Swabian War
The battle of Hard was the first major battle of the Swabian War. The Battle of Hard was the first large-scale battle in the Swabian War, waged between the Imperials under the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and the Swiss Confederates Illustration from the Luzerner Schilling of 1513. The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle
Date January – September 1499 Location Northern and eastern boundary of Switzerland, southern Grisons. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Graubünden or Grisons ( German:, gʁaʊˈbyndən Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost Result Swiss victory, Swiss Confederacy exempt from the resolutions of the Reichstag of 1495. The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The Reichstag ( German for "Imperial Diet " was the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation,
Belligerents
Swabian League, forces of Holy Roman Empire	Swiss Confederacy, Three Leagues of the Grisons

The Swabian War of 1499 (Schwabenkrieg, also called Schweizerkrieg ["Swiss War"] in Germany and Engadiner Krieg ["War of the Engadin"] in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg. The Swabian League was an association of German cities principalities and knights principally in the territory which had The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Three Leagues was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League, leading eventually to Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Etymology In Romansch which is the indigenous language of the region the "Engadin" literally translates as the garden of the Inn River (Romansch En Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. What had begun as a local conflict over the control of the Val Müstair and the Umbrail Pass in the Grisons soon got out of hand when both parties called upon their allies for help; the Habsburgs demanding the support of the Swabian League and the Federation of the Three Leagues of the Grisons turning to the Swiss Eidgenossenschaft. The Val Müstair ( German: Münstertal, Italian: Val Monastero) is a mountain valley in the Swiss Alps. Umbrail Pass (el 2501 m is a high Mountain pass on the Swiss - Italian border connecting Santa Maria in Val Müstair with Graubünden or Grisons ( German:, gʁaʊˈbyndən Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost The Swabian League was an association of German cities principalities and knights principally in the territory which had The Three Leagues was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League, leading eventually to Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning Confederation. The term literally translates as " Oath fellowship" Hostilities quickly spread from the Grisons through the Rhine valley to Lake Constance and even to the Sundgau in southern Alsace, the westernmost part of Habsburg Further Austria. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Under the designation Lake Constance or Lake of Constance ( German Bodensee) one summarizes the three independent bodies of water Obersee Sundgau (suŋˈɡo in French;[http//mediala-basorg/mp3/020923/22-Alsace-Sundgau Alsace (Alsace alzas Alsatian and Elsass pre-1996 German: Elsaß; Alsatia is one of the 26 Regions of France, located on the eastern Further Austria or Anterior Austria ( Vorderösterreich, die Vorlande) was the collective name for the old possessions of the Habsburgs in Baden ^[1]

Many battles were fought from January to July 1499, and in all but a few minor skirmishes, the experienced Swiss soldiers defeated the Swabian and Habsburg armies. After their victories in the Burgundian Wars, the Swiss had battle tested troops and commanders. The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a On the Swabian side, distrust between the knights and their foot soldiers, disagreements amongst the military leadership, and a general reluctance to fight a war that even the Swabian counts considered to be more in the interests of the powerful Habsburgs than in the interest of the Holy Roman Empire^[2] proved fatal handicaps. Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in When his military high commander fell in the battle of Dornach, where the Swiss won a final decisive victory, king Maximilian I had no choice but to agree to a peace treaty signed on September 22, 1499 in Basel. At the Battle of Dornach on 22 July 1499, the troops of Emperor Maximilian I were decisively beaten by the Old Swiss Confederacy close to the Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians "Basilia" redirects here For the Fly Genus, see Basilia (fly. The treaty granted the Confederacy far-reaching independence from the empire. Although the Eidgenossenschaft officially remained a part of the empire until the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the peace of Basel exempted it from the imperial jurisdiction and imperial taxes and thus de facto acknowledged it as a separate political entity. The term Peace of Westphalia refers to the two peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, signed on May 15 and October 24 of The Treaty of Basel of 22 September 1499 was an armistice following the Battle of Dornach, concluding the Swabian War, fought between the

Background

One source of conflict was the ancient distrust, rivalry, and hostility between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg, which had risen to the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor since 1438. The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states Since the late 13th century, the members of the Swiss Confederacy had gradually taken control of territories that once had belonged to the Habsburg realm. The Swiss had attained the status of imperial immediacy. Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit) was a privileged feudal and political status a form of statehood which a City, religious They were reichsfrei, subject only to the emperor himself and did not respond to any intermediate liege lords or princes. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed This status granted them a far-reaching autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire, even more so as the emperor was a distant overlord. Prior to 1438, the empire and the emperor had been an antipole to the Habsburg dukes for the Swiss. Previous emperors had repeatedly supported the confederates in their struggles against the Habsburgs, whom they saw a strong rivals. They had confirmed the Reichsfreiheit of the Swiss on several occasions; and the Swiss had succeeded in defending their privileged status against Habsburg dukes, who had tried to regain their former territories.

