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 -Crop T.'ITTfiMATT B'in-'/rM ORT-T7T-]" S- TiOTrCTii:jCT7S, EATERUOSaER B-CW.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The object kept in view in the composition of this 
 volume has been, to compress within the smallest 
 possible compass those parts of the subject-matter 
 which seemed of merely local importance, and, at 
 the same time, to dwell, as far as space would admit, 
 on points of national character or of European 
 interest. In executing this design, the writer has 
 availed himself of whatever answered his purpose 
 in the works of German authors, from Miiller, with 
 the continuations of Glutz-Blotzheim and Hottinger, 
 down to the Historische Schriften of Zschokke, and 
 Meyer's Handbuch. Amongst English writers, 
 hints have been taken from Coxe, Simond, and 
 Planta; but the ideas of the last-named author 
 have mostly been rendered obsolete by the changes 
 of the last thirty years ; and though Coxe deserves 
 the praise of greater candour and acuteness, yet 
 even his views have undergone, in many points, 
 the silent confutation of Time. 

 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 OF 
 
 SUBJECTS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORr DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, ITS NATURAL 
 
 FEATURES AND BOUNDARIES. ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF 
 
 ITS EARLIEST KNOWN INHABITANTS. SUBJECTION TO ROME. 
 
 CONDITION OF PROVINCIAL SERVITUDE. — HISTORICAL OB- 
 SCURITY, AND VARIETIES OF RACE AND LANGUAGE, RESULT- 
 ING FROM THE INROADS OF BARBARIANS. B.C. 110 A. D. 
 
 500. 
 
 Page 
 Aspect of the Country; Strabo's Description of the 
 
 Alpine Regions . . . . . 2 
 
 Earliest known Inhabitants a Race of Gallic Celts . 3 
 B. C. 111. Ally themselves with the Cimbri and Teutones ; and, 
 under their youthful General Diviko, defeat a Roman 
 Army led by the Consul Lucius Cassius - .4 
 
 60. Stimulated to Conquest by a Glimpse of Civilisation and 
 
 Luxury . . - - .4 
 
 57. Invade Gaul, having first burned their Habitations, and 
 
 even their Corn . - . -3 
 
 Repulsed by Julius Cassar; offer to treat with him; 
 
 totally defeated, and compelled to Submission . 6 
 
 Received as Allies of Rome, but curbed by Fortresses 
 and Colonies . - . . .7 
 
 15. Roman Conquest of Rhaetia . . .7 
 
 A.D. 69. Helvetic Insurrection under Vitellius ; Conduct of the 
 
 Twenty-first Legion, surnamed Rapax . - 8 
 
 Aulus CtEcina suppresses the Insurrection ; demands 
 the Execution of the Helvetian Leader . .9
 
 Vlll 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 6^-450. 
 
 432—500. 
 
 450. 
 
 Julia Alpinula, her filial Piety, Fate and Epitaph 
 
 Claudius Cossus saves his Fellow-countrymen from Ex. 
 tirpation - - . - 
 
 Helvetia subject to Rome ; all Nationality extinguished ; 
 Government of Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and the two 
 Antonines ; Oppressions of their Successors and sub- 
 ordinate Officers of the latter . - . 
 
 Diffusion of Christianity in Helvetia 
 
 Barbarian Inroads on the Empire ; the Invaders re- 
 ceived as Roman Allies, and their Hostility bought off 
 by Grants of Land ... 
 
 Settlements of Burgundians, Alemanni, Franks, and 
 Ostrogoths ; Obscurity thrown on History by their 
 Ravages ; Division of the Land among the Con- 
 querors ; Destruction of Roman Monuments and Im- 
 provements - . - . 
 
 Clovis conquers the Alemanni at Zulpich ; embraces 
 Christianity with all his Franks - - - 
 
 Origin of the French and German Languages in Swit- 
 zerland ; characteristic Features of the Eastern and 
 Western Inhabitants - . - . 
 
 Page 
 
 . 9 
 
 . 10 
 
 II 
 
 12 
 
 - 13 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 CHAP. IL 
 
 MIXED POPULATION IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PARTS 
 
 OF EUROPE. GRADUAL DEVELOPEMENT OF THE FEUDAL 
 
 STSTESI. JUDICIAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY. DE- 
 GRADATION AND EXTINCTION OF THE CLASS OF COMMON 
 
 FREEMEN. FOUNDATION OF TOWNS CREATES A THIRD 
 
 ESTATE IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 534—751. 
 
 613. 
 
 Early Institutions of the German Tribes ; Military Ser- 
 vice; Public Assemblies; Allodial Possessions; Feudal 
 Tenures . - - - - 17 
 
 Laws rude and imperfect ; most Crimes had their 
 Money Price - - . - - 18 
 
 Ignorance of the Rules of Evidence gives rise to Trial 
 by Ordeal, Trial by Battle, and other Devices equally, 
 or more, irrational . - . - 19 
 
 Helvetia under the Frank Kings of the Family of Me- 
 roveus - - . - - 19 
 
 Union of the wholeFrankishDominions under ClothairlL 19 
 
 Improved Cultivation; favourable Influence of religious 
 Establishments ; Foundation of the Monasteries of 
 St. Gall, Disentis, Zurich, Lucerne, and Romain. 
 motiers . . . . . 20
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. IX 
 
 A. D. P^ge 
 
 751. Decline of the Merovingian Race ; its Fall ; Pepin ; 
 
 Charlemagne - - . . - 21 
 
 768. Visits Helvetia ; encourages Education and Agriculture 23 
 
 987. Partition of the Empire of Charlemagne ; Second or 
 
 Little Burgundian Kingdom ; simple Mode of admL 
 nistering Justice in Helvetia ; Works of ancient 
 Authors preserved and copied by the Monks of 
 St. Gall ; Utility of pious Foundations in the Infancy 
 of national Culture - - - - 24 
 
 919—936. Incursior.s of the Magyars or Hungarians ; Mode of 
 Defence adopted by Henry the Fowler; Foundation 
 and Fortification of Towns ; Creation of a Class of 
 Burghers - - - - - 25 
 
 Jealousy of the new Municipalities in the Nobles and 
 Clergy ; nearly entire Extinction of the Class of 
 common Freemen ; rise of a new and independent 
 Body of Men in the Towns - - . 25 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 STRUGGLE BETWIXT THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER FOR 
 
 SUPREMACY. CHARACTERS OF HENRY IV. AND OF HILDE- 
 
 ERAND, AFTERWARDS POPE GREGORY VII. THE CRUSADES. 
 
 THE DYNASTY OF Z^RINGEN IN HELVETIA. 
 
 Power of the Church ; manifests its Growth in the 
 eleventh Century - . - - .28 
 
 1039. Henry TV. ; Pope Gregory VII. . - - 29 
 
 1090. Dynasty of Zseringen in Helvetia - - .34 
 
 1093—1291. The Crusades ; their Effects ; improved Condition of 
 
 the Country . - - .35 
 
 1152. Berchthold IV. augments the Number of fortified Towns, 
 and encourages the Influx of Burghers by granting 
 them Immunities and Privileges . . - 37 
 
 1191. Berchthold V. lays the Foundation of Berne, which he 
 erects into a free Town of the Empire ; refuses the 
 imperial Crown for himself, and reigns in Helvetia, 
 last of the Line of Zseringen - - .39 
 
 1114 1240. The Freemen of Schwytz atford the first Demonstration 
 
 of their Existence '. - • . .41 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 TIMES OF RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG. 
 
 1218. Birth of Rudolph of Hapsburg ; his Character and early 
 
 Conduct . - - - - *2
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 A. D. 
 
 25*— 1273. 
 1250. 
 
 Page 
 - 43 
 
 Interregnum in the Empire ... 
 
 First League of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden with 
 Zurich - - .... 41 
 
 1254—1273. Rudolph supports the Towns, and employs their Arms 
 
 against the Nobles . . . . - 45 
 
 Accepts the Vogtship of the Forest Lands and the mili- 
 tary Command of Zurich ; and conciliates the Abbot 
 of St. Gall in order to attack the Bishop of Basle - 46 
 1273. Rudolph elected Emperor ; apparent Change in his Cha- 
 racter - . . - . - 47 
 
 1281—1285. His Feud with Savoy 47 
 
 1288. His Feud with Berne . . - - 48 
 
 1291. His Death ; State of the Empire ; Expenses and Re. 
 venues of the Nobles ; Acquisitions made by the 
 Monasteries ; regular Trade of Robbery driven by 
 some of the Nobility; Oppression of the Class of 
 Bondsmen ; Advance of Civilisation in Towns ; Poetry 
 of the Minnesingers - . - - 48 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 jERA op HELVETIC EM A NCIPATIOK. 
 
 1291. Albert of Hapsburg ; his hard and rapacious Character ; 
 he resolves to succeed to all the Honours of Rudolph ; 
 disappointed in his first Hope of Succession to the 
 Empire ; shortly afterwards raised to the imperial 
 Throne illegally - - . .52 
 
 1298. Aims at erecting a Dukedom in Helvetia ; invites the 
 Forest Cantons to accept the Protection of Austria ; 
 their Answer ; their Demand for imperial Commis. 
 missaries, or Land-vogts ; insidious Compliance of 
 Albert . . - ... 53 
 
 1298—1308. Tyranny of Gessler and Berenger . . .54 
 
 1307. Oath of Rutli . . ... 55 
 William Tell . . . . . 56 
 Death of Gessler . . . . . 57 
 
 1308. Capture of Rotzberg and Sarnen . - 57 
 League of the three Forest Cantons . .58 
 Death of Albert of Hapsburg - . .59 
 
 1309. Cruel Revenge taken for his Murder by Agnes, Queen 
 
 of Hungary, his Daughter . . . - 60 
 Recognition of Swiss Freedom by the Emperor Henry 
 
 vn. . . . . - 60 
 1315. First Invasion of Switzerland by Leopold, Duke of 
 
 Austria - . - . - 61 
 
 Battle of Morgarten . . , .63 
 
 Perpetual Confederacy of the Forest Cantons; its Cha. 
 
 racter of noble Inoffensiveness - . . 64 
 
 1318. Six i ears' Truce with Austria . • - 65
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 XI 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 1332. Admission of Lucerne to the Confederacy - - 67 
 
 1308—133*. State of Industry, Commerce, and Religion; practical 
 
 Proofs of Independence in Spiritual Matters . - 68 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 FROM THE REVOLUTION OF ZURICH TO THE LEAGUE wriH 
 APPENZELL. 
 
 Situation of Zurich ; Character of the Burghers ; Form 
 of Government - - - - 
 
 1335. Rudolph Brun, a skilful popular Leader 
 
 Excites a revolutionary Movement; elected Burgo- 
 master for Life - - - - 
 
 1350. Frustrates a Conspiracy of the Nobles 
 
 1351. Applies for Aid to the Forest Cantons against Duke Al- 
 
 bert of Austria - - - - 
 
 The latter besieges Zurich; is compelled to raise the 
 
 Siege - - - " 
 
 135a League of the Eight original Towns and Lands of the 
 
 Confederacy - - - - 
 
 1356. Peace of Thorberg. 
 
 Character of Rudolph Brun ; his Aptitude for the Part 
 of a Demagogue ; his treacherous Compact with Aus- 
 tria ; his Government on the whole beneficial 
 Town of Berne; distinguished for an active and ambi- 
 tious Spirit ; obnoxious to the bordering Nobility 
 
 1338. Attacked by the combined Force of the Nobles and the 
 
 Emperor - - - " 
 
 1339. Battle of Laupen ; Berne's Plans of Aggrandisement - 
 ISia Great Plague, depicted by Boccaccio ; attributed to Di- 
 vine Wrath ; Persecution of the Jews ; Formation of 
 a Brotherhood of Flagellants ; Debauchery occasioned 
 by the Pestilence - - ^ ,- 
 
 1360 Tragical Fate of Erlach - - ~ - 
 
 1370 The Pfaflenbrief, a remarkable Decree for the Control 
 
 of Ecclesiastical Pretensions ; Decline of the NobiUty 
 
 and Clergy - - " " 
 
 1365-1S75- Mode of conducting War by Condottieri ; Arnold of Cer- 
 
 vola; Ingelrara De Coucy 
 
 1382. Berne and Soleure defeat the Count of Kyburg 
 
 1386 Battle of Sempach ; Arnold of Winkelried 
 
 1387 The Bad Peace - - - . ' 
 1368. Unexpected Austrian Inroad ; Battle of Naefels ; singular 
 
 Celebration of its Anniversary - ' „ ,^ 
 
 1401. The Men of Appenzell revolt from the Abbot of St. Gall 
 1+03 Are reinforced by the Schtt^tzers 
 
 1406. Engage an Austrian Army at the Stoss and at the Wolfs- 
 
 liald - - - * ■ 
 
 69 
 71 
 
 73 
 74 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 79 
 
 79 
 
 80 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 
 84 
 86 
 
 87 
 
 92 
 &4 
 95 
 
 96 
 99 
 100 
 
 101
 
 Xll CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 1408. Defeated at Bregenz - - . 102 
 
 1411. Received as Allies of the Confederacy - -103 
 
 1412. Renewal of the Twenty Years' Peace with Austria ; that 
 
 Power had at length cea.sed to assert Predominance in 
 Switzerland - .... 104 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 FROM THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE TO THE BATTLE OF 
 ARBEDO. 
 
 State of the Confederation; general Forgetfulness of the 
 
 Principles on which it was founded . - 105 
 
 State of the Church, — Flagellants, Beghards, and Be. 
 
 guines; great Schism of the West - -106 
 
 1414—1418. Council of Constance ... 107 
 
 1415. Flight of Pope John ; Outlawry of Frederick Duke of 
 
 Austria .... 107 
 
 Conquests of the Confederates . . .108 
 
 Erection of free Bailiwicks . . . 109 
 
 Capture and Deposition of Pope John . . 110 
 
 1418. Sudden Dissolution of the Council of Constance, leaving 
 
 unsettled all the important Questions which had formed 
 
 the principal Motives for its Meeting - . 110 
 
 Cardinal Poggio ; amusing Description left by him of 
 
 the Festivities attending the Council of Constance; 
 
 Appearance of a Swarm of unknown Strangers, after. 
 
 wards called Zingari, Zigeuner, or Gipsies . Ill 
 
 The Mazze, a curious popular Ceremony, and Prelude to 
 
 the Commencement of Hostihties - . ll<2 
 
 1422. Feud of UriandUnterwalden with Philip Visconti, Duke 
 
 of Milan ; March of the Swiss on Bellinzona ; Battle 
 
 of Arbedo .... m 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 WAR OF THE CONFEDERATES WITH ZURICH. 
 
 1436. Inheritanceof Frederick Count of Toggenburg .117 
 
 1437. Disputes of Schwytz and Glarus with Zurich . -118 
 1440. Feud of several Cantons with Zurich - . 119 
 
 1442. League of Zurich with Austria . .121 
 
 1443. All the Confederates against Zurich . . 122 
 The Rotten Peace ; Renewal of the War . 122 
 
 1444. Dauphin of France attacks Basle at the head of a Body 
 
 of Armagnacs ; Battle of St. Jacob on the Birs . 123 
 
 Dauphin offers to mediate Peace between Zurich and 
 the Confederates .... 124 
 
 1400—1450. Intellectual Culture in the Fifteenth Century ; Schools ; 
 
 Decline of Poetry . _ . 125
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XIU 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 Felix Hammerlin, ov Malleolus ; his Acquirements deem- 
 ed supernatural ; his Opinions on the Practice of 
 Magic - - ... 125 
 
 1160. Instances of popular Superstition - - -126 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE TO THE DEATH OF 
 CHARLES THE BOLD OF BURGUNDY. — THE SWISS COME 
 FORWARD CONSPICUOUSLY ON THE THEATRE OF EUROPE. 
 
 1453. First Alliance of Switzerland with France . - 130 
 
 1467. Louis XI. ; main Object of his Policy ; Rivalship with 
 
 Charles, Duke of Burgundy . - .131 
 
 1474. Character of the latter ; he takes Possession of Alsace, 
 
 on Pretext of a Mortgage from Sigisraund Duke of 
 
 Austria . . - - 133 
 
 Appoints Peter von Hagenbach to be Governor of the 
 
 mortgaged Lands .... 134 
 
 Conduct of Hagenbach complained of by the Swiss; 
 
 Charles treats their Envoys with Discourtesy . 135 
 
 Offensive and defensive Alliance of Switzerland with 
 
 France and Austria . - - 137 
 
 Fate of Hagenbach . - - - 140 
 
 Berne declares War against Burgundy . . 141 
 
 The Confederates are shamefully deserted by their royal 
 
 Allies - - - - - 142 
 
 1476. Charles conquers Lorraine, and invades Switzerland; 
 
 Description of his Camp by Philip de Comiiies . 143 
 
 Siege of Gransou ; cold-blooded wholesale Slaughter of 
 
 the Garrison - - - - 144 
 
 Battle of Granson ; Spoil of the Duke's Camp ; Revenge 
 
 for the recent Massacre of Granson - . 145 
 
 Exultation of Louis XI. ; Swiss justly indignant at bis 
 Conduct ; he lavishes Assurances and Presents on 
 them ; at the same Time, sends a Message of Condolence 
 to the Duke of Burgundy - - - 148 
 
 Charles re-appears in the Field - . . 14^ 
 
 Attacks Morat by Storm - - - - 149 
 
 Battle of Morat . - . . 150 
 
 1477, Last Effort of Burgundy ; Charles applies in vain for As. 
 
 sistance to his Subjects in the Netherlands and in Bur. 
 gundy ... - 151 
 
 BattleofNancy; Death ofCharles;itsConscquences; Lou. 
 is attempts to appropriate the rich Succession of Bur- 
 gundy ; demands for the Dauphin the Hand of Charles's 
 Daughter, who is married to the Archduke Maximi. 
 lian; takes Possession of Upper Burgundy, which he
 
 Xiv CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 is afterwards comiJcUed to cede ; cajoles the Helvetic 
 Body ; retains Numbers of Swiss in his Service, and 
 gluts with Gold the newly awakened Avarice of the 
 Confederates - • - - 151 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 JEKA OF THE COVENANT OP STANTZ. OBJECTS AND PRO- 
 VISIONS OF THAT INSTRUMENT. GENERAL VIEVIT OF THE 
 
 STATE OF THE CONFEDERACY IN WAR AND PEACE. FREE 
 
 AND FAMILIAR INTERCOURSE OF ALL RANKS. AMUSE- 
 MENTS IN THE INTERVALS OF WARFARE. 
 
 1477. EfTects of the Burgundian War in Switzerland ; Swiss 
 
 Valour becomes a marketable Commodity ; the sudden 
 Diffusion of Wealth engenders Crime and Immo- 
 rality ; enormous Number of capital Executions - 153 
 
 1478. Feud of Uri with Milan ; Battle of Giornico . 155 
 
 1480. Claims of Soleure and Freyburg to be admitted into the 
 
 League ; Resistance to the Measure on the Part of 
 the Rural Cantons - - - - 156 
 
 1417—1487. Nicolas of the Flue ; his devout Character and In. 
 
 fluence - - - - 156 
 
 1481. Covenant of Stantz the first Occasion on which the Swiss 157 
 
 fixed and defined their Federal Constitution . - 158 
 Survey of the State of the Helvetic Body up to this 
 
 Period ; original Idea of the Confederation . 159 
 
 Simple Procedure in all judicial Matters j Use of Tor- 
 ture; cruel Modes of Punishment - . . 159 
 Frequent Collision of military and civil Powers - 161 
 Occupations, and free and familiar Intercourse of all 
 
 Ranks . - . -162 
 
 Festive Scenes at Baden in A. irgau . . -164 
 
 Terror inspired by the Ravages of the Plague - - 164 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 LEAGUE OF ST. GEORGE ESTABLISHED IN THE EMPIRE, OSTEN- 
 SIBLY TO CHECK ABUSE OF THE RIGHT OF SELF-DEFENCE. 
 
 ITS UNAVOWED AND SECRET OBJECTS. ADHESION TO IT 
 
 DECLINED BY THE CONFEDERATES. THE SWABIAN WAR 
 
 RESULTS FROM THEIR REFUSAL. 
 
 1489. Administration, Arrest, and Death of Hans Waldmann 
 at Zurich ; Compromise between the Burghers and 
 Peasantrv in that Canton . . . 166
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. ^V 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 liyS. Petticoat League - - - 167 
 
 Diet at Worms - - - - ItiS 
 
 French Intrigues and Influence on the Helvetic Body - 168 
 Carelessness of the latter with regard to Papal Bulls, 
 and the Person of the Emperor - - - 169 
 
 1499. Altercations with the Imperialists ; opprobrious Nick- 
 names showered on the Swiss . - - 170 
 Commencement of the Swabian War ; Successes of the 
 
 Swiss and Orisons - - - 171 
 
 Emperor Maximilian enters the Engadines; retreats 
 
 into the Tyrol - - - 171 
 
 Treaty of Peace - - - - 172 
 
 1501. Reception of Basle and Schaflbausen into Alliance with 
 
 the Confederacy • - - - 172 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 COMPETITION or THE GREAT EUROPEAN POWERS FOR THE 
 ALLIANCE OF. THE CONFEDERATES, ^ ND THE ASSISTANCE OP 
 THEIR TROOPS. STSTEM OF FOREIGN ENLISTMENTS INTRO- 
 DUCED, AND PLAUSIBLY JUSTIFIED. ITALIAN EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 PERPETUAL PEACE WITH FRANCE. 
 
 Corruption of the Helvetic Body - - 174 
 
 1499. Louis XII. ; LudovicoSforza - . -174 
 French Occupation of Milan . . . 177 
 Claims of the Confederates on the Milanese and Bellin. 
 
 zona - - - - 177 
 
 1500. Enlistments of Sforza in Switzerland ; of Louis . 178 
 Sforza betrayed by the Swiss, and imprisoned by the 
 
 French for Life - - - 179 
 
 1505. Treaty of the Emperor with the Confederacy ; broken 
 
 off by French Intrigues - -» - . . 181 
 
 1508. League of Cambray . . . 182 
 
 1509. Battle of Agnadello ; Character of Schinner, bishop of 
 
 Sion . . - . 183 
 
 Alliance against the Pope between the French King and 
 the Emperor . . . - 185 
 
 1512. Holy League against France . . -186 
 Gaston de Foix ... 186 
 French expelled from Italy by the Pope, Swiss, and Ve- 
 netians ... . 187 
 
 1513. Duchy of Milan reconquered by the French, who are 
 
 defeated by the Swiss at Novara ... 190 
 Swiss Expedition to Dijon ; Peace with France ; of 
 brief Duration . . - . 192 
 
 1615. Francis I. invades Piedmont ; Battle of Marignano ; 
 
 perpetual Peace betwixt France and Switzerland . 194
 
 XVI CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 FALL OF THE SWISS FROM MILITARY PRE-EMINENCE ASCRIB- 
 ABLE TO THE CHANGES IN THE ART OF MODERN WARFARE. 
 
 PREDISPOSING CAUSES, AND FIRST MOVEMENTS OF THE 
 
 REFORMATION. 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 General Results of the Italian Expeditions - - 197 
 
 1506. Corruptions of the Catholic Church ; Case of Jetzer -200 
 1509. Leo X. extends the Sale of Indulgences, and sends an 
 
 Apostolical Commissioner into Switzerland • 204 
 
 1519. Ulrich Zwingli opposes himself to the Traffic in In- 
 dulgences ; appointed public Preacher at Zurich . 205 
 Resolution against Courtisans - - - 206 
 
 1523. First Disputation of Baden ; Council of Zurich ; its Re- 
 
 forms opposed by the other Cantons ... 207 
 
 1524. Anabaptists and various other Sectaries . . 209 
 Levies of Troops in Switzerland by Francis I. . . 211 
 
 1525. Siege of Pavia ; Battle of Pavia ; the Capture of the 
 
 French King excites Consternation in Switzerland - 212 
 1528. Cause of Reform espoused by Berne - - - 213 
 
 Thomas Murner ; Anabaptist Excesses . - 213 
 
 1529 — 1531. Embittcrment of religious Parties; Christian League; 
 
 Attack on Cappel ; Death of Zwingli - . 214 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 STRUGGLES AND VICISSITUDES OF GOVERNMENT IN GENEVA. ITS 
 
 ALLIANCES WITH THE CANTONS, AND EXTORTED INDEPEND- 
 ENCE OF SAVOY. MORAL AND SOCIAL CHANGES PRODUCED 
 
 BY THE INFLUENCE OF CALVIN. 
 
