Eidgenossenschaft is a German term that literally translated means "confederacy of the oath". In a strict sense an Eidgenossenschaft is a confederacy of equal partners, which can be individuals or groups such as states, formed by a pact sealed by an oath on God. Such an alliance could be either time-limited or unlimited (or "eternal"). An important characteristic is that the partners were always considered equal, in contrast to the oath of fealty in feudal societies with their strict hierarchies. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... An oath (from Saxon eoth) is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually a god, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. ... The term God (capitalized in English language as a proper noun) is often used to refer to a Supreme Being. ... Feudal society is a sometimes debated term used to describe the medieval social order of western and central Europe and sometimes Japan (particularly in the 14th to 16th centuries) characterised by the legal subjection of a large part of the peasantry to a hereditary landholding elite exercising administrative and judicial... A hierarchy (in Greek hieros, sacred, and arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things. ...

As a political term, it is used most often as a synonym for Switzerland, whose official German name is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft". The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by...

In a historical context, Eidgenossenschaft typically refers to the medieval Swiss Confederacy, which grew from the 13th to the 16th century in central Europe, persisted until 1798 and then evolved into Switzerland in the 19th century. When used in this sense, the eternal nature of the pact is necessary—the members of the Dreizehn Orte (Thirteen Cantons), as they called themselves, frequently made time-limited alliances sworn by oath with other partners, but such pacts were not considered an Eidgenossenschaft. 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. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 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. ...

The members of an Eidgenossenschaft are called Eidgenossen (singular Eidgenosse). This term is documented in an alliance from 1351 between the Swiss cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden and the cities of Lucerne and Zurich, which referred to themselves as such. In the evolution of the Swiss Confederacy, the members initially were not united by one single pact, but rather by a whole set of overlapping pacts and separate bilateral treaties between various members. The abstraction to the singular use of Eidgenossenschaft, which implies a stronger sense of community and the perception of a strong common cause, did not occur until some forty years later, after the Battle of Sempach, although it began already in the Pfaffenbrief of 1370, a treaty among some of the then eight members of the Swiss Confederacy. Events End of the reign of Emperor Suko of Japan, third of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Start of the reign of Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan, fourth of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders May 1 Zürich joins the Swiss Confederation. ... Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... The town Schwyz is the capital of the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. ... Unterwalden is a region in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne. ... Location within Switzerland Lucerne (German: Luzern) is a city in Central Switzerland with a population of 60,274 (December 31, 2003), capital of the canton of Lucerne. ... General view showing Grossmünster church. ... The Battle of Sempach was fought on July 9, 1386 between Duke Leopold III of Austria and the Swiss Confederation. ... Events Beginning of the rule of Poland by Capet-Anjou family. ...

Nevertheless, Eigenossenschaften existed already before. The communal movement in medieval Europe often led to similar alliances or leagues, called conjurationes in the Latin of the official documents of the time. The city alliances (Städtebünde) in the medieval Holy Roman Empire, in which the member cities also were equal, can be regarded as Eidgenossenschaften, too, although they generally proved less stable, partly due to their fragmented territories. The best known of these city alliances was the Hanseatic League, but many others existed in the 13th and 14th century. A early example is the Lombard League at the time of Frederick I "Barbarossa"; an example from Switzerland would be the "Burgundian Confederacy" of Berne. Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... This page is about the Germanic empire. ... The Hanseatic League (German: die Hanse) was an alliance of trading cities that established and maintained a trade monopoly over most of Northern Europe and the Baltic for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period (ie between the 13th and 17th century). ... (13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ... The Lombard League was an alliance formed on December 1, 1167 between 26 (later 30) cities of North Italy, including Cremona, Mantua, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Bologna, Padua, Treviso, Vicenza, Verona, Lodi, and Parma. ... Frederick in a 13th century Chronicle Friedrich I. von Hohenstaufen (1122 – June 10, 1190), also known as Friedrich Barbarossa (Frederick Redbeard) was elected king of Germany on March 4, 1152 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor on June 18, 1155. ... 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. ... For other uses, see Bern (disambiguation). ...

In the Holy Roman Empire, emperor Charles IV outlawed any such conjurationes, confederationes, and conspirationes in his Golden Bull of 1356. Most Städtebünde were subsequently dissolved, sometimes forcibly, and where refounded, their political influence was much reduced. On the Swiss Eidgenossenschaft, however, the edict had no such effect as Charles IV, who was of the House of Luxembourg, regarded the Swiss as potential useful allies against his rivals, the Habsburgs. Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV ( May 14, 1316 – 29 November 1378), of the House of Luxembourg, King of the Romans (as Charles (Karl) IV, 1368 – 1378), Holy Roman Emperor (Charles IV, 1355 – 1378), King of Bohemia (Charles (Karel) I 1346 – 1378), Count of Luxemburg (1346 – 1353), Margrave... The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by a Reichstag in Nuremberg headed by Emperor Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (see Diet of Nuremberg) that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, an important aspect of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire. ... An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ...

External links

• Eidgenossenschaft (in German).
• Städtebund (in German).