A new Imperial Conference was scheduled to convene in Frankfurt on Saint George's Day, late April.
The Electoral College's vote had been finalized by the end of February and, together with a joint edict from the Emperor and the Pope, promulgated throughout the Empire.
Laszlo, who had stayed in Milan intending to direct the Imperial Diet from a distance, now had to busy himself with certain exceptional imperial affairs.
Not long before, a letter from the Elector of Brandenburg reached Milan and instantly put Laszlo in a quandary.
At his desk Laszlo held a pen, meaning to answer the Elector personally, yet the nib would not descend to the page.
Doubts crowded his mind—about Brandenburg's request and about Austria's own problems—tying him in knots.
At that moment his Privy Councillor, Salzburg Archbishop Bernhard von Rohr, entered with a sheaf of documents.
'Your Majesty, you sent for me?'
'Indeed, Bernhard. These problems have me cornered; I need your counsel.'
Laszlo invited the councillor to sit opposite and handed him Brandenburg's letter.
'This... the new Elector seems rather greedy.'
Bernhard skimmed the lines and at once grasped why the Emperor was vexed.
Back when the Crusade had not yet ended, Albrecht 'Achilles', then still Margrave of Ansbach, resigned mid-campaign as commander of the imperial coalition, bade the Emperor farewell, and returned to the Empire, soon after receiving the title and lands of Elector of Brandenburg from his reclusive brother Frederick II.
By the basic statutes of the Imperial Circles, an Elector could normally claim at least the office of Circle Captain or even the provincial governorship.
Within the Upper-Saxon Circle to which Brandenburg belonged, the House of Wettin—uniting Saxony, Thuringia and the Margravate of Meissen—was uncontestedly supreme, and therefore likely to monopolize the governorship; the newly invested Elector Albrecht 'Achilles' quickly secured the post of Upper-Saxon Captain, becoming one of the four Circle Captains under the governor.
Thus Albrecht—who had already served as Bavarian and Franconian Justiciar and as Governor of Franconia—now gained command of the Upper-Saxon Army as well, and friction inevitably followed.
Earlier, at the insistence of Laszlo's prospective son-in-law the Elector of Bavaria, Laszlo had stripped Albrecht of his Bavarian judicial powers.
Once Albrecht left Ansbach and Franconia to take up residence in Berlin, the Bishop of Würzburg and the Bishop of Bamberg began to challenge his governorship of Franconia.
A governor of Franconia who was no longer in Franconia was hard for the other Circle estates to accept.
Above all, the Bishop of Würzburg—who, despite Laszlo's warnings, persisted in styling himself Duke of Franconia and had long coveted the governorship—lodged an impeachment against Albrecht soon after Laszlo returned to Vienna from the East.
Laszlo had since exchanged many letters with the Elector of Brandenburg, yet other distractions had prevented a resolution.
Recently Albrecht, evidently sensing that the Emperor was preoccupied with France, offered military support in exchange for concessions: he asked to keep his current offices, or at least to appoint a trusted deputy as Acting Governor of Franconia.
In that way the House of Hohenzollern, represented by him alone, would dominate both Franconia and Upper Saxony, wielding enormous influence in two Circles at once.
That was why Bernhard called him greedy.
Children choose; adults take everything.
'I rather think he has earned it,' Laszlo said with mixed feelings.
'At seventeen he fought the Hussites at Emperor Sigismund's side; at twenty-four he cast the decisive vote for my father at the electoral diet; at twenty-five, when Austria stood alone, he led Franconian knights to Moravia and together with my father repelled the Polish invasion.
Afterwards came two Ottoman Crusades, the Italian Wars, the taming of the Bavarian and Palatinate branches of the Wittelsbach family... Apart from the early breach of law when he attacked the free city of Nuremberg to recover his family's lands, his other services certainly merit greater reward.'
Yet Albrecht was altogether too outstanding.
If the princes were asked to name the Emperor's loyal servants, many would be listed; but asked to name the foremost champion of the Empire, most would answer in unison: Albrecht of Hohenzollern.
Whether the still-obscure Hohenzollern-Swabian line within the Swabian Circle, or the Hohenzollern-Franconian line that began with Nuremberg and would end with the second German Empire, the family had risen by unswervingly serving the Hohenstaufen, Luxembourg and Habsburg dynasties, reaping in return vast grants and imperial privileges.
