The growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy began as an alliance between the communities of the valleys in the central Alps to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. In the late Middle Ages, this region belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, and because of its strategic importance the Hohenstaufen emperors had granted it reichsfrei status in the early thirteenth 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. Since 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal state of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the worlds oldest surviving republics. ... The early history of Switzerland begins with the earliest settlements up to the beginning of Habsburg rule, which in 1291 gave rise to the independence movement in the central cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. ... For broader historical context, see 1290s and 13th century. ... 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 broader historical context, see 1290s and 13th century. ... // Events March - With the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, his grandson Charles of Ghent becomes King of Spain as Carlos I. July - Selim I of the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Mameluks and invades Syria. ... The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate and population of Zürich in the 1520s. ... // Events March - With the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, his grandson Charles of Ghent becomes King of Spain as Carlos I. July - Selim I of the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Mameluks and invades Syria. ... // Events January 17 - Englands Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. ... During the Thirty Years War, Switzerland was a relative oasis of peace and prosperity (Grimmelshausen) in war-torn Europe, mostly because all major powers in Europe were depending on Swiss mercenaries, and would not let Switzerland fall in the hands of one of their rivals. ... // Events January 17 - Englands Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... During the French Revolutionary Wars, the revolutionary armies boiled eastward, enveloping Switzerland in their battles against Austria. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Züriputsch: clashes on Zürich Paradeplatz The Restauration is the period of Swiss history lasting from 1814 to 1847. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... In 1847, a civil war broke out between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons (Sonderbundskrieg). ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Switzerland was surrounded by territory controlled by the Axis Powers from 1940 to 1945. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... After World War II, Swiss authorities considered the construction of a nuclear bomb. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The military history of Switzerland comprises centuries of armed actions, and the role of the Swiss military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. ... The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Arms of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty The Hohenstaufen (or the Staufer(s)) were a dynasty of Kings of Germany, many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Dukes of Swabia. ... The Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit (adjectives reichsfrei, reichsunmittelbar) was a special, privileged status a city or region could attain in the Holy Roman Empire. ... The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ... Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... The town Schwyz is the capital of the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. ... Unterwalden is the old name for what is now two cantons in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ...

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 Swiss Eidgenossenschaft, as the confederacy was called, were joined in the early fourteenth century by the city states of Lucerne, Zürich, and Berne, 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 fourteenth 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 fifteenth century, two wars resulted in an expansion to thirteen cantons (Dreizehn Orte): in the Burgundy 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. Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy; also used as the flag of the Austrian Empire until the Ausgleich of 1867. ... Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. ... A confederation is an association of sovereign states, usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution. ... Location within Switzerland View of the city from Lake Lucerne Another view across Lake Lucerne The Lion Monument Lucerne (German: (help· info)) is a city in Central Switzerland with a population of 60,274 (December 31, 2003), capital of the Canton of Lucerne. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Location within Switzerland The city of Berne (German   , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna , Bernese German Bärn ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland and the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ... The House of Luxembourg was a medieval Holy Roman Empire noble family. ... Loreley At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein, ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... Looking towards Lelex from near to Crêt de La Neige The Jura folds are located north of the main Alpine orogenic front and are being continually deformed, accommodating the northwards compression due to Alpine folding. ... 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. ... The Battle of Hard was the first major battle of the Swabian War. ... Portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1519 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). ... For the war between the Roman Republic and other Italian cities see Social War. ... Canton Ticino or Ticino (German: (help· info)) is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. ...

Two similar federations sprung up in neighboring areas in the Alps in the fourteenth century: in the Grisons, the federation of the Three Leagues (Drei Bünde) was founded, and in the Valais, the Seven Tenths (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. Grisons or Graubünden (German: Graubünden; Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. ... The emblems of the Three Leagues are combined in the modern coat of arms of Graubünden. ... The Valais (German: ) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva. ... The House of Savoy was a dynasty of nobles who traditionally had their domain in Savoy (a small region between Piedmont, Italy, and France). ... Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. ...

1550 illustration for the Sempacherbrief of 1393, one of the major alliance contracts of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Image File history File links 1550 illustration for the 1393 Sempacherbrief Source: Staatsarchiv Luzern File links The following pages link to this file: Old Swiss Confederacy User:Chris 73/PublicDomain Gallery 001 ... Image File history File links 1550 illustration for the 1393 Sempacherbrief Source: Staatsarchiv Luzern File links The following pages link to this file: Old Swiss Confederacy User:Chris 73/PublicDomain Gallery 001 ...

Territorial development

The Devil's bridge was built in the thirteenth century to complete the road over the St. Gotthard Pass. The original bridge was damaged by war and destroyed by a flood in 1888. The image shows the second bridge built in 1826 and above it the third bridge from 1958.

Under the Hohenstaufen dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, the three regions of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden (the Waldstätten or "forest communities") had gained the Reichsfreiheit, the first two because the emperors wanted to place the strategically important pass of the St. Gotthard under their direct control, the latter because most of its territory belonged to reichsfrei monasteries. The cities of Berne and Zürich had also become reichsfrei when the dynasty of their patrons, the Zähringer, had died out. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x750, 93 KB) The Devils bridge was built in the 13th century to complete the road over the St. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x750, 93 KB) The Devils bridge was built in the 13th century to complete the road over the St. ... The modern concrete span of the Devils bridge (Teufelsbrücke) across the Schöllenen Gorge replaces the older bridge below St. ... Arms of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty The Hohenstaufen (or the Staufer(s)) were a dynasty of Kings of Germany, many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Dukes of Swabia. ... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... The town Schwyz is the capital of the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. ... Unterwalden is the old name for what is now two cantons in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne. ... The Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit (adjectives reichsfrei, reichsunmittelbar) was a special, privileged status a city or region could attain in the Holy Roman Empire. ... Location within Switzerland The city of Berne (German   , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna , Bernese German Bärn ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland and the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Zähringen is the name of an old and influential German noble family, taken from the castle and village of that name. ...

