Aspect of Swiss history in the late Middle Ages
The
Old Swiss Confederacy
began as a
late medieval
alliance
between the
communities
of the valleys in the
Central Alps
, at the time part of the
Holy Roman Empire
, to facilitate the management of common interests such as
free trade
and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains.
The
Hohenstaufen
emperors had granted these valleys
reichsfrei
status in the early 13th century. As
reichsfrei
regions, the
cantons
(or regions) of
Uri
,
Schwyz
, and
Unterwalden
were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate
liege lords
and thus were largely autonomous.
With the rise of the
Habsburg
dynasty, the kings and dukes of Habsburg sought to extend their influence over this region and to bring it under their rule; as a consequence, a conflict ensued between the Habsburgs and these mountain communities who tried to defend their privileged status as
reichsfrei
regions. The three founding cantons of the
Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft
, as the
confederacy
was called, were joined in the early 14th century by the city states of
Lucerne
,
Zurich
, and
Bern
, and they managed to defeat Habsburg armies on several occasions. They also profited from the fact that the
emperors
of the Holy Roman Empire, for most of the 14th century, came from the
House of Luxembourg
and regarded them as potential useful allies against the rival Habsburgs.
By 1460, the confederates controlled most of the territory south and west of the
Rhine
to the Alps and the
Jura mountains
. At the end of the 15th century, two wars resulted in an expansion to thirteen cantons (
Dreizehn Orte
): in the
Burgundian Wars
of the 1470s, the confederates asserted their hegemony on the western border, and their victory in the
Swabian War
in 1499 against the forces of the Habsburg emperor
Maximilian I
ensured a
de facto
independence from the empire. During their involvement in the
Italian Wars
, the Swiss brought the
Ticino
under their control.
Two similar federations sprang up in neighboring areas in the Alps in the 14th century: in the
Grisons
, the federation of the
Three Leagues
(
Drei Bunde
) was founded, and in the
Valais
, the
Seven Tithings
(
Sieben Zenden
) were formed as a result of the conflicts with the
Dukes of Savoy
. Neither federation was part of the medieval
Eidgenossenschaft
but both maintained very close connections with it.
Territorial development
[
edit
]
Under the
Hohenstaufen
dynasty of the
Holy Roman Empire
, the three regions of
Uri
,
Schwyz
and
Unterwalden
(the
Waldstatten
or "forest communities") had gained
Imperial immediacy
(
Reichsfreiheit
), the first two because the emperors wanted to place the strategically important St. Gotthard Pass under their direct control, the latter because most of its territory belonged to immediate monasteries. The cities of
Bern
and
Zurich
had also become immediate when the dynasty of their patrons, the
Zahringer
, had died out.
When
Rudolph I of Habsburg
was elected "King of the Germans" in 1273, he also became the direct
liege lord
of these
reichsfrei
regions. He instituted a strict rule and raised the taxes to finance wars and further territorial acquisitions. When he died in 1291, his son
Albert I
got involved in a power struggle with
Adolf of Nassau
for the German throne, and the Habsburg rule over the alpine territories weakened temporarily. Anti-Habsburg insurgences sprang up in
Swabia
and Austria, but were quashed quickly by Albert in 1292.
Zurich
had participated in this uprising. Albert
besieged
the city, which had to accept him as its patron.
This time of turmoil prompted the
Waldstatten
to cooperate more closely, trying to preserve or regain their immediacy. The first alliance started in 1291 when Rudolph bought all the rights over the town of
Lucerne
and the abbey estates in
Unterwalden
from
Murbach Abbey
in
Alsace
. The
Waldstatten
saw their trade route over Lake Lucerne cut off and feared losing their independence. When Rudolph died on July 15, 1291, the Communities prepared to defend themselves. On August 1, 1291, an Everlasting League was made between the Forest Communities for mutual defense against a common enemy.
[1]
Uri and Schwyz got their status reconfirmed by
Adolf of Nassau
in 1297,
[2]
but to no avail, for Albert finally won the power struggle and became King of Germany in 1298 after Adolf was killed in the
Battle of Gollheim
.
Nucleus
[
edit
]
The
Federal Charter of 1291
is one of the oldest surviving written documents of an alliance between Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the founding cantons of the
Old Swiss Confederacy
. It is possible that it was written a few decades later than the given date of 1291, which would put it in the same date range as the
pact of Brunnen
of 1315. The traditional date given for the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy in
Swiss historiography
of the 16th century (
Aegidius Tschudi
and others) is 1307.
King
Rudolf I
died in 1291, and 1307 falls into the reign of King
Albert I
, both members of the
House of Habsburg
ruling in a time of
political instability
, when the Holy Roman Empire had been without an emperor for several decades. The politically weak kings of this period had to make frequent concessions to their subjects and vassals in order to remain in power. The founding cantons received confirmations of the
Freibriefe
establishing their immediate status. Even Unterwalden was finally properly granted this status by Albert's successor
Henry VII
in 1309. This did not prevent the dukes of Habsburg, who originally had had their homelands in the
Aargau
, from trying to reassert their sovereignty over the territories south of the Rhine.