 Town of Geneva ; its early History ; Counts of Gene- 
 vois, and Bishops - - -216 
 
 Oppressed by the Dukes of Savoy ; Mamelukes ; Cruel- 
 ties exercised on Jhe Burghers . . 217 
 1519. The latter court the Alliance of Freyburg . . 217 
 
 Duke Charles of Savoy enters the Town - - 217 
 
 Execution of Berthelier ... 217 
 
 1526. Alliance of Berne and Freyburg with Geneva ; im- 
 
 potent Resentment of the Duke - -219 
 1526. Spoon League . - . - 220 
 Treaty of St. Julian - . - 220 
 1536. Zeal of Farel and others ; Abolition of Catholicism - 221 
 Equivocal Deportment of Duke Charles - - 221 
 Conquest of the Vaud by Berne ; Co-burghership be- 
 twixt Berne and Geneva .- • - 222
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 XVll 
 
 A. D. 
 1509—1561. 
 
 1579. 
 
 1582. 
 
 Character, Works, and InfJuence of Calvin; 
 
 Effect of the Reformation in Switzerland 
 Council of Trent - - 
 
 Borromean League ... 
 
 Calendar Controversy 
 
 Page 
 general 
 
 . 223 
 
 - 229 
 . 230 
 . 231 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE THIRTT TEARs' WAR TO 
 THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. 
 
 1525. 
 1620. 
 
 1623. 
 
 1639. 
 
 1629—1648. 
 
 1648. 
 
 Description of the Grisons; early History ; Forms of Go. 
 vernment ; Influence of particular Families - . 234 
 
 Spanish and French Parties ... 238 
 
 Popular Tumults, fomented by the Clergy ; Massacre of 
 Protestants in the Valteline - . . 239 
 
 Fruitless Negotiations with Spain and Austria ; Subju- 
 gation of the Grisons by the latter Power 
 
 Recovery of their Freedom and Independence 
 
 State of Religious Parties in Switzerland 
 
 Thirty Years' War ; Disunion in the Helvetic Body ; In. 
 roads of foreign Armies ; Intrigues of foreign Am- 
 bassadors . . . 
 
 Peace of Westphalia ; tardy Recognition of Swiss Inde. 
 pendence - . 
 
 Foreign Relations 
 
 Fragmentary State of Knowledge in Switzerland 
 
 241 
 
 242 
 243 
 
 243 
 
 - 245 
 
 - 246 
 
 - 247 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 INSURRECTION OF THE PEASANTRY IN BERNE, LUCERNE, 
 SOLEURE, AND BASLE. 
 
 1633. Causes of Discontent ; Oppression of the Free Baili. 
 
 wicks; Disputes about the Currency, &c. . -244 
 
 Popular Nickname of Soft and Hard Ones . - 247 
 
 Employment of armed Force against the Insurgents - 249 
 16S4, Suppression of the Insurrection . .251 
 
 Foreign Policy of the two religious Parties; extraordl. 
 nary Hoi ours paid by the English Government uiider 
 CromweU to the Envoys of the Protestant Cantons ; 
 their successful Intercession for the persecuted Wal. 
 denses • - • • 252 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 RELIGIOUS WAR, AND WAR OP TOGGENBURO. 
 
 1656. Religious War; its Origin} mutual Distrust of Pro- 
 testants and Catholics ■ • • • %
 
 XVIU CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 Battle of Villmcrgen . • -259 
 
 1667. Usurpations of the Abbot of St. Gall over the People of 
 
 Toggenburg - ... Si61 
 
 1703. Long Altercations of Schwytz, Glarus, and Berne - 252 
 
 1712. War of Toggenburg; Flight of Abbot Leodegar .265 
 
 Toggenburgers aim at Independence, which is refused 
 
 them ... . 265 
 
 Surprisal of the Bernese Troops by Ackermann of Un- 
 
 terwalden ... . . 266 
 
 Second Action at Villmergen ... 266 
 
 Peace of Aarau - ... 267 
 
 1718. Hostile Interference of the Pope and his Nuncio; Re. 
 
 prisals of the Helvetic Body - - - 267 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 COURSE OF EVENTS DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1702. Foreign Relations and Policy of the Helvetic Body at 
 
 the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century; Conduct 
 
 of Du Luc, the French Ambassador - . 268 
 
 1710_1714.. Case of Thomas Massner of Coire - .270 
 
 1702 — 1705. Jesuit Missions in Switzerland - . . 271 
 
 1745. Conspiracy of Henzi at Berne ... 273 
 
 1781. Insurrection at Freyburg under Chcnaux - - 276 
 
 1777. New Alliance with France . - . 278 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 DISTURBANCES AT GENEVA AND IN NEUFCHATEL. 
 
 1707 — 1714. Arrogance of " Patricians " at Geneva ; popular 
 1734. Ebullitions against them ; defensive Measures of the 
 
 Council baffled by the Populace ... 279 
 
 1738. Edict of 1738 - . - .282 
 
 1762. Burning of Rousseau's " Emile " and " Contrat Social;" 
 
 Disputes of Representative and Negative Parties - 282 
 1768. Armed Intervention of France, Zurich, and Berne - 283 
 
 1781. Intrigues of the French and Negatives; Revolt of the 
 
 Representatives, who erect a new democratic Con. 
 stitution . - - - 284 
 
 1782. Fresh InterferenceofFrance,Beme,andSavoy;Entrance 
 
 and Occupation of Geneva by their Troops ; Rfegle- 
 ment of 1782 ; its Consequences . . . 285 
 
 1748. Discontents in NeufchStel . , -286 
 
 1768. Death of Gaudot; magnanimous Conduct of Fre- 
 derick II. of Prussia - . . .288
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 XIX 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 OENKRAL VIEW OF THE ST.*TE OF SWITZERLAND SHORTLY 
 BEFORE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 Democratical Cantons . . . - 283 
 
 Aristocratical Cantons; Berne; State of the Pays de 
 Vaud ; Neglect of Education at Berne ; exterior or 
 Shadow State . . . .284 
 
 Lucerne ; Helvetic Society . - . 286 
 
 Aristo-democratical Governments . . - 287 
 
 Free Bailiwicks . . . . 2S9 
 
 Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce - - 289 
 
 Arts and Sciences .... 290 
 
 Military Department . - . - 291 
 
 CHAP. XXL 
 
 FROM THE FIRST TEARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE 
 
 PEACE OF AMIENS. 
 
 1789. 
 
 179i. 
 
 1796. 
 1797. 
 
 1798. 
 
 1798. 
 
 1799. 
 
 1801. 
 1802. 
 
 First Effects of the French Revolution in Switzerland - 9^8 
 Imitation of its Horrors at Geneva . - ACl 
 
 Policy of the French Directory . - -302 
 
 Cisalpine Republic ... . 303 
 
 Insurrection of the Peasantry in Basle ; Diffusion of the 
 
 Spirit of Revolt - . . -304 
 
 Insolence of Commissary Mengaud - - 305 
 
 French Troops under Menard enter the Vaud, which 
 
 declares itself independent - ... 306 
 
 Degrading Application to Mengaud on the Part of the 
 
 Bernese Government ... 308 
 
 Insolent Ultimatum of Brune; unwonted Vigour of 
 
 Berne . . . - 309 
 
 Inconsistency of the Bernese Government ; Commence- 
 ment of Hostilities; partial Successes of the Swiss; 
 Capitulation of Berne ; Murder of General Erlach by 
 his own Troops . - . . 310 
 
 The French proclaim a Constitution Unitaire, levy large 
 Contributions on the Towns, and appropriate the Trea. 
 sures amassed at Berne and in other Places . - 312 
 Struggle and Subjection of the Forest Cantons ; Fall of 
 
 the old Helvetic League ; Anarchy and Tj'ranny .312 
 Renewal of War between France and Austria; Seat of 
 War transferred to Switzerland ; desolating Inroads 
 of the French, A ustrians, and Russians - -315 
 
 Mystical and Fanatical Notions propagated at this Crisis 317 
 Peace of Amiens ; Withdrawal of French Troops from 
 Switzerland ; renewed Scene of Confusion ; Inter, 
 ference of Napoleon ; Acquiescence in his offered 
 Mediation . . . . . 318
 
 XX CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 FROM THE ACT OF MEDIATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 A. D. Page 
 
 18U3. Reception of Swiss Delegates at Paris ; general Expres. 
 sions of Napoleon with regard to Switzerland ; Act 
 of Mediation ; its beneficent Effects - - 322 
 
 1813. Fall of Napoleon - - - - 325 
 
 Measures of the Cantonal Governments; Declaration 
 
 of Neutrality by tlie Swiss Diet - - - 326 
 
 Hopes of the Partisans of the old Regime abolished 
 in 1798 - - - - - - 326 
 
 Proclamation of Prince Schwartzenberg ; Austrian In- 
 vasion of Switzerland .... 327 
 
 Abolition of the Act of Mediation . . .328 
 
 1815. Congress of Vienna ; diplomatic Delays ; Effect pro- 
 duced by the landing of Napoleon from Elba . 330 
 (20th of March) Recognition of the Twenty.two Cantons; 
 their Constitutions remodelled . - . 330 
 1817. Switzerland a Party to the Holy Alliance; foreign 
 
 Police ; Surveillance of the Press . .331 
 
 1815—1830. Revival of the Jesuits ; Education ; Pestalozzi ; Fel. 
 
 lenberg ; Revolution of 1830 ; Conclusion . .334
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ANCIENT HELVETIANS. R03IANS AND BARBARIANS. 
 
 B.C. 110. — A. D. 500. 
 
 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. ANCIENT INHABITANTS. ALLY 
 
 THEMSELVES WITH THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES. — -DEFEAT A 
 
 ROMAN ARMY. INVADE GAUL. REPULSED BY JULIUS CAESAR. 
 
 ROMAN CONQUEST OF RHyETIA. HELVETIC INSURRECTION 
 
 UNDER VITELLIUS. QUELLED BY AULUS C^CINA. — JULIA 
 
 ALPINULA. HELVETIA SUBJECT TO ROME. BARBARIAN 
 
 INROADS ON THE EMPIRE. SETTLEMENTS OF BURGUNDIANS, 
 
 ALEMANNI, FRANKS, AND OSTROGOTHS. DISTINCTIVE 
 
 FEATURES OF FRENCH AND GERMAN SWITZERLAND. 
 
 A TRACT, however outwardly devoid of those advan- 
 tages which are commonly viewed as the chief, if not 
 sole elements of national greatness, will always take up 
 a space in human history more extended than its visible 
 strength and surface seem to claim for it, where '' a 
 petty population, without allies, munitions, or money, 
 without state-craft, without military skill, save that 
 which nature taught, could maintain itself in posses- 
 sion of its primitive rights and usages through all the 
 European revolutions of five centuries."* 
 
 The land of which the history lies before us has 
 been said to fight the battles of its inhabitantSj and by 
 
 • Milller. 
 B
 
 2 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 
 
 the very structure of the ground to screen them from 
 subjection^ as well as to preclude them from conquest. 
 Its main features still remain the same as Strabo has 
 described them. — " Through the whole extent of the 
 Alpine chains," says that exact geographer, "■ there are 
 hilly platforms capable of cultivation — there are also 
 highly culti\'ated valleys ; yet the greater part of 
 the hill country, especially in its highest recesses, 
 is unfruitful, on account of the snow, and of the 
 severity of the chmate. As its rude inhabitants felt the 
 want of all the productions of agriculture, they some- 
 times showed forbearance towards the cultivators of the 
 plains, in order to obtain from them the necessaries of 
 life. For these they exchanged resin, pitch, pine-wood, 
 honey, and cheese, of which they had enough and to 
 spare."* 
 
 Helvetia is placed nearly at the centre of Europe, and 
 may be considered (geographically speaking) as a corner 
 of Germany. The ancient name of the country was 
 derived from its first known inhabitants ; the modern, 
 from the canton of Schwytz, the cradle of Swiss inde- 
 pendence. It is bounded on the north by the lake of 
 Constance and the duchy of Baden, on the east by the 
 Tyrol, on the west by France, and on the south by 
 Italy. No other division of our quarter of the globe 
 presents a panorama so astonishing, — no other, exhibits 
 so surprising a diversity of landscapes, ever interest- 
 ing, and ever new in their features. Nowhere such 
 extremes meet as in Switzerland ; where eternal Alpine 
 snows are fringed by green and luxuriant pastures, — 
 where enormous icebergs rise above vaJleys breathing 
 aromatic scents, and blest with an Italian spring, 
 — and where the temperatures of each zone alternatelv 
 reign within two or three leagues. But not alone the 
 contrasts of nature claim our attention in these regions. 
 Those of man are equally remarkable ; from the life of 
 the Alpine shepherd, who preserves in his lonely valley 
 the simplicity of primitive times, to that of the inhabitant 
 
 * Strab. Geogr. iv. 6. •
 
 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 3 
 
 of towns, refined and softened by the manners and the 
 language of France. 
 
 East and west, from the lofty central point of the 
 St. Gothard, extend the Alps, in the form of a mighty 
 crescent, embracing the north of Italy, and on every 
 side environed by tremendous clefts and caverns, which 
 ensnare the incautious traveller with a veil of greyish 
 snow. Here is the horrid birthplace of the glacier and 
 the avalanche ; but hence, too, streams are welled forth 
 by the genial warmth of nature to supply romantic 
 lakes, and spread fertility over the face of the SDil. 
 Four principal rivers flow through Switzerland ; the 
 Rhine, the Rhone, the Ticino or Tessin, and the Inn. 
 All of them originate in the high line of the Alps, and 
 indicate by their course the main declivities of the 
 country. The northern slope is watered by the Reuss 
 and the Aar, which meet in the Rhine ; the southern 
 by the Ticino, the north-eastern by the Inn, and the 
 south-western by the Rhone. 
 
 It would be useless to enquire how long the land was 
 overshadowed by the foliage of impenetrable forests, and 
 re-echoed only the roar of the bear and ure-ox, and 
 the scream of the lammergeyer ; or who were the first 
 human stragglers, urged by love of freedom or solitude 
 to seek a scanty subsistence there by hunting, fishing, 
 or pasturage. The condition of the tracts between the 
 Rhine, the Rhone, and the Jura, remains involved in 
 almost entire obscurity till the appearance of the Hel- 
 vetians, a race of Gallic Celts, whom some unknown 
 accident had guided from the bnrders of the Rhine and 
 the Main to those of the lake of Geneva. The toilsome 
 cultivation of these regions, while it left but Uttle time 
 for martial enterprise, conduced with the pure moun- 
 tain breezes to form a stout and hardy people, which 
 divided itself into four districts, then, as in later ages, 
 connected with each other by the feeble bands of a 
 federal union 
 
 It is probable that the Gallo-Celtic inhabitants of 
 these regions, bordering so closely upon Italy, took part
 
 4 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. B.C. 111. 
 
 in the great inroads of the Gauls on that country. But 
 their first ascertained military enterprise was conducted 
 in alliance with the Cinibri and Teutones^ who roamed 
 from unknown regions in the east and the north ; ex- 
 tended their conquests and ravages along the banks of 
 the Rhine, and even struck the already powerful Roman 
 commonwealth with terror. Whether few or many Hel- 
 vetian tribes accompanied that expedition is a point which 
 cannot now be determined. What is evident, however, 
 is, that each of these tribes had full hberty of waging 
 wars, and allying itself with foreigners. Thus, the 
 Tigurini, for example, marched with the Cimbrians 
 nearly to the mouths of the Rhone. But when a Roman 
 army, under the consul Lucius Cassius, threatened their 
 rear, they suddenly wheeled round, apprehensive of 
 being cut off from their homes; and, led by their young 
 general Diviko, gave the Romans a complete defeat on 
 the banks of the Leman lake (lake of Geneva). The 
 consul, and his lieutenant Piso, were left dead on the 
 field. The conquerors only permitted the retreat of 
 the survivors after they had given hostages, and marched 
 under the yoke. 
 
 Long after Diviko's excursion with the northern 
 marauders, recollections of tbe fat pastures and rich do- 
 mains of Gaul, of which a glimpse had been caught in 
 the course of that excursion, furnished all who had, and 
 many who had not, shared the adventure, with a theme 
 for the most highly coloured description. There the 
 vine and olive ripened under a warmer heaven, and the 
 winter's snows were all but unknown. The effect of 
 these reminiscences was enhanced by the accounts 
 brought by travellers from the left bank of the Rhine, 
 which produced their natural workings on a rude and 
 simple people, — a people highly irritable, daring, and 
 self-confident, — with whom prudent deUberation passed 
 for cowardice, and in whom successful excursions had 
 encouraged the propensity to predatory warfare. Their 
 pastoral habits adapted them for any wandering enter- 
 prise : those distinctions of rank which are described
 
 B. C. 60. HELVETIAN INROAD ON GAUL. 5 
 
 as having existed among them marked out a mihtary 
 order. The priestly power is apter to take root among 
 the more pacific cultivators of plains. 
 
 A leader of the former class stood forth among the 
 Helvetians in the person of Orgetorix, — a man of rank 
 and ambition. In peace, he could not gratify his appetite 
 for absolute po%ver, and therefore built his hopes upon 
 warfare. Having secretly gained a number of adherents, 
 he came forward in a public assembly, and artfully per- 
 suaded the people to quit their rocky fastnesses, which 
 barely furnished food for themselves and their cattle, and 
 to march with him into the fair and fruitful territories 
 of Gaul, where little resistance was to be feared from 
 the effeminate inhabitants. The orator succeeded in ex- 
 citing the rude appetites and passions of his hearers. 
 His proposal was received with acclamations. It was re- 
 solved to break up and emigrate, after the lapse of three 
 years, with their wives and families, cattle and pos- 
 sessions. The interval was to be used in making the 
 needful preparations. Before, however, the year of the 
 expedition had arrived, the despotic designs of Orgetorix 
 were discovered ; and he was reduced to lay violent 
 hands on himself, in order to escape death at the 
 stake. 
 
 The resolution of the Helvetians must have been 
 based on deep conviction, since it suffered no alteration 
 from so ominous an outset. That retreat might hence- 
 forth cease to be thought of, they burned their habit- 
 ations, and even their corn, reserving only three months' 
 provisions. Moreover, they succeeded in persuading 
 several neighbouring tribes to burn their towns and vil- 
 lages in like manner, and accompany them. Three hun- 
 dred and sixty-eight thousand souls, of whom ninety- 
 two thousand were able-bodied warriors, are computed 
 to have marched out on this Gallic expedition. 
 
 The Roman province of Gaul was, at the point of time 
 before us, under the government of JuHus Caesar, — al- 
 ready no less eminent as a military leader than he became, 
 a few years afterwards, as a statesman. He was, at this 
 
 B 2
 
 6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. B. C. 57 
 
 moment, aiming at the same power over his countrymen 
 as that to which Orgetorix had aspired among the Hel- 
 vetians ; but, unlike the latter, the Romans had become 
 ripe for subjection. Orgetorix, besides, was no Cffisar. 
 "Without granting the passage desired by the Helvetians 
 through his province, he found means to put them off, 
 to gain time and collect reinforcements. He followed, 
 with his army, their march through the lands of the 
 Sequani and ^dui (inhabitants of the territory after- 
 wards the Franche-Comte and duchy of Burgundy), 
 alleging as his reasons the danger caused to the province 
 under his charge by the descent of so warlike and enter- 
 prising a people, and the petitions for aid addressed to 
 him by the ^dui, who were annoyed by the Helvetian 
 inroad. In fact, however, any and every pretext for in- 
 tervening in the affairs of Gaul was welcome to him. 
 He made no demonstration of hostility tiU the main in- 
 vading body had already crossed the Araris (Saone), 
 when, falling on the Tigurini, who alone had remained 
 on the left bank, he cut most of them to pieces, and dis- 
 persed the rest.* 
 
 Notwithstanding this unlooked-for catastrophe, the 
 Helvetians did not yet renounce the main scope of their 
 enterprise, and made overtures to treat with Caesar. Old 
 Diviko was commissioned for this purpose, ivho did not 
 forget in recent defeat his former superiority. No treaty 
 could be brought to a conclusion, and Caesar followed the 
 marc?i of the invaders a fortnight longer. At length, 
 after a desperate and long-sustained conflict in the 
 neighbourhood of Bibracte (Autun), the superiority of 
 the Roman arms and discipline decided the day against 
 the stubborn courage of the Helvetians. Their strength 
 and spirit now completely broken, they submitted. 
 
 The terms imposed by Ctesar on the vanquished 
 invaders were, to return into their desolated country, 
 and rebuild their wilfuUy ruined habitations. For their 
 immediate provision, he supplied grain through the Allo- 
 broges (inhabitants of the territory extending from Ge- 
 
 Cffisar, De BeU. Gaa I 29.
 
 B.C. 15. ROMAN CONQUEST OF RH^TIA. 7 
 
 neva to Grenoble, and from Vienne on the Rhone to the 
 Alps in Savoy) ; and promised for the future that they 
 should live under their own laws, under the specious de- 
 nomination of alhes of the Roman people. In order^ 
 however, to watch and overawe these new allies, a for- 
 tress was built at Noviodunum (Nyon), near the lake of 
 Geneva. Several other garrisons were stationed through- 
 out the country. 
 
 The RhiEtians only, screened by their lakes and ice- 
 bergs, might for a moment yet esteem themselves invin- 
 cible, and form leagues with the natural allies of their 
 tribe, who were scattered along the course of the Inn, 
 throughout the vales of the present Tyrol, and in the 
 plains included since in the circle of Swabia. They 
 pursued a wild and reckless mode of life ; plundered 
 travellers, or broke suddenly forth in numerous hordes 
 through their mountain-passes, and fell by sm-prise on 
 the neighbouring towns of Italy. 
 
 Even during Csesar's Gallic proconsulate, there are 
 traces of the Roman arms being turned against the 
 Rhaetians ; and so soon as Augustus had firmly secured 
 his dominion over the empire, he endeavoured to confine 
 within more narrow bounds, on the southward, a people 
 whose incursions had by this time become formidable 
 even to the plains of Upper Italy. Soon afterwards he 
 sent against the Rhaetians his two step-sons, — Drusus 
 from Italy, Tiberius through Gaul, and by the lake of 
 Constance. Only after an obstinate struggle, renewed 
 with repeated efforts, were these vigorous assertors of 
 their country's independence compelled beneath the 
 universal empire of Rome. (15 b. o.) A part of their 
 youth were afterwards embodied in the legions, and the 
 subject land was occupied by permanent encampments. 
 
 We have seen that the Helvetians were at first flat- 
 tered by the Romans with the title of allies, — a title of 
 precarious value at any time, and which, in the present 
 case, seems only to have been given till the land should 
 be secured in subjection. This is rendered still more 
 evident by the circumstance of an equestrian colony, even 
 
 « 4
 
 8 mSTOUY OF SWITZERLAND. B. C. 29. 
 
 in Caesar's lime, liaving been founded at Noviodunum 
 (Colonia Julia Equestns). Under Augustus, Munatius 
 Plancus founded the Colonia Augusta Rauracorum ; 
 and the settlement at Vindonissa (Windisch) cannot 
 be of much later date. The franchises conceded 
 to these settlements, the grants of land and subsidies 
 ■which (in order to encourage such establishments, 
 and build them up as outworks of the Roman do- 
 minion,) were conferred upon the Roman soldiers and 
 colonists who chose them for a permanent residence, 
 prove nothing with regard to the general welfare of the 
 country, and the condition of its primitive inhabitants. 
 They, indeed, retained in part their simple forms of 
 polity, which soon, however, became merged in the cen- 
 tral administration ; and even so early as the reign of 
 Augustus, heavy poll and land taxes, hitherto unknown, 
 were introduced in these regions. 
 
 When the weaker come in collision with the stronger, 
 one precipitate step may easily plunge them in ruin. 
 This was experienced by the Helvetians, on the oc- 
 casion of the murder of the emperor Galba (a. d. 69) ; 
 an event of which either the tidings did not imme- 
 diately reach them, or found them disinclined to ac- 
 knowledge Vitellius, — the candidate for the purple 
 against Otho. This prevalent indisposition, or igno- 
 rance, was not at all corrected by the conduct of the 
 twenty-first legion (surnamed rapax) * at Vindonissa, 
 which, with rapacity suiting its surname, seized the pay 
 set apart by the Helvetians for the garrison of the 
 castle. The latter retaliated, by intercepting letters be- 
 tween the German and Paiinonian armies, and by ar- 
 resting a centurion with a company of soldiers. Their 
 general, Aulus Csccina, who was marching from the 
 Rhine with his unbridled bands to meet Otho in Italy, 
 sacked and destroyed the bathing-place on the Limmat 
 (now Baden), which had grown, during long peace, to 
 the importance of a municipal town. He called out re- 
 inforcements from Rhffitia, to fall upon the rear of the 
 
 • Tacit Hist. xL 43.
 
 A. D. 69. JULIA ALPIXULA. 9 
 
 native insurgents. These, without practice in arms, 
 discipline, or tactics, were, in fact, without any of the 
 conditions of success, and found themselves attacked by 
 mountaineers like themselves, — the Rhaetians. Assailed 
 in flank by the legions under Csecina ; in rear by the 
 cohorts coming up from Rhsetia, as well as by the disci- 
 plined youth of Rhsetia itself; they suffered a severe defeat. 
 Borne down by the Thracian cohort, pursued and 
 tracked to every retreat by the light German and Rhaetian 
 troops, many thousands were left dead upon the field, or 
 made prisoners, and afterwards sold for slaves. 
 
 When the news of the lost battle reached Aventicum, 
 amazement and distress prevailed. The ambassadors, 
 who were instantly sent to appease the wrath of the con- 
 queror, were received and addressed with harshness by 
 Caecina. He demanded, first of aU, the execution of 
 the principal man in the nation, Julius Alpinus. He 
 referred the people for mercy to the emperor, who alone 
 had power to mitigate their well-deserved chastisement. 
 "VVTien the ambassadors brought this answer back to 
 Aventicum, through fear of Cacina's wrath, no one dared 
 to discuss the sentence. Julia Alpinula only, daughter 
 of Julius Alpinus, and a priestess of the goddess Aventia, 
 dared a fihal effort for the rescue of her parent. She has- 
 tened to the embittered foe's encampment, threw herself at 
 the general's feet, and, with all the persuasive powers of 
 youth and innocence, entreated for the hfe of her father. 
 Caecina ordered his instant execution. Fifteen hundred 
 years since the occurrence, the following sepulchral in- 
 scription was discovered in the ruins of Aventicum : — 
 "Julia Alpinula hie jaceo; infelicis patris infelix proles. 
 Dece AventicB sacerdos, exorare patris necem non potui : 
 male mori in fatis illi erat. Vixi annos xxiii." 
 (I lie here, Julia Alpinula; unhappy child of an unhappy 
 parent. Priestess of the goddess Aventia, my prayers 
 could not avert the death of my father : fate had decreed 
 him a lamentable end. I lived twenty-three years.) 
 
 The Helvetian envoys made their appearance before 
 Vitellius, anxious, yet scarce hoping, to avert the last
 
 10 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. Cp. 
 
 extremities. Audience at length being given, the 
 infuriated soldiers brandished weapons of death be- 
 fore their eyes, and demanded loudly the total ex- 
 tirpation of a race which had laid presumptuous 
 hands on Roman warriors. Vitellius himself knitted 
 his heavy brows, and muttered menaces. The spokes- 
 man of the Helvetians, Claudius Cossus, stood pale as 
 death before him, offered no excuse of the facts, but 
 only depicted, in the liveliest hues, the misery of his 
 country, threw himself at the emperor's feet, and begged 
 so irresistibly, that all hearts were affected, and the sol- 
 diers themselves took part in supplicating mercy for 
 Helvetia.* Thus hrs country was preserved by one 
 man ; but instead of being, as hitherto, entitled the ally 
 of Rome, was degraded into union with the province of 
 Gaul. 
 
 It, however, remains doubtful whether, even at this 
 period, when the whole land was nominally subject to 
 the Romans, a certain measure of freedom, in its wooded 
 and rocky recesses at least, might not still have continued 
 to exist, compatibly with a nominal allegiance, perhaps 
 even with the payment of a tribute. The remains of Ro- 
 man settlements, extending from the Albis to the Bernese 
 Oberland, lead to the inference that a connected line 
 of garrisons was kept up for security towards the in- 
 terior of the country. Roman coins, &c., which have 
 been found in the interior, and even in the higher parts 
 of the mountains, may have come there through the 
 natives themselves. This may be conjectural ; but a 
 matter of more certainty is, that Roman habiliments, 
 manners, and usages, became diffused throughout the 
 country, along with their attendant effeminacy, luxury, 
 and moral corruption. The Latin language gradually 
 encroached upon, and in some measure superseded, 
 that of the country. Even in things of common use, 
 and in agriculture, many Latin names, which have not 
 been adopted into the formed and matured dialects of 
 Germany, are to be met with' at the present day in 
 
 • Tacit, ibid. c. 7. et seq.
 
 211. HELVETIA SUBJECT TO ROME. 11 
 
 Switzerland.* All genuine nationality was extinguished, 
 and the very name of Helvetia disappeared. The in- 
 habitants became mere subjects. 
 
 The government of Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and the two 
 Antonines, in almost its whole duration, may be reckon- 
 ed among such blessings as Providence but sparingly 
 vouchsafes to mankind. Under such rulers, bad ad- 
 ministrators are rare, or, at all events, they are kept in 
 check by wholesome apprehensions. Human industry 
 penetrated the fastnesses of the mountains. The Alp- 
 ine cows became an article of commerce ; for though 
 the breed was small and poor in flesh, it was capable of 
 enduring labour, and afforded abundance of milk : the 
 Alpine cheeses gained at that early period the renown 
 which they retain to this day. Experiments were un- 
 dertaken in agriculture — and the Falernian hills were 
 rivalled by the vineyards of Rhatia, The Helvetians 
 paid peculiar veneration to the god of wine ; and pre- 
 served his gifts, not as yet in wine cellars, but in wine 
 casks. They worshipped also the sun, by the name of 
 Belin, the invincible god; and his sister Isis, the 
 moon ; the sylphs, their guardian angels ; and the 
 shadowy powers, the dii manes. But the period must 
 soon terminate in which individual qualities softened 
 the workings of pure despotism and military dominion. 
 The inseparable consequences of boundless prodigahty, 
 and consequent rapacity, on the part of the rulers, had 
 made government a mere unpunished system of plunder. 
 Admission to the rights of Roman citizenship, which, 
 under Caracalla, became easier than ever, had the effect 
 of introducing Roman citizens into all situations hitherto 
 filled by natives. Thus the latter came at length to be 
 governed by functionaries, who acted upon wholly dis- 
 tinct interests from theirs ; a grievance which rose 
 to its highest pitch in the reign of Diocletian, who con- 
 ferred upon the higher class of officers powers of pro- 
 ceeding summarily, without calling assessors. 
 
 * The following are examples, — Aren (for pflUgen, to plough), BoUa 
 (bulla, a bud), Furkel (furca, a pitchfork), &c.
 
 12 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 285. 
 
 " Woe to the land," exclaims an eloquent Swiss 
 ■writer*, "^on whose judgment seats the stranger sits — at 
 whose gates the stranger watches ! Woe to the land 
 divided against itself, and relying on foreigners ! Woe 
 to the people which gathers gold, but knows the use of 
 steel no longer ! " 
 
 Christianity, during this period, spread by degrees 
 throughout Helvetia. Men who were abandoned as a 
 prey to every variety of misery and oppression, must 
 have found a system welcome and encouraging, which 
 taught resignation and patience under suffering, while 
 it held out brighter hopes for the future ; which had its 
 menaces for the haughty and tyrannical, and its com- 
 forts for the lowly and wretched, and singled out the 
 indigent and despised classes as the most especial ob- 
 jects of divine grace and mercy. The original announce- 
 ment of the new faith has been ascribed by the legends 
 to a certain Beatus, so early as the first century ; in 
 the third century, to Lucius, a Rhtetian ; at the 
 close of the fourth, to the members of the so-called 
 Theban legion. In like manner, the signatures of 
 bishops or presbyters of churches, in the Valais, at Ge- 
 neva, Coire^ Aventicum, and elsewhere, are handed 
 down to us, bearing date from the fourth century. 
 These, however, are of extremely doubtful genuine- 
 ness. What is better made out is, that a church existed 
 at the close of that century in the Valais. During 
 the fifth, others were established in the rest of the 
 above-mentioned places. 
 
 Meanwhile the Roman power sunk lower and lower. 
 Not the misused people only, but many men of rank 
 and power, encouraged foreign, in order to get rid 
 of domestic, enemies. Under the perpetual minority 
 of the imbecile Arcadius and Honorius, the empire, 
 already more than once dissevered, became permanently 
 parted into Eastern and Western. Precisely at this 
 epoch of exhaustion, more numerous swarms of semi- 
 barbarous nomad nations set themselves in motion than 
 
 • H, Zschokke:
 
 450. BARBARIAN INROADS. 13 
 
 at any former period ; the roughest and remotest of 
 which drove the others forwards on the now defenceless 
 frontiers of the empire. While from the east the Goths 
 fell upon Italy;, while the Vandals and the Suevi attacked 
 Spain, the Burgundians (also a race of Vandal origin) 
 marched on the Upper Rhine, from the Oder and Vistula. 
 (a. d. 409.) Imperial Rome, too feeble to repel them, 
 granted them, according to former examples, the posses- 
 sion of the larger part of the lands which they had 
 devastated; thus purchasing their alliance against enemies 
 yet more formidable. 
 
 The Burgundians fixed their residence on both sides 
 of the Jura, on the lake of Geneva, in the Valais, on the 
 banks of the Rhone and the Saone. They had adopted 
 Christianity on their reception as Roman allies — a 
 title which, by this time, had completely changed 
 its import ; and, instead of future subjugation, au- 
 gured future mastery. They combined with large 
 and vigorous outward proportions a character less rude 
 than that of some other northern nations. In the 
 quality of peaceable guests and new allies of the empire, 
 they spared the still remaining towns and other Roman 
 monuments, and permitted the former owners to retain 
 their established laws and customs ; appropriating, how- 
 ever, to themselves, a third of the slaves, two thirds 
 of the cultivated lands, and one half of the forests, 
 gardens, and farm buildings. 
 
 Much obscurity, during this period, rests on the his- 
 tory of those regions which are now German Switzerland. 
 It is not exactly known how far the first Burgundian 
 empire extended itself over the plain of the Aar. East- 
 ward of that stream, and over great part of Germany, 
 the land was over-run by the Alemanni, whose inroads 
 on the empire may be dated somewhat later than those 
 of the Burgundians. (a. d. 450.) These new-comers, 
 embittered towards whatever bore the name of Roman, 
 destroyed the still remaining fragments of fortresses 
 and cities, which, in common with all German tribes, 
 they utterly detested. They did not treat the inhabitants
 
 24 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 430. 
 
 with cruelty, but reduced them to a state of complete 
 servitude. All Roman landed property they seized 
 without exception, and only allowed the tenants to 
 remain there in the situation of bondmen, and on the con- 
 dition of paying them dues. This new barbarian torrent 
 overwhelmed the public monuments and symbols of 
 Christianity. Whatever yet remained of the old culture 
 disappeared, or, at all events, concealed itself. 
 
 Towards the close of the fifth century, another Ger- 
 man race, or rather confederacy of tribes, obtained 
 ascendency. These were the Franks, a sturdy stem of 
 heathens, whose power was established in Gaul by their 
 leader Chlodewig (Clovis — Louis). This chief engaged 
 in hostilities against the Alemanni. In the plain of 
 Tolbiac (Zulpich, near Cologne, on the Rhine) the hostile 
 nations met in deadly conflict. Victory remained long 
 imdecided ; the fortune of the day seemed even to lean 
 towards the Alemanni, In this emergency, Clovis swore 
 aloud that he would turn, with all his Franks, to Chris- 
 tianity, if he won the field. This, as he doubtless in- 
 tended, being heard by his Christian Gallic troops, they 
 resolved to show their faith in Christ, in its whole 
 triumphant efficacy. The Alemanni could not stand 
 against the onset of enthusiasts, who felt that they were 
 fighting for the glory of God. The faU of their prince 
 decided them to surrender, and transfer their allegiance 
 to the victorious king of the Franks, and Clovis marched 
 along with them into their territories. Here, howeverj 
 hostility towards the Franks and their new gods in- 
 duced many to refuse him obedience. It was not until 
 nine years after his victory that the body of the tribe 
 was brought to submission. Clovis resolved to extirpate 
 a population so unmanageable. 
 
 While Clovis raged thus furiously against the Alemanni, 
 his brother-in-law Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 
 wrote to remind him that mercy and moderation better 
 became a monarch than vengeance. As Clovis turned 
 a deaf ear to this wise and benevolent counsel, many of 
 the conquered Alemanni finally threw themselves into
 
 534. DISTINCTIONS OP RACE. 15 
 
 the arms of their mtercessor. Thus Rhittia became 
 added to the dominions of the Ostrogoths; and at length, 
 in the year 500 of our aera, soutli-western or Roman 
 Switzerland belonged to the Burgundians ; northern or 
 German Switzerland was shared between the Franks, 
 the Alemanni, and the %vilderness : Rhaetia was pos- 
 sessed by the Ostrogoths. These partitions, however, 
 were destined to have no long duration. The first 
 Burgundian empire owed its final dissolution (a. d.534), 
 in a great degree, to the family feuds and vices of its 
 princes. The empire of the Ostrogoths verged to its 
 fall about the same period. Five successive kings in- 
 curred successive losses in war and land. Dietbert, king 
 of the Franks, took advantage of their weakness to recover 
 the possession of Rhatia. Thenceforward the Franks 
 held exclusive rule over the whole extent of Rhaetia 
 and Helvetia. 
 
 From this period is derivable, in a general way, with- 
 out aiming at impossible exactness, the distinction of 
 the French and German languages in Switzerland. So 
 far as the dominions of the Alemanni, and since their 
 subjection those of the German Franks, extended, the 
 present Swiss dialect of German took its rise from the 
 original roots of that language. In the lands about the 
 lakes of Geneva and Neufchiitel, where the power of the 
 Burgundians was established, the Gallo- Roman popular 
 dialect kept its ground, from which were formed the 
 several Romance dialects : from these, again, the Pro- 
 vencal ; and at last the modern French. 
 
 More obscure in their origin, however obvious in their 
 existence, are some characteristic varieties in the divi- 
 sions of the race itself ; for notwithstanding all the 
 mixtures which have hitherto taken place, and all 
 local exceptions, a marked dissimilarity exists between 
 them. The more rounded contours of the western in- 
 habitants are distinguishable at once from the strong 
 features of the eastern. The latter may conjecturally be 
 traced to the Alemanni ; while the former are more 
 probably inherited from a Frankish stem
 
 l6 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND- 500. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 HELVETIA UNDER THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 500—936. 
 
 EARLY INSTITUTIONS OF THE GERMAN TRIBES. LAWS. — RULES 
 
 or EVIDENCE. TRIAL BY ORDEAL. TRIAL BY BATTLE.— 
 
 HELVETIA UNDER THE FRANK KINGS OF THE FAMILY OF 
 
 BIEROVEUS. IMPROVED CULTIVATION. INFLUENCE OF THE 
 
 CLERGY. DECLINE OF THE MEROVINGIAN RACE. ITS FALL. 
 
 PEPIN. CHARLEMAGNE VISITS HELVETIA ENCOURAGES 
 
 EDUCATION AND AGRICULTURE. JUDICIAL AND ECCLESIASTI- 
 CAL POLITY. PARTITION OF THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 
 
 INCURSIONS OF THE MAGYARS, OR HUNGARIANS. MEA- 
 SURES OF HENRY THE FOWLER. GROWTH OF TOWNS. 
 
 The Frank kings of the family of Meroveus were the 
 third exclusive rulers of Helvetia. As no fixed laws of 
 succession existed, the country belonged, under their 
 government, now to one head of the whole Frank domi- 
 nions, now to several princes, amongst whom those 
 dominions were divided, and who were no less divided 
 by disputes among themselves. Omitting the intermin- 
 able feuds of these princes, the perpetual alternation of 
 conquests and losses, and other incidents equally little 
 momentous, we shall rather attempt a rough draught of 
 the social and judicial institutions of the German popu- 
 lations at that period, in order to trace the gradual 
 revival of Helvetia from a state of deep and utter deso- 
 lation. 
 
 The population, in those central parts of Europe 
 which had been occupied by branches of the great Ger- 
 man family, was a mixed race, compounded of the 
 conquerors, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, 
 and the later ingrafted colonies of Rome. The first 
 claimed the exclusive right to be lords, while the two 
 latter were looked upon as slaves of the soil ; or, at the
 
 500. EARLY IXSTITUTIONS. 17 
 
 Utmost, as an inferior and ignoble race of men, neither 
 in rights nor in honours on an equality with freemen ; 
 treated with little or no regard in matters of legislation ; 
 and, above all, excluded from the privilege of bearing 
 arms, — the proudest badge of freedom, and its only 
 security. Military service was the first of public duties. 
 The assembly of the people, in which every freeman 
 had a voice, pronounced on all public affairs of im- 
 portance ; and the monarch could not arbitrarily set 
 aside its decisions. In peace, indeed, the king was only 
 first of his peers, but in war-time his command was 
 almost absolute ; and, as wars were almost incessant 
 since the period when the German tribes had extended 
 their incursions over the south of Europe, the people 
 became more and more inured to obedience. The 
 people might be said to consist exclusively of the 
 conquering army. Individual warriors settled them- 
 selves on scattered landed possessions. About a hundred 
 farms or manors constituted a hundred (cent). Over 
 this a centenary, or constable, was appointed, who held 
 a court analogous to the old hunch-ed court in England, 
 which took cognizance of all cases concerning freemen 
 or conquered nations. The public place for the ad- 
 ministration of justice was called mallus. Over larger 
 circles or districts counts were appointed; over whom 
 dukes presided, who were commonly the leaders in 
 war. Besides the original and ordinary allotments 
 after victory, to all freemen, of the spoils and con- 
 quered territory, which thus became their independent 
 property {allodiuni), the kings made separate grants to 
 those who had done them special services, under the 
 Roman denomination of heneficium ; in later ages, 
 feudum, or fief. The grantee was thereby placed in the 
 condition of a vassal, and under special obligation to 
 arm in defence of his feudal lord. Fiefs at first were 
 not hereditary, nor even given for life; but, in the course 
 of time, the vassals found means to render them inherit- 
 able, and almost independent of the monarch. Such 
 was the rise of hereditary nobility ; which, while on the 
 
 c
 
 18 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 500. 
 
 one hand it set limits to the royal power, and reduced it 
 in some countries nearly to nothing, on the other hand 
 depressed the common freemen to the condition of serfs. 
 The laws partook of the rudeness of the period, and 
 vrere few in number : these, however, were tolerably 
 intelligible, and consisted less in commands than in pro- 
 hibitions. Their main object was protection of pro- 
 perty ; for in those ages theft was viewed with more 
 abhorrence than murder, since even a coward can make 
 himself master of things unarmed and inanimate. This 
 abhorrence of the cowardly crime of theft went so far, 
 that, according to the Saxon laws, a horse-stealer was 
 punished with death ; while a money fine would expiate 
 even the murder of a nobleinan. The judge who let a 
 robber escape was proceeded against as guilty of a 
 capital crime. Whoever accepted a secret composition for 
 theft was punishable equally with the thief. Whoever 
 was charged by five impartial witnesses with theft must 
 die. Hardly any other crime besides theft was punished 
 with death, but treason and breach of trust. Most 
 crimes had their money price ; by which a double ad- 
 vantage was given to the rich over the poor, as the 
 penalty was proportioned to thp rank of the person 
 against whom acts of violence (then the most frequent 
 crimes) were committed, and was calculated thus in an 
 inverse ratio to the pecuniary abilities of the payer; while 
 non-payment entailed the loss of personal freedom, and 
 degradation to the state of feudal bondage. The rudi- 
 ments of trial by jury existed at this period. Appre- 
 hension of the abuse of evidence, or rather ignorance 
 of its use, introduced appeals to the judgment of God 
 through the medium of the ordeal. The accused was 
 made to plunge his hand into boiling water, take hold 
 of a red-hot iron, or set foot on a red-hot ploughshare. 
 The limb which had been thus tried was put in a sealed 
 bag ; and the appearance which it presented on the 
 third day was decisive of the party's guilt or innocence. 
 Several other trials of this description came into use ; 
 and their application lay almost entirely in the hands of
 
 628. TRIAL BY BATTLE. 19 
 
 the clergy. Deceptions, which were only too easy, threw 
 doubts at length on the aptitude of this instrument of 
 justice ; but, when once the path of reason has been 
 swerved from, men only ghde from one absurd aber- 
 ration into another. Single combat now superseded the 
 ordeal, as a method of proof less easily eluded ; a method 
 of which the vogue is not surprising at a period when 
 irregular vindications of right by voies de fait were 
 so frequent. Women, and others unable to bear arms, 
 were, in general, permitted to procure capable substitutes. 
 These and similar modes of trial were, at least, not worse 
 than the torture, and those other inhumanities which in 
 later times were introduced in the nations of German 
 origin from the laws of otner lands, and through the 
 spiritual tribunals. 
 
 In the year 6l3, Clothair II. succeeded in uniting 
 the Avhole empire of the Franks, after long internal 
 wars and scenes of violence had taken place. Two 
 years later, in 6 15, Clothair called his peers, secular and 
 spiritual, together, to restore order in the land, and to 
 remove existing grievances. In this assembly were 
 settled the rights of the several ranks and races ; and a 
 basis was laid for the future constitution of the empire. 
 The people learned, by slow degrees, the value of peace 
 and tranquiUity. Prosperity was gradually restored to 
 the wasted lands of Gaul and of Helvetia. On the de- 
 mise of Clothair, in 6"28, his son Dagobert ascended the 
 throne. ^V'hat the father had begun the son success- 
 fully continued, and administered his realm with vigour, 
 wisdom, and justice. 
 
 In these times Helvetia, which in earlier days had 
 counted twelve towns, 400 villages, and above 350,000 
 inhabitants, and where now nearly 2,000,000 human 
 beings are collected in several thousand towns and vil- 
 lages, lay in great part waste and desolate, covered over 
 with morasses and forests. Here and there a cluster of 
 rude tenements might be met with, around a farm, a 
 fortress, or a monastery. The revival of a country is 
 difficult after long disasters ; especially when its natural 
 
 c 2
 
 20 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 6'28. 
 
 site and qualities are unfavourable to the rapid growth 
 and bloom of civilisation. The recovery of Helvetia, 
 therefore, could only advance slowly. It commenced, 
 however, under Clothair and Dagobert. Villages and 
 towns arose in many places ; and their rise was often 
 favoured by religious foundations. Those of St. Gall, 
 Disentis, Zurich, Lucerne, and Romainmotiers, may be 
 traced to the times of which we have been treating. 
 The bishops, — who, Uke their clergy, very generally 
 lived in wedlock, — were elected by the latter and by 
 the people, and afterwards confirmed by the king. 
 
 ^Vhile the clergy, as in most rude nations, was ex- 
 clusively in possession of such knowledge as existed, a 
 few individuals only among the laity could at that time 
 read, and still fewer could write. This brought into 
 the hands of the clergy, besides their spiritual power 
 over the conscience, considerable political influence ; and 
 enabled them, in a manner, to monopolise the functions 
 of ministers, envoys, and agents in all the most im- 
 portant affairs of raonarchs and great men. Into their 
 hands fell the education of the upper classes, and the 
 composition of history, — including, of course, the for- 
 midable instruments of praise and blame. Their in- 
 fluence was enormous in the diets of the empire ; and, 
 when Clothair demanded contributions from them, they 
 complained, not of tyranny, but of sacrilege. Yet 
 kings, who knew how to vindicate the dignity of their 
 office, maintained a wholesome ascendency over the sy- 
 nods of the clergy ; and these again opposed themselves, 
 not unfrequently, to clerical, social, and moral abuses. 
 
 Soon after the time of king Dagobert, the Merovingian 
 dynasty began to verge towards ruin. The effeminacy 
 tyranny, and vices of these princes brought them, finally, 
 into contempt with their subjects. They gave over the 
 government altogether into the hands of their prime 
 functionary, the mayor of the palace (major domas) ; 
 who was also commander-in-chief of the army. The 
 elevation of Pepin of Heristal to that dignity, through 
 the support of the nobles, in the year 687, is enough to
 
 768. CHARLEMAGNE. 21 
 
 show that the royal power had dwindled away to a 
 shadow. Under the Adgorous administration of his son, 
 Charles Martel, the royal person ceased to appear at 
 all, except in the annual popular assembly of the 
 Franks on May-day. The Frank monarchy seems 
 indeed, at this time, to have nearly reached the ideal 
 of constitutional aristocracy. The king was a mere 
 puppet in the hands of the men of influence ; and the 
 mayor of the palace played the part of responsible 
 minister, in executing the mandates of this virtual re- 
 presentative body. Six monarchs of the Merovingian 
 dynasty were cut off, within the space of forty years, 
 by sword or poison. Of few of these can history make 
 any honourable mention. At length, when in addition 
 to unworthiness came impoverishment, (for the ]\Iero- 
 vingians, in order to maintain themselves on the throne, 
 were forced to alienate their hereditary domains in fa- 
 vour of their proud and rapacious nobles,) these princes 
 lost entirely the regards of the people. In the year 751, 
 two centuries and a half since the erection of the Mero- 
 vingian dynasty by Clovis, Cliilderic III. was deposed 
 from the throne by the assembly of the people at Scissons, 
 thrust aside into a convent, and succeeded on the throne 
 by the mayor of his palace, Pepin the Little, who founded 
 the new Carlovingian dynasty. The whole proceeding 
 was sanctioned by the blessing of pope Stephen III. 
 
 The Carlovingian dynasty, founded by Pepin, re- 
 ceived its name from his son Charles ; who not only 
 excelled his father in greatness, but exalted himself 
 high above the mass of his contemporaries. His 
 reign, contrasted with that of his son Louis, who suc- 
 ceeded him, exhibits an instructive example how, with 
 resources nearly similar, by means of skilful adminis- 
 tration, a vigorous prince can elevate himself along with 
 his people, and even efface the memory of important 
 errors and blemishes ; while, on the other hand, an in- 
 capable ruler, without bad dispositions, may not only 
 make himself individually contemptible, but cripple and 
 confine the national energies. 
 
 c S
 
 OQ 
 
 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 768. 
 
 Pepin, with consent of his nobles, had, in 768, di- 
 vided his kingdom between his sons, Charles and Car- 
 lomann ; and the early death of the latter did not leave 
 the former free from the suspicion of having hastened 
 it by poison. Charles, shortly after his accession, put 
 an end to the Lombard kingdom in Upper Italy. The 
 Saxons, in the regions of the Lower Elbe and Weser, — 
 who, notwithstanding many defeats, persisted in the 
 most courageous resistance, — were brought into sub- 
 jection, after thirty years' warfare, and compelled to 
 embrace the Christian religion. The Arabs, who pos- 
 sessed Spain, were driven back as far as the Ebro. In 
 the east, he forced Bavaria to acknowledge his supre- 
 macy, and extended his power as far as the Raab in 
 Hungary. Yet he was not a mere insatiable conqueror : 
 he directed his unremitting attention to internal ad- 
 ministration. Through his capitularies, he aimed at 
 improving the mode of administering justice ; and the 
 earlier institution of circuits, made by royal commis- 
 sioners, was called into new life under his reign. 
 
 He was crowned at Rome as emperor, by the pope, 
 in the year 800, — a solemnity which enhanced the 
 outward dignity of his throne, but placed his feeble 
 successors in a dangerous state of dependence on the 
 spiritual authority, and fortified the prejudice which, 
 for ages afterwards, shook the independence of thrones 
 no less than the internal repose of nations. Similar in 
 its tendency was the law enacted by Charlemagne, — that 
 bishops should be nominated, not by the royal authority, 
 but by the clergy and people in every diocese, without 
 any other recommendation than merit. 
 
 Helvetia had her share of the provisions made by 
 Charlemagne, with a wisdom far beyond his age, for 
 the popular instruction. Among the schools which he 
 established or reformed was that of Zurich, where the 
 grateful recollection of his bounty was preserved by an 
 annual celebration. He also introduced vine-cultivation 
 into Helvetia ; and peopled several districts by transport- 
 ing thither the conquered Saxons. He occasionally made
 
 814. DECLINE OF THE CARLOVINGIANS. 23 
 
 some stay at Zurich ; and enriched the cathedral church 
 with his donations. We read, moreover^ that men from 
 the Thurgau served in his campaigns, whose strength 
 and spirit attracted general notice. 
 
 After the death of Charlemagne, Helvetia, notwith- 
 standing the frequent partitions of the empire, and the 
 internal disorder occasioned by them, enjoyed peace for a 
 century. The land flourished greatly during this period, 
 under what was called the Second or Little Burgundian 
 kingdom, which was founded by count Boso of Vienna, 
 and which maintained itself for more than an age inde- 
 pendent of the sinking Carlovingian dynasty. ]\Iany 
 common-lands were divided, and converted into arable. 
 In the Valais, and even in the neighbourhood of Zurich, 
 vines were cultivated. The inhabitants, formerly scatter- 
 ed, now collected themselves into farms and villages, in 
 Avhich commonly stood a baronial tower or mansion. 
 Every village had a special jurischction, under its vogt, 
 or bailiff. The whole district assisted in the trial of im- 
 portant cases. The general assembly, which was held 
 in the open air, was joined by every one who possessed 
 seven feet of land before and behind him. The elders 
 took the first place; the count stated the case; and every 
 man gave judgment on it as God had given him under- 
 standing. After the case had been thus debated, the 
 judges, properly so called, stepped into the circle, — that 
 is to say, into the middle of a ring formed by the rest 
 of the meeting, — and that which they declared was re- 
 ceived for doom. The monastery of St. Gall, already 
 wealthy and powerful, distinguished itself for science 
 and for discipline. It was not, indeed, an age of native 
 learning; nor had St. Gall much to boast of in the shape 
 of intellectual productions of its inmates or tenantry. 
 Here, however, the books of the fathers and ancient 
 historians were read and copied ; and many a now ex- 
 tensively diffused Latin work might have been lost to 
 the modern world but for the toils of these obscure 
 monks, inhabiting a corner of the Thurgau. The use of 
 religious foundations, in the infancy of national culture, 
 
 4
 
 2-i HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 843. 
 
 may be likened to that of firs planted to screen the growth 
 of young trees. Oak and beech may long survive their 
 dark and withered nurses ; but it was these whose 
 formal and sombre lines could alone have served effect- 
 ually to fence the tender saplings from the bleak gales of 
 the north. 
 
 The partition of the empire of Charlemagne between 
 the two branches of his family, which established 
 themselves on the thrones of France and Germany, at 
 which the separate histories of those countries may be 
 considered to commence, and the extinction, not long af- 
 terwards, of the Little Burgundian line, threw Helvetia 
 under the power and protection (such as it was) of the 
 German empire, restored by Otho the Great from amidst 
 the ruins, v^'hich were all that remained of the lofty 
 pile of Charlemagne. The decline of the Carlovingian 
 race was made to subserve their own aggrandisement 
 by the counts and by the rest of the nobility. Pepin 
 and Cliarlemagne, by frequent changes, and by strong 
 control of their functionaries, had imposed checks on 
 the increase of the power of the counts. But now the 
 lords, great and small, spiritual or secular, turned to 
 good account the weakness of the government. Many of 
 them aimed with success at absolute independence. The 
 great nobles exercised oppression over the less powerful 
 members of their own order; and exacted from them 
 oaths of allegiance, as though they were their masters 
 and monarchs. In effecting their designs, the counts 
 made frequent appeals to arms, without asking the con- 
 sent of their princes ; and rendered the empire, which 
 they ought to have protected, a theatre of ravage and 
 desolation. Even the servants of the church began to 
 stretch their holy hands, in all directions, after the trea- 
 sures of this world. Enriched by perpetual pious be- 
 quests, they at length found themselves strong enough to 
 push their pretensions, if need were, at the point of the 
 sword. This struggle for aggrandisement gave occasion 
 for continual strife betwixt the clergy and nobles, whose 
 plans were perpetually crossing each other.
 
 919. MEASURES OF HENRY THE FOWLER. 25 
 
 The lords and counts, who ruled during this period 
 in Switzerland, domineered over the land uncontrolled ; 
 and only feared or flattered the German emperors when 
 they hoped to increase their power by their assistance. 
 Union among themselves they never knew, or knew at 
 times only of instant and universal peril. 
 
 Such peril hung over all in the days of Henry I., sur- 
 named the Fowler. A fearful scourge, — the irruption of 
 hordes of absolute barbarians, — from which the land had 
 been exempted during more than four centuries, broke out 
 afresh, shortly after the opening of the tenth century. 
 The Magyars, or Hungarians, like the Huns, their savage 
 predecessors in former ages, extended their multitudinous 
 and mischievous incursions into the very heart of Ger- 
 many, into Switzerland, and even into Italy and France. 
 They wasted the whole face of the open country, and 
 exercised savage cruelties on the unarmed inhabitants. 
 On the other hand, their ignorance could effect little or 
 nothing against fortified and well-provisioned places. 
 
 The principal mode of defence adopted by Henry was 
 at once the most effectual, as against so rude an enemy, and 
 the most permanently useful to the country, long after 
 the immediate emergency had passed away. He built 
 walls around a number of defensible places, as a refuge 
 for the property and persons of the country people. The 
 fortifications of Zurich, of Soleure, and other Swiss 
 towns, are generally referred to this epoch. To this 
 epoch also l)elongs the first foundation of the class of 
 burghers, whereby Henry the Fowler has merited to be 
 viewed as in no small degree the founder of all modern 
 civilisation. It is true that he could not contemplate 
 all the effects of his own measure ; of part, indeed, he 
 could not have the slightest conception. This does not 
 detract from the wisdom and benevolence of his purpose, 
 in contending with the reluctance of the German tribes 
 of his kingdom, who, accustomed as they were to vaga- 
 bond licence, unwillingly sat down in walled towns, 
 and looked upon these sanctuaries of popular rights as 
 prisons. To counterweigh these prejudices, Henry con-
 
 2G HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 9^9' 
 
 ferred on the towns a number of important favours 
 and jjrivileges ; which, in many points, placed the 
 burghers on an equaHty with the nobles. The lesser 
 nobles themselves, who, as we have seen, were elsewhere 
 exposed to oppression by the powerful men of their own 
 order, received, along with ordinary freemen, a due 
 share in the management of civic concerns. All the 
 other settlers, moreover, were looked upon as freemen, 
 with the exception of those who were bondsmen of con- 
 vents or cloisters already existing within the walls of the 
 town. Thus, at the sides of the nobles and the clergy 
 arose a new class — that of the burghers ; which, in the 
 sequel, came to take part in the municipal administra- 
 tion, and assert a higher degree of independence. 
 
 It is probable that Henry saw, in his new municipal- 
 ities, the cradle of a third estate in his kingdom : it is 
 certain, at least, that the birth of a rival and formidable 
 interest was viewed with jealousy by the higher nobles 
 and clergy. These tyrants had extended their powers 
 arbitrarily, not only over their vassals, but over those 
 who might at any time have voluntarily courted their 
 protection. They demanded of them new contributions 
 and services. Freeholders, or freemen, were descend- 
 ants, for the most part, from the race of the Frank con- 
 querors. Some of them, indeed, were descendants of the 
 conquered; to whom freedom had, at different times, 
 been conceded. Almost every where, however, they 
 lived mixed and confused with bondsmen, and did not 
 always keep a jealous watch for the maintenance of their 
 freedom. Thus, amidst the pressure of warfare, indi- 
 gence, and ignorance, freemen were confounded with, 
 and counted for, serfs. Such was the state of things 
 throughout Switzerland ; it was such, indeed, through- 
 out the German empire universally. The free class of 
 the common people was almost entirely extinguished ; 
 and the German race was nearly reduced to the state of 
 so many others. From this degradation Henry's insti- 
 tution of towns rescued it. The inhabitants of these 
 towns, fortified by strong walls and close internal union,
 
 936. GROWTH OF TOWNS. 27 
 
 could defend themselves from all assaults of violence^ — 
 could harbour the oppressed, as guests or citizens, — and 
 could reinforce their internal strength by alHances. In 
 effect, the burghers could soon bid defiance to the 
 nobles, and even balance the political weight of the 
 clergy. It was not long before the towns committed 
 themselves in strong and successful rivalship with these 
 formidable influences. While the nobles were im- 
 poverished by disastrous feuds, by senseless extrava- 
 gance, by changes in the value of commodities, &c. ; the 
 towns, on the other hand, flourished in the possession of 
 free constitutions, active traffic, wealth, power," and im- 
 perial favour, — as they supported the emperor's warHke 
 undertakings with men and money, and on all occasions 
 adhered to him more faithfully than the nobles. Such 
 was the rise of Henry's institution ; not, indeed, sud- 
 den, as if by the stroke of a magic wand, but vigorous, 
 though gradual in its progress. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 DYNASTY OP Z.BRINGEN IN HELVETIA. 
 
 1090—1240. 
 
 POWER OF THE CHURCH. HENRY IV. POPE GREGORY VII. 
 
 DYNASTY OF Z^RINGEN IN HELVETIA. THE CRUSADES 
 
 THEIR EFFECTS. IMPROVED CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 BERCHTHOLD IV. AUGMENTS THE NUMBER OF FORTIFIED 
 
 TOWNS ENCOURAGES THE BURGHERS BY IMMUNITIES. BERCH- 
 THOLD V. LAYS THE FOUNDATIGN OF BERNE. ERECTS IT 
 
 INTO A FREE TOWN OF THE EMPIRE. REFUSES THE IM- 
 PERIAL CROWN. LAST OF THE LINE OF Z^RINGEN. 
 
 FREE MEN OF SCHWYTZ AFFORD THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION 
 OF THEIR EXISTENCE. 
 
 It was reserved for the eleventh century to see the 
 growth of a power which, under the banners of a sacred 
 institution, and through the union of invisible weapons 
 with others of more earthly temper, extended itself 
 equally over sovereigns and their subjects. Invariably 
 fixed on one purpose ; apparently quiet, as long as no
 
 28 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 103Q. 
 
 occasion offered for acting ; pliant and flexible under 
 the pressure of fear for its own safety, and ever prompt 
 and dexterous in the use of opportunities ; it had formed 
 and matured a regular offensive system, with formidable 
 resources and auxiliaries ; and only required a daring 
 leader, a suitable field, and careless opponents, to show 
 itself in its whole extent and under its true colours. 
 
 Helvetia hoped in vain to enjoy repose beneath the 
 wide-extended wing of the German empire. The obsti- 
 nate, protracted, and destructive strife which raged 
 between the emperor and the pope, engendered the 
 most violent disorders even in its mountain recesses. 
 During a century and a half, the German empire had 
 been governed by a vigorous line of princes, who raised 
 the imperial power to such a pitch, that the revival of a 
 dominion such as Charlemagne had planned did not 
 appear beyond the bounds of possibility. The rise of 
 such an enormous power was prevented by the papacy. 
 Hitherto the popes had been under the sovereignty of 
 the emperors; the influence of the latter had decided 
 their elections, and superintended aU their proceedings. 
 The popes had long wished to be freed from this bur- 
 densome supervision. Many members of the clergy 
 likewise, tired of a state of tutelage under their arch- 
 bishops and bishops, hoped to gain a freer field of action^ 
 by magnifying the more distant authority of the papacy. 
 The popes, besides, well knew how to take advantage of 
 the weakness and dissensions of the secular powers ; 
 their disputes with the princes or bishops ; the love of 
 freedom in the towns ; the love of power in the nobles ; 
 but especially of those cases in which the emperors 
 sought papal mediation and arbitrement. Even in the 
 reign of Henry II., whose attachment to the priesthood 
 may probably have gone farther towards procuring the 
 honour of saintship for him than even the strict piety of 
 his life, the imperial confirmation of the papal election 
 was no longer treated as necessary. The emperor Con- 
 rad, busied with other matters, did not attend to Rome. 
 But^ in 1039, the imperial throne was ascended by his
 
 1056. HENRY IV. GREGORY VII. 29 
 
 son, under the title of Henry III. Since Charlemagne, 
 no prince had stood at the head of the German people, 
 who with such energy preserved the imperial dignity 
 inviolate, and ruled with so much vigour every part of 
 his extended empire. After many great undertakings, 
 he had leisure to turn his eyes towards Rome, which was 
 at that time distracted by the contending claims of three 
 popes. Henry deposed all three, and re-established the 
 ordinance that no papal election was valid without the 
 imperial confirmation. So long as he lived, German 
 prelates occupied exclusively the papal chair; but his suc- 
 cessors in vain sought to maintain a similar infiuence. 
 
 On the demise of Henry III., in 1056", the imperial 
 crown descended on the head of his son, Henry IV. ; 
 who, at the time of his father's death, was a child of 
 less than six years old. He gave evidence, at an early 
 age, of great qualities, of a fiery spirit, and chivalrous 
 disposition. He was spoiled, however, to such a 
 degree by the injudicious treatment of his guardians, 
 that his noble natural faculties were defaced, — without, 
 however, being utterly extinguished,— by wanton levity, 
 pride, passion, vindictiveness, and boundless ambition. 
 Under his reign, the discord between emperors and popes 
 broke out into open warfare, which raged through nearly 
 half a century, and at a later period blazed out anew. 
 
 Contemporary with Henry IV. was Hildebrand, better 
 known by the name of pope Gregory VII. Few cha- 
 racters in history have been eulogised or censured with 
 more vehemence than that of this prelate. Some have 
 represented him as a monster in human shape, — 
 nay, with a laughable distortion of his name, as a 
 hell-brand. Others paint him in angel hues, as an 
 honour to human nature. Neither side pays any regard 
 to truth. Born at Siena or Saone, an Italian town, 
 the son of a blacksmith, Hildebrand entered early into 
 the spiritual profession. He showed talents of a high 
 order; was invited to the papal court; and here, by that 
 ascendency which belongs to great over common minds, 
 he soon became the soul of all undertakings. He had
 
 30 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1073. 
 
 set it before him as the aim of his life, to exalt the suc- 
 cessor of St. Peter, the delegate of God upon earth, over 
 all kings and princes, and to annihilate the influence of 
 the emperor, as of every other secular ruler, in eccle- 
 siastical matters. This plan was followed by Gregory 
 throughout his whole life with such skill, perseverance, 
 strength, and singleness of purpose, as to rank him 
 amongst the most extraordinary characters in history. 
 In his times the grossest disorders and abuses had crept 
 in amongst the higher and lower clergy. Extravagance, 
 immorality, vice of every kind, had ceased to be a rarity 
 amongst them ; and, as the dignities of the church were 
 bought and sold, the most unworthy were often found 
 in the highest places. Inspired with the most ardent 
 zeal for the freedom of the churchy and for the morality 
 of the spiritual order, Hildebrand resolved to lay the 
 axe to the root of these evils. Even while only papal 
 chancellor, he toiled towards his end by multiplied ordi- 
 nances ; and when he deemed every thing ripe for his 
 grand object, he ascended at length the papal throne, as 
 Gregory VII., A. d. 1073. Having contrived to obtain 
 the emperor's assent to his nomination, though the 
 election had already taken place without his concurrence, 
 Gregory at once set to work in the accomplishment of 
 his schemes against the secular power ; and struck the 
 first blow in the year 1075. A triple and solemn pro- 
 hibition went forth to the clergy on the several points 
 of celibacy, simony, and investiture. 
 
 The blow was now struck ~ the measures of Gregory 
 fell like lightning from heaven ; and the conflagration 
 threatened to involve all Germany. The spiritual and 
 secular powers stepped into the lists, and struggled for 
 superiority ;. — the one with the aid of abused faith and 
 the most audacious assumptions ; the other, backed by 
 the sword, and based on titles hallowed by centuries. 
 
 It was not surprising that Henry should oppose with 
 his whole power the papal ordinances, which endangered 
 to such a degree the imperial dignity. But the pope also 
 put forth his utmost strength, and found numerous ad-
 
 1075. EXCOMMUNICATION OP THE EMPEROR. 3l 
 
 herents among the discontented nobles. A schism took 
 place throughout the whole empire. Provinces^ arch- 
 bishoprics, towns, monasteries, — nay, many private 
 families, — were the prey of internal divisions. Sincerity 
 and confidence, the corner-stones of human society, 
 seemed to disappear from the earth. Subjects revolted 
 against their princes ; children took arms against their 
 parents. All the bonds of family affection were loosed ; 
 and what mankind had regarded hitherto as holy and in- 
 violable, was trodden under foot with contempt. When 
 the papal anathema finally went forth against the emperor, 
 %vhile, on the other hand, the ban of the empire fell on 
 his opponents, confusion reached its highest pitch ; and, 
 besides the grand struggle which was soon to begin, a 
 thousand petty feuds broke out through the whole extent 
 of the empire ; which were fought for and against pope 
 and emperor, often indeed merely under cover of their 
 names, for the gratification of private rapacity, passion, 
 or some long-cherished hatred. 
 
 Helvetia, at this period, offered no agreeable aspect. 
 Its first and most powerful prince, duke Rudolf of 
 Swabia, along wi'ili Berchthold of Zteringen, duke of 
 Carinthia, and many other princes, had revolted from the 
 emperor. The country was divided betwixt the parties : 
 Rudolph was ascendant in Swabia; the emperor, in 
 Burgundian Helvetia. 
 
 Through the excommunication launched against Henry, 
 Gregory freed from their oaths of allegiance all the impe- 
 rial vassals and subjects, and solemnly declared that even 
 emperors, kings, and princes, with all their powers, were 
 subject to him, the pope ; who, as divine plenipotentiary, 
 was warranted to give and take away thrones. Gregory 
 was resolved to try the first application of this principle 
 on the emperor himself, the first of secular princes, — 
 an enterprise in which success was possible ; the rather 
 that Henry, in the heart of his empire, had powerful 
 enemies, who would willingly see him humbled, even 
 partly at their own expense. Henry, in whom Gre- 
 gory's measure excited rage rather than fear, as the
 
 32 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1076. 
 
 invisible power of the papal anathema was not yet known 
 by experience, retorted by a scornful deposition of the 
 pope. Thereupon the latter lanched a nev/ excom- 
 munication, and pronounced the deposition of the em- 
 peror himself. An impression most unfavourable to 
 Henry was produced by this extraordinary measure. His 
 enemies exulted ; for their cause had now become that 
 of the church, and their customary war-cry from thence- 
 forward was " St. Peter." Henry's friends became dis- 
 couraged; and events took such a turn, that the princes 
 at length threatened to give effect to the papal sentence, 
 if Henry did not clear himself from it within the term 
 of a year. Had the latter been a man of blameless cha- 
 racter, the power of a mere word could not have struck 
 him down thus ; for the word itself acquired its irre- 
 sistible effect entirely through the public opinion. But 
 his errors and presumption had made him enemies in- 
 numerable, who now were glad to veil their revenge with 
 the pretext of religion. In this situation, the emperor 
 had no resource left but to creep with his wife and 
 children into Italy, in the depth of winter, amidst un- 
 heard-of difficulties and dangers, without money, without 
 escort, through the mountain passes occupied by Rudolf 
 and the rest of his enemies. On his arrival, he was 
 hailed with loud acclamations by his Lombard vassals ; 
 and nothing but that want of true spirit, which depresses 
 the presumptuous in the day of iU fortune, could have 
 prevented him from marching on the pope at the head 
 of an army, and induced him to prefer imploring 
 remission of the sentence at the price of the hardest con- 
 ditions and the deepest humiliations. With rage and 
 revenge in his heart, he returned to Germany. Here 
 he found duke Rudolf of Swabia enthroned as anti- 
 Cffisar. But he found, too, a strong party of adherents, 
 in the free towns, in the clergy, who were mostly averse 
 to Gregory's innovations ; and amongst aU who felt in- 
 dignation for the dishonour done to the German name, 
 and sympathy for their deeply humbled emperor. Now 
 began a war of extermination, by which even a large
 
 1085. DEATH OP GREGORY. 53 
 
 portion of Helvetia was depopulated. Gregory, who at 
 first regarded the scene of confusion quietly, now ful- 
 minated new excommunications, but in vain. In vain 
 he sent his favourite Rudolf a consecrated crown, with 
 the arrogant inscription, " Fetra dedlt Petro, Petrus 
 diadema Rodolfo." The fortune of war declared itself 
 in favour of Henry. In a decisive battle at Merseburg, 
 in 1080, Rudolf was mortally wounded, and his hand, 
 which had been cut off in the combat, being shown him, 
 he is said to have to have repentantly exclaimed, "That 
 is the hand which I pledged in swearing fealty to the 
 emperor ! " His fall was regarded as a judgment of God, 
 and Henry's adherents gained the ascendency. The 
 archbishop Gilbert of Ravenna was elected anti-pope, as 
 Clement III. Gregory, banished from Rome, died in 
 exile at Salerno, A.D. 1085. Henry's subsequent for- 
 tunes, the rebellion of his sons, and his death in the 
 year II06, do not concern the history of Switzerland so 
 much as the foregoing occurrences. The main dispute 
 was smoothed by a tardy compromise, in 1122. between 
 Henry V. and Pope Calixtus II. The pope retained 
 investiture by ring and staff, as a symbol of his spiritual 
 jurisdiction. Enfeoffment of secular possessions, with 
 the sceptre, was recognised as belonging to the emperor. 
 But the conflict between spiritual and secular supremacy 
 %vas not to be stilled for any lengthened period. 
 
 After the fall of Rudolf of Swabia, the anti-Caesar, at 
 Merseburg, his vacant dukedom was bestowed by the 
 victorious Henry IV. on his son-in-law Frederick of 
 Hohenstaufen. Rudolf's son, count Berchthold of 
 Rheinfelden, contested, in a long war, the possession of 
 his father's domain, with its new owner. Berchthold 
 died in the year IO9O, by which event the rights of the 
 count of Rheinfelden were transmitted to his brother-in- 
 law Berchthold II. of Zaeringen. The nobles in Ulm 
 recognised the new duke immediately, and tendered 
 him the oath of allegiance. Frederick of Hohenstaufen 
 prepared for a renewal of the war with fresh vigour ; 
 but Berchthold well knew that the land was tired out
 
 34; HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1097. 
 
 by protracted vexations, and he himself preferred a 
 moderate fortune to the doubtful issue of warfare. He, 
 therefore, appeared in the presence of the emperor at 
 the diet of Mentz, in 1097, and there surrendered the 
 ducal office and dignity into Frederick's hands, termin- 
 ating by this submission the four and twenty years' hos- 
 tility, maintained by his house against Henry IV. As 
 a recompense for this renunciation, Henry shared the 
 sometime duchy of Swabia or Alemannia between the 
 two candidates, so that Swabia properly so called was 
 allotted to Frederick, while Helvetia was conferred upon 
 Berchthold, almost in its present extent. This arrange- 
 ment finally separated Swabia from Helvetia, and ex- 
 tinguished the very name of Alemannia. Thus the 
 land was tranquillised ; and thus the beneficent powers 
 of the princes of Zseringen was established in Helvetia. 
 They found the land in a far from happy condition. 
 Long and furious warfare had engendered insecu- 
 rity, immorality, distress, and disorder. On the other 
 hand, foundations pious and useful for the times, in- 
 creased in number, and promoted culture physical and 
 moral. The towns, too, acquired more and more im- 
 portance ; on the whole, the accession of the dynasty of 
 Zseringen seemed to announce an era of more general 
 well-being. 
 
 While such were the mutual relations between Ger- 
 many and Helvetia, a series of events, of which the first 
 scene lay in Asia, produced effects in the whole of 
 of Christian Europe, which for their magnitude may 
 well claim attention. 
 
 The more difficult it is to infuse new ideas into man- 
 kind, the more strongly such ideas work when once they 
 have found entrance. As several of the nations of an- 
 tiquity were accustomed to visit sites supposed holy, 
 where oracles were uttered or any other wonders worked, 
 as the Jews performed certain religious exercises only 
 in the temple of Jerusalem, even so an opinion spread 
 in the course of ages amongst Christians, that pilgrim- 
 ages or travels to remote places, to which especial
 
 1099- THE CRUSADES. 35 
 
 sacredness was attributed, — prayers and penance offered 
 up in such places, — must have efficacy far superior to 
 that of acts of simple piety confined within the circle of 
 home. Pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre became more 
 and more frequent ; and so long as the Arabian power 
 extended over Palestine, the Christian pilgrims met with 
 mild treatinent. But when the Arabs were forced to 
 yield to the Seldschuk Turks, the pilgrims were often 
 treated with harshness and cruelty by the latter. The 
 conviction at length arose, that it was a duty to reclaim 
 the holy place from such hands. Peter of Amiens, a 
 hermit of doubtful character, brought the long collected 
 elements of wrath to an explosion. The pope, who 
 might be well assured of gaining a great influence in 
 the guidance of the popular force, and even over the 
 princes, promised absolution of sins and a crown of 
 eternal glory to all who should join the holy expedition. 
 In the year 1090, the first crusading army set out, 
 composed of numerous volunteers, in great part from 
 France. In 1099^ they made themselves masters of 
 Jerusalem and the neighbouring country. 
 
 At different times, after shorter or longer intervalsj 
 during the course of the two following centuries, em- 
 perors, kings, princes, bishops, dukes, counts, with a 
 multitude of priests and monks, whole bands of burghers 
 and peasantry, nay, troops of women, and even of chil- 
 dren, marched against the infidels. The first electric 
 impulse was renewed in the sequel, partly by similar 
 means of excitement, and partly to preserve from ruin the 
 newly estabhshed empire in the East. Rome neglected 
 no means of fuelling the zeal which had been spread 
 through all classes of society. In exact proportion as 
 the monarchs of Europe fixed their views on the East, 
 while they weakened their dominion at home, the papal 
 power was inevitably aggrandised ; and as these wars 
 were regarded as religious concerns, the spiritual autho- 
 rity was more than once successful in uniting the whole 
 forces of the ^V'est in its own hands. Incalculable 
 profits besides resulted to the clergy from the accom- 
 
 D 2
 
 36 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1100. 
 
 plishment of pious vows and donations, and to this ge- 
 neral movement many monasteries owe their origin. 
 These were founded by some count or baron, either in 
 fulfilment of a vow in time of need and peril ; or, in 
 order to testify gratitude for his fortunate return ; or, 
 finally, to close his life in practices of devotion. 
 
 As almost every great convulsion of nature or hu- 
 manity, notwithstanding all the mischief it may occasion, 
 directly or indirectly produces salutary consequences, so 
 from these expeditions, although their principal end was 
 attained in only a transient manner, and several succes- 
 sive generations suffered severely from them, there still 
 resillted many beneficial effects, and these were extended 
 widely over Helvetia. 
 
 Many noble lords had found their death in the cru- 
 sades ; many families were impoverished and forced to 
 alienate their properties. In this way the large landed 
 estates were brought into numerous hands, whereby 
 not only freemen but bondsmen improved their situation, 
 and were enabled to acquire property. The latter class 
 were treated with more humanity by their masters, lest 
 they should march off in a body with the crusaders ; 
 and received tracts of land from the owners for cul- 
 tivation, on the payment of ground rents and other dues. 
 Thus the vassals were encouraged to exertion and eco- 
 nomy ; many of them succeeded in still farther better- 
 ing iheir condition, and in buying off their old or recent 
 burdens and obligations. Similar acquisitions were also 
 made by the towns ; admission into which from this 
 period became easier for the vassals of the nobles. 
 
 Thus a gradually altered aspect was taken by Hel- 
 vetia, in common with the other lands on this side the 
 Alps, partly through the growth of the towns, partly 
 through the effects of the crusades. Improvements were 
 effected in agriculture. Not only many better modes 
 of laying out the land were introduced from the ex- 
 amples of other countries, but new species of vines, 
 fruit trees, vegetables, and grains were imported. The 
 dukes of Zeeringen^ besides that they possessed over
 
 1152. INCREASE OF TOWNS. $7 
 
 Helvetia the delegated prerogatives of the empire, owed 
 likewise to the free election of Zurich, and of other 
 towns, the office of their kast-vogt, or schirm-vogt, which 
 in Enghsh may be rendered warden, or patron. The 
 ecclesiastical estabHshments, not being in general suf- 
 ficiently armed against external violence, found it expe- 
 dient to have secular protectors, on whom they could 
 rely for safety and defence. They, of course, chose 
 some powerful lord ; and these in their turn, as the 
 office conveyed much power and influence, were ever 
 solicitous 10 obtain it : many even succeeded in making 
 it hereditary. In German the officer is called kast-vogt, 
 or schirm-vogt, which in some Latin muniments is 
 sometimes rendered castaldus, but more commonly ad- 
 vocatus. The cities and free states in their infancy 
 accepted likewise of such protectors, who afterwards 
 often became oppressors.* 
 
 In the year 1 1 52, Berchthold IV. stood at the head of 
 the house of Zaeringen. He had numerous dependants, 
 but even more numerous enemies, who envied his pre- 
 ponderant power. In order to keep these within bounds, 
 and to strengthen himself against the nobles of Bur- 
 gundy, Berchthold walled in many existing hamlets, or 
 built new towns, and gave them extraordinary privileges. 
 In these the love of freedom, of tranquillity, or of 
 profit, collected together a multitude of persons, who 
 naturally adhered with steady fidelity to the duke, by 
 whom their new position had been given, and was 
 secured to them. On the other hand, the duke in- 
 truded no one as a citizen, nor prevented any from 
 changing their places of residence at pleasure ; so that 
 free and bondsmen vied with each other in pressing into 
 the towns. The latter became free when their masters 
 did not claim them within the term of one year, and 
 prove their vassalage by the oath of seven witnesses. The 
 burghers imposed taxes on themselves. They were 
 obliged to march no farther in the wars of the duke 
 than so that they might still sleep at home the same 
 * Planta, vol. i. p. 112. 
 n 3
 
 38 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1178. 
 
 night. Every burgher must possess a house, as pledge 
 of his allegiance. In good or evil fortune they stood 
 each for all, and all for each. Thus simple were the laws 
 and customs observed by the rising class of burghers. 
 These laws and regulations, indeed, were calculated, not 
 for the general good of a state, but for a single town, 
 and for those who belonged to it. This apparent selfish- 
 ness may be pardoned, if we recollect the necessities and 
 circumstances of the period. At the time when towns 
 were founded, nothing like patriotism, far less zeal for 
 the general rights of humanity, could exist. The burgher 
 who was heartily attached to his town, and the knight 
 who cherished love for his prince, and cultivated the 
 virtues of his order, was regarded as fulfilling his whole 
 duties. For in those times the burgher viewed his town 
 in the light of his father-land, and the citizen knew no 
 state but the court of his prince. A closer bond between 
 the individual parts of a commonwealth, the sacrifice of 
 private to public interests, respect for the rights of 
 others, in a word, a general love of country, was the 
 product of a more advanced age. Besides, the nobles 
 and clergy strove with their whole strength to keep down 
 the growing power of the citizens. This imposed on 
 them the most vigilant regard to their own interests, and 
 the most complete union among themselves, so that the 
 well-being of others could not be taken into account. 
 
 Berchthold V. followed the example of his father in 
 laying the foundations of towns ; for the dukes of Zae- 
 ringen governed on a plan grounded upon, or rather 
 prescribed by, the circumstances of the times. They 
 found their power menaced by the nobiUty, and were 
 therefore obliged to seek its humiliation. All the nobles 
 of Burgimdy revolted from the government of Berch- 
 thold v., so that he was forced to live in a state of open 
 warfare with his subjects. The duke twice defeated the 
 insurgents. 
 
 About this time he formed the hamlets of Burgdorf 
 and Moudon into little towns ; yet he still sought a more 
 advantageous site, which should be nearer the possessions
 
 1191. BUILDING OF BERNE. SQ 
 
 of his enemies, and such that the foundation of a town 
 upon it should cause no apprehensions to his adherents. 
 A Uttle hamlet, called Berne, lay near the fortress of 
 Nydeck, on a peninsula which is washed by the Aar. 
 The banks of the rapidly flowing stream are on all sides 
 high and steep. On the site of the present town lay a 
 considerable pasture ground, and behind it a thick wood. 
 On every side were visible only a few farm-houses and 
 villages. The strong-holds of the nobles frowned from 
 every height in the neighbourhood. 
 
 About a month after Berchthold had defeated them, he 
 commissioned Cuno of Bubenberg to surround Berne 
 with walls. Cuno exceeded the prescribed extent of 
 ground, and soon afterAvards it was thought fit to extend 
 still further the limits which he had set to the town. 
 For a long time the duration of the new town seemed 
 doubtful. The climate was raw, the region unattrac- 
 tive, the enemy's vicinity dangerous. To counterbalance 
 these disadvantages, however, Berchthold placed it as a 
 free town of the empire, under the emperor's immediate 
 protection, and thus rendered it independent of his own 
 house for the future. Allured by this extraordinary 
 boon, many of the inferior nobles, who valued freedom, 
 which they could not enjoy in a state of isolation, 
 gathered themselves together into the town, to secure by 
 brotherly union this most precious of all possessions. 
 Such were, for example, the Erlachs, Bubenbergs, and 
 Miihlerers. Numerous artificers were attracted by hopes 
 of profit. Even in its increased extent the town could 
 not contain the increasing multitudes ; and as the land- 
 owners preferred besides to live upon their property, 
 Berne acquired many out-burghers, who added much to 
 her strength. 
 
 Soon after this epoch, Berchthold fell into a feud with 
 the imperial house. The emperor Henry VI. died be- 
 fore it was well finished. Many German princes now 
 wished to place the crown upon the head of duke Berch- 
 tholdj partly moved by hatred to the house of Hohen- 
 
 D 4
 
 40 HISTORY OF SWITZKRLAND. 119^ 
 
 staufen, which at that time sat upon the throne, and 
 partly hy respect to that of ZiEringen. A succession of 
 iive admirable princes had inspired a good opinion of 
 this noble stem, which seemed exactly suited, by its 
 wealth and power, to maintain the imperial rank in a dig- 
 nified manner. Although, however, Berchthold loved, at 
 other times, to aggrandise his power by any means, some- 
 times, indeed, more dexterously than honourably, yet 
 he declined, with prudent modesty, this perilous eleva- 
 tion ; and renounced a claim which, even with arms in 
 his hands, he could not have well supported ; as he had 
 reason to fear the worst from the disaffection of his 
 Burgundian subjects, and had learned, by striking ex- 
 amples, that their fidelity was not much to be depended 
 upon in warfare. But, in any event, Berchthold could be 
 but a powerless emperor, and accordingly preferred to be 
 a powerful duke. For the renunciation of the throne, he 
 received compensation from Philip the brother of the 
 late emperor, and lived in peace then cef or wards with 
 the imperial house of Hohenstaufen. Twenty years 
 longer he administered his domains with uninterrupted 
 prosperity and glory. He surpassed all the princes of 
 ihe empire in wealth, in power, and in reputation ; and 
 reigned a true father of his people, as well as a firm 
 sovereign of his nobles. His arms were, in general, 
 victorious ; although, through the unfaithfulness of his 
 armies, he experienced the mutability of fortune. He 
 was the last of his race, his sons having died before 
 him, and he followed them on the 14th of February, 
 1218. 
 
 It was probably not so much from love of freedom 
 that the princes of the Zaeringen line took part with the 
 towns and the people, as because they wished to triumph 
 by the aid of the towns and the people over the power- 
 ful disaffected nobility. This object being nearly ac- 
 complished, the line became extinct, without having 
 stained its reputation by completing its dominion over 
 Helvetia through the subjection of the burghers and the 
 peasantry.
 
 1218. FREE MEN OF SCHVVYTZ. 41 
 
 Under the dynasty of Zseringen, in the midst of so 
 many bishops, counts, and burgher-corporations, the 
 name of die free men of Schwytz was, for the first time, 
 heard in a dispute about their boundaries with Einsied- 
 len. These people had long Uved in the enjoyment of 
 tranquil happiness, subject to no one but to God and 
 to the empire. They had hitherto attracted so little 
 notice, that the monks of Einsiedlen were able to con- 
 ceal their very existence from the emperor. Henry II 
 had made a grant to these monks of the waste lands in 
 their neighbourhood. The abbot claimed as much as 
 he chose as waste and unenclosed land ; and accordingly 
 included in his claim the pastures, hiUs, and plains, be- 
 queathed to the men of Schwytz by their forefathers. 
 The country people, however, neither yielded to the 
 claims of the abbot, nor to the sentence of the em- 
 peror, and maintained their rights so strenuously under 
 Conrad III. of Hohenstaufen, that every effort employed 
 against them was fruitless, and even outlawry and ban 
 effected nothing. They maintained themselves by vi- 
 gour and resolution in their possessions, which were 
 finally secured to them by Frederick II., a better dis- 
 posed or better informed emperor.
 
 42 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1218. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 TIMES OF RUDOLPH AND ALBERT OF HAPSBURG. 
 
 1218—1308. 
 
 BIRTH OF RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG. HIS EARLY CONDUCT AND 
 
 CHARACTER. INTERREGNUM IN THE EMPIR|; FIRST LEAGUE 
 
 OF URI, SCHWYTZ, AND UNTERWALDEN WITH ZURICH. RUDOLPH 
 
 SUPPORTS THE TOWNS, AND EMPLOYS THEIR ARMS AGAINST 
 
 THE NOBLES. ACCEPTS THE VOGT-SHIP OF THE FOREST LANDS, 
 
 AND THE MILITARY COMMAND OF ZURICH. CONCILIATES THE 
 
 ABBOT OF ST. GALL, IN ORDER TO ATTACK THE BISHOP OF 
 
 BASLE. ELECTED EMPEROR. PARTIAL CHANGE IN HIS 
 
 CHARACTER. HIS FEUD WITH SAVOY. HIS FEUD WITH 
 
 BERNE. HIS DEATH. STATE OF THE EMPIRE. 
 
 The same year which witnessed the extinction of the 
 race of Za?ringen saw, in the birth of count Rudolph 
 of Hapsburg, the rise of a more illustrious dynasty. 
 The family from which he sprung was ancient and 
 powerful ; though Rudolph himself inherited from his 
 father, Albert IV., who died in a crusade in 1240, only 
 a moderate portion of lands and subjects. Most part of 
 the hereditary property of his house was in the hands 
 of his maternal uncle. As landgrave of Alsace, and 
 count of the Aargau, the power which Rudolph pos- 
 sessed was, by the ancient love of freedom subsisting 
 in the subject population, confined almost to the empty 
 name of lord of the land. Rudolph took possession of 
 this far from brilhant heritage with a temper of mind 
 impatient of its trammels ; and was impelled to seek, 
 by means of martial enterprise, a position more com- 
 mensurate with his wishes. At this epoch he was a 
 fiery youth of two and twenty, quahfied, by the pre- 
 possessing friendliness of his manners and address, to 
 awaken confidence in the hearts of all around him. In 
 every situation, oppressed with the greatest cares and
 
 1254. THE INTERREGNUM. 43 
 
 anxieties, Rudolph remained tranquil and cheerful. His 
 manners had the unconstrained simplicity and openness 
 which characterise a trxily great man. 
 
 At first, indeed, fired with impatience for higher for- 
 tunes, Rudolph despised the paths of timid prudence ; 
 and started, like a thoughtless, hot-headed youth in his 
 career. This excessive eagerness rather impeded than 
 aided his purposes. Before he had attained his fortieth 
 year, he had drawn on himself the hatred of his father's 
 relations, was disinherited by his uncle on the mother's 
 side, and excommunicated more than once by the 
 church. Afterwards, however, when such checks had 
 taught him prudence, and he had learned to subdue his 
 passions, his affairs took a better aspect. A memorable 
 evidence, observes Miiller, that fiery youths should 
 not allow the vigour which resides in them to be re- 
 laxed by disgust at the past errors of their youth, but 
 should manfully struggle onwards in unshaken hope of 
 better times. 
 
 About this period (1254) the extinction of the im- 
 perial house of Hohenstaufen took place ; and disorder 
 reached a higher pitch in Germany than ever, as the 
 empire remained long without a head. In these times, 
 which were called the Interregnum, injustice and violence 
 gained the upper hand in a frightful manner. The cor- 
 poral right of the strongest, called faustrecht, was the 
 only one which was held in any respect, and discord 
 rent asunder the bonds of order and morality. The 
 greater princes broke loose from their ties towards the 
 empire, waged wars amongst themselves, and were in no 
 haste to elect an emperor. The castles of the nobles, 
 which still frown on every eminence, were just so many 
 nests of birds of prey. Highway robbery was regarded 
 as a knightly sport, an honourable source of gain, or an 
 innocent amusement. Armed gangs lurked in every 
 corner, ready to pounce upon travellers, to levy contri- 
 butions on them, or rather to seize their whole property : 
 — happy were those allowed to escape with bare life and 
 freedom.
 
 41 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1250. 
 
 No German prince was willing to start as a candidate 
 for the crown, which an Englishman, duke Richard of 
 Cornwall, had shortly before actually bought of the 
 archbishops of Cologne and Mentz and the rest of the 
 electoral princes for a much larger amount of solid gold 
 than it was worth. So low had the opinion of the im- 
 perial dignity fallen, that it had now become an object 
 of distrust or contempt. Every one chose rather to take 
 advantage of the prevailing anarchy, in order, by oppres- 
 sion of the feeble, to promote his own personal aggran- 
 disement, than to join in any effort for the general 
 welfare. In circumstances like these, disorder neces- 
 sarily increased daily; acts of violence became more and 
 more frequent, so that the greater and lesser princes and 
 counts, prelates, knights, and towns, lived in perpetual 
 and destructive feuds with each other ; the stronger fell 
 on the weaker; and the well-disposed and peaceable 
 sighed with their whole soul for an emperor to protect 
 and defend them. 
 
 Shortly before this miserable epoch, in which Helvetia 
 with the rest of the German empire was delivered over to 
 every species of violence and injustice, the three districts 
 of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, closed their first league 
 for mutual aid and defence with Zurich. 
 
 It would have been easy for count Rudolph to co- 
 operate with the other nobility for the oppression of the 
 towns and rural districts of Helvetia. But he possessed 
 the rare faculty of extracting the best uses from all cir- 
 cumstances amongst which he lived, and preferred to 
 protect the citizens and country people against the vio- 
 lence of the great, and of the wild robber chivalry. As 
 mihtary commandant of the town and country districts, 
 by using the arms and treasures of the burghers, he un- 
 dermined in succession each of his noble rivals, of whom 
 many in birth and power were his equals, many his 
 superiors. The imperial towns and free lands in Hel- 
 vetia which would have found, but for Rudolph, no 
 protection against injuries, threw themselves uncon- 
 ditionally into his arms. The burghers^ whose civic
 
 1257' RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG. 45 
 
 rights and regulations had accustomed them more to 
 order and obedience than the nobles, chained conquest, 
 as it were, to the banners of Rudolph, through their dis- 
 cipline, the main requisite to military success. Their 
 industry and traffic furnished him with the means of 
 protracting, without damage to himself, feuds which 
 impoverished the nobility, and of winning superiority 
 by delay ; and as he constantly displayed affability 
 even towards the lowest, with all the other qualities 
 which most adorn princes, the good fortune by which 
 he never was forsaken won him the confidence and love 
 of the whole people, while similar good fortune in others 
 would only have awakened alarm and envy. 
 
 Rudolph's grandfather, in 1210, had obtained for his 
 house the vogt-ship, or office of imperial bailiff, over the 
 three lands of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden. This 
 vogt-ship was at that time felt as a burden by a free 
 people; and it was only with reluctance that they yielded 
 to necessity. Finally, in 1240, they were enabled to 
 shake it off. In the Italian wars of Frederick II. a 
 select band from the forest cantons served him with extra- 
 ordinary courage and fidehty. Even excommunication, 
 which terrified so many, could effect no alteration in their 
 fearless adherence. In return, and as a token of his 
 favour, Frederick relieved them from the vogt-ship of 
 Hapsburg, and gave to each district a charter of enfran- 
 chisement, importing that the men of Schwytz had of 
 their own accord chosen the immediate protection of the 
 emperor. But when this headless empire, in the years of 
 the interregnum, was turned into a theatre of discord, 
 and on every side was delivered up as a spoil to rapine 
 and violence, these districts voluntarily renewed the 
 abolished office in 1257, in order to acquire in Ru- 
 dolph of Hapsburg a powerful ally — a generally be- 
 loved and brave leader. Shortly afterwards Zurich 
 also conferred on him the office of her military pro- 
 tector, which had already been refused by the arrogant 
 baron Luthold of Regensberg, who, according to his own 
 expression, regarded the town as caught in a net, sur-
 
 46' HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1266. 
 
 rounded as it was by his castles. From 1266 to 1268 these 
 fortresses of his were taken one by one by those burghers 
 whose alliance he had repelled, led by the holder of that 
 office which he had scornfully rejected. Utzenberg, a 
 fortress of Luthold's ally, the count of Toggenburg, had 
 the same fate, and the trade of Zurich flourished in 
 greater security. 
 
 Thus Rudolph supported the towns and rural dis- 
 tricts, and employed their co-operation, in return, to 
 break the force of his own personal antagonists. While 
 his feud continued yet undecided with Regensberg and 
 Toggenburg, and in order to meet with less divided 
 forces the bishop of Basle, against whom he was also 
 engaged in hostilities, he disarmed, by friendly surprise 
 and cordial advances, abbot Berchthold of St. Gall, who 
 was already preparing to take the field against him. The 
 abbot now supported instead of opposing him : the town 
 of Basle soon came to terms : the bishop also, after his 
 lands had been laid waste, purchased peace. This was, 
 however, not of long continuance : hostilities were re- 
 newed upon the first pretence which offered; and Rudolph 
 again laid siege to the town in 1273, when the intelli- 
 gence arrived that the electors assembled at Frankfort 
 had chosen him for emperor, on the ground that he was 
 one of the most upright in times of prevalent injustice. 
 His election had been principally owing to the influence 
 of Werner, archbishop of Mentz, who, on a journey 
 several years before into Italy, had been treated in an 
 uncommonly friendly manner by the pious count Ru- 
 dolph of Hapsburg; and had said to him on taking leave 
 that he only hoped to live long enough in some degree 
 to repay his kindness. Now when, on the death of 
 Richard of Cornwall, those princes who assumed to them- 
 selves the right of election to the vacant throne were 
 assembled for that purpose at Frankfort, he proposed to 
 them the pious count of Hapsburg, as the worthiest 
 possible object for their choice. The burggrave Fre- 
 derick of Nuremberg, a near relation of Rudolph, echoed 
 his praises ; and as most of the electors chanced to be
 
 1285. CHANGE IN Rudolph's character. 47 
 
 unmarried men, he hinted to them that Rudolph had six 
 daughters at their disposal in marriage. Upon this hint^ 
 the affair was arranged with marvellous celerity, and the 
 election to the empire wore the air of a family compact. 
 Basle opened her gates to the new emperor ; while the 
 bishop, almost beside himself with rage and conster- 
 nation, cried, Lord God ! set thyself fast upon thy throne, 
 else surely will this Rudolph pluck thee down from it. 
 