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 sprung up in Swabia and Austria, but were quenched quickly by Albert in 1292. Zürich had participated in this uprising. Albert besieged the city, which had to accept him as its patron. The brass of the tomb of Rudolph I in Speyer Rudolph I (Rudolph of Hapsburg) (May 1, 1218 - July 15, 1291) was a German king. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... Albert I (born July 1255 - May 1, 1308) was a German king, duke of Austria, and eldest son of King Rudolph I of Habsburg. ... Adolf of Nassau (ca. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A siege is a military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ...

This time of turmoil prompted the Waldstätten to cooperate more closely, trying to preserve or regain their Reichsfreiheit. Uri and Schwyz got their status reconfirmed by Adolf of Nassau in 1297, but to no avail, for Albert finally won the power struggle and became emperor in 1298 after Adolf was killed in the battle of Göllheim. Adolf of Nassau (ca. ... The Battle of Göllheim was fought on July 2, 1298 between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg. ...

The nucleus

The Federal Charter of 1291

The Federal Charter of 1291 is regarded the oldest surviving written document of an alliance between Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Its authenticity is disputed, and it is generally considered to have been written a few decades later. It is likely that a similar arrangement between the three "forest communities" existed well before, maybe even since the time of the interregnum. After the death of emperor Albert I in 1308, the German emperors came from the House of Luxembourg (with the exception of Louis IV from Bavaria) until 1438, and they reconfirmed the Freibriefe of the three communities and generally honored their status as reichsfrei regions. 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. Federal Charter of 1291 The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance (in German Bundesbrief) documents the Eternal Alliance or League Of The Three Forest Cantons (in German Ewiger Bund der Drei Waldstätten), the union of three cantons in what is now central Switzerland, formed in early August, 1291. ... Federal Charter of 1291 The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance (in German Bundesbrief) documents the Eternal Alliance or League Of The Three Forest Cantons (in German Ewiger Bund der Drei Waldstätten), the union of three cantons in what is now central Switzerland, formed in early August, 1291. ... 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. ... An interregnum is a period between monarchs, between popes of the Roman Catholic Church, emperors of Holy Roman Empire, polish kings (elective monarchy) or between consuls of the Roman Republic. ... Albert I (born July 1255 - May 1, 1308) was a German king, duke of Austria, and eldest son of King Rudolph I of Habsburg. ... Henry VII, (In German: Heinrich), ca. ... For other uses, see Aargau (disambiguation). ...

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 Waldstätten sided with the Wittelsbacher 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, and Louis IV reconfirmed their Reichsfreiheit. The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Frederick the Handsome (born 1286; died January 13, 1330), from the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria as Frederick I and King of the Romans as Frederick (III). ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Emperor Louis IV Louis IV of Bavaria (also known as Ludwig the Bavarian) of the House of Wittelsbach (born 1282; died October 11, 1347) was duke of Bavaria from 1294/1301 together with his brother Rudolf I, also count of the Palatinate until 1329 and, German king since 1314 and... The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. ... The town Schwyz is the capital of the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. ... Einsiedeln may refer to: Einsiedeln abbey Einsiedeln, Switzerland This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Leopold I (born August 4, 1290 in Vienna, died February 28, 1326 in Strassburg) was a Duke of Austria and Styria from the Habsburg family. ... On November 15, 1315, the soldiers of Duke Leopold I of Austria were thoroughly defeated by an ambush of the Swiss Confederation near the Morgarten pass. ... The Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit (adjectives reichsfrei, reichsunmittelbar) was a special, privileged status a city or region could attain in the Holy Roman Empire. ...

Expansion to the Acht Orte

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, the city of Lucerne, trying to achieve Reichsfreiheit from the Habsburgs, joined the alliance. In 1351, these four forest communities (Vier Waldstätten, a name that lives on in the German name of Lake Lucerne) were joined by the city of Zürich, where a strong citizenship had gained power following the installation of the Zunftordnung (guild laws) and the banning of the noble authorities in 1336. The city also sought support against the Habsburg city of Rapperswil, which had tried to overthrow mayor Rudolf Brun in Zürich in 1350. With the help of its new allies, Zürich was able to withstand the siege of duke Albert II of Austria, and the confederates even conquered the city of Zug and the valley of Glarus in 1352. 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 Zunftordnung of Zürich and confirmed its reichsfrei status in spite of his having forbidden any confederations within the empire in his Golden Bull issued in January of that same year. The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ... Location within Switzerland View of the city from Lake Lucerne Another view across Lake Lucerne The Lion Monument Lucerne (German: (help· info)) is a city in Central Switzerland with a population of 60,274 (December 31, 2003), capital of the Canton of Lucerne. ... Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee, lit. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A guild is an association of people of the same trade or pursuits (with a similar skill or craft), formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of workmanship and ethical conduct. ... Rapperswil is a small town in the canton of St. ... Rudolf Brun (died 17 September 1360) was the leader of the Zürich guilds revolution of 1336, and the citys first independent mayor. ... Albert II of Austria (born December 12, 1298 on the Habsburg (Aargau); died August 16, 1358 in Vienna; known as the Wise or the Lame) was Duke of Austria. ... Zug : also the name of a character from childrens series TUGS Location within Switzerland Zug, capital of the Swiss canton of that name, is a picturesque little town at the northeastern corner of the lake of Zug, and at the foot of the Zugerberg (3255 ft. ... (French Glaris) is a canton in east central Switzerland. ... 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. ...

Illustration from the late fifteenth century of the Battle of Laupen. The confederate forces are on the right.

The Eidgenossenschaft had signed "perpetual" alliances with both Glarus and Zug in 1352, 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.^[1] Illustration of the Battle of Laupen (1339) between Swiss forces and an army of the Dukes of Savoy. ... Illustration of the Battle of Laupen (1339) between Swiss forces and an army of the Dukes of Savoy. ... Illustration of the Battle of Laupen (by Diebold Schilling the Elder, 1480s). ... Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. ...

In the west, the Vier Waldstätten had already formed an alliance with the city of Berne 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. In 1353, Berne entered an "eternal" alliance with the confederation, completing the "alliance of the eight places" (Bund der Acht Orte). Location within Switzerland The city of Berne (German   , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna , Bernese German Bärn ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland and the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... The House of Savoy was a dynasty of nobles who traditionally had their domain in Savoy (a small region between Piedmont, Italy, and France). ... Illustration of the Battle of Laupen (by Diebold Schilling the Elder, 1480s). ...

This alliance of the Acht Orte was a 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 Waldstätten 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 Zürich and Berne. Zürich 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 Berne 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, Fribourg even sided against Berne. Berne's position after that battle was strong enough that such alliances often ended with the other party becoming a Bernese dependency, as it happened with e.g. Burgdorf or Payerne. Map of the Bodensee; Schweiz is Switzerland, Deutschland is Germany, and Osterreich is Austria. ... Konstanz in 1925 seen from the lake Schnetztor, a section of the former city wall Another gate from city wall Shops in Konstanz The Konzilgebäude in Konstanz Konstanz (in English formerly known as Constance) is a university town of around 80,000 inhabitants at the western end of Lake... Lindau is a German city and an island in the eastern part of the Lake Constance, the Obersee. ... Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland; it has an estimated population of 33,527 as of March 31, 2005. ... Map of Germany showing Rottweil Watershed of the Neckar River Watershed of the Rhine River Rottweil is the oldest town in southwestern Germany, in the State of Baden-Württemberg. ... Ulm is a city in the German Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube, about 90 km south-east of Stuttgart and 140 km north-west of Munich. ... Fribourg (French; German: Freiburg or Freiburg im Ãœechtland, often Fribourg) is a city in the country of Switzerland and the capital of the Swiss Canton of Fribourg on the river Saane/Sarine. ... Berntor in Murten Murten (in German) Morat (in French) is a town in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, on the southern shores of Lake Murten. ... Place du Ring in Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne is a town in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. ... The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. ... Burgdorf (fr. ... Payerne is a town in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. ...

Consolidation

In 1364, Schwyz re-conquered 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 Eidgenossen near Sempach in 1386, where his troops were defeated decisively in the Battle of Sempach and he himself was killed. In the wake of these events Glarus declared itself free and constituted its first Landsgemeinde (regional diet) in 1387. In the Battle of Näfels 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. The town Schwyz is the capital of the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. ... (-German; French: Zoug; Italian: Zugo) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... Location within Switzerland View of the city from Lake Lucerne Another view across Lake Lucerne The Lion Monument Lucerne (German: (help· info)) is a city in Central Switzerland with a population of 60,274 (December 31, 2003), capital of the Canton of Lucerne. ... Entlebuch is a commune/district in Luzern, Switzerland. ... Sempach is a small town in the Swiss canton of Lucerne, built above the eastern shore of Lake Lucerne, and about 2 m. ... 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 Battle of Sempach was fought on July 9, 1386 between Duke Leopold III of Austria and the Swiss Confederation. ... Glarus is the capital of the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. ... The Landsgemeinde is one of the oldest and simplest forms of direct democracy practised in some cantons of Switzerland. ... In politics, a Diet is a formal deliberative assembly. ... Albert III (born September 9, 1349 in Vienna; died August 29, 1395 on Castle Laxenburg; known as Albert with the Pigtail) was a duke of Austria. ...

The loose federation of states was reinforced by additional agreements amongst the partners. In the Pfaffenbrief of 1370, the signatory six states (without Berne and Glarus) for the first time expressed themselves as a territorial unity, referring to themselves as unser Eydgnosschaft. 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 Zürich to the St. Gotthard pass. Another important treaty was the Sempacherbrief in 1393. Not only was this the first document signed by all eight of the Acht Orte (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. 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). ... A feud is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. ... Devils bridge (Teufelsbrücke) across the Schoellen St. ...

