All Unquiet on the Western Front 101
attempted to retake Blamont. His failure prompted both the Swiss and the emperor
to urge mediation.266
In response, Duke Ulrich sought to conclude a Burgrecht with Bern, Solothurn,
and Fribourg.267 That gave Solothurn an opportunity to extend its own protective
alliance to both Montbéliard and Blamont, since it had hopes of acquiring
Montbéliard for itself, as Ulrich was heavily indebted to the city.268 Solothurn even
sent troops to Montbéliard, but was restrained by Bern.269 Further efforts at medi-
ation by the Confederal diet came to naught.270 With the expulsion of Duke
Ulrich from Württemberg by an army of the Swabian League in 1519, Count
Wilhelm spied his chance of attacking the Württemberg lordship of Granges on his
doorstep, as well as some Montbéliard villages.271 Again, the best Confederal
mediation could do was to refer the matter to the parlement in Dole for reso-
lution.272 By 1521, however, Count Wilhelm appears to have been in financial
difficulties, for he mortgaged one of his lordships, L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, to Basel.273
Two years later he was obliged to hand back Granges to Duke Ulrich, with Blamont
placed under the temporary guardianship of Luzern and Basel.274 Meanwhile,
Solothurn revived its aspiration to purchase Montbéliard, though no such deal
could hope to succeed without Bern’s or wider Swiss approval.275 Instead, Solothurn
took up Ulrich’s offer of Blamont for sale at 20,000 fl, a figure subsequently
reduced to 12,000 fl.276 In the end, Count Wilhelm of Fürstenberg sold all his
rights in the Franche-Comté to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria for 20,000 fl.277
Duke Ulrich remained in exile, residing mostly in Montbéliard, until he was
restored to his duchy under the terms of the peace of Kaaden in 1534.278
266 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 14. 267 SASO, Denkwürdige Sachen 35, p. 62 (July 1517).
268 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 15. Ulrich borrowed 8300 fl from Solothurn, which was then raised to
10,500 fl. SASO, Ratsmanuale 9, p. 183 (n.d. [1517]).
269 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 15; SASO, Missiven 6, p. 443 (March 1519), p. 460 (May 1519),
pp. 470–1 (May 1519), p. 472 (May 1519). The original contingent of 300 men was raised by an
additional 60, then cut back to 40.
270 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 16. Matters were complicated by the fact that Duke Ulrich succeeded
in acquiring citizenship in Luzern! Ibid., 16–17.
271 SASO, Missiven 6, pp. 458–9, 460, 465 (May 1519). For further negotiations involving
Bern see SABE, Unnütze Papiere, Solothurn 41.1, nos 171–2 (May 1519); Mümpelgard 50.2, no. 49
(May 1519).
272 EA III, 2, 1245–6 (no. 828) (June 1520). In the meantime Luzern, Basel, and Solothurn
should temporarily occupy Blamont and Granges.
273 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 17.
274 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 18. EA IV, 1b, 314 (no. 147: p) (Aug. 1523). This suggestion (without
Solothurn) had already been put forward in 1520. See note 272.
275 SASO, Ratsmanuale 14, p. 79 (Oct. 1524). In fact, Basel and Solothurn enquired of Bern
whether all three cities should jointly purchase Montbéliard, but Bern pointed to likely resistance
from the other cantons. EA IV, 1a, 521–2 (no. 222) (Oct. 1524).
276 SASO, Ratsmanuale 14, p. 100 (Nov. 1524), pp. 118–19 (Jan. 1525); EA IV, 1b, 580–1
(no. 246) (Feb. 1525). It appears that there was a clandestine attempt to purchase Blamont in 1520,
though nothing seems to have come of it. SASO, Ratsmanuale 9, p. 299 (Aug. 1520).
277 Wagner, Graf Wilhelm, 19.
278 The restoration was only possible with French financial subvention, which involved mortgaging
Montbéliard and Blamont to France; they were returned to Württemberg in the spring of 1535.
Rainer Babel, ‘Mömpelgard zwischen Frankreich und dem Reich vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert’,
in Sönke Lorenz and Peter Rückert (eds), Württemberg und Mömpelgard 600 Jahre Begegnung: