Even before Charles the Bold’s demise arguments had broken out over what should
happen to the Vaud. Bern and Fribourg wasted no time in late 1475 in installing
Humbert de Glâne, a prominent local nobleman, as bailiff of the Vaud, as if the
territory were securely theirs.109 But the other cantons were unhappy that Bern
should retain Morat, which Duchess Yolande had conferred upon Count Jacob de
Romont. In July 1476 a commission of arbitration was convened at Fribourg,
attended by envoys from France, Austria, Lorraine (Duke René in person!), Savoy,
the Estates of the Vaud, the Lower Union, and the Swiss cantons. From the outset
it was evident that France was pulling the strings. Louis XI let it be known that he
was prepared to put an army of 20,000 men in the field to attack Burgundy. His
envoy promised to ensure that the Swiss pensions would be paid, but was told that
the king should pay another 80,000 fl as compensation for his previous military
inactivity. The French ambassador then suggested that the Swiss collectively should
occupy Geneva, though who was to bear the cost was left open. On some points
there was agreement. Under the Treaty of Morges Geneva was to pay 26,000 écus
as a ‘ransom’ (that is, in effect protection money to avoid beleaguerment) or else
provide sureties;110 the Vaud should remain in Swiss hands, except that Morat,
Grandcour, and Cudrefin should return to their original overlords (i.e. Savoy);
Fribourg’s debts of 25,600 fl should be written off; and the Valais communes
should keep control of the Lower Valais.111
In reply the Savoy envoys insisted that Geneva was in no position to pay, nor
could Savoy discharge Fribourg’s debts. Over the latter’s desire to remove Savoy’s
coat of arms and seek to join the Swiss Confederation further discussions should
take place. In its rejoinder Luzern took exception to King Louis’s demand that the
Swiss should fight on until Charles the Bold was crushed—that, it said, lay in
God’s hands, not theirs; to show some greater engagement, the city implied, should
not France shoulder the burden of occupying Geneva, rather than the Swiss?112
109 EA II, 571 (no. 819) (November 1475). He was lord of Cugy and vidôme of Moudon.
110 This sum was to be paid to Bern and Fribourg, not to the other participating cantons. Mathieu
Caesar, Le pouvoir en ville. Gestion urbaine et pratiques politiques à Genève (fin XIIIe–début XVIe siècles)
(Studies in European Urban History (1100–1800), 26) (Turnhout, 2011), 211; E. William Monter,
Calvin’s Geneva, new edn (Eugene, OR, 2012), 33. To meet this demand Geneva imposed a wealth tax
at 6%, borrowed from Strasbourg and the Medici Bank at Lyon, and introduced an import levy on wine.
111 EA II, 601–8 (no. 844: b; c; e; I, 1, 2, 5, 8).
112 EA II, 601–8 (no. 844: [j] 1, 5; n; appendix to b, 3).