19th century painting of Winkelried's deed by Konrad Grob.

Arnold von Winkelried or Arnold Winkelried is a legendary hero of Swiss history, who allegedly saved the victory of the confederate forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Battle of Sempach in 1386 against an army of the Habsburg duke Leopold III of Austria. Download high resolution version (859x558, 167 KB)Romantic painting Winkelried at Sempach: Winkelrieds deed in the Battle of Sempach. ... Download high resolution version (859x558, 167 KB)Romantic painting Winkelried at Sempach: Winkelrieds deed in the Battle of Sempach. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Stub | 1828 births | 1904 deaths ... 1550 illustration for the Sempacherbrief of 1393, one of the major alliance contracts of the Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. ... The Battle of Sempach was fought on July 9, 1386 between Duke Leopold III of Austria and the Swiss Confederation. ... Events Battle of Sempach: Swiss safeguard independence from Habsburg rule End of reign of Poland by Capet-Anjou family. ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy; also used as the flag of the Austrian Empire until the Ausgleich of 1867. ... Leopold III (born November 1, 1351 in Vienna; died July 9, 1386 in Sempach) from the Habsburg family was a Duke of Austria, Styria and Carinthia. ...

The legend

According to legend, the Swiss couldn't break the close ranks of the Habsburg footsoldiers. Winkelried is reported to have cried: "I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen and confederates, my wife and children" before opening a breach in their lines by throwing himself into their pikes, taking them down with his body such that the confederates could attack through the opening. A pike is a pole weapon once used extensively by infantry principally as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. ...

Historicity

It is doubtful whether this event actually happened. The first written report of such a deed dates from 1538, and the name "Arnold Winkelried" is connected to the story only in the Chronicles of Tschudi, which writes about "a man of Unterwalden, of the Winkelried family" and in its final edition from 1564 about "a man of Unterwalden, Arnold von Winckelried by name, a brave knight". Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Events March 27 — Naples bans kissing in public under the penalty of death June 22 — Fort Caroline, the first French attempt at colonizing the New World September 10 — The Battle of Kawanakajima Ottoman Turks invade Malta Modern pencil becomes common in England Conquistadors crossed the Pacific Spanish founded a colony...

The Luzerner Schilling of 1513 does depict a Winkelried figure breaking the Habsburg ranks, without glossing the name. Earlier, detailed accounts of the Battle of Sempach do not make any mention of such a heroic deed, nor of the name Winkelried. The Battle song of Sempach, which dates to about the time of the Burgundy Wars in the 1470s, does mention Winkelried, but the verses on him are generally considered later additions from about the 1520s. It thus appears that the legend can be traced to have emerged around 1500, or some 120 years after the battle. Reisläufer crossing the Alps Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik) is how the chronicle of Diebold Schilling the Younger of Lucerne (1513) is referred to. ... The Battle of Sempach was fought on July 9, 1386 between Duke Leopold III of Austria and the Swiss Confederation. ... The Burgundy Wars were a conflict between the House of Habsburg and the Valois Dynasty, in which the Old Swiss Confederacy got involved and would play a decisive role. ... Events and Trends battle of Avenches 1476 Prominent Persons Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer and mathematician A map of Europe in the 1470s. ... ... 1500 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The genealogy of the Winkelrieds of Unterwalden has been studied meticulously, and while an "Erni Winkelried" or "Arnold Winkelried" seems to have lived at that time, he was also alive and well after the battle: he was plaintiff in a lawsuit in Stans in 1389, and acted as Landamman (chief magistrate) of Unterwalden in 1417. Genealogy is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. ... Unterwalden is the old name for what is now two cantons in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne. ... Stans is the capital of the Nidwalden (Nidwald) canton in Switzerland. ... Events February 24 - Margaret I defeats Albert in battle, thus becoming ruler of Denmark, Norway and Sweden June 28 - Battle of Kosovo between Serbs and Ottomans. ... Landammann or Landaman was the name given to the chief magistrate in certain Swiss cantons, also to the President of the Swiss Diet. ... Events Antipope Benedict XIII is deposed, and Pope Martin V is elected. ...

Significance

Similar to William Tell, the figure of Winkelried was an important symbol during the formation of the Swiss federal state, and an icon of Swiss independence during World War II. Statue of Wilhelm Tell and his Son in Altdorf, Switzerland (Richard Kissling, 1895). ... In 1847, the period of Swiss history known as Restauration ended with the breaking out of a war between the conservative Catholic and the liberal Protestant Swiss cantons (the Sonderbundskrieg). ... During both World War I and World War II, Switzerland managed to keep a stance of armed neutrality, and was not involved militarily. ...

Others

• Related Families: The Odermatt families from Dallenwil, Unterwalden.

External links

• Winkelried, Arnold von in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.