Note 64 — Book I. LETTERS TO MAXIMILIAN.
Reading edition
About a mile from Montbéliard Pibrac was captured by Brysach and a band of brigands, who assumed the character of Huguenot refugees. The Ambassador was compelled to leave his carriage, and follow his captors into the forest. Meanwhile a hue and cry was raised, and the people turned out to hunt the banditti. Pibrac was now in great danger, as the brigands threatened to kill him if one of their party should be hurt. From noon to midnight he was compelled to accompany Brysach and his band through the recesses of the forest. Fortunately he was able to turn his talents as a diplomatist to good account, and at last persuaded his companions to set him free. See Thuanus, iii. 98. Compare the account of Busbecq’s capture, vol. i. p. 71.
The country of Montbéliard, or Mümpelgard, lay between Franche Comté and Alsace, and belonged to a branch of the House of Würtemberg. It remained in their hands till near the end of the last century. In 1792 the French took possession of it, but it did not become French de jure till 1801, when, with the other German enclaves in Alsace, it was ceded by the treaty of Luneville.