 Rudolph, however, was not to be dazzled by the bril- 
 liance of his new elevation, as little souls are apt to be on 
 less accessions of dignity. He preserved his affability, 
 forgot not his old friends; and it was long before " com- 
 modity, the bias of the world," made him deviate from the 
 wise moderation displayed in the first years of his govern- 
 ment. He not only continued the chartered franchises of 
 the imperial towns and territories in Switzerland, but also 
 those of Lucerne, Soleure, Schaffhausen, Mulhausen, 
 and others. He raised the abbot of Einsiedlen and the 
 bishop of Lausanne to the chgnity of princes of the em- 
 pire. On the other hand, in recompense for his benefits, 
 he enjoyed the firm adherence of the mass of the po- 
 pulation. Auxiliaries fron; Switzerland distinguished 
 themselves fighting at his side against the powerful king 
 of Bohemia. The men of Zurich formed part of his 
 body guard, and the treasures of the town supplied him 
 with loans. 
 
 But with the increase of the emperor's fortune some 
 alteration took place, during the latter years of his go- 
 vernment, in the uprightness of his character. Like 
 most princes, whose throne is not hereditary, he sought 
 to aggrandise his house by every means during his life- 
 time. Already, with the consent of the German princes, 
 he had raised his sons, Rudolph and Albert, to the duke- 
 doms of Swabia and of Austria. He next turned his 
 views upon Helvetia, and commenced hostile measures 
 against Berne and Savoy. Rudolph had conceived the 
 idea of restoring the old kingdom of Burgundy, for the 
 benefit of his favourite son Hartmann: this involved him 
 iu warfare with the house of Savoy, whose possessions
 
 4-8 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1288. 
 
 vere put in jeopardy by his project. The emperor made 
 two successful campaigns against this house ; but the 
 object of his whole undertaking was frustrated by the 
 early death of Hartmann, who was drowned in the 
 Rhine. 
 
 Not more fortunate in its issue was the feud of Ru- 
 dolph with Berne, whicli he besieged with 15,000 men 
 in 1288. He was soon, however, obliged to draw off 
 his forces, as the military skill of those times could effect 
 nothing against a town surrounded on three sides by a 
 rapid stream, protected by steep banks and walls, and 
 defended by stout burghers. An attempt to take the 
 town by surprise in the following year was frustrated by 
 the resolute self-devotion of the citizens, and the timely 
 aid of Wale of Gruyeres. From this time forth the 
 emperor ceased to meddle much with Helvetia ; and, 
 three years afterwards, death put an end to his far-pro- 
 spective purposes. Eighteen years after his accession to 
 the throne, or, to use the expression ascribed to himself, 
 '^ after he had been raised from the hut of his father to 
 the palace of the emperor," in the seventy-fourth year 
 of his age, he fell ill on a journey to Spires, and died at 
 the town of Germersheim, which he himself had founded. 
 Except when the ambition to enlarge his domains misled 
 him into abuse of his good fortune, his dealings had 
 been mostly upright and equitable ; and so highly had 
 his administration in civil affairs been popular, that his 
 memory was long held in honour ; and " He has not 
 Rudolph's plain dealing ! " was a common saying in Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Although the restoration of peace in the empire pro- 
 cured safety and protection for the upper ranks, yet the 
 lower were still subjected to multiplied oppressions. In- 
 numerable castles of barons, counts, and other nobles, 
 were spread over the whole face of the country. "W^ith 
 the increased taste for splendour, excited by attendance 
 upon courts and tournaments, and with the discovery of 
 new modes of luxury, new wants were created in pro- 
 portion. These were supplied, in many cases, by rich
 
 1291. STATE OF THE EMPIRE. 49 
 
 revenues, water and land tolls, imposts and dues of dif- 
 ferent kinds, which were paid by serfs and vassals, ground 
 and quit rents, hens, eggs, &c. Others were not con- 
 tented with hereditary possessions. The emperor Albert 
 himself doubled the taxes in bis domains ; and many 
 powerfid men did the same. Similar sources of revenue 
 were enjoyed by the spiritual dignitaries and cloisters : 
 all of these, the mendicant orders only excepted, pos- 
 sessed sovereign power over their vassals. 
 
 From this time forward many monasteries succeeded, 
 through papal or episcopal favour, in appropriating to 
 themselves the tithes of churches and parishes: this was 
 called incorporating ; and the only charge Avhich lay upon 
 the new tithe impropriators was the acquittal of certain 
 very limited payments to the priests, with the additional 
 obligation, in some cases, of repairing the church build- 
 ings, and reUeving the poor. Many nobles sought and 
 found improvement of their fortunes in the holding of 
 offices under lords spiritual or secular ; and there were 
 others who, from this period till far into the following 
 century, drove a regular trade of robbery in the neigh- 
 bourhood of their strong-holds. They imposed contri- 
 butions on their neighbours, waylaid passing tradesmen 
 and travellers, sometimes took them prisoners, and com- 
 pelled them to pay ransoms. 
 
 Here and there bondsmen had succeeded in buying 
 themselves free of their obligations, or in holding their 
 lands as hereditary fiefs, in consideration of certain fixed 
 annual payments. Freedmen of this kind, indeed, as 
 yet were rare ; but out of them a new class of peasantry 
 gradually formed itself; and those who had bought them- 
 selves wholly free came at length to be ranked in the 
 same line with the previously existing class of freemen. 
 
 Heavy oppression, however, weighed on the great body 
 of bondsmen. They were bound to an infinite number of 
 services; chained to the glebe which they cultivated ; were 
 not even allowed to marry without leave from their lords; 
 and the children belonged to whatever master the parents 
 had belonged to. On the death of a serf, a portion more
 
 60 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ISpl- 
 
 or less of his effects^ such as his best head of cattle, his 
 oest clothes or arms, were regularly claimed by the lord. 
 Nevertheless the rights of the liege lord, as well as their 
 practical exercise, exhibited considerable varieties. 
 
 In the towns which exempted themselves by purchase 
 from their dues and obligations towards their spiritual 
 and temporal lords, or acquired extended franchises as a 
 reward for services done to the latter, knowledge, and 
 the arts of life diffused themselves. Since the close of 
 the twelfth century, the language of the country was 
 more and more employed in pubUc transactions, and now 
 began distinctly to assume that character from which 
 the modern German has developed itself. Those who 
 possessed superior knowledge were treated with respect ; 
 poetry became a favourite occupation among the culti- 
 vated part of the nobility, which formed in those times 
 a larger proportion than in the subsequent centuries; 
 and men of talent in the class of burghers united in the 
 same study. These poets, who received the name of 
 Minnesingers, selected the subjects of their verse from 
 the more tender passions, and the pleasures or vicissitudes 
 of life, and taught lessons of practical wisdom through 
 the medium of examples and apologues. In the towns 
 also, exclusively of the cloisters, schools were established, 
 which, notwithstanding their deficiencies, could not fail 
 to j)i-oduce good effects. 
 
 Through the unlimited power of the hierarchy, and 
 notwithstanding the energetic resistance of several bi- 
 shops and abbots, the opinion had been almost univer- 
 sally diffused, that whatever the church, that is to say, 
 the pope, erected as a rule of faith, must be received 
 with implicit credence ; and that out of the pale of that 
 church was no salvation. The conservation of what was 
 called the true faith was entrusted to the order of Do- 
 minicans. Imprisonment, torture, death at the stake, 
 were the destiny of heretics. But as the human mind 
 struggles with most vehemence under external pressure, 
 independent opinions became too rife to be crushed by 
 persecution : the eflPect of these was aided by the aban~
 
 1291. PAPAL ENCROACHMENTS. 51 
 
 doned lives of the clergy, of whom a large number were 
 hated by the people. The monaster of Rutiy near Rap- 
 persweil was pulled down, while yet unfinished, by the 
 neighbouring peasantry ; and while, on the one hand, 
 these foundations were enriched and muItipHed, on the 
 other they remained a constant mark for the rapacity of 
 the more powerful nobles. The authority of the papal 
 court itself often found in cloisters and monasteries the 
 most determined resistance ; and the earliest energetic 
 re-action against it was brought on by the unparalleled 
 assumptions of Boniface VII I ., the contemporary of Albert 
 of Hapsburg. This prelate had expUcitly advanced the 
 doctrine, that all secidar power was only held by princes in 
 trust from the pope, and remained at his discretion and 
 disposal . 1 1 was precisely this excess of oppression which, 
 as commonly is the case, brought the world by degrees to 
 its senses. The papal bulls were powerless against Philip 
 the Fair of France, although his character was by no 
 means free from blame. The pope's inflexibility in this 
 instance was of evil consequence only to himself; and 
 the power of princes, at least in temporal matters, be- 
 came gradually placed on a firmer footing. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 12Q1. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 ^RA OF HELVETIC EMANCIPATION. 
 
 1308—1334. 
 
 ALBERT OF HAPSBURG. AIMS AT ERECTING A DUKEDOM IN 
 
 HELVETIA. TYRANNY OF GESSLER AND BERENGER. OATH 
 
 OF RUTLI. WILLIAM TELL. — DEATH OF GESSLER. CAP- 
 TURE OF ROTZBERG AND SARNEN. LEAGUE OF THE THREE 
 
 FOREST CANTONS. DEATH OF ALBERT OF HAPSBURG. 
 
 CRUEL REVENGE FOR HIS MURDER. RECOGNITION OF SWISS 
 
 FREEDOM. ' — INVASION OF SWITZERLAND BY DDKE LEOPOLD. 
 
 BATTLE OF MORGARTEN. PERPETUAL CONFEDERACY OF 
 
 THE FOREST CANTONS. SIX YEARS* TRUCE WITH AUSTRIA. 
 
 SIEGE OF SOLEURE. MAGNANIMITY OF THE BESIEGED 
 
 BURGHERS. RENEWAL OF THE TRUCE WITH AUSTRIA. 
 
 RECEPTION OF LUCERNE IN THE CONFEDERACY. STATE OF 
 
 INDUSTRY COMMERCE AND RELIGION. 
 
 Albert, the eldest and sole surviving son of Rudolph 
 of Hapsburg, the founder of the imperial house of 
 Austria, united with undoubted bravery other respectable 
 qualities. But he was hard, unfeeling, rapacious and 
 unscrupulous in his views of aggrandisement. That 
 cheerful adhesion and confidence which had attended 
 his father's administration, and even the first years of 
 his own, were soon succeeded by opposite feelings. He 
 was feared by all, hated by many, loved by none, and 
 the father's truest friends were speedily alienated by the 
 son. No sooner had the men of Schwytz heard of his 
 accession, than they hastened to renew their league of 
 reciprocal protection. Albert was resolved to succeed to 
 all the honours of Rudolph, during whose lifetime at- 
 tempts had been made to secure the imperial crown for 
 him. At that time the princes had the prudence to defer 
 the nomination of an emperor. .But on Rudolph's death 
 Albert made so sure of the succession, that he seized on 
 the imperial insignia without waiting for the decision of 
 a diet. He now received the first proof of the disesteem 
 in which he was held, by his claims being entirely over- 
 looked in the election, which fell upon count Adolphus 
 of Nassau. But the new emperor possessing neither
 
 1298. Albert's vogts. 53 
 
 power nor popularity, and having besides contrived to 
 disoblige the archbishop of Mentz, whose influence had 
 a principal share in raising him to the throne, he was 
 very soon deposed from it, through the agency of that 
 prelate, at a diet of the electors held in JMentz ; and 
 Albert, who in the interim had conciliated their suf- 
 frages, was raised to the imperial throne in his stead. 
 This illegal act was shortly after ratified by the foitune 
 of war ; and in a final throw for empire, poor Adolphus 
 lost his crown and his life. 
 
 Albert aimed at erecting a new dukedom in Helvetia, 
 and at uniting all the scattered domains of his family 
 by the acquisition of whatever lands of others lay be- 
 tween them. He proposed to the free and contented 
 inhabitants of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, whose 
 districts inconveniently separated his rich possessions, to 
 exchange their direct dependence on the empire for the 
 more powerful and permanent protection of the house of 
 Austria. But the foresters viewed with fixed distrust 
 the advances of their emperor ; they were perfectly well 
 acquainted with the value of their own freedom, and 
 were the less likely to barter it for Austrian protection, 
 as they had long regarded with anxious apprehension 
 the increasing power acquired by the house of Hapsburg. 
 They accordingly made answer, that their only wish and 
 prayer was, to be left in the condition of their forefathers. 
 They begged that they might not be taken from under 
 the guardianship of the empire, and subjected to that of 
 any one prince in particular. Moreover, they demanded 
 the appointment of imperial commissaries (landvogts or 
 bailiffs), in order to be relieved from the administration 
 of Albert's officers, whom he had set over them, con- 
 trary to estabhshed rights and usages. Albert complied 
 with this demand ; but, in order to disunite and harass 
 them, he sent, instead of one vogt, two. These were, 
 Hermann Gessler of Brauneck, and Berenger of Lan- 
 denberg ; men of rude and imperious temper, who, as if 
 their master's instructions were not arbitrary and large 
 enough, interpreted them in the most extended sense, 
 
 E 3
 
 54 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ^'^QS. 
 
 and indulged their personal pride by a haughty deport- 
 ment towards the people, who were wholly unaccustomed 
 to such treatment. Remonstrances and complaints to 
 the emperor only redoubled the wrongs complained of; 
 and these were barbed by insults more provoking than 
 the wrongs themselves. Excessive tolls and duties, and 
 unprecedented imposts for the maintenance of garrisons, 
 formed an item in the list of grievances. Gessler built 
 a fortress at the foot of the St. Gothard, v/hich he inso- 
 lently named Uri's Restraint. Landenberg went on with 
 equal violence in Unterwalden, where Henry of Halden, 
 an aged and zealous friend of freedom, lived in the 
 Melchthal. Landenberg imposed the fine of a yoke 
 of oxen on this man, for some slight, or pretended 
 offence of his son, Arnold of the Melchthal. On his 
 hesitating to give them up, Landenberg's messenger 
 sneeringly said, that if the boors wished to have bread 
 to eat, they might draw the plough themselves. On 
 hearing this, the young man Arnold, yielding to a fit 
 of passion, broke one of the servant's fingers, and fled 
 from the bailiff's vengeance. Landenberg had the father 
 of the fugitive arrested, and demanded to know his son's 
 place of concealment. It was vain for the old man to 
 protest ignorance — not only were his oxen seized, and 
 a heavy fine imposed upon him, but his eyes were put out 
 to expiate the venial act of his son. That puncture, says 
 an old historian, went so deep into many a heart, that 
 many resolved to die rather than leave it unrequited. 
 
 Every act of Albert's vogts seemed purposely adapted 
 either to crush all independence of feeling, or to provoke 
 the people to some precipitate act of overt resistance. 
 Those whom the vogts thought fit to regard as dan- 
 gerous, were, in spite of the ancient popular franchises, 
 sent to foreign pi-isons. At Altorf, Gessler caused a hat 
 to be set upon a pole, as a symbol of the sovereign 
 power of Austria, and ordered that all who passed by 
 should uncover their heads, and bow before it. He 
 taunted W^erner Stauffacher, a freeman entitled to bear 
 arras, at Steinen, in the district of Schwytz, " that he, a
 
 1307. OATH OF RUTLI. 55 
 
 vile peasant, should have built himself a new house, 
 without asking permission of ids liege lords." This man, 
 who had the fortune to possess a wife of good under- 
 standing, communicated by her advice with other men 
 of like dispositions, who felt with pain equal to his own 
 the daily aggravated oppressions borne by their country- 
 men, as well as the affronts offered personally to diem- 
 selves. He selected for his first confidants, AV^alter 
 Fiirst of Uri, and the deeply aggrieved Arnold of tlie 
 Melchthal. They bound themselves by oath to endure 
 no longer the degrading wrongs inflicted on their coun- 
 trymen, to restore their ancient freedom, and to league 
 themselves for that purpose with other men deserving 
 of their confidence ; above all, to expel the domineering 
 vogts, but without throwing off their allegiance to the 
 emperor and the empire. 
 
 \\Tien one and the same resentment of injustice is 
 extended over whole tracts of country, the communi- 
 cations of resolute men are sure to be met speedily by 
 individual confidence and adhesion. Each of the sworn 
 confederates chose confidants. They were wont to as- 
 semble, at first accompanied only by few, in the dead of 
 night, at Ruth, a meadow slope under the Seelisberg by 
 the lake of Uri, to consult for the salvation of their 
 country, and to give and receive intelligence of the pro- 
 gress of their efforts, and the friends who had been won 
 to their cause. At length on Martinmas-eve (11th 
 November), 1307, Walter Furst, Werner Stauffacher, 
 and Arnold of the Melchthal, each brought to the ac- 
 customed place of rendezvous ten trusty companions, to 
 whom they had confided their enterprise. These three- 
 and thirty clasped each other's hands, and took a solemn 
 engagement that no one would ever desert the rest, and 
 that all would devote their united strength to restore 
 their invaded franchises, without, however, despoihng 
 others of their goods, their rights, or their lives. At 
 the moment when the beams of morning struck the 
 neighbouring Alps, and seemed as signal-fires to liglit 
 them on their enterprise, the three leaders raised their 
 
 E 4
 
 56 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1307. 
 
 hands with their comrades, and swore a league by that 
 God who fashioned all men for equal freedom. The 
 men of Scliwytz and Uri wished to proceed to the imme- 
 diate execution of their project ; but those of Unter- 
 ■vvalden, who did not feel assured that they could take 
 easy possession of the fortresses, advised delay, and 
 their reasons found acquiescence. 
 
 Soon after occurred the famous episode of William 
 Tell *, momentous to the main plot in its issue. This 
 man, who was one of the sworn at Rutli, and noted for 
 his high and daring spirit, exposed himself to arrest by 
 Gessler's myrmidons, for passing the hat without making 
 obeisance. T^^iispers of conspiracy had already reached 
 the vogt, and he expected to extract some farther 
 evidence from Tell on the subject. Offended by the 
 man's obstinate silence, he gave loose to his tyrannical 
 humour, and knowing that Tell was a good archer, 
 commanded him to shoot from a great distance at an 
 apple on the head of his child. God, says an old 
 chronicler, was with him ; and the vogt, who had not 
 expected such a specimen of skill and fortune, now cast 
 about for new ways to entrap the object of his malice ; 
 and, seeing a second arrow in his quiver, asked him 
 what that was for ? Tell replied, evasively, that such 
 was the usual practice of archers. Not content with 
 this reply, the vogt pressed on him farther, and assured 
 him of his life, whatever the arrow might have been 
 meant for. " Vogt," said Tell, " had I shot my child, 
 the second shaft was for thee ; and be sure I should 
 not have missed my mark a second time ! " Transported 
 with rage not unmixed with terror, Gessler exclaimed, 
 " TeU ! I have promised thee life, but thou shalt pass 
 it in a dungeon." Accordingly, he took boat with his 
 captive, intending to transport him across the lake to 
 Kussnacht in Schwytz, in defiance of the common right 
 of the district, which provided that its natives should 
 not be kept in confinement beyond its borders. A 
 sudden storm on the lake overtook the party ; and Gess- 
 
 * See the Appendix.
 
 1308. WILLIAM TELL. 5^ 
 
 ler was obliged to give orders to loose Tell from his 
 fetters, and commit the helm to his hands, as he was 
 known for a skilful steersman. Tell guided the vessel 
 to the foot of the great Axenberg, where a ledge of 
 rock, distinguished to the present day as Tell's platform, 
 presented itself as the only possible landing-place for 
 leagues around. Here he seized his cross-bow, and 
 escaped by a daring leap, leaving the skiff to wrestle its 
 way in the billows. The vogt also escaped the storm, 
 but only to meet a fate more signal from Tell's bow in 
 the narrow pass near Kussnacht. The tidings of his 
 death enhanced the courage of the people, but also 
 alarmed the vigilance of their rulers, and greatly in- 
 creased the dangers of the conspirators, who kept quiet. 
 These occurrences marked the close of 1307- 
 
 On new year's eve, 1308, the conspirators obtained 
 possession of the castle of Rotzberg in Nidwalden. A 
 girl had drawn one of them, who was her lover, up at 
 midnight, by a rope, into the castle ; by his assistance 
 twenty more were introduced in the same manner, and 
 the garrison, thus surprised, was overpowered without 
 difficulty. With morning-dawn, twenty men of Ober- 
 walden went with new year's presents to the castle at 
 Sarnen. Berenger, who was coming out to church, let 
 them enter the gates without hinderance, seeing them 
 unarmed. Whereupon they fixed on their staves the 
 pike-heads which they had carried concealed, and blew 
 the agreed signal-note on their horns to thirty others, 
 who lay in ambush and armed in the neighbouring 
 alders. These hastened up, and this formidable strong- 
 hold was thus captured almost without resistance. The 
 garrison was dismissed free, on taking a solemn engage- 
 ment not to revenge the past, and not to overstep their 
 assigned hmits. The triumphant people now demolished 
 several other fortresses, amongst the rest, the unhappy 
 Gessler's yet unfinished Restraint of Uri. The nobles 
 gladly joined the league of freemen and vassals, as they 
 preferred sharing their freedom, to becoming slaves 
 along with them- and on the following Sunday the
 
 1)8 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1308. 
 
 three lands engaged themselves reciprocally through 
 their envoys in the terms of the same oath which had 
 been taken at Ruth. But, as generally happens to the 
 founders of great changes, they were far from forming 
 an adequate idea of what they had done. 
 
 Albert, whose unquiet and grasping policy was con- 
 tinually provoking fresh enemies, had just seen his 
 project of annexing Bohemia to his family domains 
 frustrated, and in Thuringia his Swabian troops had 
 suffered a severe defeat. He heard with great indigna- 
 tion the revolt of the forest cantons ; but he wished 
 first to finish another feud which he had begun, with 
 slight pretence of right, against Otho of Granson, bishop 
 of Basle, and accordingly laid siege to his castle of 
 Furstenstein. At the same time, he forbade the inha- 
 bitants of Lucerne, Zug, and the rest of his subjects on 
 the frontiers, all intercourse with the forest cantons, and 
 excluded the latter from entrance into the markets of 
 the former. 
 
 Duke John, son of the late duke Rudolph, who had 
 already reached his twentieth year, and saw the sons of 
 the emperor enjoying high consideration and dignities, 
 had often begged the emperor, his uncle, to make over 
 to him his father's domains, or a part of them. But 
 the emperor put him off, and on the renewal of his 
 entreaties, is said to have reached him a coronet which 
 he had made of a broken twig, with the words, that this 
 would become him better than ruling lands and people. 
 The insulted youth knew that this refusal of the em- 
 peror was displeasing to both spiritual and temporal 
 lords ; he knew the hatred felt for Albert by the nobility 
 of the Thurgau and the Aargau (districts upon which 
 he himself had claims), and he also knew their favour- 
 able dispositions towards his own person. He seized 
 the opportunity of the emperor's return, on the 1 st of 
 May, 1308, to Rheinfelden from his castle at Baden, 
 where he had held a consultation with his intimate 
 advisers on his enterprise against the three cantons ; and 
 just as Albert had crossed the Reuss at Windisch, and
 
 130S. BEATH OF ALBERT. 50 
 
 was separated from the rest of his suite for a moment^ 
 duke John, bar jn Walter of Eschenbach, and Rudolph 
 of Balm fell upon him and murdered him in the face 
 of open day, and left him to die in the lap of a poor 
 woman on the spot. Terror and astonishment filled the 
 whole land. The inhabitants of Zurich shook the dust 
 from their gates, which had not been closed for thirty 
 years previously. It was dreaded by the emperor's 
 adherents that an extensive league had been formed 
 against his house. On the other hand, the blinded 
 assassins, after the deed was perpetrated, found out for 
 the first time their want of support from any quarter, 
 and now only endeavoured to save their lives by a 
 rapid flight. Elizabeth, the widow of the emperor, 
 came to a compromise with the bishop of Basle, and 
 issued warnings to the towns and villages not to give 
 harbour or concealment to the murderers. Hostile 
 preparations were not only suspended with regard to 
 the three cantons, but intercourse and transport of 
 goods were thrown open again between them and the 
 territories of Austria, and advances made to a friendly 
 understanding. They who only sought to maintain 
 their old rights, and their immediate connection with 
 the empire, behaved themselves throughout with moder- 
 ation and equity. 
 