In the struggle for the crown of the
Holy Roman Empire
in 1314 between duke
Frederick I of Austria
and the
Bavarian
king
Louis IV
, the
Waldstatten
sided with Louis for fear of the Habsburgs trying to annex their counties again, like Rudolph I had done. When a long-simmering conflict between
Schwyz
and the abbey of
Einsiedeln
escalated once more, the Habsburgs responded by sending a strong army of knights against these peasants to subdue their insurrection, but the Austrian army of Frederick's brother
Leopold I
was utterly defeated in the
Battle of Morgarten
in 1315.
The three cantons renewed their alliance in the
pact of Brunnen
,
[3]
and Louis IV reconfirmed their Imperial immediacy.
[4]
The
Swiss chronicles
of the
Burgundy Wars
period (1470s) refer to a rebellion against the local
bailiffs
, with a coordinated destruction of their forts or castles, known as the
Burgenbruch
("
slighting
") in
Swiss historiography
. The earliest reference for this is the
White Book of Sarnen
(1470), which records that
wa bose Turnli waren, die brachen sy vnd viengen ze Uere am ersten an die huser brechen
|
wherever there were hostile forts (towers), they broke (slighted) them and first began in Uri to break these buildings
[5]
|
The text names
Zwing Uri
at
Amsteg
as the first castle slighted, followed by castle Schwandau in
Schwyz
, Rotzberg in
Stans
, and finally the castle at
Sarnen
, the storming of which is told in a graphic manner.
[6]
The
Burgenbruch
was long seen as historical, substantiated by the numerous ruined castles in Central Switzerland, but archaeological excavations have shown that these castles were abandoned gradually, not during a sudden uprising, during the period of roughly 1200 to 1350. By the 1970s, the "demythologization" of the foundational period of the Confederacy was at its peak, and the default view was to regard the reports of the late-15th-century chronists as essentially legendary. Since the late 1970s, systematic surveys of medieval castles in Central Switzerland have shown that a number of castles were indeed destroyed during the early 14th century, so that a possible historical nucleus of the
Burgenbruch
accounts may be granted, even though the destruction of these forts in itself was of limited military import and could not have resulted in a lasting political change.
[7]
Expansion to the
Acht Orte
[
edit
]
Subsequently, the three communities (their territories did not yet correspond to the areas of the modern-day
cantons
) followed a slow policy of expansion. Uri entered a pact with the previously Habsburg valley of
Urseren
in 1317. In 1332,
[3]
the city of
Lucerne
, trying to achieve immediacy from the Habsburgs, joined the alliance. In 1351, these four communities were joined by the city of
Zurich
, where a strong citizenship had gained power following the installation of the
Zunftordnung
(
guild
regulations) and the banning of the noble authorities in 1336.
[2]
The city also sought support against the Habsburg city of
Rapperswil
, which had tried to overthrow mayor
Rudolf Brun
in Zurich in 1350. With the help of its new allies, Zurich was able to withstand the siege of duke
Albert II of Austria
, and the confederates even conquered the city of
Zug
[2]
and the valley of
Glarus
in 1352.
[3]
They had to return both Glarus and Zug to the Habsburgs in the peace treaty of Regensburg in 1356; emperor
Charles IV
in return recognized the guild government of Zurich and confirmed its immediate status in spite of his having forbidden any confederations within the empire in his
Golden Bull
issued in January of that same year.
The confederacy had signed "perpetual" pacts with both Glarus and Zug in 1352,
[3]
and thus, even if these pacts apparently were disregarded only a few years later. This date is often considered the entry of these two cantons into the confederation despite their remaining under Habsburg rule for a few more years.
[8]
In the west, the
Vier Waldstatten
had already formed an alliance with the city of
Bern
in 1323, and even sent a detachment to help the Bernese forces in their territorial expansion against the
dukes of Savoy
and the Habsburgs in the
Battle of Laupen
in 1339.
[2]
In 1353,
[3]
Bern entered an "eternal" alliance with the confederation, completing the "Confederacy of the Eight Cantons" (
German
:
Bund der Acht Orte
).
This alliance of the Eight Cantons was not a homogeneous state but rather a conglomerate of eight independent cities and lands, held together not by one single pact but by a net of six different "eternal" pacts, none of which included all eight parties as signatories. Only the three
Waldstatten
Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were part of all these treaties. All eight parties would still pursue their own particular interests, most notably in the cases of the strong cities of Zurich and Bern. Zurich was also part of an alliance of cities around
Lake Constance
which also included
Konstanz
,
Lindau
and
Schaffhausen
and for some time included cities as far away as
Rottweil
or
Ulm
, and Bern followed its own hegemonial politics, participating successively in various alliances with other cities including
Fribourg
,
Murten
,
Biel
or
Solothurn
. This Bernese "Burgundian Confederation" was a more volatile construct of varying alliances, and in the
Battle of Laupen
(1339), Fribourg even sided against Bern.