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 Vorderösterreich. Appenzell became a protectorate of the Acht Orte in 1411, who concluded a 50-year peace with Frederick IV in 1412. Appenzell (or Appenzellerland) is a region in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. ... Location within Switzerland St. ... An engraving by W. Killian from 1623 Friedrich IV of Austria (1382 - June 24, 1439) was a Habsburg duke of Tirol, son of Leopold III of Austria. ... The Tyrol is a historical region in Western Central Europe, which includes the Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East Tyrol) and the Italian regions known as the South Tyrol and Trentino. ... Further Austria (in German: Vorderösterreich or die Vorlande) was the collective name for the old possessions of the Habsburgs in south-western Germany (Swabia), the Alsace, and in Vorarlberg after the focus of the Habsburgs had moved to Austria. ...

Emperor Sigismund banned 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 reichsfrei) and a decree that placed the ban over the peace treaty of 1412, the Eidgenossen conquered the Aargau. 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 Habsburgian. Sigismund (February 14/15, 1368 - December 9, 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 to 1437. ... Antipope John XXIII Antipope John XXIII, antipope of the Pisan party (1410–1415), (about 1370 – November 22, 1419), was born as Baldassare Cossa. ... The Council of Constance was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, the pope recently elected at Pisa. ... For other uses, see Aargau (disambiguation). ... The Fricktal (Frick Valley) is the northwest finger extending from Canton Aargau. ...

The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 to the sixteenth century.

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 Eidgenossenschaft. Download high resolution version (1000x712, 150 KB)From de:Bild:Karte eidgenossenschaft2. ... Download high resolution version (1000x712, 150 KB)From de:Bild:Karte eidgenossenschaft2. ... The Valais (German: ) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva. ... The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion (Latin Sedunensis), in the Swiss canton of Valais, is the oldest bishopric in Switzerland and one of the oldest north of the Alps. ... For the earlier history of Savoy, see County of Savoy. ...

In the Grisons, called Churwalchen then, the bishop of Chur and numerous local noble families competed for the control of the region with its many alpine passes. Throughout the fourteenth 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 the bishop in 1367 planned to hand over the administration of his diocese to the Austrian Habsburgs. It bought its freedom by paying the bishop's debt and in the following decades increased its control over the secular administration of the princebishopric, 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. By 1424 the Gray League was dominated by the free communities and gave itself a more democratic charter. Grisons or Graubünden (German: Graubünden; Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. ... The Bishop of Chur is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic diocese of Chur (Grisons, Switzerland). ... The League of Gods House (Gotteshausbund) was formed at Chur, Switzerland in 1367 to counter the machinations of Bishop Peter von Boehmen, and evolved into a revolutionary organisation against Austria. ... Chur is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton. ... Lej da Segl and Lej da Silvaplauna, Upper Engadin Piz Roseg and Vadret da Roseg as seen from Fuorcla Surlej The Engadine (German: Engadin, Romansch: Engiadina) is a long mountain valley located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast of Switzerland. ... Loreley At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein, ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... Disentis Abbey Disentis Abbey (Kloster Disentis) is a Benedictine monastery in the Canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis/Mustér grew up. ... A feud is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. ...

Internal crisis

The relationships between the individual cantons of the confederation were not without tensions, though. A first clash between Berne and the Vier Waldstätten over the Raron conflict (Berne 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 fourteenth 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. The Valais (German: ) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva. ... Sigismund (February 14/15, 1368 - December 9, 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 to 1437. ...

The Old Zürich War, which began as a dispute over the succession to the count of Toggenburg, was a more serious test of the unity of the Acht Orte. Zürich 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 Zürich from the confederation in 1440 and declared war. In retaliation Zürich made a pact with the Habsburgs in 1442. The other cantons invaded the canton of Zürich 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 Zürich 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. The Old Zürich War (Alter Zürichkrieg), 1440–1446, was a conflict between the canton of Zürich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg. ... The Counts of Toggenburg (Grafen von Toggenburg) ruled the Toggenburg region of todays Canton of St. ... This article is about the economic term. ...

The end of the dynasty of the counts of Toggenburg in 1436 also had effects on the Grisons. In their former territories in the Prättigau and Davos, the (initially eleven, after a merger only ten) villages founded the Zehngerichtebund ("League of the Ten Jurisdictions"). 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 Drei Bünde was born, even though the alliance would be officially concluded in a written contract only in 1524. Grisons or Graubünden (German: Graubünden; Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. ... The Prättigau Valley, in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, is home to the world famous ski resorts of Davos and Klosters. ... Davos viewed from air Davos is a town in eastern Switzerland, in the canton of Graubünden, on the Landwasser River. ... Chur is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton. ...

Further expansion

In the second half of the fifteenth century, the confederation expanded its territory further. In the north, the formerly Habsburg cities of Schaffhausen and Stein am Rhein had become reichsfrei 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 December 6, 1459. Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland; it has an estimated population of 33,527 as of March 31, 2005. ... Stein am Rhein with the castle Hohenklingen in the background Stein am Rhein is a town located in Switzerland near the German border, a municipality of the canton of Schaffhausen. ... Loreley At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein, ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... The term robber baron dates back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, originally referring to certain feudal lords of land through which the Rhine River in Europe flowed. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... Events February 4 - In the Thirteen Years War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederacy sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events September 23 - Battle of Blore Heath. ...