The Habsburgs in the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th century

Emperor Frederick III

When Frederick III of Habsburg ascended to the throne, the Swiss suddenly faced a new situation in which they could no longer count on support from the empire. Frederick III of Habsburg ( September 21 1415 &ndash August 19, 1493) was elected as German King as the successor of Worse yet, conflicts with the Habsburg dukes threatened to become conflicts with the empire itself. Under Frederick's reign, this did not occur yet. Frederick had sided in 1442 against the confederacy in the Old Zürich War where he had supported the city of Zürich, and he also refused to reconfirm the imperial immediacy of the members of the Confederacy. The Old Zürich War (Alte Zürichrieg 1440 – 46, was a conflict between the canton of Zürich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy But Frederick's troubled reign did not leave room for military operations against the Swiss. In Austria, Frederick was in conflict first with his brother Albert and then faced the pressure of Matthias Corvinus, who even drove him from Vienna and forced Frederick's court to assume an itinerant lifestyle. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Albert VI, Duke of Austria and later Archduke of Austria ( December 12, 1418 &ndash December 2, 1463) was a Habsburg Archduke Matthias Corvinus ( Matthias the Just; February 23 1443 &ndash April 6 1490) was King of Hungary and Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. ^[3]

In the empire, Frederick faced the opposition of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty and of his cousin Sigismund, who was duke in Tyrol, Vorarlberg, and Further Austria then. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 The Wittelsbach family is a European Royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. Sigismund of Austria, Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria ( October 26, 1427 &ndash March 4, 1496) was a Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East Vorarlberg is the westernmost state ( Land) of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area ( Vienna is the smallest it borders Further Austria or Anterior Austria ( Vorderösterreich, die Vorlande) was the collective name for the old possessions of the Habsburgs in Baden Sigismund had been in conflict with the Swiss Confederacy, too. When he had been banned by Pope Pius II in a conflict over the nomination of a bishop in Tyrol, the Swiss had annexed the formerly Habsburg territories of the Thurgau. Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini ( Latin Aeneas Sylvius; October 18, 1405 &ndash August 14, 1464) Thurgau (German, anglicized as Thurgovia) is a northeast canton of Switzerland. In 1468, Sigismund clashed with the Swiss in the War of Waldshut, which he could end without significant territorial losses only by paying a large ransom, which he financed by pawning territories in the Sundgau and the Alsace to Charles the Bold of Burgundy in 1469. Sundgau (suŋˈɡo in French;[http//mediala-basorg/mp3/020923/22-Alsace-Sundgau Alsace (Alsace alzas Alsatian and Elsass pre-1996 German: Elsaß; Alsatia is one of the 26 Regions of France, located on the eastern Charles the Bold or Charles the Rash (Charles le Téméraire ( 21 November 1433 &ndash 5 January 1477) baptised Charles Martin The Free County of Burgundy, in German Freigrafschaft Burgund, was a Medieval County (from 867 to 1678 AD within the traditional province and modern French ^[4] Charles did not, however, help Sigismund against the Swiss, and so Sigismund bought back the territories in 1474 and concluded a peace treaty with the Confederacy, the Ewige Richtung, although the emperor never recognized it. ^[3] In the following Burgundy Wars, the Swiss and Sigismund both fought against Charles the Bold. The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a

In 1487, Sigismund arranged the marriage of Frederick's daughter Kunigunde to duke Albert IV of Bavaria against her father's will, and he also signed away some of his territories in Tyrol and Further Austria to Albert IV. Kunigunde of Austria ( 16 March 1465 &ndash 6 August 1520) was an Austrian Archduchess and the wife of Albert IV Duke Duke Albert IV of Bavaria-Munich ( 15 December 1447 in Munich &ndash 18 March 1508 in Munich (Albrecht IV Frederick intervened by force: he founded the Swabian League in 1488, an alliance of the Swabian cities, the Swabian knights of the League of St. The Swabian League was an association of German cities principalities and knights principally in the territory which had George's Shield and the counts of Württemberg and Tyrol and Vorarlberg. This is a list of the rulers of the German state of Württemberg, originally a county and eventually a kingdom until the ruling dynasty was overthrown With their help, he forced the Wittelsbach house to return the territories signed over by Sigismund. ^[3]

In 1490, Sigismund was forced to abdicate and turn over all his territories to Frederick's son Maximilian I. Maximilian had married Mary of Burgundy in 1477 after the death of Charles the Bold in the Burgundy Wars and thus inherited the Burgundian territories: Duchy and County of Burgundy and the Netherlands. Mary, called Mary the Rich ( 13 February, 1457 &ndash The Duchy of Burgundy was a feudal territory once existing within the Kingdom of France. The Free County of Burgundy, in German Freigrafschaft Burgund, was a Medieval County (from 867 to 1678 AD within the traditional province and modern French In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands refers to the period when the dukes of Burgundy ruled the area as well as Luxembourg and parts of He took over and expanded the Burgundian administration with a more centralized style of government, which in 1482, caused the outbreak of a rebellion of the cities and counts, allied with Charles VIII of France, against Maximilian. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death ^[5] The Duchy of Burgundy was also a French fiefdom and immediately claimed by Charles VIII. The first phase of this conflict would last until 1489, keeping Maximilian occupied in the Low Countries. He even fell into the hands of his enemies and was held prisor for four months in Bruges in 1488. Bruges (Brugge is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. He was freed only when his father sent an army under the command of duke Albert of Saxony to his rescue. Albert (Albrecht 27 January, 1443 &ndash 12 September, 1500) was a Duke of Saxony. Maximilian subsequently returned to Germany, leaving his cousin Albert as his representative. Albert would, in the following years, manage to assert the Habsburg hegemony in the Netherlands. ^[6]