[9]
Bern's position after that battle was strong enough that such alliances often ended with the other party becoming a Bernese dependency, as happened with e.g.
Burgdorf
[10]
or
Payerne
.
An external threat during this time arose in the form of the
Guglers
, marauding mercenary knights from France who were beaten back under the leadership of Bern in December 1375.
[11]
Consolidation
[
edit
]
In 1364, Schwyz reconquered the city and land of Zug and renewed the alliance the following year. In the 1380s,
Lucerne
expanded its territory aggressively, conquering
Wolhusen
, claiming sovereignty over the valley of the
Entlebuch
and the formerly Habsburg city of
Sempach
. As a consequence,
Leopold III of Austria
assembled an army and met the confederate army near Sempach in 1386, where his troops were defeated decisively in the
Battle of Sempach
and he himself was killed.
[2]
In the wake of these events
Glarus
declared itself free and constituted its first regional
diet
(
Landsgemeinde
) in 1387. In the
Battle of Nafels
in 1388, an Austrian army of
Albert III
, the successor of Leopold, was defeated, and in the peace treaty concluded the next year, Glarus maintained its independence from the Habsburgs.
[2]
The loose federation of states was reinforced by additional agreements amongst the partners. In the
Pfaffenbrief
of 1370, the signatory six states (without Bern and Glarus) for the first time expressed themselves as a territorial unity, referring to themselves as
unser Eydgnosschaft
("our confederacy"). They assumed in this document authority over clericals, subjecting them to their worldly legislation. Furthermore, the
Pfaffenbrief
forbade
feuds
and the parties pledged to guarantee the peace on the road from Zurich to the
St. Gotthard
pass. Another important treaty was the
Sempacherbrief
in 1393. Not only was this the first document signed by all of the Eight Cantons (plus the associated Solothurn), but it also defined that none of them was to unilaterally start a war without the consent of all the others.
Beginning in 1401, the confederates supported the
insurrection
of
Appenzell
against the abbey of
St. Gallen
and
Frederick IV of Austria
, duke in
Tyrol
and
Vorderosterreich
. Appenzell became a protectorate of the Eight Cantons in 1411, which concluded a 50-year peace with Frederick IV in 1412.
Emperor
Sigismund
placed the
imperial ban
on Frederick IV in 1415, who had sided with
Antipope John XXIII
at the
Council of Constance
, and encouraged others to take over the duke's possessions, amongst which was the
Aargau
. After being granted far-reaching privileges by the emperor (all eight cantons became immediate) and a decree that placed the ban over the peace treaty of 1412, the confederates conquered the Aargau.
[12]
A large part became Bernese, while the
County of Baden
was subsequently administered by the confederation as a common property until 1798. Only the
Fricktal
remained a Habsburg possession.
In the
Valais
, the conflict between the
Bishop of Sion
and the
Duchy of Savoy
, which had led to a separation in 1301 (the bishop controlling the upper Valais and the Savoyards the lower part), broke out again. Twice the Savoyards temporarily occupied the whole Valais, but both times they were ultimately defeated. Both peace treaties from 1361 and 1391 restored the
status quo
of 1301. As a result of these struggles, the villages in the upper Valais organized themselves in the
Sieben Zenden
("seven tenths") around 1355, emerging after these wars as largely independent small states, much like the cantons of the Confederacy.
In the
Grisons
, then called Churwalchen, the
bishop of Chur
and numerous local noble families competed for the control of the region with its many alpine passes. Throughout the 14th century, three leagues of free communities appeared. The
Gotteshausbund
("League of the House of God"), covering the area around
Chur
and the
Engadin
, was founded when in 1367 the bishop,
Jean de Vienne
, planned to hand over the administration of his diocese to the Austrian Habsburgs.
[13]
It bought its freedom by paying the bishop's debt and in the following decades increased its control over the secular administration of the prince-bishopric, until the bishop's regent was deposed in 1452. In the upper valley of the
Rhine
, the
Grauer Bund
("Gray League") was founded in 1395 under the direction of the abbot of
Disentis
and including not only the peasant communities but also the local nobles to end the permanent
feuds
of the latter.
[14]
By 1424 the Gray League was dominated by the free communities and gave itself a more democratic charter. The third league, the
League of the Ten Jurisdictions
(
Zehngerichtenbund
), would not be formed until later.
[15]
Internal crisis
[
edit
]
The relationships between the individual cantons of the confederation were not without tensions, though. A first clash between Bern and the four
Waldstatten
over the
Raron conflict
(Bern supported the barons of Raron, while the forest cantons sided with the
Sieben Zenden
) in the upper
Valais
was barely avoided. The local noble barons of Raron established themselves as the leading family in the upper Valais in the late 14th century and competed with the bishop of Sion for the control of the valley. When emperor
Sigismund
designated them counts in 1413 and ordered the bishop to hand over his territories to the von Raron, a revolt broke out in 1414. The following year, both rulers had lost: the von Raron had not succeeded in ousting the bishop, who in turn had to concede far-reaching rights to the
Sieben Zenden
in the treaty of Seta in 1415.
