The Elector managed to win over the town nobility by taking them into his service and giving them jobs in administration, but the arrangement still did not sit well with the townsfolk. They had but one hope: to get rid of the pledge arrangement and reinstate the town's lost Imperial immediacy. Emperor Karl IV, though, dashed this hope. In 1368, he raised the sum of the pledge and promised that neither he nor his successor would allow the pledge to be redeemed. With high hopes, the townsfolk turned in 1496 to King of the Romans (and later Holy Roman Emperor) Maximilian I, who was supporting the town in its dispute with the Elector of Trier, Johann II of Baden. He freed Boppard from Electoral jurisdiction and tolls. However, Maximilian overstepped his authority in redeeming the pledge and had to revise his decision. This led in 1497 to the Boppard War. The Bopparders were not prepared to see their town once more annexed by the Electorate. So, the Elector of Trier advanced on the town with an army of 12,000 soldiers. The neighbouring places of Bad Salzig and Weiler surrendered without a fight. Boppard could not withstand the siege for long, and in the end had to acknowledge the Elector as their ruler.