Maximilian had been elected King of the Romans in 1486 on his father's initiative, and they had been ruling jointly since then. King of the Romans ( Latin: Rex Romanorum) was the title used by the elected ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperator futurus Upon the death of Frederick in 1493, Maximilian also took over his father's possessions and thus united the whole Habsburg territory in his hands. In the same year, the Peace of Senlis also marked the end of his wars against the French about his Burgundian possessions; he kept the territories in the Netherlands and also the County of Burgundy, but had to cede the Duchy of Burgundy to the French king. The Free County of Burgundy, in German Freigrafschaft Burgund, was a Medieval County (from 867 to 1678 AD within the traditional province and modern French The Duchy of Burgundy was a feudal territory once existing within the Kingdom of France. ^[7] Maximilian controlled thus territories that nearly encircled the Old Swiss Confederacy: Tyrol and Vorarlberg in the east, Further Austria in the north, and the County of Burgundy in the west.

Swabia and the Swiss

When asked by emperor Frederick to also join the Swabian League, the Eidgenossen flatly refused: they saw no reason to join an alliance designed to further Habsburg interests, and they were wary of this new, relatively closely knit and powerful alliance that had arisen on their northern frontier. Furthermore, they resented the strong aristocratic element in the Swabian League, so different from their own organization, which had grown over the last two hundred years liberating themselves from precisely such an aristocratic rule.

On the Swabian side, similar concerns existed. For the common people in Swabia, the independence and freedom of the Eidgenossen was a powerful and attractive role model. Many a baron in southern Swabia feared that his own subjects might revolt and seek adherence to the Swiss Confederacy. ^[8] These fears were not entirely without foundation: the Swiss had begun to form alliances north of the Rhine river, concluding a first treaty with Schaffhausen in 1454 and then also treaties with cities as far away as Rottweil (1463) or Mulhouse (1466). The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Schaffhausen ( German:) is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton Rottweil is the oldest Town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Mulhouse (Mulhouse myluz Alsatian: Milhüsa or Milhüse, pronounced; Mülhausen i

The city of Constance and its bishop were caught in the middle between these two blocks: they held possessions in Swabia, but the city also still exercised the high justice over the Thurgau, where the Swiss had assumed the low justice since the annexation in 1460. Konstanz (in English formerly known as Constance) is a university town of around 80000 inhabitants at the western end of Lake Constance High middle and low justices are notions dating from Western Feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the Thurgau (German, anglicized as Thurgovia) is a northeast canton of Switzerland. High middle and low justices are notions dating from Western Feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the The foundation of the Swabian League prompted the Swiss city states of Zürich and Berne to propose accepting Constance into the Swiss Confederacy. Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal The negotiations failed, though, due to the opposition of the founding cantons of the Confederacy and Uri in particular. The split jurisdiction over the Thurgau was the cause of many quarrels between the city and the Confederacy. In 1495, one such disagreement was answered by a "punitive expedition" of soldiers of Uri and the city had to pay the sum of 3,000 guilders to make them retreat and cease their plundering. Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch gulden — from Old Dutch for 'golden' (The Thurgau was a condominium of the Swiss Confederacy, and Uri was one of the cantons involved in its administration. In International law, a condominium (plural either condominia, as in Latin or condominiums is a political territory (state or border area in or over which two or ) Finally, Constance joined the Swabian League as a full member on November 3, 1498. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Although this did not yet definitively define the position of the city—during the Reformation, it would be allied again with Zürich and Berne, and only after the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League in 1548 its close connections to the Eidgenossenschaft would be finally severed—it was another factor contributing to the growing estrangement between the Swiss and the Swabians. The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate (Mark Reust and population of The Schmalkaldic League (Schmalkaldischer Bund was a defensive alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid- 16th ^[2]

The competition between Swiss (Reisläufer) and Swabian mercenaries (Landsknechte), who both fought in armies throughout Europe, sometimes opposing each other on the battlefield, sometimes competing for contracts, intensified. Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by Landsknechts (singular Landsknecht, German plural Landsknechte, sometimes also in English publications were European most often German, Mercenary Contemporary chronicles agree in their reports that the Swiss, who were considered the best soldiers in Europe at the time after their victories in the Burgundian Wars, were subject to many taunts and abuses by the Landsknechte; they were called "Kuhschweizer"^[a] and ridiculed in other ways. The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a ^[9] Such insults were neither given nor taken lightly, and frequently led to bloodshed. Indeed, such incidents would contribute to prolong the Swabian War itself by triggering skirmishes and looting expeditions that the military commands of neither side ever had wanted or planned. ^[10]