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 August 17, 1451. The city was accepted as an associate state on June 13, 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 Berne in 1454, becoming an associate state, too. Two other cities also sought help from the Eidgenossen against the Habsburgs: Rottweil became as associate on June 18, 1463, and Mülhausen on June 17, 1466 through an alliance with Berne (and Solothurn). In Rapperswil, a Habsburg enclave on Lake Zürich within confederate territory, a pro-confederate coup d'état in 1458 led to the city becoming a protectorate of the confederacy in 1464. Location within Switzerland St. ... Abbey of St. ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... // Events February 3 - Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Mehmed II. April 11 - Celje acquires market-town status and town rights by orders from the Celje count Frederic II. June 30 - French troops under the Comte de Dunois invade Guyenne and capture... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... Events February 4 - In the Thirteen Years War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederacy sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master. ... Fribourg (French; German: Freiburg or Freiburg im Ãœechtland, often Fribourg) is a city in the country of Switzerland and the capital of the Swiss Canton of Fribourg on the river Saane/Sarine. ... The House of Savoy was a dynasty of nobles who traditionally had their domain in Savoy (a small region between Piedmont, Italy, and France). ... Map of Germany showing Rottweil Watershed of the Neckar River Watershed of the Rhine River Rottweil is the oldest town in southwestern Germany, in the State of Baden-Württemberg. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... Events January 5 - Poet Francois Villon is banned from Paris Births January 17 - Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (died 1525) February 24 - Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (died 1494) October 20 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (died 1512) Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de Medici, Italian patron of the arts (died 1503... Mulhouse (French: Mulhouse, pronounced ; Alsatian: Milhüsa; German: Mülhausen) in is a town and commune in eastern France. ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... Events Chimú Empire conquered by troops of the Inca End of term for Regent of Sweden Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna. ... Rapperswil is a small town in the canton of St. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lake Zurich showing a sailing boat, a popular pastime on the lake Lake Zurich (also spelled Lake Zürich or Lake of Zürich; in German Zürichsee) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the town of Zürich. ...

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 banned 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 June 1, 1461, the duke had no choice but to accept the new situation. An engraving by W. Killian, 1623 Sigismund of Austria (October 26, 1427 in Innsbruck – March 4, 1496 ibid) was a Habsburg archduke of Austria and regent of Tirol from 1446 to 1490. ... Pius II, né Enea Silvio Piccolomini, in Latin Aeneas Sylvius (October 18, 1405 – August 14, 1464) was Pope from 1458 until his death. ... Thurgau (Thurgovia) is a canton of Switzerland. ... Sargans with its castle (August 2002 image) Sargans is a locality in Switzerland. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... Events February 2 - Battle of Mortimers Cross - Yorkist troops led by Edward, Duke of York defeat Lancastrians under Owen Tudor and his son Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in Wales. ...

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 fifteenth century, their involvement turned military. 1403 the upper Leventina, as the valley south of the pass is called, became a protectorate of Uri. Throughout the fifteenth century, a changeful struggle between the Swiss and the Duchy of Milan ensued. 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 favourable for them. The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... The modern concrete span of the Devils bridge (Teufelsbrücke) across the Schöllenen Gorge replaces the older bridge below St. ... Country Italy Region Lombardy Province Milan (MI) Mayor Letizia Moratti Elevation 120 m Area 182 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 1,308,311  - Density 6,988/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Milanesi Dialing code 02 Postal code 20100 Patron St. ... The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1395 to 1797. ... This article incorporates text from the Catholic Encyclopedia, which is in the public domain. ... Canton Ticino or Ticino (German: (help· info)) is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. ... Ossola is an area of Italy situated North of the Lago Maggiore. ...

The Burgundy Wars

Charles the Bold

The Burgundy 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 Berne for help. Download high resolution version (1544x1804, 667 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1544x1804, 667 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Charles the Bold Charles, called the Bold (French: Charles le Téméraire) (November 10, 1433 – 1477) was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ... 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. ... The Valois Dynasty succeeded the Capetian Dynasty as rulers of France from 1328-1589. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... The Duchy of Burgundy, today Bourgogne, has its origin in the small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Balds kingdom of West Franks. ... Charles the Bold Charles, called the Bold (French: Charles le Téméraire) (November 10, 1433 – 1477) was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ... Louis XI the Prudent (French: Louis XI le Prudent) (July 3, 1423 – August 30, 1483), also informally nicknamed luniverselle aragne (old French for universal spider), or the Spider King, was King of France (1461–1483). ... Detail of Aeneas Piccolomini Introduces Eleonora of Portugal to Frederick III by Pinturicchio (1454-1513) Frederick III of Habsburg (Innsbruck, September 21, 1415 – August 19, 1493 in Linz) was elected as German King as the successor of Albert II in 1440. ... City flag City coat of arms Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Département Bas-Rhin (67) Région Alsace Mayor Fabienne Keller (UMP) (since 2001) Intercommunality Urban Community of Strasbourg City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 78. ... Mulhouse (French: Mulhouse, pronounced ; Alsatian: Milhüsa; German: Mülhausen) in is a town and commune in eastern France. ...

