of execution. To elevate spirits, some members of the imperial family moved to Pozsony for the time of the assembly, and various feasts and religious ceremonies were held. As a result of private meetings among them, the sentiments of the envoys with more extreme opinions were consolidated by the time they presented their ideas before the diet, and initial negotiations seemed to be promising. However, the royal propositions of 13 May, which did not mention any of the subjects that concerned the Hungarians but asked for new recruits and higher taxes. On the 21st, the nobles asked for time to discuss the demands and asked for economic reforms to ease the introduction of higher taxes. Emperor-King Francis received their referral well, and it seemed that the efforts of Archduke Joseph would result in a smoother process. However, conservative and anti-constitutional circles in Vienna raised concerns about the assembly debating the emperor-king's proposals in any way, and while negotiations were peaceful and well-intentioned, both parties remained unwilling to compromise. During the following talks, Joseph often played the role of mediator and calmed the Hungarians, who worried that the Viennese court wanted to inroduce continual recruitment to render diets unnecessary. Tensions were increased considerably by a formal royal letter on 12 July, which heavily emphasised royal prerogatives on the counsel of Archduke Charles. From this, the envoys deduced that the king did not want to respect their right to allow new taxes and recruits. On 18 July, a report to Archduke Charles described the mood of participants as confused and withdrawn. To avoid further escalation, Joseph decided to personally talk to Francis in early August. He described how determined the envoys were to achieve their goals and that they represented the general opinion of Hungary, and he openly told the king that if Vienna insisted on the content of the letter of 12 July, the situation would deteriorate beyond help. He also expressed his support for some of the economic concerns of the assembly. As a result, a new royal letter on 14 August focused more on achieving consensus and stated that all decisions would only be effective until the next diet. In a separate, confidential letter, the sovereign entrusted the palatine with settling matters 'favourably for the state', giving guidelines. By this time, however, participating nobles had become distrustful of the king and insisted on all of their previous demands, despite