[16]
The
Old Zurich War
, which began as a dispute over the succession to the
count of Toggenburg
, was a more serious test of the unity of the Eight Cantons. Zurich did not accept the claims of Schwyz and Glarus, which were supported by the rest of the cantons, and in 1438 declared an
embargo
. The other members of the confederation expelled Zurich from the confederation in 1440 and declared war. In retaliation Zurich made a pact with the Habsburgs in 1442. The other cantons invaded the canton of Zurich and besieged the city, but were unable to capture it. By 1446, both sides were exhausted, and a preliminary peace was concluded. In 1450, the parties made a definitive peace and Zurich was admitted into the confederation again, but had to dissolve its alliance with the Habsburgs. The confederation had grown into a political alliance so close that it no longer tolerated separatist tendencies of its members.
[17]
The end of the dynasty of the counts of Toggenburg in 1436 also had effects on the
Grisons
. In their former territories in the
Prattigau
and
Davos
, the (initially eleven, after a merger only ten) villages founded the League of the Ten Jurisdictions (
Zehngerichtebund
).
[15]
By 1471, the three leagues, together with the city of
Chur
, had formed a close federation, based on military assistance and free trade pacts between the partners and including a common federal diet: the
Three Leagues
(
Drei Bunde
) was born, even though the alliance would be officially concluded in a written contract only in 1524.
[18]
Further expansion
[
edit
]
In the second half of the 15th century, the confederation expanded its territory further. In the north, the formerly Habsburg cities of
Schaffhausen
and
Stein am Rhein
had become immediate in 1415, with the ban of Frederick IV. The two strategically important cities?they offered the only two fortified bridges over the river
Rhine
between Constance and Basel?not only struggled with the
robber barons
from the neighbouring
Hegau
region but also were under pressure from the Habsburg dukes, who sought to re-integrate the cities into their domain. On June 1, 1454, Schaffhausen became an associate (
Zugewandter Ort
) of the confederacy by entering an alliance with six of the eight cantons (Uri and Unterwalden did not participate). With the help of the confederates, a Habsburg army of about 2,000 men was warded off east of
Thayngen
. Stein am Rhein concluded a similar alliance on 6 December 1459.
The city of
St. Gallen
had also become free in 1415, but was in a conflict with its
abbot
, who tried to bring it under his influence. But as the Habsburg dukes were unable to support him in any way, he was forced to seek help from the confederates, and the abbey became a protectorate of the confederacy on 17 August 1451.
[19]
The city was accepted as an associate state on 13 June 1454.
Fribourg
, another Habsburg city, came under the rule of the
Duke of Savoy
during the 1440s and had to accept the duke as its lord in 1452. Nevertheless, it also entered an alliance with Bern in 1454, becoming an associate state, too. Two other cities also sought help from the confederates against the Habsburgs:
Rottweil
became an associate on 18 June 1463, and
Mulhausen
on 17 June 1466, through an alliance with Bern (and Solothurn). In
Rapperswil
, a Habsburg
enclave
on
Lake Zurich
within confederate territory, a pro-confederate coup d'etat in 1458 led to the city becoming a protectorate of the confederacy in 1464.
Duke
Sigismund of Austria
got involved in a power struggle with
Pope Pius II
over the nomination of a bishop in Tyrol in 1460. When the duke was excommunicated by the pope, a situation similar to that of 1415 arose. The confederates took advantage of the problems of the Habsburgs and conquered the Habsburg
Thurgau
and the region of
Sargans
in the autumn of 1460, which became both commonly administered property. In a peace treaty from 1 June 1461, the duke had no choice but to accept the new situation.
The Swiss also had an interest in extending their influence south of the
Alps
to secure the trade route across the
St. Gotthard Pass
to
Milan
. Beginning in 1331, they initially exerted their influence through peaceful trade agreements, but in the 15th century, their involvement turned military. In 1403 the upper
Leventina
, as the valley south of the pass is called, became a protectorate of Uri. The Swiss and the
Duchy of Milan
were in conflict over this region throughout much of the 15th century. In 1439, Uri assumed full control of the upper Leventina; the Duchy of Milan gave up its claims there two years later, and so did the
chapter
of Milan in 1477. Twice the Swiss conquered roughly the whole territory of the modern canton of
Ticino
and also the
Ossola
valley. Twice, the Milanese reconquered all these territories except the Leventina. Both times, the Swiss managed, despite their defeats, to negotiate peace treaties that were actually favorable for them.
Burgundy Wars
[
edit
]
The Burgundian Wars were an involvement of confederate forces in the conflict between the
Valois dynasty
and the
Habsburgs
. The aggressive expansionism of the
Duke of Burgundy
,
Charles the Bold
, brought him in conflict with both the French king
Louis XI
and emperor
Frederick III
of the
House of Habsburg
. His embargo politics against the cities of Basel,
Strasbourg
and
Mulhouse
prompted these to turn to Bern for help.