The conflicts culminated in 1474, after duke Sigismund of Austria had concluded a peace agreement with the confederates in Constance (later called the Ewige Richtung). The confederates, united with the Alsacian cities and Sigismund in an "anti-burgundian league", conquered part of the Burgundian Jura (Franche-Comté), 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 René II, Duke of Lorraine.^[2] There is a proverbial saying in Switzerland summarizing these events as "Bi Grandson s'Guet, bi Murte de Muet, bi Nancy s'Bluet" (hät de Karl de Küeni verloore) ("[Charles the Bold lost] his goods at Grandson, his boldness at Murten and his blood at Nancy"). An engraving by W. Killian, 1623 Sigismund of Austria (October 26, 1427 in Innsbruck – March 4, 1496 ibid) was a Habsburg archduke of Austria and regent of Tirol from 1446 to 1490. ... Capital Besançon Land area¹ 16,202 km² Regional President Raymond Forni (PS) (since 2004) Population  - Jan. ... The Canton of Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland located in the southwestern part of the country. ... For the earlier history of Savoy, see County of Savoy. ... The Battle on the Planta, fought in November 1475, was part of the Burgundy Wars. ... Grandson is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, seat of the district of the same name. ... The Battle of Grandson, took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars (Burgundy Wars), and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. ... The Battle of Morat was a battle in the Burgundian Wars fought June 22, 1467 between Charles, Duke of Burgundy and a Swiss army at Morat (German: Murten), about 30 kilometers from Bern. ... Despite the disasters of 1476 Charles the Bold, [[Duke of Burgundy]], remained confident that 1477 would bring an upturn in the fortunes of his beloved Burgundy. ... René II (May 2, 1451–December 10, 1508) was count of Vaudemont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar and titular King of Aragon, Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem from 1483 to his death. ... The Duchy of Lorraine was an independent state for most of the period of time between 843 to 1739. ...

As a result of the Burgundy Wars, the dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy had died out. Berne returned the Vaud to the duchy of Savoy against a ransom of 50'000 guilders already in 1476, and sold its claims on the Franche-Comté 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 Berne and Fribourg. The whole Valais, however, would henceforth be independent, and Berne would reconquer the Vaud in 1536. While the territorial effects of the Burgundy Wars on the confederation were minor, they marked the beginning of the rise of Swiss mercenaries on the battlefields of Europe. The Duchy of Burgundy, today Bourgogne, has its origin in the small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Balds kingdom of West Franks. ... The term ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property extorted to secure their release, or to the sum of money involved. ... Guilder is the English name for the Dutch Gulden. ... Capital Besançon Land area¹ 16,202 km² Regional President Raymond Forni (PS) (since 2004) Population  - Jan. ... Louis XI the Prudent (French: Louis XI le Prudent) (July 3, 1423 – August 30, 1483), also informally nicknamed luniverselle aragne (old French for universal spider), or the Spider King, was King of France (1461–1483). ... Looking towards Lelex from near to Crêt de La Neige The Jura folds are located north of the main Alpine orogenic front and are being continually deformed, accommodating the northwards compression due to Alpine folding. ...

Swiss mercenaries

Swiss mercenaries crossing the Alps (Luzerner Schilling)

In the Burgundy 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. Download high resolution version (438x644, 78 KB) Luzerner Schilling, fol 327v. ... Download high resolution version (438x644, 78 KB) Luzerner Schilling, fol 327v. ... The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... Reisläufer crossing the Alps Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik) is how the chronicle of Diebold Schilling the Younger of Lucerne (1513) is referred to. ... A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare primarily for private gain, usually with little regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ...

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. More contracts were made with France (a Swiss Guard of mercenaries would be destroyed in the storm of the Tuileries in Paris in 1792), 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 eighteenth century. Capitulations (from Lat. ... The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ... Papal Swiss Guards in traditional uniforms Swiss Guards are Swiss mercenary soldiers who served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards and palace guards at foreign European courts from the late 15th century until the present day (in the form of the Papal Swiss Guard). ... Tuileries Palace before 1871 - View from the Louvre courtyard Up to 1871 the Tuileries Palace was a palace in Paris, France, on the right bank of the River Seine. ... Part of the Paris skyline with from left to right: Montparnasse Tower, Eiffel Tower, and in the background, towers of neighboring La Défense. ... For the earlier history of Savoy, see County of Savoy. ... Swiss mercenaries crossing the Alps (Luzerner Schilling) During the late Middle Ages, mercenary forces grew in importance in Europe, as veterans from the Hundred Years War preferred to continue living a soldiers life rather than abandoning the military. ...

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 result of this short intermezzo were the gain of the 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 Drei Bünde, which would remain a dependency of the Grisons until 1797 with a brief interruption during the Thirty Years' War. For the war between the Roman Republic and other Italian cities see Social War. ... The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1395 to 1797. ... Canton Ticino or Ticino (German: (help· info)) is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. ... Location within Switzerland Bellinzona is the capital city of canton Ticino in Switzerland. ... Louis XII the Father of the People (French: Louis XII le Père du Peuple) (June 27, 1462 – January 1, 1515) was King of France 1498 – January 1, 1515. ... Julius II, born Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 – February 21, 1513), was Pope from 1503 to 1513. ... The Catholic League (or Holy League) was a coalition of various European powers that was formed by Pope Julius II in 1511, at the height of the War of the League of Cambrai, to defend the states of Italy against Louis XII of France and thus to strengthen Papal power. ... The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1395 to 1797. ... Combatants France, Republic of Venice Duchy of Milan Commanders Francis I, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, Bartolomeo dAlviano, Louis de la Trémoille Maximilian Sforza, Cardinal Matthaeus Schiner Strength 30,000 Unknown The Battle of Marignano, in the phase of the Italian Wars (1494–1559) that is called the War of... Canton Ticino or Ticino (German: (help· info)) is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. ... A view of Valtellina The church of Tresivio Valtellina (German Veltlin) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. ... Bormio is a medieval-style ski resort village located in the Sondrio province, Lombardy region of the Italian Alps. ... Chiavenna can refer to: Places Chiavenna (Sondrio), a commune of the Province of Sondrio, at one end of the Splügen Pass. ... Grisons or Graubünden (German: Graubünden; Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. ... Combatants Protestantism: Sweden,Denmark, France, Scotland and protestant German countries like Saxony Roman Catholic Church: Holy Roman Empire, Spain Commanders Gustav II Adolf Ferdinand II The Thirty Years War was fought between 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of todays Germany, also involving most of the major European...