The imperial reform of 1495

Emperor Maximilian I in a painting from 1519 by Albrecht Dürer. Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker

Maximilian I, like other Holy Roman Emperors before and after him, had to face struggles with other powerful princes in the empire and he thus sought to secure his position and the imperial monarchy by furthering centralisation. The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states ^[7][11] At the Reichstag in Worms in 1495, he was partly successful, but also had to make concessions in favor of the princes. The Reichstag ( German for "Imperial Diet " was the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, Worms (voɐms is a City in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River The imperial reform proclaimed an "eternal public peace" (Ewiger Landfriede) to put an end to the abounding feuds and the anarchy of the robber barons and it defined a new standing imperial army to enforce that peace, to which each imperial estate (Reichsstand) would have had to send troops. In 1495, an attempt was made at a Reichstag in the city of Worms to give the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire a new structure commonly referred The term robber baron (Raubritter dates back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries originally referring to certain Feudal Lords An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( German singular Reichsstand, plural Reichsstände) was an entity in the Holy It also mandated the common penny (Reichspfennig), a new head tax to finance this army. A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a Tax of a uniform fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income Among the concessions Maximilian had to make was the institution of a new supreme court, the Reichskammergericht, thus separating the highest judicial authority from the person and the whereabouts of the emperor. The Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court was one of two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Reichshofrat He also had to agree to the formation of a governmental council of princes called the Reichsregiment. ^[7] It would never play a significant role: it convened for the first time in 1500, but was dissolved by Maximilian two years later. ^[2]

The Swiss did not accept these resolutions of the Reichstag, and they explicitly refused to pay the common penny. ^[12] They had no interest whatsoever in sending troops to serve in an army under Habsburg authority, nor in paying taxes, nor would they accept any foreign court's jurisdiction; and they had succeeded in securing public peace within their territories reasonably well by themselves. They simply considered the whole proposal a curtailing of their freedom. The Swiss were by far not the only members of the empire who refused to accept the resolutions,^[8] but Maximilian would use their refusal later as a pretext to place the Swiss Confederacy under an imperial ban (Reichsacht). ^[2]

The course of the war

Theater of the Swabian War during the year 1499. In Warfare a theater or theatre is defined as a specific geographical area of conduct of armed conflict bordered by areas where no combat is taking place

Open war broke out over a territorial conflict in the Grisons, where during the 15th century a federation similar to the Eidgenossenschaft had developed. Graubünden or Grisons ( German:, gʁaʊˈbyndən Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost Like the Swiss, these Three Leagues had achieved a far-reaching autonomy, but also were involved in constant struggles with the Habsburgs, who ruled the neighbouring territories to the east and who kept trying to bring the Grisons under their influence. The Three Leagues was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League, leading eventually to During the 1470s and 1480s, duke Sigismund had succeeded in acquiring step by step the high justice over most of the communes of the Zehngerichtebund ("League of the Ten Jurisdictions" in the Prättigau, the youngest of the Three Leagues that had sprung up in the Grisons, having been founded only in 1436), and Maximilian continued this expansionist strategy. Sigismund of Austria, Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria ( October 26, 1427 &ndash March 4, 1496) was a High middle and low justices are notions dating from Western Feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the The League of the Ten Jurisdictions was the last of the Three Leagues founded during the Middle Ages in what is now Canton Graubünden of Switzerland The Prättigau Valley, in the canton of Graubünden (Grisons Switzerland, is home to the world famous ski resorts of Klosters and neighbouring Davos The Habsburg pressure prompted the Three Leagues to sign a close military alliance with the Swiss Confederacy in 1497-98. ^[13]

At the same time, the Habsburgs had been involved in a major power struggle with the French kings of the House of Valois over the control of the remains of the realm of Charles the Bold, whose daughter and heiress Mary Maximilian had married. See also France in the Middle Ages, Early Modern France Unexpected inheritance The Capetian dynasty seemed secure both during and Charles the Bold or Charles the Rash (Charles le Téméraire ( 21 November 1433 &ndash 5 January 1477) baptised Charles Martin Mary, called Mary the Rich ( 13 February, 1457 &ndash Maximilian's second marriage in 1493 with Bianca Maria Sforza from Milan then got the Habsburgs directly involved in the Italian Wars, clashing again with the French kings over the control of the Duchy of Milan. Bianca Maria Sforza ( April 5, 1472 &ndash December 31, 1510) was the daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1394 to 1797 ^[1]