The conflicts culminated in 1474, after duke
Sigismund of Austria
had concluded a peace agreement with the confederates in Constance (later called the
Perpetual Accord
,
Ewige Richtung
). The confederates, united with the Alsatian cities and Sigismund in an "anti-burgundian league", conquered part of the Burgundian Jura (
Franche-Comte
), and the next year, Bernese forces conquered and ravaged the
Vaud
, which belonged to the
Duchy of Savoy
, which in turn was allied with Charles the Bold. The
Sieben Zenden
, with the help of Bernese and other confederate forces, drove the Savoyards out of the lower Valais after a victory in the
Battle on the Planta
in November 1475. In 1476, Charles retaliated and marched to
Grandson
with his army, but suffered three devastating defeats in a row, first in the
Battle of Grandson
, then in the
Battle of Murten
, until he was killed in the
Battle of Nancy
in 1477, where the confederates fought alongside an army of
Rene II
,
Duke of Lorraine
.
[20]
There is a proverbial saying in Switzerland summarizing these events as
"Bi Grandson s'Guet, bi Murte de Muet, bi Nancy s'Bluet"
[
hat de Karl de Kueni verloore
]
("[Charles the Bold lost] his goods at Grandson, his boldness at Murten and his blood at Nancy").
As a result of the Burgundian Wars, the dynasty of the
dukes of Burgundy
had died out. Bern returned the Vaud to the duchy of Savoy against a
ransom
of 50,000
guilders
in 1476, and sold its claims on the
Franche-Comte
to
Louis XI
for 150,000 guilders in 1479. The confederates only kept small territories east of the
Jura mountains
, especially Grandson and Murten, as common dependencies of Bern and Fribourg. The whole Valais, however, would henceforth be independent, and Bern would reconquer the Vaud in 1536. While the territorial effects of the Burgundian Wars on the confederation were minor, they marked the beginning of the rise of Swiss mercenaries on the battlefields of Europe.
Swiss mercenaries
[
edit
]
In the Burgundian Wars, the Swiss soldiers had gained a reputation of near invincibility, and their
mercenary
services became increasingly sought after by the great European political powers of the time.
Shortly after the Burgundy Wars, individual cantons concluded mercenary contracts, so-called "
capitulations
", with many parties, including the
Pope
?the papal
Swiss Guard
was founded in 1505 and became operational the next year.
[21]
More contracts were made with France (a Swiss Guard of mercenaries would be destroyed in
the storming of the Tuileries Palace in Paris
in 1792
[22]
), the
Duchy of Savoy
, Austria, and still others.
Swiss mercenaries
would play an initially important, but later minor, role on European battlefields until well into the 18th century.
Swiss forces soon got involved in the
Italian Wars
between the Valois and the Habsburgs over the control of northern Italy. When the power of the
Duchy of Milan
perished in these wars, the Swiss finally managed to bring the whole
Ticino
under their control. In 1500, they occupied the strategically important fortress of
Bellinzona
, which the French king
Louis XII
, who ruled Milan at that time, ceded definitively in 1503. From 1512 on, the confederates fought on the side of
Pope Julius II
and his
Holy League
against the French in territories south of the Alps. After initial successes and having conquered large parts of the territory of
Milan
, they were utterly defeated by a French army in the
Battle of Marignano
in 1515, which put an end to military territorial interventions of the confederation, mercenary services under the flags of foreign armies excepted. The results of this short intermezzo were the gain of
Ticino
as a common administrative region of the confederacy and the occupation of the valley of the Adda river (
Veltlin
,
Bormio
, and
Chiavenna
) by the
Three Leagues
, which would remain a dependency of the
Grisons
until 1797 with a brief interruption during the
Thirty Years' War
.
Dreizehn Orte
[
edit
]
Both Fribourg and Solothurn, which had participated in the Burgundy Wars, now wanted to join the confederation, which would have tipped the balance in favour of the city cantons. The rural cantons were thus strongly opposed. In 1477 they marched upon the cities in protest.
At
Stans
in 1481 the
Federal Diet
met in order to resolve the issues, but war seemed inevitable. A local hermit,
Niklaus von der Flue
, was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be passed on to the members of the Diet on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, but it did calm tempers and led to the drawing up of the Treaty of Stans (
Stanser Verkommnis
). Fribourg and Solothurn were admitted into the confederation.
After isolated bilateral pacts between the leagues in the
Grisons
and some cantons of the confederation had already existed since the early 15th century, the federation of the
Three Leagues
as a whole became an associate state of the confederation, in 1498, by concluding alliance agreements with the seven easternmost cantons.
When the confederates refused to accept the resolutions of the
Diet of Worms in 1495
, the
Swabian War
(also called the Swiss War in Germany) broke out in 1499, opposing the confederation against the
Swabian League
and emperor
Maximilian I
. After some battles around Schaffhausen, in the Austrian
Vorarlberg
and in the
Grisons
, where the confederates were victorious more often than not, the
Battle of Dornach
, where the emperor's commander was killed, put an end to the war. In September 1499, a peace agreement was concluded at Basel that effectively established a
de facto
independence of the confederation from the empire, although it continued nominally to be part of the
Holy Roman Empire
until after the
Thirty Years' War
and was not included into the system of
imperial circles
in 1500.