Had Albrecht been merely an unremarkable Margrave of Ansbach—had he not reunited the Hohenzollern lands after both elder brothers died without male heirs—Laszlo could have entrusted him with great responsibilities without a second thought.
But since he inherited the electorate of Brandenburg, Laszlo had to weigh every reward and favour.
'You are not thinking of granting his request, are you?'
Startled, Bernhard stared at the Emperor.
'I have not decided; first give me your view.'
'Absolutely not, Your Majesty. When you determined to divide the Imperial Circles, did you not make political allegiance the chief principle?'
Bernhard put his finger on the heart of the matter.
When the Austrian, Bohemian and Burgundian Circles had been carved out, why had the Archduchy of Austria, though it possessed many scattered holdings in Swabia and Bavaria, been wholly placed within the Austrian Circle?
Because once those lands entered a Circle they passed from private family property into the public domain of the Empire and would inevitably be forced to yield interests to the other powers within that Circle.
The kingdom-lands of Burgundy and Bohemia had likewise been kept intact on this principle.
Yet now Laszlo was beginning to doubt whether this scheme was superior to one based on simple geography.
After all, when he had created the Circles he had set aside two family-exclusive Circles, reasoning that whoever later wore the crown, Austria and Bohemia would remain self-contained units.
In hindsight, rather than integrating the Empire, the move had seemed deliberately to fragment it.
The Elector of Brandenburg's jurisdictional demands had rekindled Laszlo's misgivings and now left him wrestling with himself.
Habsburg first, or universal Empire? He meant to seize the occasion to settle the question once and for all.
If political allegiance were still the rule, then Ansbach and Bayreuth, even if not transferred with Albrecht into the Upper-Saxon Circle, ought at least to be politically downgraded within Franconia.
And Laszlo had begun to doubt even that principle.
Apart from his own arbitrary use of imperial power to fold outlying lands into the Austrian Circle, many princes held possessions that crossed Circle boundaries.
With Habsburg influence in Swabia and Bavaria steadily growing, perhaps the time had come to redraw the map of the Circles anew.
But by doing so, the long-dodged geopolitical clash with the Swabian and Bavarian princes—thanks to the creation of the Austrian Imperial Circle—would flare up in no time.
Whether it was the Margraviate of Burgau, coveted by the Duke of Württemberg, the Elector of Bavaria, and the free city of Augsburg, or other scattered enclaves deep inside Swabia and Bavaria, every power now cast a greedy eye on them.
Once those lands were folded into the Austrian Circle, everyone merely looked on, asking the Emperor—whenever the chance arose—if he might sell.
Even outside the matching district, Laszlo could, by simple political sleight, invoke imperial authority to interfere with members of the Swabian and Bavarian Circles.
Yet the moment those enclaves were reassigned to their proper Circles, the balance of power would snap; princes of Swabia and Bavaria who today smiled on Laszlo might turn their backs overnight.
Weighing the risks, Laszlo resolved to try anyway—right after he dealt with the King of France.
As for open enmity—if the lords of Swabia and Bavaria still had room to betray him now, then everything he had built these years was worth nothing.
His thoughts drifted back to the problem of the Elector of Brandenburg.
"I've pretty much worked out a solution," Laszlo murmured, lifting his pen to draft a reply to the Elector.
"If you flat-out refuse the Elector of Brandenburg, you'll likely provoke his anger."
Bernhard warned, worry creasing his face.
After all, north of the Main the Emperor's influence lagged far behind that of the Saxon and Brandenburg electors; keeping cordial ties, as before, remained essential.
Bernhard therefore set about devising a compromise that would curb the Elector's ambition without rupturing relations.
"Refuse? No—I'll give him options and let him decide."
"Options?" Bernhard blinked; the Emperor's mind had leapt ahead too fast for him to follow.
"Remember my enclave in Poland?"
"Poland… what has that to do with any of this?"
"Poznań and the surrounding lands—about half of Greater Poland—border the Elector's own territories and are almost as large as the Hohenzollern holdings in Franconia.
If he'll trade, the problem vanishes."
Laszlo spoke airily; plainly he cared little for either Polish or Franconian real estate.
The farther from Vienna, the harder to rule and the less the land was worth.
Yet if the swap succeeded, he would gain the upper hand in both the Swabian and Franconian Circles at once.
In Bavaria he could lean on the Bishop of Salzburg to balance the Elector of Bavaria and draw most of South Germany into his net.