As a direct connection between Tyrol and Milan, the Grisons and in particular the Val Müstair became strategically important to the Habsburgs. Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East The Val Müstair ( German: Münstertal, Italian: Val Monastero) is a mountain valley in the Swiss Alps. The Umbrail Pass in the Val Müstair connects the Vinschgau valley (Val Venosta) in southern Tyrol with the Valtellina in northern Italy. Umbrail Pass (el 2501 m is a high Mountain pass on the Swiss - Italian border connecting Santa Maria in Val Müstair with The Vinschgau Valley (Val Venosta Vinschgau Vnuost or Venosta Valley, is the upper part of the Adige (Etsch Adesc river valley in the western part of the Valtellina or the Valtelline Valley; (Valtellina Veltlin Vuclina is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland Furthermore, the Habsburgs and the Bishop of Chur had been quarrelling over the judicial rights over the region for some time. The Bishop of Chur (German Bischof von Chur) is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland High middle and low justices are notions dating from Western Feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the On January 20, 1499, Habsburg troops occupied the valley and plundered the Benedictine Convent of Saint John at Müstair, but were soon driven back by the forces of the Three Leagues, and an armistice was signed already on February 2 in Glurns (Glorenza), a village in the upper Vinschgau. Events 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. The Convent of Saint John is an ancient Benedictine Monastery in Müstair, Switzerland and by reason of its exceptionally well-preserved Müstair is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. An armistice is a situation where the warring parties agree to stop fighting Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor Glurns (Glorenza is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Bolzano-Bozen in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

But the Three Leagues had already called upon the Swiss for help and troops from Uri had already arrived in Chur. CHUR may refer to CHUR-FM, a radio station in North Bay Ontario Canada Chur, is a city in Switzerland Upon learning about the truce, they withdrew, but met a small troop of Habsburg soldiers on their way back home. When those engaged in the usual insults on the Swiss, the latter crossed the Rhine and killed the scoffers. In retaliation, Habsburg troops sacked the village of Maienfeld on February 7 and called the Swabian League for help. Maienfeld is a municipality in the district of Landquart in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The Swabian League was an association of German cities principalities and knights principally in the territory which had Only five days later, Swiss troops from several cantons had been assembled and reconquered the village and moved towards Lake Constance, pillaging and plundering along the way. On February 20, they again met a Habsburg army, which they defeated in the battle of Hard on the shores of Lake Constance near the estuary of the Rhine, and at about the same time, other Swiss troops invaded the Hegau region between Schaffhausen and Constance. The Battle of Hard was the first large-scale battle in the Swabian War, waged between the Imperials under the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and the Swiss Confederates The Hegau is a formerly volcanic landscape in southern Germany extending around the industrial city of Singen (Hohentwiel between Lake Constance in the On both sites, the Swiss retreated after a few days.

Women and priests retrieve the dead bodies of Swabian soldiers just outside the city gates of Constance after the battle of Schwaderloh. The Battle of Schwaderloh took place on April 11, 1499 near Triboltingen, a village on the Swiss shores of the Untersee just south (Luzerner Schilling)

Meanwhile, the Swabian League had completed its recruitment, and undertook a raid on Dornach on March 22, but suffered a defeat against numerically inferior Swiss troops in the battle of Bruderholz that same evening. The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle Dornach is a municipality in the district of Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The Battle of Bruderholz took place on March 22, 1499 in the Swabian War between Swabian troops and forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy. In early April, both sides raided each other's territories along the Rhine; the Swiss conquered the villages of Hallau and Neunkirch in the Klettgau west of Schaffhausen. Hallau is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Neunkirch is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Klettgau is a town in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. A larger attack of the Swabian League took place on April 11, 1499: the Swabian troops occupied and plundered some villages on the southern shore of Lake Constance, just south of Constance. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. The expedition ended in a shameful defeat and open flight^[14] when the Swiss soldiers, who had their main camp just a few miles south at Schwaderloh,^[b] arrived and met the Swabians in the battle of Schwaderloh. Schwaderloh is a village in the Canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. The Battle of Schwaderloh took place on April 11, 1499 near Triboltingen, a village on the Swiss shores of the Untersee just south ^[c] The Swabians lost more than 1,000 soldiers; 130 from the city of Constance alone; and the Swiss captured their heavy equipment, including their artillery.

Again, the Swiss raided the Klettgau and the Hegau and pillaged several fortified smaller Swabian cities such as Tiengen or Stühlingen before retreating again. Stühlingen is a town in the Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. This whole war was characterized by many such smaller raids and plundering expeditions of both sides between a few larger battles. On the eastern front, a new Habsburg attack on the Rhine valley provoked a counterstrike of the Eidgenossen, who remained victorious in the battle of Frastanz near Feldkirch on April 20, 1499. The Battle of Frastanz between an army of the Old Swiss Confederacy and the troops of king Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire took place on Feldkirch is a medieval city in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg, at, on the border with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII.

