“I must inform your excellencies how the Duke of Burgundy came with all pomp for his coronation as king of the kingdom of Burgundy and Friesland with twenty-six standards besides a magnificent sceptre and crown.  He also wished to take his duchy and territories in Savoy[17] and Guelders and others in fief from him [the emperor] and not from the empire.[18] This and other extraordinary demands his imperial grace did not wish to grant, and on that account he has broken off the interview and gone away.  Everything was prepared for the coronation, the chair for the taking.[19] It is said that he is to be crowned in Aix.  It may be hoped not [non speratur].  You can understand me as well as your faithful servant.

    “Dear Master Hans I hope that you will not laugh at me.  I can
    please my gracious lord and be worthy of praise if you will only
    trust me.

    “Despatched from Cologne on St. Nicholas Day itself.

    “To the Jurisconsult Master Johannes Gelthauss, Distinguished
    advocate, master, preceptor of the city of Frankfort.”

The two kingdoms are also mentioned by Snoy: 

“Two realms, namely Burgundy and Frisia; in the second, Holland, Zealand, Guelders, Brabant, Limburg, Namur, Hainaut, and the dioceses of Liege, Cambray, and Utrecht; in the first, Burgundy, Luxemburg, Artois, Flanders, and three bishoprics.”

The chronicler adds that this plan was discussed in secret conference.[20]

Again the rumour that the final straw that broke the emperor’s resolution was the duke’s desire to take Savoy and Guelders from his hand alone, is suggestive.  On the duke’s part, this wish might indicate an attempt to separate a portion of territory from the empire in a way to deceive his contemporaries into thinking that his kingdom was an imperial fief, while, in reality, it was an independent realm, as he or his successors could declare at a convenient moment.  But this seems at variance with his attested desire for electoral support.

It was a curious tangle and never fully unravelled.  Yet, considering the emperor’s personal characteristics, his last action does not seem inexplicable.  As his visitor showed the intensity of his will, Frederic became restive.  Phlegmatic, obstinate, yet conscious of his own weakness, personal conflicts with a nature equally obstinate and much more vigorous were exceedingly unpleasant.  The collision made him writhe uneasily and prefer to slip out of his embarrassment as quietly as he could.

The proposed leave-taking was to be very magnificent, and the magnificence again was significant of Burgundian wealth.  Whether the duke would surely keep his pledge of sharing that wealth with the archduke if the emperor went so far that he could not draw back, was a consideration that undoubtedly may have affected Frederic.  Had Mary of Burgundy accompanied her father, had the wedding of the daughter and investiture of the new king been planned for the same day, had the promises been exchanged simultaneously, the leave-taking might have passed, indeed, as a third ceremonial in all stateliness.