Bernhard promptly doused the fire.
"Your Majesty, the Hohenzollerns started in Nuremberg; giving up Ansbach and Bayreuth won't come easy."
"True—few houses can abandon their ancestral lands without a twinge of guilt."
Laszlo nodded.
Unlike the Habsburgs, who cheerfully ditched barren Switzerland after taking Austria, the Hohenzollerns prized wealthy Franconia.
The Elector's Brandenburg lands were vast but poor, full of unruly peasants and bandits; hadn't the previous Elector gone mad from the strain?
After abdicating he had been packed off by his brother Albrecht to live out his days in Franconia—easy days indeed.
The family's Franconian lands, ringing the free imperial city of Nuremberg, stayed rich and bustling.
"And if the Elector refuses?"
"I offered him another choice.
If he insists on keeping every district intact, his house's influence will stay bottled up in Upper Saxony.
A stewardship in Franconia, yes—but no more talk of becoming captain-general."
That was scarcely a straitjacket; Laszlo had already revised his own rules for Circles, conceding the great princes' cross-regional power.
Otherwise someone might cry hypocrisy and stir worse resentment.
"Suppose he agrees to partition the inheritance?"
"Then the Franconian and Upper-Saxon Hohenzollerns will both stand among the Empire's grandees."
Laszlo smiled; to him this was the perfect answer.
Though every Hohenzollern acre together was still less than a quarter of the Archduchy of Austria, beside a hundred-odd Imperial Princes and a thousand knights they were a colossus.
Lesser estates instinctively clung to the mighty, so the family's reach far outstripped its acreage.
A characteristically European partible inheritance would neatly solve almost all his worries.
To soothe Albrecht, Laszlo guaranteed that—whatever choice he made—the Empire's foremost loyal servant would keep his post as captain-general of Franconia and commander in Upper Saxony; the change would come only with the next generation.
In this way Laszlo preserved his image as a generous sovereign; carping from the Bishop of Würzburg or how Albrecht might govern Franconia from Berlin were minor details.
"Your Majesty thinks of everything."
Bernhard, silent a moment, could not help but sigh in admiration.
Laszlo only shook his head. "I only hope this doesn't sour my friendship with Albrecht—I value it deeply.
If possible, I want you to go with me to see the Elector, explain my dilemma, and settle this once and for all.
And if you can, persuade him to join the campaign against France."
"Leave it to me, Your Majesty."
Bernhard took the freshly sealed letter from Laszlo's hand and gave a solemn bow.
"By the way, you came in carrying something—another matter?"
"Yes: your chief justice, the Bishop of Augsburg John, has sent documents from Vienna listing clerical crimes."
"Clerical crimes? Aren't those tried in your ecclesiastical courts?"
Laszlo was puzzled; when an ordinary priest slipped up, the Church usually hushed things up and handled judgment in-house.
They did so precisely to keep secular lords from meddling and to avoid giving hostages to fortune.
Yet his own chief justice and chief adviser—one the Bishop of Augsburg, the other the Salzburg Archbishop—were handing him evidence against priests; anyone would think he had become Pope.
He took the file from Bernhard and skimmed it quickly.
In the dioceses of Augsburg, Constance, and Eichstätt, slippery clerics were citing a so-called "imperial charter" to claim part of the powers belonging to the imperial count-palatine.
Their trespasses included appointing local notaries, clerks, and judges, legitimizing bastards, and performing a host of other acts.
Ordinary clergy simply don't have that kind of authority, and—unfortunately—these pockets of corruption are all located in the Habsburg Family's direct holdings and their immediate surroundings outside Austria.
In some parts of Outer Austria where the provincial government can barely reach, local churches are sometimes deputized to govern; in other districts where the Emperor retains only judicial rights, those same churches still try to nibble away at imperial power.
There's no helping it—the potential profits are huge, and Swabia and Bavaria lie so far from the Emperor that such usurpations are rarely punished.
Had the Bishop of Augsburg not chanced upon how serious things had become, everyone—from the governor of Outer Austria, Matthias, to Laszlo the Emperor—would still be in the dark.
'Are none of them afraid to die?'
Laszlo frowned, more puzzled than angry.
Clashes between church and secular nobles over local influence are nothing new; they're just rare inside the Archdiocese of Austria, which Laszlo already controls completely.
He hadn't imagined that in Swabia and Bavaria, beyond Austria's borders, the local church had already grown so bold.