The continued defeats of both Habsburg and Swabian armies made king Maximilian, who had hitherto been occupied in the Netherlands, travel to Constance and assume the leadership of the operations himself. He declared an imperial ban over the Swiss Confederacy in an attempt to gain wider support for the operation amongst the German princes by declaring the conflict an "imperial war". However, this move had no success. Maximilian then decided that the next decisive attack should take place again in the Val Müstair, since he didn't have enough troops near Constance to risk attacking there. An abandoned attack attempt in the west in early May 1499 had drawn significant Swiss forces there, who subsequently raided the Sundgau. Sundgau (suŋˈɡo in French;[http//mediala-basorg/mp3/020923/22-Alsace-Sundgau On May 21, the Swiss undertook a third raid in the Hegau, but abandoned the operation one week later after the city of Stockach withstood a siege long enough for Swabian relief troops to come dangerously close. Stockach is a town in the district of Konstanz, in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ^[15]

Simultaneously, the Three Leagues attacked the Habsburg troops that camped again at Glurns on May 22, 1499, before Maximilian could arrive with reinforcements. Glurns (Glorenza is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Bolzano-Bozen in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. They overran the fortifications and routed the Austrian army in the battle of Calven and then ravaged the Vinschgau, before retreating after three days. The Battle of Calven ( Romansh: Chalavaina) took place on May 22, 1499 at the exit of the Val Müstair in the Grisons (now Maximilian and his troops arrived one week late, on May 29. In revenge, his troops pillaged the Engadin valley, but retreated quickly before reinforcements from the Swiss Confederacy arrived. Etymology In Romansch which is the indigenous language of the region the "Engadin" literally translates as the garden of the Inn River (Romansch En

The refusal of the military leaders of the Swabian League to withdraw troops from the northern front to send them to the Grisons as Maximilian had demanded made the king return to Lake Constance. The differences between the Swabians, who preferred to strike in the north, and the king, who still hoped to convince them to help him win the struggle in the Val Müstair, led to a pause in the hostilities. Troops were assembled at Constance, but an attack did not occur. Until July, nothing of significance happened along the whole front.

Contemporary woodcut of the battle of Dornach showing the castle of Dorneck, the main battle and the slaughtering of the fleeing troups by the Swiss at the river Birs

By mid-July, Maximilian and the Swabian leaders suddenly were under pressure from their own troops. At the Battle of Dornach on 22 July 1499, the troops of Emperor Maximilian I were decisively beaten by the Old Swiss Confederacy close to the In the west, where there lay an army under the command of count Heinrich von Fürstenberg, a large contingent of mercenaries from Flanders and many knights threatened to leave as they had not received their pay. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The foot soldiers of the Swabian troops also complained: most of them were peasants and preferred to go home and bring in the harvest. Maximilian was forced to act.

An attack by sea across Lake Constance on Rheineck and Rorschach on July 21 was one of the few successful Swabian operations. Rheineck is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency of Rheintal in the canton of St Rorschach is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency of Rorschach in the canton of St The small Swiss detachment was taken by surprise, the villages plundered and burnt. A much larger attack of an army of about 16,000 soldiers in the west on Dornach, however, met a quickly assembled but strong Swiss army. In the battle of Dornach on July 22, 1499, the Swabian and mercenary troops suffered a heavy defeat after a long and hard battle. At the Battle of Dornach on 22 July 1499, the troops of Emperor Maximilian I were decisively beaten by the Old Swiss Confederacy close to the Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Their general Heinrich von Fürstenberg fell early in the fight, about 3,000 Swabian and 500 Swiss soldiers died, and the Swabians lost all of their artillery again. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine

The fortified tower of the church of Thayngen is blown up by the Swabian knights. Thayngen (ˈtaːɪŋən is a village and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. The defenders jump for their lives, while the village goes up in flames. (Luzerner Schilling)

One of the last skirmishes of the war took place on July 25. The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle A Swabian army marched from the Hegau on Schaffhausen, but met with fierce defense at Thayngen. Thayngen (ˈtaːɪŋən is a village and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Although the small force of defenders was finally overcome, and the village was pillaged, the defenders inflicted heavy casualties and the attack was held up long enough for the Swiss to send troops from Schaffhausen to meet the Swabians in the field. Misunderstandings between the Swabian knights and their foot soldiers made the Swabians retreat, and nightfall then prevented a larger battle. ^[d]

Peace negotiations

Early mediation attempts in March 1499 had failed because of mutual distrust between the parties. But after the battle of Dornach, the Swabian League was war-weary and had lost all confidence in the king's abilities as a military leader, and thus refused Maximilian's demands to muster a new army. The Swabian and Habsburg armies had suffered far higher human losses than the Swiss, and were also short on artillery, after repeatedly having lost their equipment to the Swiss. The Swiss also had no interest to prolong the war further, though they refused a first peace proposal that Maximilian presented at Schaffhausen in August 1499.

