Meanwhile, so far from Maximilian realizing the hopes of the Electors by bringing the forces of the Netherlands to the aid of the Empire, it was not very long ere Imperial troops were needed to rescue him from the hands of his turbulent subjects. He was rapidly becoming unpopular among the Netherlands, {20} whose constitutional traditions were vitally opposed to his dynastic plans; and the French Government, strong in Flemish sympathy, renewed the war with greater vigour and success. Maximilian's first organized body of landsknechts was completely defeated at Bethune, and afterwards roughly handled by their nominal allies. The final outbreak was largely due to a commercial treaty between Maximilian and Henry VII., which closed the Flemish harbours to English products. As a result, a lively commercial intercourse in English cloth sprang up in the coast towns of Brabant, and the economic rivals of Flanders reaped a rich harvest. The French Government fanned the flame of Flemish disaffection. It declared Maximilian to have forfeited the French fief of Flanders, and formally absolved this country from all allegiance to him. His refusal to account for the expenditure of the public money was an additional grievance; and when a rash visit to Bruges, with but a slender escort of troops, placed him in their power, the burghers used their advantage to the full. The morning after his entry a sudden insurrection took place (February 10, 1488). The whole town was soon up in arms, the gates were seized, and the Ducal palace was stormed by an excited mob. Maximilian himself was removed to the Kranenburg, and closely guarded; his councillors were racked in the public square, some of his chief adherents were beheaded, and the citizens of Ghent and Bruges united in depriving him of the Regency, and forming a new government wholly subservient to France. For three months he remained in this perilous condition, in continual fear of death or betrayal to Charles VIII. Kunz von der Rosen, his {21} faithful jester, who shared his captivity, begged Maximilian to exchange clothes with him and thus escape from the city in disguise; but the latter refused to expose him to almost certain death at the hands of the infuriated mob. Maximilian's letter to his father and the Electors shows the imminent danger in which he lay. "They will give me poison to eat, and so kill me ... they are taking all my people from me; this is my last letter for good and all ... I beseech you, in the name of God and Justice, for counsel and aid."[24a] For once Frederick's sluggish nature was fully roused, and, relinquishing all other objects, he moved heaven and earth to obtain his son's release. Over 20,000 men answered to the Imperial summons to Koln, and by the middle of May this army was advancing on Liège. The news of its approach brought the rebels to reason, and led them to hasten on negotiations with Maximilian. Without awaiting the