As a direct consequence of the Swabian War the previously associated city states of
Basel
and
Schaffhausen
joined the confederation in 1501.
[3]
In 1513, the
Appenzell
followed suit as the thirteenth member.
[3]
The cities of
St. Gallen
,
Biel
,
Mulhouse
and
Rottweil
as well as the Three Leagues in the Grisons were all associates of the confederation (
Zugewandte Orte
); the Valais would become an associate state in 1529.
Annexation of the Ticino and the Veltlin
[
edit
]
The
Ticino
region consisted of several city-states along the
Ticino river
. Following the conquest of the region, it was divided into four 'Ticino
Bailiwicks
' which were under the joint administration of the Thirteen Cantons after 1512. The four bailiwicks were Valle di Maggia (
German
:
Meynthal
or
Maiental
),
Locarno
(
German
:
Luggarus
),
Lugano
(
German
:
Lugano
) and Mendrisio (
German
:
Mendris
). The area also included several other territories that were owned by one or more cantons. These included: the Bailiwick of
Bellinzona
(
German
:
Bellinzona
),
Blenio
(
German
:
Bollenz
) and Riviera (
German
:
Reffier
) which were owned by Uri, Schwyz, and Nidwalden as well as the bailiwick Leventina (
German
:
Livinental
) (owned by Uri) and even the Val d'Ossola (
German
:
Eschental
). There were also three Italian-speaking subject areas of the Three Leagues (Bormio, Valtellina and Chiavenna) which were not included in the Ticino Bailiwicks.
[23]
Between 1403 and 1422 some of these lands were annexed by forces from Uri, but subsequently lost after the
Battle of Arbedo
in 1422. While the Battle of Arbedo stopped Swiss expansion for a time, the Confederation continued to exercise influence in the area. The Canton of Uri conquered the
Leventina Valley
in 1440.
[24]
In a second conquest Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden gained the town of Bellinzona and the Riviera in 1500.
[24]
The third conquest was fought by troops from the entire Confederation (at that time constituted by 12 cantons). In 1512, Locarno, the
Maggia Valley
, Lugano and
Mendrisio
were annexed. Subsequently, the upper valley of the Ticino river, from the St. Gotthard to the town of Biasca (
Leventina Valley
) was part of the Canton of Uri. The remaining territory (the Bailiwicks Beyond the Mountains;
Italian
:
Baliaggi Ultramontani
,
German
:
Ennetbergische Vogteien
) was administered by the Twelve Cantons. These districts were governed by bailiffs holding office for two years and purchasing it from the members of the League.
[24]
Some of the land and the town of Bellinzona were annexed by Uri in 1419 but lost again in 1422. In 1499 nearly one and a half centuries of Milanese rule in Bellinzona ended with the invasion of Milan by
Louis XII of France
. He captured the city and, fearing an attack by the Swiss, fortified the
Castelgrande
with 1,000 troops.
[25]
Throughout the winter of 1499/1500 unrest in Bellinzona grew, until January when an armed revolt of the citizens of Bellinzona drove the French troops from the city. Following the capture and execution of
Ludovico Sforza
in April 1500 and seeking protection from France, Bellinzona joined the Swiss Confederation on 14 April 1500.
[26]
Bellinzona would remain under the joint administration of Uri,
Schwyz
and
Nidwalden
until the creation of the
Helvetic Republic
after the
Napoleonic invasion of Switzerland
in 1798.
Between 1433 and 1438 the Duke of
Milan
, Aloisio Sanseverino, sat as a feudal lord over Lugano. Under the reign of his heirs in the following decades rebellions and riots broke out, which lasted until the French invasion of 1499.
[27]
Myths and legends
[
edit
]
The events told in the saga of
William Tell
, which are purported to have occurred around 1307, are not substantiated by historical evidence. This story, like the related story of the
Rutlischwur
(the oath on the
Rutli
, a meadow above
Lake Lucerne
), seems to have its origins in the late 15th century
White Book of Sarnen
,
[28]
a collection of folk tales from 1470, and is generally considered a fictitious glorification of the independence struggles of the
Waldstatten
.
The
legend
of
Arnold von Winkelried
likewise is first recorded in the 16th century;
[29]
earlier accounts of the
Battle of Sempach
do not mention him. Winkelried is said to have opened a breach in the lines of the Austrian footsoldiers by throwing himself into their
lances
, taking them down with his body such that the confederates could attack through the opening.
Social developments
[
edit
]
The developments beginning in about the 13th century had profound effects on the society. Gradually the population of
serfs
changed into one of free peasants and
citizens
. In the cities?which were small by modern standards; Basel had about 10,000 inhabitants,
[30]
Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Fribourg about 5,000 each?the development was a natural one, for the
liege lords
very soon gave the cities a certain autonomy, in particular over their internal administration. The number of cities also grew during this period. In 1200 there were about 30 cities. A century later, in 1300, there were over 190 interconnected cities.