The Milanese envoy presents his peace proposals to Maximilian's delegation at the city hall of Basel. A delegate from Lucerne (front left, in the blue-white dress) translates. (Luzerner Schilling)

However, events in the Italian Wars helped bring the Swabian War to an end. The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle The French king Louis XII tried to bring the Duchy of Milan under his control. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Louis XII ( June 27, 1462 – January 1, 1515) called "the Father of the People" (Le Père du Peuple was the thirty-fifth king The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1394 to 1797 As long as the Swabian War continued, the Milanese ruler Ludovico il Moro—whose niece Bianca Maximilian had married in 1493—could not expect help from either Swiss mercenaries or Maximilian, and thus his envoy Galeazzo Visconti tried to mediate between the Swiss and the king. Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan ( Ludovico il Moro, "The Moor" July 27, 1452 &ndash May 27, 1508) a member Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European The French delegation at the Tagsatzung, the federal diet and war council of the Swiss, tried to prevent any agreement for the same reason. The Swiss Tagsatzung ( Eidgenössische Tagsatzung) was the legislative and executive council of the Swiss confederacy from medieval times until the formation The Milanese delegation prevailed in these intrigations and succeeded to persuade both sides to moderate their demands. Finally, a peace treaty between Maximilian I and the Swiss was signed in Basel on September 22, 1499. "Basilia" redirects here For the Fly Genus, see Basilia (fly. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians The peace treaty carefully played down the whole war from the "imperial war" that Maximilian had tried to make it by declaring the ban over the Confederacy to what it actually was: a war between two equal members of the empire (Reichsstände), namely the House of Habsburg and the Swiss Confederacy. An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( German singular Reichsstand, plural Reichsstände) was an entity in the Holy The document referred to Maximilian only as "duke of Habsburg", not as "king of the Germans" or even "Holy Roman Emperor". ^[16]

With the Peace of Basel, the relations between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the empire returned to the status quo ante from before the Reichstag of Worms in 1495. The Treaty of Basel of 22 September 1499 was an armistice following the Battle of Dornach, concluding the Swabian War, fought between the The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The term status quo ante bellum comes from Latin meaning literally as things were before the war. The imperial ban was dropped silently. Maximilian had to accept the refusal of the cantons and to abandon implicitly the Habsburg claims on their territories, acknowledging their independence. Consequently, the then ten members of the Swiss Confederacy remained exempt from the jurisdiction of the Reichskammergericht. The Swiss henceforth exercised also the high justice over the Thurgau. The war had not caused any territorial changes, except in the area around Schaffhausen, where the city had succeeded to assert its hegemony over some places that had formerly belonged to the Bishop of Constance. The Bishopric of Constance was a Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church that existed from about 585 until 1821 ^[17]

In the Grisons, the situation also reverted to pre-war conditions. The Habsburgs could keep their rights over eight of the communes of the Zehngerichtebund, but also had to accept that league's alliance with the two other leagues and with the Swiss Confederacy. The League of the Ten Jurisdictions was the last of the Three Leagues founded during the Middle Ages in what is now Canton Graubünden of Switzerland Ultimately, this arrangement would lead to the Habsburgs losing the Prättigau to the Three Leagues, with the exception of a temporary re-occupation during the Thirty Years' War nearly 130 years later. The Prättigau Valley, in the canton of Graubünden (Grisons Switzerland, is home to the world famous ski resorts of Klosters and neighbouring Davos The Three Leagues was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League, leading eventually to For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War.

Further consequences

The Swiss Confederacy formally remained a part of the Holy Roman Empire, as shown by this stack of crests from 1596 on the main gate of castle Lenzburg: the Reichsadler of the Holy Roman Empire tops the bears of Berne. Lenzburg is a village in the central region of the Swiss canton Aargau and is the capital of the district of the same name. At the bottom, the coat of arms of the von Erlach family. After 1648, the practice of placing the imperial insignia atop the confederate emblems was gradually abandoned and used less and less frequently and mainly for traditional reasons until the early 18th century. Insignia (the plural of Latin insigne: emblem symbol is a Symbol or Token of personal power, Status or Office ^[18]

Basel had remained studiously neutral throughout the whole war. "Basilia" redirects here For the Fly Genus, see Basilia (fly. Although allied with some cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, it also had strong economic ties in the Alsace and further down along the Rhine. Alsace (Alsace alzas Alsatian and Elsass pre-1996 German: Elsaß; Alsatia is one of the 26 Regions of France, located on the eastern The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge But the events of the war had strengthened the pro-confederate party in the city council, and the Swiss recognized the city's strategic position as a bridgehead on the Rhine (like Schaffhausen, too). A bridgehead (also 'Bridge-head' French tête-de-pont) is a military Fortification that protects the end of a Bridge that is closest to the On June 9, 1501, a delegation from Basel and the Swiss cantons' representatives signed the alliance contract,^[19] which the city council of Basel ratified on July 13, 1501. Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to

Schaffhausen had fought alongside the Eidgenossen during the Swabian War, and thus its acceptance into the Confederacy was a mere formality. Schaffhausen ( German:) is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton The city had been an imperial city since 1415 and an associate state of the Confederacy since 1454 through a 25-year contract that had been renewed in 1479. On August 10, 1501, it became the twelfth member of the Confederacy. Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire ^[17]