 For some time after Albert's death, the house of 
 Austria directed its whole efforts to secure the imperial 
 crown for his eldest son Frederick. It was not until 
 this scheme had failed of success with the German 
 princes, who hated the whole family for Albert's sake, 
 that the Austrians turned their thoughts to the execution 
 of that revenge which they had resolved upon against 
 that prince's murderers. The ban of the empire was 
 pronounced upon them by the new emperor, Henry VII.; 
 and as the murderers themselves were not to be 
 found, their innocent relatives, friends, servants, and 
 subjects were, with inhuman cruelty, hunted down and 
 extirpated by the family of Albert. The principal 
 promoter of these horrors was Agnes, queen of Hun-
 
 60 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 130Q. 
 
 gary^ the late emperor's daughter^ a woman unacquainted 
 with the milder feelings of piety, but addicted to a cer- 
 tain sort of devotional habits and practices, by no means 
 inconsistent with implacable vindictiveness. In grati- 
 fying this passion she forgot all female dignity ; and 
 is even said to have waded in the blood of three and 
 sixty innocent sufferers, with the exulting exclamation, 
 " This day we bathe in May-dew !" Not till numerous 
 castles had been dismantled, the whole resources of 
 multitudes annihilated, and more than a thousand in- 
 nocent persons, men, women, and children, had perished 
 by the hand of the executioner, was an end put to this 
 series of horrors, by which indeed the wealth of the 
 house of Austria was increased, but by which at the 
 same time it had provoked so many enemies, that the 
 consequences of these events contributed not a little to 
 frustrate its designs against the freedom of Helvetia. 
 
 The emperor, Henry VII., who had testified his 
 favour to the Austrians by theoutlawry of the regicides, 
 gave evidence, on the other hand, of his gracious 
 dispositions towards the forest cantons, by recognising 
 their freedom and independence on any power but that 
 of the empire. The Austrian princes were highly dis- 
 pleased by this step ; but being occupied with their 
 bloody revenge for the murder of their late chief, they 
 were obliged to suppress their anger for a season. The 
 emperor imagined he had tranquillised Helvetia ; but 
 he had no sooner set out on an Italian expedition, than 
 open hostilities broke out between the forest cantons 
 and the subjects of Austria. These disturbances might 
 probably have proved of no great consequence, if the 
 emperor had not met his death in Italy. For the mo- 
 ment, indeed, another direction was given by that event 
 to the ambition of the Austrian family, which now ex- 
 erted every means in its power, for the second time, to 
 secure the crown for Frederick, but in vain. A ma- 
 jority of the electoral princes, still averse to that house, 
 declared themselves for duke Louis of Bavaria. The 
 latter candidate likewise enjoyed the adherence of the
 
 1315. LEOPOLD INVADES SWITZERLAND. 6*1 
 
 forest cantons, who had excellent reasons for wishing 
 to see the imperial power in any hands rather than in 
 those of a duke of Austria. This election contest proved 
 the occasion of a furious war in Germany and Helvetia. 
 In the latter country the old dispute about boundaries 
 was revived between Einsiedlen and Schwytz, and was 
 carried on by both sides with excessive heat and violence. 
 Frederick, whose house had been invested with the pro- 
 tectoral rights of kast-vogt* over Einsiedlen, used this dis- 
 pute as a pretext to attack the forest cantons; and though 
 Schwytz alone had offended in the matter, lanched 
 the imperial ban against all three. Louis again absolved 
 them from the sentence. On the other hand, duke 
 Leopold prepared his whole powers at once to wreak 
 the hereditary hatred of his family, — to protect the 
 (alleged) rights of so renowned a religious foundation, 
 and to revenge upon the forest cantons the slighted 
 claims of his brother. He threatened to tread the boors 
 under his feet, and carried with him waggons full of 
 cordage wherewith to bind or hang up their ringleaders. 
 He marched in person to Baden, where he held a council 
 of war. A triple attack on the same day was resolved 
 upon. The main body, 15,000 or 20,000 strong, was 
 to advance from Zug under Leopold himself; count 
 Otho of Strasburg, with 4000 men, were to march 
 over the Briinig; 1000 Lucerners to cross the lake 
 and fall in with the other forces at Stanzstadt in Unter- 
 walden. The main army arrived at Zug in two di- 
 visions. Heavy-armed cavalry, then the pride and 
 strength of armies, led the van in large troops, without 
 sufficient discrimination of the mode of warfare de- 
 manded by the nature of the country. The flower of 
 the nobility of Hapsburg was in this army, amongst 
 others the ex-vogt Berenger of Landenberg, and Gess- 
 ler's relations. Fifty burghers of Zurich also, all in 
 uniform clothing, marched along with it, according to 
 treaty. The duke himself, a tall majestic figure, pre- 
 senting the very ideal of chivalrous heroism, rode in 
 
 • For an explanation of this title, turn to the foregoing chapter.
 
 6'2 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1315. 
 
 the front of his warriors, confident of victory ; and 
 dreamed not of the wonders which a people urged to 
 extremities can achieve in the defence of its free- 
 dom. 
 
 The Schwytzers, whom the main attack threatened, 
 were so far from being intimidated by it, that they scorn- 
 fully rejected a dishonourable peace. On receiving rein- 
 forcements of 400 men from Uri, and 300 more from 
 Unterwalden, they offered up their prayers to God, their 
 only Lord and Master, according to ancient usage in 
 the forest cantons, and stationed themselves, 1300 in 
 number, on the ridge of the Sattel. An old man, Ru- 
 dolph Reding of Bibereck, infirm in body, but listened 
 to respectfully by the people for his miUtary talents and 
 experience, had given them the wise advice to take this 
 position. If the narratives of several historians are to 
 be trusted, Reding's advice was grounded on a specific 
 warning received from Henry of Hiinenburg, an Aus- 
 trian noble, who had shot into the Swiss outposts an 
 arrow with a label bearing the inscription, " Beware of 
 Morgarten ! " and had thus given them previous inform- 
 ation of Leopold's plans, whether moved by love of 
 freedom, or by natural compassion for the imminent de- 
 struction of so many brave men. On the eve of the battle 
 fifty men appeared before the lines of the Schwytzers. 
 These had been banished their country during the former 
 times of disturbance ; but as soon as they were ac- 
 quainted with its danger, they resolved, by joining the 
 combatants for freedom, to become once more worthy of 
 the land they had lost. The forest cantons, however, 
 would not admit them within their frontiers, nor receive 
 them in the ranks of their combatants. Nevertheless 
 they remained true to their purpose. They stationed 
 themselves just beyond the frontiers on an eminence 
 above Morgarten, and prepared to act their part in the 
 reception of the enemy. 
 
 On the 15th November, 1315, with the first dawn of 
 day, the Austrian troops made their appearance. The 
 helmets and cuirasses of the knights gleamed in the sun-
 
 1315. BATTLE OF MORGARTEN. 63 
 
 shine. As far as the eye could reach gUtteretl the spears 
 of the first army which had ever been drawn out against 
 the forest cantons ; and the Swiss may be supposed to 
 have contemplated so novel a phenomenon with emotion. 
 The narrow way between the ridge of Morgarten and 
 the lake was soon crowded with the close column of 
 horsemen. This was the instant chosen by the fifty Swiss 
 exilesj who had collected fragments of rocks and trunks of 
 trees during the night, and now hurled them on the enemy 
 from their height, crushing horse and man. A mode of 
 attack so startling produced terrible disorder. The 
 horses became restive, reared, threw their riders, broke 
 the ranks, and many of them plunged into the lake. 
 The Swiss troops on the Sattel took advantage of this 
 moment of panic. They rushed down hill in tolerable 
 order, fell on the enemy's flank, struck down the heavy- 
 armed knights by the vigorous use of their clubs and 
 halberts, and completed the confusion of the Austrians, 
 whom the slippery state of the half-frozen road rendered 
 yet more helpless, and unfit for making any defence. 
 The knights attempted to fall back on the infantry, and 
 to gain room ; but the latter had not space to open their 
 files. Many of them consequently were trodden down 
 by the cavalry — many cut to pieces by the confederates 
 — no prisoners made — no quarter given. The Austrians 
 lost the flower of their nobility ; and amongst them fell 
 two Gesslers, with the ex-tyrant Landenberg. The 
 infantry suffered even more severely, as the narrowness 
 of the defile afforded no room for their evolutions. 
 After a slight resistance, the whole mass was dispersed 
 in disorderly flight. The fifty men of Zurich alone, 
 with those of Zug, had fought bravely ; and were slain 
 man by man upon the spot where they had stood. The 
 whole affair was terminated by nine o'clock a. m. ; and 
 thus the Schwytzers won a complete victory in the 
 space of an hour and a half, through the courage and 
 dexterity with which they took advantage of the nature 
 of the ground, and of the injudicious confidence of their 
 enemy. Leopold's adherents had with difficulty succeeded
 
 64' HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1315. 
 
 in saving the duke's person from the horrors of the 
 fight. 
 
 On the following morning count Otho of Strasburg 
 marched^ with several thousand troops^ over the Briinig 
 on Obwalden, in concert with 1300 men of Lucerne, 
 who landed at BCirgenstadt. These were met by the 
 victorious men of Unterwalden, reinforced by 100 fresh 
 volunteers, and were forced back on their ships with great 
 loss. Strasburg's troops also, struck with panic, took to 
 flight on all sides, leaving their baggage behind them. 
 
 It was easy to foresee that no permanent tranquillity 
 would be procured to the three cantons by their victory ; 
 they were therefore obliged to study means of rallying 
 their forces for the farther prosecution of the conflict ; 
 and the most effectual seemed to be a permanent con- 
 federacy. On the 1 Sth of December, 1315, the envoys of 
 the forest cantons held a meeting at Brunen, to conclude 
 a perpetual league of self-defence against all internal and 
 external enemies — a league, to use the words of the great 
 annalist of Switzerland*, distinguished from most poli- 
 tical arrangements and alliances, by extreme simplicity 
 and innocence ; — by seeking, not the attainment of in- 
 terested or ambitious ends, but the welfare of the public 
 alone, and the preservation of freedom, justice, and 
 peace ; and, finally, by calling a federal state into exist- 
 ence, which resisted the assaults of time during so long 
 a period, only because it was not grounded, like other 
 federal unions of that century, merely on commercial 
 connections, but on the maintenance of the holiest rights 
 of humanity — a noble end, extorting respect even from 
 the most rapacious neighbours, until at length the hour 
 arrived (that of the French revolution), destined to 
 establish a new order in the world, to separate the dur- 
 able from the decayed and obsolete social elements, to 
 bring about the destruction of much evil, the continuance, 
 or at least the regeneration, of much good. This league 
 was long the only bond and law of the confederacy ; but 
 
 * J. von Miiller.
 
 1318. SIEGE OF SOLEURE. 65 
 
 before the close of the sixteenth century, a Frenchman 
 found occasion to write — " Laxata sunt invicti illius 
 fosderis vincula negliyentid reipiihlicce. It was about 
 this time that the name of Swiss came first into use with 
 their neighbours, as a general designation for the mem- 
 bers of the confederacy, which may be accounted for by 
 the chief part having been acted by the Schwytzers, in 
 the feud with Einsiedlen, and the battle of Morgarten. 
 
 On the 19th of June, 1318, a peace, or rather truce for 
 a year, on equitable terms, was concluded between 
 Austria and the confederates, which was afterwards pro- 
 longed to six years. By the terms of this armistice the 
 freedom of the confederates received fresh confirmation : 
 on the other hand, they bound themselves to enforce 
 within their territories the payment of all revenues be- 
 longing to the duchy of Austria. In the mean time, 
 notwithstanding the external show of repose, frequent 
 occasions of offence kept up the old grudge on botli 
 sides. 
 
 The dukes, after the ill success of their arms against 
 the confederates, turned them next against the other 
 adherents of Louis. Duke Leopold laid siege, with a 
 strong body of men, for ten weeks, to the town of So- 
 leiu-e, which espoused the Bavarian interest. With the 
 aid of the Bernese, however, the town was so well de- 
 fended, that he sought in vain to force it to capitulate, 
 and equally in vain endeavoured to terrify its com- 
 mandant, count Hugo of Bucheck, by threatening him, 
 unless he would surrender the town, with the death of 
 his eldest son, who was a prisoner. Father and son alike 
 despised the menace. Another proof of no less mag- 
 nanimity, the more deserving remark, as it occurred in 
 an age when all extremities were looked upon as allow- 
 able against an enemy, was given to duke Leopold in the 
 course of this siege. He had caused a bridge to be 
 thrown across the Aar, above Soleure, in order to cut 
 off supplies from the town, as well as to keep up com- 
 munication between the divisions of his army upon both 
 sides of the river. This structure was, however, soon 
 
 V
 
 (]G HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1318. 
 
 in danger from the force of the stream, which heavy 
 rains had swelled to an unusual height. In thia 
 emergency, Leopold had it loaded with stones, and 
 posted a body of troops upon it ; but the bridge, unable 
 to bear the double weight, gave way, and Leopold's sol- 
 diers were plunged into the rapid stream below. At 
 such a moment the men of Soleure regarded them not 
 as enemies, but as fellow-men, in need of assistance. 
 They threw themselves into the river, at great risk to 
 themselves, and not only rescued their foes from death, 
 but cherished and restored them in the town, and sent 
 them back to the camp without exacting ransom. This 
 trait of generosity touched the prince, who was far from 
 being destitute of that quality. Moreover, he had small 
 remaining hope of success, and was no longer disposed 
 to contend in arms where he had already been overcome 
 in magnanimity. He requested entrance into the town, 
 with a train of thirty knights only ; made a present to 
 the burghers of a banner ; and concluded with them an 
 honourable peace. 
 
 The treaty betwixt Austria and the confederates had 
 lasted about six years, when Louis summoned the 
 Schwytzers, in 1323, to aid in the war of the empire 
 against Austi-ia. In this, as in its former contests, the 
 latter power was unsuccessful ; and duke Leopold's life 
 is supposed to have been shortened by disappointment. 
 In 1326, the armistice with Switzerland was renewed 
 by his brother and successor, duke Albert. In the 
 same year the forest cantons, which adhered with re- 
 markable loyalty to the emperor, followed him in an 
 expedition to Italy. Excommunicated on that ac- 
 count in 1328, they knew, as they had known before, 
 how to reduce to nothing the force of that so much 
 dreaded sentence, by setting the alternative before their 
 priests, of doing their duty, or of leaving the country. 
 Against such determined resolution, pope John XXI. 
 felt himself powerless, and said of the clergy who chose 
 to remain in the country, that their conduct was un- 
 righteous, but prudent. In fact, the pope had never
 
 iSSti. ARMISTICE WITH AUSTRIA. 67 
 
 any power against the people, but only against princes 
 whom he. robbed of the people's fidelity. The cantons 
 were in such high esteem with the emperor, on account 
 of their unvarying attachment, that in 13l6, an impe- 
 rial decree annihilated all the rights of Austria in their 
 territory. 
 
 In 1332 the forest cantons admitted a fourth member 
 to partake in their perpetual union. We have already 
 seen that the town of Lucerne, in the reign of the em- 
 peror Rudolph, had come, by an iniquitous purchase, 
 under the power of Austria. It was only the most 
 flattering promises which induced the town to subject 
 itself to the new domination ; but no long time had 
 elapsed before these promises were forgotten, and the 
 Austrians began to encroach beyond their just rights. 
 However discontentedly this was seen by the burghers, 
 they nevertheless bore it with patience, nay, exerted 
 themselves actively in the cause of the house of Austria, 
 and in the wars against the forest cantons suffered ex- 
 tensive losses. By way of showing gratitude for these 
 services, the dukes withheld the subsidies which had 
 been promised to the town, and forced upon it depre- 
 ciated coins, and augmented imposts. An opinion had, 
 however, gained ascendency, that even the power of 
 princes had its hmits, and that the chartered rights of 
 freemen must not be sacrificed entirely to these earthly 
 divinities. The burghers therefore assembled, and con- 
 cluded a twenty years' peace with the confederates. The 
 nobles opposed a violent resistance to the measure, of 
 which the only result was, that a second popular meeting 
 closed an everlasting league with the forest cantons. 
 
 The men of Lucerne, however, like their confederates, 
 were forced to pay the price of freedom in blood. A 
 treacherous attempt of the Argovian nobility, whose 
 property lay within the Austrian territory, and who 
 first had recourse to open war, but in vain, was fortu- 
 nately frustrated by the steadiness of the burghers; and 
 an armistice at length took place, by the emperor's me- 
 diatioHj between Austria and the forest cantons, by the 
 
 F 2
 
 68. HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 133'2. 
 
 terms of which Lucerne preserved its league with the 
 three others, with reservation of the rights and dues of 
 Austria. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the feuds and disturbances, which 
 crowded upon each other during so short a time, pros- 
 perity made progress in the land. Towns and convents 
 vied with each other in diffusing cultivation even 
 throughout the wildest mountainous regions. Consider- 
 able commercial intercourse also was maintained with 
 Italy, Germany, France, and Flanders. Zurich and St. 
 Gall possessed linen and silk manufactures ; the pasture 
 lands produced hides, wool, cheese, and butter ; in Berne 
 and Freyburg, cloth-making and dyeing establishments 
 flourished ; the western districts traded in iron, horses, 
 hawks, and horned cattle ; Geneva in southern fruits and 
 spices. The trade in gold was prohibited, and that of 
 silver restricted. 
 
 Religion still appeared in all its primitive simplicity. 
 Wealthy knights stiU knew no better method of per- 
 petuating their memory in the land than through the 
 medium of bequests for the foundation of cloisters.. 
 The respect in which the monks were held, however, 
 already began to decline, by reason of their flagrant 
 tiolations of the rules of their order, in spite of frequent 
 attempts at reformation of their cUscipline. Accordingly, 
 no fault was found with the conduct of the forest cantons, 
 who, when under excommunication, as we have seen, in 
 1328 left their priests free to perform divine service or 
 quit the country. No fault was found with the clergy for 
 accepting the former alternative. Again, it was heard 
 without disapprobation that the men of Basle had 
 seized on a distinguished papal legate, who had dared 
 to affix to the walls of their church the bull of excom- 
 munication against the emperor Louis, and had drowned 
 him in the Rhine. Such violent acts were perfectly in 
 the spirit of the times. The Zurichers cared so little 
 for the bulls of the pope, that in 1331 they drove the 
 clergy out of their town for obeying them ; and foi 
 eighteen years there was no divine service in Zurich,
 
 1332. STATE OK SWITZERLAND. 6'9 
 
 except such as was rendered by the bare-focted friars. 
 The whole population often resisted ecclesiastical or- 
 dinances, when they ran against their old traditional 
 usages, and detected with instinctive sagacity whatever 
 was indifferent or useless in them. Such was in those 
 times the state of Switzerland, which contained sufficient 
 elements of those great changes which "we shall pre- 
 sently see effected in its poUty. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 FROM THE REVOLUTION OF ZURICH TO THE LEAGUE 
 WITH APPENZELL. 
 
 1335—1412. 
 
 SITUATION OF ZURICH. CHARACTER OF THE BURGHERS. — 
 
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. RUDOLPH BRUN. EXCITES A 
 
 REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT. ELECTED BURGOMASTER FOR 
 
 LIFE. DEFEATS A CONSPIRACY OF THE NOBLES. APPLIES 
 
 FOR AID TO THE FOREST CANTONS AGAINST DUKE ALBERT OF 
 
 AUSTRIA. THE LATTER BESIEGES ZURICH. IS COMPELLED 
 
 TO RAISE THE SIEGE. LEAGUE OF THE EIGHT ORIGINAL 
 
 TOWNS AND LANDS OF THE CONFEDERACY. PEACE OF THOR- 
 
 BERG. CHARACTER OF RUDOLPH BRUN. HIS TREACHEROUS 
 
 COMPACT WITH AUSTRIA. BERNE. DISTINGUISHED FOR A 
 
 SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE. OBNOXIOUS TO THE BORDERING NO- 
 BILITY. ATTACKED BY THE COMBINED FORCE OF THE NOBLES 
 
 AND THE EMPEROR. BATTLE OF LAUPEN. BERNe's PLANS 
 
 OF AGGRANDISEMENT. ROGER MANESSe's WISE ADMINISTRA- 
 TION OF ZURICH. DECLINE OF THE NOBILITY AND CLERGY. 
 
 BERNE AND SOLEURE DEFEAT THE COUNT OF KYBURG. DUKE 
 
 LEOPOLD OF AUSTRIA ENTERS SWITZERLAND. BATTLE OF 
 
 SEMPACH. ARNOLD OF WINKELRIED. THE BAD PEACE. — 
 
 UNEXPECTED INROAD OF THE AUSTRIANS. BATTLE OF NAEFELS. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF RHyETIA. THE MEN OF APPENZELL 
 
 REVOLT FROM THE ABBOT OF ST. GALL. ARE REINFORCED 
 
 BY THE SCHWYTZERS. —ENGAGE AN AUSTRIAN ARMY AT THE 
 
 STOSS. AGAIN AT THE WOLFSHALD. DEFEATED AT BRE- 
 
 GENZ. RECEIVED AS ALLIES OF THE CONFEDERACY. RE- 
 NEWAL OF THE TWENTY YEARS* TRUCE WITH AUSTRIA. 
 
 On the pleasant site of the old Helvetian Thuricum 
 stood the town of Zurich, long renowned for industry, 
 
 F 3
 
 70 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1335. 
 
 intelligence, wealth not too unequally disti-ibuted, and 
 genuine civic spirit in its burghers. A general and con- 
 stant love of the laws had, for ages, been the chief 
 support of their government. The cordial and familiar 
 usages handed down from their forefathers did not easily 
 admit of innovation, and these usages, as in free states 
 they ought to be, were uniform and simple for all. The 
 citizens retained their family names, even after they had 
 acquired lands and lordships, and never became ashamed 
 of their original vocations. The confluence of foreigners, 
 and the general easy condition of the inhabitants, con- 
 tributed to the flourishing appearance of the town. Nor 
 were science and art strangers in Zurich. The renowned 
 songsters of those times, the Minnesingers, found hos- 
 pitable welcome with the principal burghers. Nowhere 
 more effect was produced than at Zurich by the doctrines 
 (enlightened for those times) of Arnold of Brescia, a 
 scholar of Abelard, and one of the most acute and en- 
 quiring spirits of his age. He gained there many adherents 
 to those principles of resistance against clerical and papal 
 usurpation, the expression of which he expiated after- 
 wards at the stake. We have already seen, that even 
 papal interdicts neither frightened nor subdued the men 
 of Zurich. They often enacted laws which seemed 
 oppressive to the clergy, who were placed by them on a 
 footing of equality with other classes, and forced to bear 
 their share of contributions to the pubUc burdens. 
 They resented with indomitable spirit the aggressions 
 and affronts of the nobles, and repaid them by the cap- 
 ture and destruction of their strong-holds. Thus, Zurich 
 enforced respect for herself from the proudest of her 
 neighbours, and formed alliance with every free town 
 from the Main to the St. Gothard. Yet, with a popula- 
 tion exceeding 12,000, and consisting, for the most part, 
 of free burghers, the town possessed hitherto no domain 
 without its walls, except the forest on the banks of the 
 Sihl. 
 
 The supreme powers of the state were vested, practi- 
 cally, in the council, a body consisting of twelve knighta
 
 1335. UUDOLPH BRUN. 71 
 
 and twenty-four burgliers^ who exercised those powers 
 by rotation, a third part of them holding office during 
 four months, wiekling, independently of the remaining 
 two thirds of its members, the whole executive functions 
 of the commonwealth : powers rendered in some mea- 
 sure dictatorial and discretionary by the provision that, 
 in unforeseen cases, they should act for the public in- 
 terest, according to their best judgment. Thus the 
 whole affairs of the state came by degrees under the 
 management of a few influential famihes, principally 
 attached to the pursuits of war and chivalry. The body 
 of the citizens, the bold and intelligent traders and 
 handicraftsmen, became tired, at length, of subordination 
 to these dignitaries, especially as many practical griev- 
 ances were complained of in their administration. It 
 was said they took no care but for themselves, and those 
 who belonged to them ; gave no reckoning of the moneys 
 of the town, received the inferior burghers with intoler- 
 able haughtiness ; proceeded, in short, in all respects in 
 an arbitrary manner. Discontent, for a while, exhaled 
 in murmurs, till a member of the obnoxious body itself 
 came forward, and made common cause with the dis- 
 aflPected burghers. This was Rudolph Brun, a man of 
 noble birth and large fortune, a knight, and a member 
 of council, who possessed precisely the qualities indis- 
 pensable for a popular leader. His condescending 
 familiarity made him a favourite of the common people, 
 and he had skill to take advantage of every circumstance 
 which offered, and to veil revenge or ambition under the 
 aspect of true patriotism. That the cause which Brun 
 espoused was good, is manifested by the warm partici- 
 pation of such men as Roger Manesse — that his heart 
 was bad, has been probably inferred from the tenour of 
 his public life. Revolutions would too often find but 
 little favour in history, if their justification depended on 
 the characters of their leaders. 
 