[31]
At the beginning of the 14th century, the artisans in the cities began forming
guilds
and increasingly took over political control, especially in the cities along the Rhine, e.g. in the Alsace, in Basel, Schaffhausen, Zurich, or Chur. (But not, for instance, in Bern or Lucerne?or, in Germany, Frankfurt?where a stronger aristocracy seems to have inhibited such a development.) The guild cities had a relatively democratic structure, with a city council elected by the citizens.
In the rural areas, people generally had less freedom, but some lords furthered the colonization of remote areas by granting some privileges to the colonists.
[31]
One well-known colonization movement was that of the
Walser
from the Valais to the Grisons, colonizing some valleys there in the 14th century. In the mountainous areas, a community management of common fields, alps, and forests (the latter being important as a protection against
avalanches
) soon developed, and the communes in a valley cooperated closely and began buying out the noble landowners or simply to dispossess them of their lands. Regional diets, the
Landsgemeinden
, were formed to deal with the administration of the commons; it also served as the high court and to elect representatives, the
Landamman
.
As free farmers moved into the mountain valleys, construction and maintenance of the mountain pass roads became possible. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the passes into
Graubunden
and
Valais
were expanded and developed, which allowed much of the Walser migration. The
Gotthard Pass
was first opened around the 12th century, and by 1236 was dedicated to the
Bavarian
Saint Gotthard of Hildesheim
. As the population in the nearby mountain valleys grew, the pass roads continued to expand. With easier and safer roads, as well as increased infrastructure, international trade grew throughout the mountain valleys and Switzerland.
[31]
Although both poor and rich citizens or peasants had the same rights (though not the same status), not all people were equal. Immigrants into a village or city had no political rights and were called the
Hintersassen
. In rural areas, they had to pay for their use of the common lands. They were granted equal rights only when they acquired citizenship, which not only was a question of wealth (for they had to buy their citizenship), but they also had to have lived there for some time; especially in the rural areas.
[32]
The
cities
followed an expansionist territorial politics to gain control over the surrounding rural areas, on which they were dependent, using military powers or more often more subtle means such as buying out, or accepting as citizens the subjects (and thereby freeing them:
"
Stadtluft macht frei
"
?"city air liberates") of a
liege lord
. It was the cities, now, that instituted reeves to manage the administration, but this only sometimes and slowly led to a restriction of the communal autonomy of the villages. The peasants owned their land, the villages kept administering their commons; and the villagers participated in the jury of the city reeve's court. They had, however, to provide military service for the city, which on the other hand included the right to own and carry weapons.
Basel
became the center of higher education and science in the second half of the 15th century. The city had hosted the
Council of Basel
from 1431 to 1447, and, in 1460, a university was founded, which eventually would attract many notable thinkers, such as
Erasmus
or
Paracelsus
.
Economy
[
edit
]
The population of the cantons numbered about 600,000 in the 15th century and grew to about 800,000 by the 16th century. The grain production sufficed only in some of the lower regions; most areas were dependent on imports of
oats
,
barley
, or
wheat
. In the Alps, where the yield of grains had always been particularly low due to the climatic conditions, a transition from farming to the production of cheese and butter from cow milk occurred. As the roads got better and safer, a lively trade with the cities developed.
The cities were the marketplaces and important trading centers, being located on the major roads through the Alps.
Textile
manufacture, where St. Gallen was the leading center, developed.
Cheese
(esp.
Emmentaler
and
Gruyere
) also was a major export item. The exports of the Swiss cities went far, into the
Levant
or to Poland.
In the late 15th century, the
mercenary
services became also an important economic factor. The
Reislauferei
, as the mercenary service was called, attracted many young adventurous Swiss who saw in it a way to escape the relative poverty of their homes. Not only the mercenaries themselves were paid, but also their home cantons, and the
Reislauferei
, while being heavily criticized already at that time as a heavy drain on the human resources of the confederation, became popular in particular among the young peasants from the rural cantons.
Political organization
[
edit
]
Initially, the
Eidgenossenschaft
was not united by one single pact, but rather by a whole set of overlapping pacts and separate bilateral treaties between various members, with only minimum liabilities. The parties generally agreed to preserve the peace in their territories, help each other in military endeavours, and defined some arbitration in case of disputes. The
Sempacherbrief
from 1393 was the first treaty uniting all eight cantons, and subsequently, a kind of federal
diet
, the
Tagsatzung
developed in the 15th century. The second unifying treaty later became the
Stanser Verkommnis
in 1481.
The
Tagsatzung
typically met several times a year. Each canton delegated two representatives; typically this also included the associate states. Initially, the canton where the delegates met chaired the gathering, but in the 16th century, Zurich permanently assumed the chair (
Vorort
), and Baden became the sessional seat.
[33]
The
Tagsatzung
dealt with all inter-cantonal affairs and also served as the final arbitral court to settle disputes between member states, or to decide on sanctions against dissenting members, as happened in the
Old Zurich War
. It also organized and oversaw the administration of the commons such as the
County of Baden
and the neighbouring
Freiamt
, the
Thurgau
, in the Rhine valley between Lake Constance and Chur, or those in the
Ticino
. The reeves for these commons were delegated for two years, each time by a different canton.