The Dreizehn Orte

Both Fribourg and Solothurn, which had participated in the Burgundy Wars, wanted to join the confederation following the war, 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 a Tagsatzung was held in order to resolve the issues, but war seemed inevitable! A local hermit, Niklaus von der Flüe, was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be passed on to the members of the Tagsatzung on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, however it did calm the tempers and led to the drawing up of the Stanser Verkommnis. Fribourg and Solothurn were admitted into the confederation. Stans is the capital city of the Nidwalden (Nidwald) canton in Switzerland. ... Tagsatzung of 1531 in Baden (1790s drawing). ... Saint Nicholas of Flüe (Niklaus von Flüe) (1417 - March 21, 1487) was a Swiss hermit and ascetic who is the patron saint of Switzerland. ... Tagsatzung of 1531 in Baden (1790s drawing). ...

After isolated bilateral pacts between the leagues in the Grisons and some cantons of the confederation had already existed since the early fifteenth 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. Grisons or Graubünden (German: Graubünden; Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. ... The emblems of the Three Leagues are combined in the modern coat of arms of Graubünden. ...

When the confederates refused to accept the resolutions of the Reichstag of 1495 in Worms, the Swabian War (Schwabenkrieg, also called the Schweizerkrieg 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 Eidgenossenschaft 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. The Reichstag (German for Imperial Diet) was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945. ... // Worms (pronounced ) is a city in the southwest of Germany. ... The Battle of Hard was the first major battle of the Swabian War. ... The Swabian League, an association of German cities, principally in the territory which had formed the old duchy of Swabia. ... Portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1519 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). ... Vorarlberg is the westernmost state (Land) of Austria. ... Grisons or Graubünden (German: Graubünden; Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. ... At the Battle of Dornach (47:29°N′ 7 37°E′ ) , on 22 July 1499, Emperor Maximilian I was decisively beaten by Old Swiss Confederacy. ... The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ... Combatants Protestantism: Sweden,Denmark, France, Scotland and protestant German countries like Saxony Roman Catholic Church: Holy Roman Empire, Spain Commanders Gustav II Adolf Ferdinand II The Thirty Years War was fought between 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of todays Germany, also involving most of the major European... A map of the Imperial Circles as at the beginning of the 16th century. ...

As a direct consequence of the Swabian War the previously associated city states of Basel and Schaffhausen joined the confederation in 1501. In 1513, the Appenzell followed suit as the thirteenth member. 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. Basel (British English traditionally: Basle and more recently Basel , German: Basel , French: Bâle , Italian, Spanish: Basilea and Czech: Basilej ) is Switzerlands third most populous city (166,563 inhabitants (2004); 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerlands second... Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland; it has an estimated population of 33,527 as of March 31, 2005. ... Appenzell (or Appenzellerland) is a region in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. ... Location within Switzerland St. ... Place du Ring in Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne is a town in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. ... Mulhouse (French: Mulhouse, pronounced ; Alsatian: Milhüsa; German: Mülhausen) in is a town and commune in eastern France. ... Map of Germany showing Rottweil Watershed of the Neckar River Watershed of the Rhine River Rottweil is the oldest town in southwestern Germany, in the State of Baden-Württemberg. ...

Myths and legends

Oath on the Rütli, Henry Fuseli, 1780.

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 Rütlischwur (the oath on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne), seems to have its origins in the late fifteenth century Weisse Buch von Sarnen, a collection of folk tales from 1470, and is generally considered a fictitious glorification of the independence struggles of the Waldstätten. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1576x2385, 204 KB) Description: Title: de: Die drei Eidgenossen beim Schwur auf den Rütli (Rütlischwur) Technique: de: Feder und Sepia Dimensions: de: 267 × 178 cm Country of origin: de: Schweiz und Großbritanien Current location (city): de: Zürich... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1576x2385, 204 KB) Description: Title: de: Die drei Eidgenossen beim Schwur auf den Rütli (Rütlischwur) Technique: de: Feder und Sepia Dimensions: de: 267 × 178 cm Country of origin: de: Schweiz und Großbritanien Current location (city): de: Zürich... Fuseli talking to Johann Jakob Bodmer, 1778-1781. ... Statue of Wilhelm Tell and his Son in Altdorf, Switzerland (Richard Kissling, 1895). ... Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee, lit. ...

The legend of Arnold von Winkelried likewise is first recorded in the middle of the sixteenth century; 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. A legend (Latin, legenda, things to be read) is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. ... 19th century painting of Winkelrieds deed by Konrad Grob. ... The Battle of Sempach was fought on July 9, 1386 between Duke Leopold III of Austria and the Swiss Confederation. ... The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. ...

Social developments

The developments beginning in about the thirteenth 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, Zürich, Berne, 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. At the beginning of the fourteenth 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, Zürich, 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. Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... A guild is an association of people of the same trade or pursuits (with a similar skill or craft), formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of workmanship and ethical conduct. ...

