsed
Maximilian’s objections to their preconditions, arguing that the pro-
posed treaty had to be viewed in its context as the first stage of a more
comprehensive settlement of the Bohemian issue. Tellingly they added
that were the Union to refuse they would be responsible for the outcome
as ‘promoters of an unjust war’, a concept which still carried consider-
able weight in the early seventeenth century. Moreover the French were
firmly opposed to a provision protecting the Palatinate from attack by
the inclusion of Archduke Albrecht in the agreement, as privately they
saw this threat as their best means of coercing Friedrich in the envis-
aged next stage of negotiating a general settlement.^16 Their reasoning,
together with the standing of Angoulême and his colleagues as outside
intermediaries, increased the pressure on those Union members wishing
to hold out for their conditions, while providing additional support for
those willing to concede. Meanwhile yet more recruits were reaching the
League army, added to which an incorrect but nonetheless disturbing
report arrived that Archduke Albrecht was beginning his advance.
Maximilian proved the better poker player, keeping his problems to
himself and maintaining a resolute negotiating position while doubts
and dissensions grew on the Union side. Eventually the key figures,
realising that matters were not going their way, decided to settle for
the available terms, as the duke of Württemberg and the margrave of
Ansbach themselves informed the French on 29 June. Rationalising the
situation, they concluded that Archduke Albrecht could not be restricted
by the non-aggression pact, as Maximilian had no authority to negoti-
ate on his behalf, adding that they would have agreed earlier but for
the ‘violent entreaties’ of the Palatine councillor Ludwig Camerarius.^17
Hence a French-drafted treaty on essentially Maximilian’s terms was
concluded on 3 July.
The document was as notable for what it did not preclude as for what
it did.^18 Union and League members were prohibited from attacking
each others’ lands in Germany, but this did not apply to conflicts in
Habsburg territories, which were specifically excluded from its scope.
Each side was thus free to intervene in Bohemia, where either could be
attacked by the other if the situation arose. Albrecht was not included
and was thus free to invade the Palatinate, although if he did so the
Union army could attack him there. On the other hand were the Impe-
rial ban to be applied to Friedrich, and should Maximilian be appointed
as executor, he could invade the Palatinate accordingly but could not
be attacked by the Union in consequence. Consideration of the long-
standing Protestant grievances was ‘deferred until a more convenient