'Ahem, Your Majesty, stripping and fining them for their crimes is, of course, unobjectionable.
But if you intend to execute any clergy, you'll need to consider Rome's reaction…' Though he sensed no murderous intent from the Emperor, Bernhard still felt obliged to warn.
'I'm not so reckless as that.'
Laszlo sighed, eyes skimming the final document: a list compiled by the Bishop of Augsburg naming more than forty clerics—church administrators, even abbots—every one guilty of overreach.
'Bishop John has done good work; let him handle it.'
Laszlo quickly affixed his seal to the commission sent to John, Bishop of Augsburg.
Every corrupt cleric and every appointee would undergo strict review to verify competence and character.
Their charters, concordats, and contracts would be inspected—after all, there had been many emperors, and Laszlo could not be sure which, if any, had issued the privileges they claimed.
The late Emperor Albrecht II had been an old hand at selling privileges; some imperial documents he signed were unknown even to Laszlo.
If those papers proved forged, Laszlo would show no mercy.
Merely narrowing their privileges would be lenient; anything graver would mean fines and dismissal—and Laszlo could slip in Austrian clergy, extending his influence into neighboring dioceses.
'Your Majesty, should the Holy See be notified?'
The moment Bernhard spoke, the Emperor shot him a look.
This concerns clergy who have broken imperial law and the Church encroaching on imperial rights; informing Rome would only embarrass both sides.
We'll resolve it through imperial legal process; the Pope will have nothing to say.
Eichstädt is in your province, I believe—see that your people cooperate fully with the imperial examiners and deal with this severely.
'As it should be, Your Majesty.'
As Salzburg Archbishop, Bernhard theoretically oversaw all church affairs in Bavaria.
If the Emperor took the matter seriously, he must show equal seriousness and cooperate.
He had never considered shielding the church from the Emperor's scrutiny.
Given Laszlo's past achievements, no one would question his right to correct ecclesiastical abuses.
The two had talked for a long time; Laszlo rose and walked to the window overlooking Milan's bustling streets.
'Is there anything further, Your Majesty?'
Bernhard was weary, but, unsure what was on the Emperor's mind, he waited patiently.
'There isn't much time left.'
'Time?'
'While we were speaking: word came from the Colonna that Pope Paul II is failing fast.'
Laszlo turned to Bernhard, eyes appraising.
'That… is unfortunate news. But why raise it now?'
Bernhard was puzzled at first, then grew excited, fatigue melting away.
You'll recall my old councillor Nicholas of Cusa—ten years ago.
'You mean Pius II?'
'The same. We first met at the Imperial Diet in Nuremberg. He came flushed with a hastily drafted reform plan, intent on cleansing both Empire and Church and forging the strongest universal Christian empire.
'That is your dream as well.'
Bernhard understood everything.
He had feared the Emperor's closeness to the Genoese cardinal meant his own chances were gone.
Now a new possibility glittered before him; he fought to hide his joy—lips level, but crow's-feet deepening.
'Indeed: sovereign of a universal empire, sword-bearer of God—still a long road.
Imperial reform inches forward, yet under Paul II the Church stagnates; the time for change has come.'
Laszlo had never hidden his ambition—his duty, rather. Bearing the double title of Roman Emperor, he and his supporters alike expected him to shield all Christendom.
'You would reopen church reform?'
'Do you judge it feasible?'
Laszlo tested him.
Bernhard pondered, brow knit, while Laszlo paced and waited.
At last Bernhard said hesitantly, 'I cannot be sure—but we must try.'
Laszlo nodded, satisfied.
'Then—run for Pope in Rome: yes or no?'
'It is my heart's desire, Your Majesty.'
Bernhard's restraint broke; the two men looked at each other and laughed.
The French are already out; the Orsini Family stands isolated and will sell themselves to the highest bidder.
Laszlo need only reach accord with the Colonna and secure their cardinals' votes for the imperial candidate.
Francesco remains the fallback: if the two great Roman houses cannot be swayed, he can serve as compromise, as Paul II once did.
Whatever happens, a pro-French Pope is impossible; as for the one in Avignon, Laszlo will soon lead an army to seize him personally.
With that worry settled, Laszlo could turn his mind back to war.
He had meant to stay quiet for a time, consolidating rule and developing Austria—but someone would not allow it.
East, then west—campaign without end.