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. One well-known colonization movement was that of the Walser from the Valais to the Grisons, colonizing some valleys there in the fourteenth 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. The Walser are German-speaking people (more specifically, they speak Walser German dialects) that live in the alps of Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria. ... This article refers to the natural event known as an avalanche. ... The Landsgemeinde is one of the oldest and simplest forms of direct democracy practised in some cantons of Switzerland. ... Landammann or Landaman was the name given to the chief magistrate in certain Swiss cantons, also to the President of the Swiss Diet. ...

Contemporary depiction of the inauguration ceremony of the University of Basel in the cathedral of Basel on April 4, 1460.

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 the 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.^[3] Medieval miniature of the inauguration ceremony of the University of Basel in the cathedral of Basel on April 4, 1460. ... Medieval miniature of the inauguration ceremony of the University of Basel in the cathedral of Basel on April 4, 1460. ... The University of Basel (German: Universität Basel) is located at Basel, Switzerland. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... Events The first Portuguese navigators reach the coast of modern Sierra Leone. ...

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. Chicago from the air. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ...

Basel became the center of higher education and science in the second half of the fifteenth 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. Basel (British English traditionally: Basle and more recently Basel , German: Basel , French: Bâle , Italian, Spanish: Basilea and Czech: Basilej ) is Switzerlands third most populous city (166,563 inhabitants (2004); 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerlands second... The Council of Basel was a council of bishops and other ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church that was held at Basel, Switzerland. ... Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... Paracelsus Paracelsus (born 11 November or 17 December 1493 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland - 24 September 1541) was an alchemist, physician, astrologer, and general occultist. ...

Economy

The population of the cantons numbered about 600,000 in the 1400s and grew to about 800,000 by the 1500s. 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. Binomial name Avena sativa Carolus Linnaeus (1753) The Oat (Avena sativa) is a species of cereal grain, and the seeds of this plant. ... Binomial name Hordeum vulgare L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. ... Species T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ...

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 Gruyère) also was a major export item. The exports of the Swiss cities went far, until the Levant or to Poland. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals. ... Emmental cheese Emmentaler, Emmenthal, or Emmental cheese is a Swiss cheese. ... Gruyère cheese Gruyère cheese is a yellow cheese made from cows milk. ... The Levant Levant is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ...

In the late fifteenth century, the mercenary services became also an important economic factor. The Reisläuferei, 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 Reisläuferei, 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. A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare primarily for private gain, usually with little regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ...

Political organization

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 fifteenth century. The second unifying treaty later became the Stanser Verkommnis in 1481. In politics, a Diet is a formal deliberative assembly. ...

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 sixteenth century, Zürich permanently assumed the chair (Vorort), and Baden became the sessional seat.^[4] Tagsatzung of 1531 in Baden (1790s drawing). ...

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 Zürich 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. The Old Zürich War (Alter Zürichkrieg), 1440–1446, was a conflict between the canton of Zürich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg. ... Thurgau (Thurgovia) is a canton of Switzerland. ... Canton Ticino or Ticino (German: (help· info)) is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. ...

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. Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. ...

See also

• Bishopric of Sion
• House of Habsburg
• History of the Valais
• History of the Grisons
• Swabian War
• Swiss illustrated chronicles

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion (German Sitten, Latin Sedunensis), in the Swiss canton of Valais, is the oldest bishopric in Switzerland and one of the oldest north of the Alps. ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy; also used as the flag of the Austrian Empire until the Ausgleich of 1867. ... Most of the lands of the Grisons were part of the Roman province Raetia, 15 BC. The area later was part of the lands of the diocese at Chur. ... The Battle of Hard was the first major battle of the Swabian War. ... Several illustrated chronicles were created in the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th and 16th centuries. ...

References

Main sources:

• Im Hof, U.: Geschichte der Schweiz, Kohlhammer, 1974/2001. ISBN 3-170-14051-1.
• Schwabe & Co.: Geschichte der Schweiz und der Schweizer, Schwabe & Co 1986/2004. ISBN 3-796-52067-7.

Other sources:

1. ^ Glauser, T.: 1352 – Zug wird nicht eidgenössisch, State archive of the Canton of Zug; Tugium 18, pp. 103-115; 2002. (PDF file, 359 KB; in German).
2. ^ Sieber-Lehmann, C.: The Burgundy Wars in German, French or Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.; January 18, 2005.
3. ^ Holenstein, A.: Hintersassen in German, French or Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.; September 5, 2005.
4. ^ Würgler, A.: Tagsatzung in German, French or Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.; September 1, 2004.

(-German; French: Zoug; Italian: Zugo) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ... Bold textItalic text [edit] Headline text A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-, meaning 1000) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ... The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is a project to develop an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland started in 1988. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is a project to develop an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland started in 1988. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is a project to develop an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland started in 1988. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• 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 0-930-66406-X.
• Schneider, B. (ed.): Alltag in der Schweiz seit 1300, Chronos 1991; in German. ISBN 3-905-27870-7.
• Stettler, B: Die Eidgenossenschaft im 15. Jahrhundert, Widmer-Dean 2004; in German. ISBN 3-952-29270-2.

External links

• Swiss Historical Encyclopedia (in German, French, Italian and Rumanch).
• The Old Swiss Confederation by Markus Jud (in English and German).
• Switzerland in the Middle Ages by "Presence Switzerland", an official body of the Swiss Confederation. (In English, available also in many other languages.)