Bonivard sent for a herald and told him: 'The Duke of Savoy has usurped my sovereignty; you will therefore proceed to Cartigny and make proclamation through all my lordship, in these terms: "No one in this place shall execute either ducal or papal letters under pain of the gallows.'" We see that Bonivard made a large use of his supreme power. The herald, duly escorted, made the terrible proclamation round the castle; and then a captain, a commissioner, and a few soldiers, sent by Bonivard, took possession of the domain in his name, _under the nose of the pope and the duke_.[776] He was very proud of this exploit. 'The pope and the duke have not dared send men to prevent my captain from taking possession,' he said good-humouredly; for Bonivard, though sparkling with wit, was also a good-tempered man. The fear ascribed to the duke did not last long. The lands of Cartigny were near those of Pontverre, and the order of the Spoon was hardly organised when an expedition directed against the castle was the prelude to hostilities. A ducal provost, with some men-at-arms, appeared before the place on the 6th of March, 1528. Bonivard had vainly told his captain to defend himself: the place was taken. The indignant prior exclaimed: 'My people allowed themselves to be surprised.' He believed, as the Genevans also did, that the duke had bribed the commandant: 'The captain of Cartigny, after eating the fig, has thrown away the basket,' said the huguenots in their meetings. The prior of St. Victor, being determined to recover his property from his highness's troops, came to an understanding with an ex-councillor of Berne, named Boschelbach, a man of no very respectable character, who had probably procured him the few soldiers of his former expedition, and who now, making greater exertions, raised for him a corps of twenty men. Bonivard put himself at the head of his forces, made them march regularly, ordered them to keep their matches lighted, and halted in front of the castle. The prior, who was a clever speaker, trusted more to his tongue than to his arms: he desired, therefore, first to explain his rights, and consequently the ex-councillor, attended by his servant Thiebault, went forward and demanded a parley on behalf of the prior. By way of answer the garrison fired, and Thiebault was shot dead.