Despite its informal character (there was no formal legal base describing its competencies), the
Tagsatzung
was an important instrument of the eight, later thirteen cantons to decide inter-cantonal matters. It also proved instrumental in the development of a sense of unity among these sometimes highly individual cantons. Slowly, they defined themselves as the
Eidgenossenschaft
and considered themselves less as thirteen separate states with only loose bonds between.
Maps showing the growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Main sources:
Other sources:
- ^
Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911).
"Switzerland:History § Origins"
. In
Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 247.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911).
"Switzerland: History § Shaking off the Habsburgs"
. In
Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 248?250.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
History and Creation of the Confederation to 1353
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Battle of Morgarten and Aftermath
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Quoted in Ernst Ludwig Rochholz,
Tell und Gessler in Sage und Geschichte. Nach urkundlichen Quellen
(1877), p. 119.
- ^
For an English translation see
William Denison McCrackan
,
The rise of the Swiss republic. A history
(1892), p. 107.
- ^
W. Meyer et al.,
Die bosen Turnli: Archaologische Beitrage zur Burgenforschung in der Urschweiz, Schweizer Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte und Archaologie des Mittelalters
, vol. 11,
Schweizerischer Burgenverein
, Olten / Freiburg im Breisgau, 1984, pp. 192?194.
- ^
Glauser, T.
"1352 ? Zug wird nicht eidgenossisch"
.
Archived
2004-08-27 at the
Wayback Machine
. State archive of the
Canton of Zug
; Tugium 18, pp. 103?115; 2002. (
PDF
, in German)
- ^
Rickard, J (4 October 2000).
"Battle of Laupen, 21 June 1339"
. Retrieved
2009-02-05
.
- ^
Burgdorf War
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
. Following the 1383?84 attack by Burgdorf on Soloturn, the city was defeated and bought by Bern for 37,800 gulden.
- ^
Tuchman, Barbara W.
(1978).
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
. Ballantine Books. pp.
278
.
ISBN
0-345-34957-1
.
- ^
Aargau, Aargau becomes part of the Confederation
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
League of God's House
in
Romansh
,
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Grauer Bund
in
Romansh
,
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
a
b
League of the Ten Jurisdictions
in
Romansh
,
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Raron Quarrel
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Old Zurich War
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Graubunden
in
Romansh
,
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911).
"St Gall"
. In
Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 4.
- ^
Sieber-Lehmann, C.
The Burgundy Wars
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.; 18 January 2005.
- ^
"History of the Pontifical Swiss Guards"
. Vatican City. Accessed 9 February 2009.
- ^
Information from the Glacier Garden in Lucerne
Archived
2009-03-05 at the
Wayback Machine
accessed 9 February 2009
- ^
Italian Bailiwicks
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
a
b
c
Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911).
"Ticino (canton)"
. In
Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 933?934.
- ^
"Bellinzona joins the Confederation"
. Bellinzona.
Archived
2009-05-01 at the
Wayback Machine
. Accessed 17 July 2008.
- ^
Bellinzona-The Middle Ages
in
.php
German
,
.php
French
and
.php
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Lugano ? During the Middle Ages
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
Bergier, Jean-Francois (1990).
Wilhelm Tell: Realitat und Mythos
. Munchen: Paul List Verlag. p. 63.
ISBN
3-471-77168-9
.
- ^
Swissworld.org
Confederate victories undermine the power of the nobility
. Accessed 5 February 2009.
- ^
Basel City, Population
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.
- ^
a
b
c
Niklaus Flueler; Roland Gfeller-Corthesy (1975).
Die Schweiz vom Bau der Alpen bis zur Frage nach der Zukunft: ein Nachschlagewerk und Lesebuch, das Auskunft gibt uber Geographie, Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft eines Landes
(in German). Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund. p. 88
. Retrieved
2 June
2010
.
- ^
Holenstein, A.:
Hintersassen
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.; September 5, 2005.
- ^
Wurgler, A.:
Tagsatzung
in
German
,
French
and
Italian
in the online
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
.; September 1, 2004.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
(in German, French, Italian and Rumanch)
- Luck, James M.:
A History of Switzerland / The First 100,000 Years: Before the Beginnings to the Days of the Present
, Society for the Promotion of Science & Scholarship, Palo Alto 1986.
ISBN
0-930664-06-X
.
- Marabello, Thomas Quinn (2023). "The Origins of Democracy in Switzerland,"
Swiss American Historical Society Review
, Vol. 59: No. 1. Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss1/4
- Schneider, B. (ed.):
Alltag in der Schweiz seit 1300
, Chronos 1991; in German.
ISBN
3-905278-70-7
.
- Stettler, B:
Die Eidgenossenschaft im 15. Jahrhundert
, Widmer-Dean 2004; in German.
ISBN
3-9522927-0-2
.
External links
[
edit
]