With the end of the war, the Swiss troops were no longer bound along the Rhine and in the Grisons. The cantons concluded new mercenary contracts, so called capitulations, with the Duchy of Milan and soon got deeply involved in the Italian Wars, where Swiss mercenaries ended up fighting on both sides. Capitulations (from Lat caput) or Ahdnames are a special kind of Treaties, unilateral Contracts granted by a state and conferring the privilege The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1394 to 1797 The involvement of the Old Swiss Confederacy, acting in its own interests in these wars, was brought to an end by the defeat against French forces in the battle of Marignano in 1515 and a subsequent peace treaty with the French king in 1516, the so-called Eternal Peace. The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The Battle of Marignano was a battle fought during the phase of the Italian Wars (1494&ndash1559 called the War of the League of Cambrai, that took place on ^[20] However, Swiss mercenaries from individual cantons of the federation continued to participate in the Italian Wars well beyond (until the middle of the 16th century) in the service of various parties and, following that peace with France, in particular in the service of the French king. Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the states of the Federal state of Switzerland.

The Swiss Confederacy remained an independent Reichsstand of the Holy Roman Empire, but as it wasn't even obliged to participate in the Reichstag, this relation was degraded to a purely formal one that would lose significance throughout the 16th century. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Reichstag ( German for "Imperial Diet " was the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, However, the Swiss still considered themselves as members of the empire with the status of imperial immediacy; the empire was still considered the foundation of all privileges, rights, or political identity as can be witnessed in the continued use of the imperial insignia. Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit) was a privileged feudal and political status a form of statehood which a City, religious Insignia (the plural of Latin insigne: emblem symbol is a Symbol or Token of personal power, Status or Office ^[18] The relations between the Habsburgs and the Confederacy were fully normalized in the Erbeinung of 1511, a renewal of the earlier Ewige Richtung of 1474 and a first Erbeinung of 1477. In that treaty, the Habsburgs finally and officially gave up all their territorial claims of old, and even designated the Confederacy the protecting power of the County of Burgundy. The Free County of Burgundy, in German Freigrafschaft Burgund, was a Medieval County (from 867 to 1678 AD within the traditional province and modern French ^[21] In the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, all members and associate states of the Confederacy would gain official full exemption from the empire and recognition as a national and political entity on their own right. The term Peace of Westphalia refers to the two peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, signed on May 15 and October 24 of

Endnotes

Footnotes

• ^a  Kuhschweizer roughly means literally "Swiss cow herders"; although intended as a derogatory term, there is no connection to "coward". One explanation for the violent response of the Swiss to that and related "cow"-based insults is that these alluded to sodomy and thus heresy. Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief ^[9][22] Incidentally, the Swabians also used the term Schwyzer to denote all the Swiss, who called themselves Eidgenossen at the time, as an insult. ^[22] The Swiss, however, assimilated that term and began to wear it proudly. ^[23] See also Schwyz. The town of (Schwyz Svitto is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
• ^b  The name is sometimes given as "Schwaderloo" or even "Schwaderloch".
• ^c  The battle of Schwaderloh actually took place near Triboltingen. Triboltingen is a small village in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland, situated on the south shore of the Untersee part of Lake Constance
• ^d  Götz von Berlichingen participated as a young knight in this operation and described the event in some detail in his memoirs. Götz von Berlichingen (c 1480 &ndash 23 July 1562; unabbreviated form Gottfried von Berlichingen) was a German Knight ( Willibald Pirckheimer, another eye-witness, also gave an extended description. Willibald Pirckheimer ( December 5, 1470, Eichstätt, Bavaria - December 22, 1530) was a German Renaissance

References

Primary sources

• Anshelm, V.: Berner Chronik, 1529–1546. Valerius Anshelm (1475 &ndash 1546/1547 born as Valerius Rüd (or Ryd) was a Swiss Chronicler working in Berne.
• v. Berlichingen, G.: Memoirs, around 1560; rediscovered and first published for wider circulation in 1731. Götz von Berlichingen (c 1480 &ndash 23 July 1562; unabbreviated form Gottfried von Berlichingen) was a German Knight ( Available e. g. in German from reclam: ISBN 3-15-001556-1.
• Pirckheimer, W.: De bello Suitense sive Eluetico, 1526. Willibald Pirckheimer ( December 5, 1470, Eichstätt, Bavaria - December 22, 1530) was a German Renaissance Pirckheimer had participated in the Swabian War as the commander of a troop from Nuremberg. An excerpt from the translation of Ernst Münch, Berlin 1988, is available on-line. A more recent edition was translated by Fritz Wille, Baden 1998 (ISBN 3-85648-094-3); in Latin and German.
• Schilling, D.: Luzernerchronik, 1511–1513. Diebold Schilling the Younger (before 1460 - 3 November 1515 (? was the author of the " Luzerner Schilling " one of the Swiss The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle

External links

• Web exposition with a map and many illustrations from the Luzerner Schilling (in German). The Luzerner Schilling (or Luzernerchronik, Lucerne chronicle) is an Illuminated manuscript of 1513, containing the Chronicle
• Ganse, A. : Swabian War 1499. Very brief summary in English.
• Graf, K. (ed. ): Der Schwabenkrieg; comprehensive web site in German.