Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. The term literally translates as "oath fellowship". An Eidgenossenschaft is a confederacy of equal partners, which can be individuals or groups such as states, formed by a pact sealed by a solemn oath. 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. A confederation is an association of sovereign states, usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution. ... 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. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... 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: Ιεραρχία, it is derived from ιερός-hieros, sacred, and άρχω-arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people. ...

As a political term, it is used most often as a synonym for Switzerland, whose official German name is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft". Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Politics Look up Politics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Politics (disambiguation) Democracy History of democracy List of democracy and elections-related topics List of years in politics List of politics by country articles Political corruption Political economy Political movement Political parties of...

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 a federal state 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). ... In 1847, a civil war broke out between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons (Sonderbundskrieg). ... 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. Eidgenosse is a compound word in German meaning a Swiss person. ... 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 View of the city from Lake Lucerne Another view across Lake Lucerne The Lion Monument Lucerne (German: Luzern) is a city in Central Switzerland with a population of 60,274 (December 31, 2003), capital of the Canton of Lucerne. ... Location within Switzerland   Zürich[?] (German pronunciation IPA: ; usually spelled Zurich in English) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ... The Battle of Sempach was fought on July 9, 1386 between Duke Leopold III of Austria and the Swiss Confederation. ... The Pfaffenbrief is a contract dated to October 7, 1370, between six states of the Old Swiss Confederacy, Zürich, Lucerne, Zug, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden (with Berne and Glarus missing). ... 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. An early example is the Lombard League at the time of Frederick I "Barbarossa"; an example from Switzerland would be the "Burgundian Confederacy" of Berne. Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ... The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation â–¶(?), Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicae, see names and designations of the empire) was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... The Hanseatic League (German: die Hanse, Dutch: de Hanze) was an alliance of trading cities that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea and most of Northern Europe for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, between the 13th and 17th century. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right}. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to... 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. ... Location within Switzerland The city of Berne (Bernese German Bärn , German Bern , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna , from the Celtic Berna Gap, referring to the geology of where the city is situated), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland, and is the fourth most populous Swiss city (after...

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, Holy Roman Emperor. ... 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. ... Foundation Henry VII, (In German: Heinrich), ca. ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy; also used as the flag of the Austrian Empire until the Ausgleich of 1867. ...

External links

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