 Independence of feeling had planted itself amongst 
 the burghers of Zurich, with the increase of their weultli 
 
 F 4<
 
 r-o 
 
 (2 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1335. 
 
 and their knowledge, and prompted them to express more 
 and more loudly their desire to be united in political 
 guilds or companies. They listened, therefore, with 
 open ears to Brun's representations that their rulers 
 disregarded their duty, and were reducing the town, 
 originally free, beneath the yoke of an intolerable 
 tyranny ; that he himself was hated by the council, be- 
 cause love to his fellow-citizens ever prompted him to 
 lift his voice against these abuses ; that the burghers 
 could only free themselves by exerting their own strength, 
 and that for his part he was ready to sacrifice life and 
 estate in their service. His adherents increased daily in 
 number. Many good and honourable men joined his 
 party, who perceived the pressing need of a reformation 
 in the state ; many who might have been ill used by a 
 member of the council, or condemned by a judicial sen- 
 tence, which was alleged of Brun himself; there were 
 many in whose cases legal judgments had been given 
 unfavourably, and, therefore, as to them, it would seem 
 unjustly ; many whom the subversion of the existing 
 order might flatter with the hope of personal benefit, the 
 re-establishment of a ruined, or the foundation of a nev/ 
 fortune ; many, in fine, whom levity, a bold and lively 
 temper, or a reckless and licentious disposition, prompted 
 to take part in any daring design, which afforded hopes 
 of disorder, and destruction of all legal and moral 
 restraint. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1335, the first section of the 
 council was on the point of quitting office, while the 
 second only waited for the sanction of the people, in 
 order to succeed to its functions. Now, however, this 
 necessary sanction was withheld until an account of the 
 public money should be given ; and this demand was sup- 
 ported in the council by Rudolph Brun, Roger Manesse, 
 and by several other members. The rest, however, treated 
 it as a popular ebullition, which in a short time would 
 subside of itself, and exhausted their whole stock of 
 petty artifices to draw the affair into length, and gain
 
 1335. REVOLUTION OF ZLKICri, 73 
 
 time. This course had been adopted on a much better 
 acquaintance with the temper of the council than with 
 that of the people. After six weeks of inaction, Brun 
 industriously promiilgated that the lords of the council 
 only meant to mock and delude the commonalty. This 
 intelligence brought a multitude round the doors of the 
 hall of council, who terrified its members with their 
 concourse and clamour. Some declared for the burghers, 
 others, in fear for their personal safety, precipitately fled 
 from the city. A popular assembly was held in the 
 church of the Franciscans, in which it was resolved to 
 bring to account all the members of the late government, 
 to reform the constiution, and to place provisional sove- 
 reignty in the hands of Rudolph Brun and his friends. 
 By the new constitution, framed under their auspices, 
 aU handicraftsmien were classed under thirteen guilds, 
 the foreman of each of which shoidd sit in council. One 
 moiety of this body was henceforth to be composed of 
 burghers, the other of nobles, and the whole was to be 
 subject to renewal every half year. Brun caused him- 
 self to be elected burgomaster for life, and contrived to 
 retain considerable power in his hands ; while a prudent 
 reservation of the rights of the empire, and the sanction 
 of the emperor, prevented the accession of a formidable 
 enemy to the infant democracy. 
 
 It had already natural enemies enough. Rarely do 
 those whom a social revolution has degraded from dis- 
 tinguished eminence find themselves without friends at 
 home — without allies abroad; — and still more rarely 
 are they capable of renouncing their hereditary pre- 
 tensions with a good grace. The ancient lords of council 
 and their adherents could not forget their former func- 
 tions and dignities. They entered into a secret league 
 with the count of Rappersweil, the barons of Bonstet- 
 ten, Mazingen, and others; and the night of the a-lth 
 of February, 1350, was fixed for a general massacre of 
 the democratic party. Some of the conspirators had re- 
 entered the town secretly ; others had acquired and
 
 74 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1350. 
 
 abused the public confidence in their peaceable intentions, 
 and numerous auxiharies approached the town by land 
 and by water. A baker's boy is said to have discovered 
 the conspiracy at the moment of its meditated explosion ; 
 and the town was saved by Brun's skill and decision, 
 supported by the bravery of the citizens. The loss of 
 the conspirators was enormous ; and, besides those who 
 perished in the conflict, or by drowning in the river, 
 thirty-seven died on the wheel or by the sword of the 
 executioner. The Zurichers, with the aid of SchafF- 
 hausen, soon made themselves masters of Rappersweil ; 
 and, a few days before Christmas, Rudolph Brun, in 
 contempt of his own promise, burned the town, aban- 
 doning the helpless inhabitants to the rigours of the 
 season and to famine. But when, in the following year, 
 duke Albert of Austria threatened severe retaliation for 
 these outrages, the burgomaster addressed himself to the 
 league of the forest cantons for reinforcements and re- 
 ception into their permanent confederacy. Uri, Schwytz, 
 Unterwalden, and Lucerne, which had long regarded 
 Zurich as their principal mart and bulwark, accepted 
 her proposals with alacrity ; and, on the W'alpurgis night 
 of the year 1351, closed with her a perpetual league 
 of reciprocal aid against all enemies, reserving only the 
 rights of earlier allies of the emperor and tlie holy Roman 
 empire. 
 
 Albert now began to press the Zurich ers more closely, 
 and demanded satisfaction for the burning of Rappers- 
 weil, — a town which had belonged to his relative, — as 
 well as for all other injuries done to the dependants and 
 adherents of Austria. He advanced at the head of 
 1 6,000 men, and, moreover, called the people of Glarus to 
 arms as his auxiliaries. On their refusal, as they 
 alleged that they were under the immediate protection 
 of the empire, and acknowledged no obhgation to aid 
 in the private feuds of Austria, the duke resolved to 
 send troops into Glarus, where he himself was protector 
 of the monastery of Seckingen, and from whence he
 
 1351. SIEGE OF ZURICH. ?•'' 
 
 might overawe Schwytz and Uri, and deter their popu- 
 lation from assisting the Zurichers. This design was, 
 however, frustrated by the confederates from the forest 
 cantons, who achieved the occupation of Glarus by an un- 
 expected inroad in mid-winter. The people of Glarus 
 pledged their faith to the Schwytzers; sent 200 men to re- 
 inforce the garrison of Zurich ; defeated Walter of Stadion, 
 as he marched upon their territory, at the head of Aus- 
 trian forces from Rappersweil, and captured and de- 
 stroyed thecastleof Naefels. Admission into the league 
 of the confederates rewarded these achievements of their 
 new allies. 
 
 On the side of Zug the confederates were still ex- 
 posed to attack, and the connection of their forces was 
 interrupted. Two thousand six hundred men from Zurich 
 and the forest cantons approached the town, and re- 
 ceived oaths of fidelity from the neighbouring districts, 
 reserving only the rights of the duke of Austria. The 
 town itself, which was held by a strong garrison, at first 
 made a vigorous defence, till the burghers, becoming dis- 
 couraged by the assaults of the besiegers, solicited a 
 three days' truce. Delegates were despatched by them 
 to duke Albert, who described to him the straitened 
 situation of the town ; but the duke, instead of attending 
 to them, turned to question his falconer whether his 
 birds had been fed ; and when asked whether his subjects 
 did not concern him more than his birds, rephed, " Go ! 
 if you are conquered, we shall very soon reconquer you." 
 Resentment of such wanton disregard did not fail to 
 produce a new disposition in those who had been its 
 objects; and Zug immediately joined the league of the 
 forest cantons and Zurich, on nearly the same conditions 
 as the latter town, — Glarus having already, on the 4th 
 of the same month, acceded to the same eternal con- 
 federacy. 
 
 Duke Albert, instead of wasting his resources in 
 petty hostilities against Zug and Glarus, prepared to 
 crush the force of the confederates at one blow, by the 
 capture and subjection of Zurich. In this enterprise he
 
 76 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1353. 
 
 tasked the whole strength of his hereditary domains and 
 allies. The elector of Brandenburg, with many othei 
 secular princes, five bishops, six and twenty counts, the 
 to-vvns of Berne, Soleure, Basle, Strasburg, and SchafF- 
 hausen swelled the ranks of his auxiliaries. He ex- 
 hausted his domains by extraordinary imposts. The 
 stout defence of the Zurichers, however, soon made it 
 evident that, against a people so steadfast, united, and 
 dauntless as the Swiss, no glory could be gained by con- 
 tending ; while, moreover, the dearth of provisions in 
 the camp of duke Albert became such as threatened 
 absolute famine. In this emergency, the elector of 
 Brandenburg offered his mediation, and despatched con- 
 fidential messengers to treat with the Swiss. Scarcely 
 had an answer been received from the town, when its 
 inhabitants saw the enemy draw off from their walls ; 
 the Bernese alone retained their position. The terms of 
 peace were arranged through the elector's intervention ; 
 and in these, as in all previous ones, the privileges and 
 leagues of the confederates were maintained inviolate, 
 Berne was now received among their number : her recent 
 alliance with Austria, which was known to have been 
 merely in compliance with existing engagements, had 
 not destroyed the sense of common interests with her 
 neighbours. 
 
 Such was the alliance of the eight towns and districts, 
 which, for more than a century afterwards, received no 
 new member into the body of their original confederacy. 
 In this league, the three forest cantons alone, Uri, 
 Schwytz, and Unterwalden, properly speaking, formed 
 the old and genuine Switzerland. They alone, who had 
 admitted all the others into their everlasting league, 
 were in alliance with all of them; — with Lucerne, whom 
 they had aided to emancipate herself from Austria; with 
 Berne, whom they had voluntarily assisted in emergency ; 
 with Zurich, whose cause, when forsaken by all others, 
 they had adopted ; with Zug and Glarus, whom they 
 had conquered only to confer on their inhabitants friend- 
 ship and freedom. On the other hand, no particular
 
 TT 
 
 1353. LEAGUE OF THE EIGHT CANTONS. 77 
 
 bond of union existed between Glarus and Lucerne ; no 
 immediate league bad been formed between Zurich, 
 Berne, and Lucerne ; the Bernese were under no obli- 
 gations with regard to Zug and Glarus. The forest can- 
 tons remained the pivot — the keystone — of the whole 
 confederacy, — the remaining five being leagued with 
 them, and only through them with each other. Their 
 energy preserved that union, of which the only object 
 was the maintenance of the spirit of freedom, while, in 
 other respects, every canton retained its independence 
 and the Hberty of constituting at pleasure its own inter- 
 nal administration, laws, and institutions. It was only 
 in the course of time that reciprocal engagements be- 
 twixt the other cantons were agreed to, which, in like 
 manner, reserved to each contracting party unlimited 
 powers in their own internal arrangements. This league 
 continued to flourish only so long as its organisation 
 continued correspondent with the wants of the time — 
 until its animating soul, the spirit of freedom and self- 
 sacrifice, had departed from the frame of the confederacy 
 — until many desired to retain freedom only for them- 
 selves, along with absolute domination over their sub- 
 jects ; while others could not resolve to raise their arm 
 for the defence of their confederates in extremity, so 
 long as they entertained the delusive hope of remaining 
 midisturbed amidst the ruin of their brethren. 
 
 After this pacification, the duke of Austria endea- 
 voured to compel the people of Zug to renounce their 
 connection with the Swiss league. But they answered, 
 that the treaty of peace had maintained that league in- 
 violate ; and that they would yield to no other claims 
 than such as the duke could rightfully make. Albert on 
 this laid the whole affair before the emperor, their 
 common Hegelord; and a diet at Worms condemned the 
 Swiss league, on the alleged ground that members of the 
 empire could not bind themselves together without the 
 concurrence of their head. Weapons more effectual 
 than sophistry were marshalled to support this decision. 
 Summonses were sent to all the feudatories of Austria
 
 78 HISTORY OF SWITZERLANll. 1356. 
 
 as well as those of the empire ; and all the imperial 
 towns were called to aid with their militia. Charles IV. 
 himself advanced in person with a force of 4000 knights, 
 and at least 40,000 foot and horse ; and laid siege to Zu- 
 rich. These mighty preparations, though directed against 
 a garrison of barely 4000 men, were equally ineffectual 
 as those of the duke of Austria had been in the preceding 
 year. The Zurichers besides contrived artfully to indi- 
 cate that their quarrel with Austria did not affect their 
 allegiance to the emperor, by displaying, on a lofty 
 tower, the ensign of the holy Roman empire — a black 
 eagle on a golden field. They followed up this demon- 
 stration with a petition from a number of their barons, 
 burghers, and magistrates ; and these overtures, com- 
 bined with the impression made by the spectacle of their 
 steadiness and union, induced the emperor, after a siege 
 of only twenty days, to disband his army, and to leave 
 the Swiss confederacy in quiet. 
 
 It being found that the confederates were not to be 
 coerced with arms, an attempt was made to break their 
 force by producing disunion amongst them. Brun, 
 whose conduct was arbitrary on all occasions, subscribed, 
 with a few other members of council, a separate treaty of 
 peace in the name of his town ; and, moreover, an alliance 
 with Austria, which might weU displease the confede- 
 rates, as its provisions were more binding and extensive 
 than those of their league ; nay, in certain cases went 
 to supersede it. The interest of their trade, which was 
 ever uppermost with the Zurichers, may have moved 
 them to close so sinister a compact, the evil effects of 
 which were, however, averted by the steadiness and fore- 
 sight of Schwytz. As duke Albert would not yield up 
 his pretensions, and the emperor persisted in declaring, 
 " that the Swiss should not, on pain of the imperial dis- 
 pleasure, regard Schwytz and Glarus as their allies," 
 the confederates held a diet at Lucerne. Zurich did not 
 appear, and remained neutral. Schwytz, however, de- 
 clared that the decree should be resisted, and the event 
 reposed in God's hands and their own. The Austrians
 
 ISoG. CHARACTKR OF KUDOLPH BRUN. 79 
 
 demanded the submission of Zug and Glarus, v.'hicli was 
 refused until the duke shoidd give his sanction to their 
 league with the confederates. The Austrians threatened , 
 on which the men of Schwytz raised their banner, and 
 espoused the cause of Zug and Glarus in the name of all 
 the confederates. Duke Albert, however, did not find 
 it advisable to renew the war. He was old and infirm ; 
 pain and impatience had lamed his spirit for action ; he 
 no longer cherished hopes of conquest ; and he thei-efore 
 acquiesced in the arrangement of existing points of dis- 
 pute, through the mediation of Peter, baron of Thorberg, 
 by whom a treaty was accordingly concluded ■with the 
 confederates, which was commonly known by the name 
 of the peace of Thorberg. 
 
 Rudolph Brun, to whom the foregoing transactions 
 owed their original impulse, was versed in all the wiles 
 of a party leader. He knew how to attract the crowd 
 by every art of persuasion, and while his po%ver was 
 small, and the issue of his plans remained doubtful, to 
 avoid the least appearance of violence. Intrepid, when 
 the victory depended on words — inflexible, as long as 
 he had nothing to be afraid of — he could sometimes be 
 courageous through the mere dread of death, and his 
 natural timidity made him habitually vigilant. His 
 abilities were better adapted for civic transactions than 
 great affairs, — yet, perhaps, the only quaUty which he 
 wanted as a magistrate, was the strength of mind to act 
 with uprightness. Notwithstanding all his failings, he 
 possessed the attachment of many, to whom the revolu- 
 tion which he led brought economical or social advan- 
 tages. His renown was at its highest pitch in the four- 
 teenth year of his government, through the flourishing 
 state of affairs, which was ascribed to liis administration. 
 But on examining his character, as it developed itself 
 from year to year in the elevated position where he fixed 
 himself for life, it exhibits a less favourable aspect ; at 
 the point of time especially, when, after having procured 
 for his native town the protection of the confederacy, he
 
 so HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1338. 
 
 ruined his own patriotic work by an unseasonable com. 
 pact with Austria, not without suspicion of sordid 
 motives in tlie transaction. Yet it cannot be denied 
 that Brun's luidertakings gave a firmer seat to internal 
 freedom in Switzerland, as we shall presently see ex- 
 ternal perils combated by the energies of Reding and of 
 Erlach. 
 
 While the burghers of Zurich employed themselves 
 in overthrowing aristocratical sovereignty within their 
 walls, at Berne the nobles joined their strength with 
 that of the commons in repelling aristocratical aggression 
 from without. The rapid growth of the town in wealth 
 and importance, and its numerous territorial acquisitions 
 and jiurchases, aroused the jealous pride of the counts 
 and barons in its neighbourhood. Berne had long been 
 distinguished by an active and ambitious spirit, impa- 
 tient of control or restraint, and which nothing but the 
 altered state of Europe could have prevented from ad- 
 vancing as resistlessly to greatness as had been done 
 under more favourable circumstances by the most re- 
 nowned republics of antiquity. Constantly intent on 
 leaving no debt unpaid, whether of hostility or friend- 
 ship, they pursued progressive aggrandisement on the 
 ruin of their enemies, or by reconciling and receiving 
 them into the privileges of citizenship. This system 
 created a numerous body of out-burghers, the protection 
 of whom involved the town in everlasting feuds, which 
 might sometimes be considered unavoidable, but were 
 often waged from eager love of glory, or as offering an 
 occasion of aggrandisement. Agriculture and arms 
 engrossed the nobility ; trade and the mechanical arts 
 were exercised by the people. Public affairs came by 
 degrees, under the direction of a certain number of fa- 
 milies ; and though the burghers were, by law, to be 
 consulted in all state-occasions, yet the authorities dis- 
 pensed with that formality on pressing emergencies ; 
 emergencies which could not fail frequently to recur 
 amidst the enterprises of Austria, and the barons in the 
 neighbourhood, and which, by calling off the popular
 
 1338. LEAGUE OF NOBLES AGALNST BERNE. 8l 
 
 attention to external attacks, were apt to favour domestic 
 usurpation. 
 
 In the hundred and twenty-seventh year after the 
 building of Berne, the higher and inferior nobility of 
 Aargau and Burgundy combined tlieir whole force for 
 its destruction wth the barons and counts in the Uecht- 
 land. The dukes of Austria joined this combination ; 
 and the emperor Louis sanctioned its proceedings 
 through his envoys. A beginning was made by petty 
 provocations and affronts ; but more serious measures 
 were taken after a general assembly of the nobles in the 
 town of Freyburg. At this meeting all the injuries 
 were enumerated, alleged to have been suffered from 
 Berne, whose burghers, it was said, aimed at the ruin of 
 the nobility. Hostilities were determined, and com- 
 menced against the obnoxious town ; all commerce and 
 intercourse with it closed. Berne sought no protector, 
 and her citizens neither exhibited trepidation nor blind 
 ardour. The council, under the avoyer, John of Bu- 
 benberg, resolved, that satisfaction should be given to 
 all equitable demands, but that force should be repelled 
 with force ; and as all negotiation with the nobles was 
 fruitless, an appeal to arms remained the only alternative. 
 Laupen, a small town in the Bernese territory, was 
 already threatened by the combined force of the emperor 
 and the nobles, consisting of 15,000 foot and 3000 
 horse, led by 1200 knights, in complete armour*, and 
 700 barons, with crowned helmets. The victory or 
 overthrow of Berne was now to decide the freedom or 
 servitude of the whole of western Switzerland. The 
 peasantry who fled into the town for refuge brought 
 frightful accounts of the near approach, the overwhelm- 
 ing forces, and the merciless dispositions of the enemy. 
 They were minded to leave not a human creature alive 
 in Berne, but to put whatever had life in it to the sword 
 without pity. Each of the hostile leaders had already 
 selected a mansion in the town, of which, after their 
 assured success, they meant to take possession. Meau- 
 
 * Ferrcis iniiris aruiati.
 
 82 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1339. 
 
 while the nobles gave themselves up to an arrogant se- 
 curity ; while the burghers, on the other hand, put forth 
 their whole defensive strength, and determined rather to 
 bury themselves in the ruins of their town than to ask 
 or accept mercy from the insolent invaders. As the 
 first aim of the enemy was directed against Laupen, 
 where only a small garrison was posted, under the 
 knight of Blankenburg, they swore by God and all the 
 saints to sacrifice life and goods in the defence of the 
 place, and issued a decree, that " if any father had two 
 sons, or if in any house there were two brothers, one of 
 each should march to the relief of Laupen." Six hun- 
 dred men marched accordingly under the younger Bu- 
 benberg. 
 
 The Bernese, having thus provided for the first instant 
 emergency, proceeded at more leisure to levy the force 
 of their out-burghers, elect a general, and solicit the 
 support of the confederates. Though the term of their 
 original league with the forest cantons had expired, 
 these brave alhes were foremost in advancing to their 
 succour. Nine hundred able warriors marched across 
 the Briinig to Berne ; and the whole force of the town 
 advanced upon Laupen on the 20ih of June, 1339, under 
 the command of Rudolph of Eriach. Erlach drew up his 
 troops in good order, assigning to the allies, and first of 
 all to the forest cantons, the post of honour against the 
 enemy's cavalry. He himself, at the head of the troops 
 of Berne, prepared to attack their infantry, and gave 
 the signal for the engagement, by exclaiming, " Where 
 be now those gallant youths who were wont to bid de- 
 fiance to the enemy in their revels at Berne, adorned 
 with flowers and feathers .'' The honour of your town 
 is now in your hands. — Follow her banner ! Follow 
 Erlach ! " On this the youths of Berne rushed round the 
 banner ; the slingers advanced ; and having discharged 
 three volleys with considerable execution, fell back into 
 their former position. This retrograde movement was 
 taken for a flight in the rear of the army, which was 
 occupied by young inexperienced combatants, who
 
 1339. BATTLE OF LAUPEN. S3 
 
 wheeled about, and fled into the neighbouring wood. 
 Their flight occasioned wavering and disorder in the 
 main body. At this critical moment Erlach showed the 
 loul of a great leader, whose presence of mind is not to 
 oe shaken by the most untoward accidents. He cried 
 to the troops with an air of cheerful confidence, " My 
 friends, we shall now conquer, for the chaff" is threshed 
 from the corn !" Then, waving his sword, he gave the 
 command for a charge. The nature of the ground had 
 not allowed the enemy's infantry to extend its lines 
 sufficiently; and the want of subordination and of union 
 which prevailed amongst an army under so many rival 
 chiefs, rendered it utterly unable to maintain its ground 
 against the compact mass of the confederates. After a 
 short and feeble resistance, the infantry threw away their 
 arms, and took to flight in utter disorder. The forest 
 cantons, the men of Soleure, of Hasli, and of Sieben- 
 thal, were still engaged in doubtful strife with the ca- 
 valry. Already they were on the verge of utter defeat, 
 and had only maintained their ground through the ob- 
 stinate stand made by the forest cantons ; when the men 
 of Berne attacked the enemy at once in flank and in 
 rear, and the victory was now complete on all points. 
 The field was strewed with the bodies, arms, and horses 
 of the nobility. So total was their overthrow, that the 
 baron of Blumenberg no sooner heard the numbers and 
 the names of the fallen, than exclaiming, " God forbid 
 I should survive such men ! " he spurred his horse upon 
 the ranks of the forest cantons and found what he sought, 
 an honourable death. Seven-and-twenty banners of the 
 imperial towns and nobles fell into the hands of the 
 victors, who, after a short pursuit of the fugitives, re- 
 assembled on the field of battle, fell down on their 
 knees, and returned thanks to Him who had given them 
 the victory over their enemies. The garrison at Laupen 
 heartily sympathised with the joy of their victorious 
 brethren ; and Erlach paid his tribute of acknowledg- 
 ment to the valour and the discipline of his army. He 
 then gave orders to remain on the field during the night, 
 
 a 2
 
 84 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 13^;^. 
 
 according to the usage, partly to prove on whose side 
 was the victory, and partly to take care of the wounded. 
 Early on the following morning, the conquerors marched 
 homewards. A priest, with the holy sacrament, led the 
 procession ; next in order went the conquered banners, 
 arms, and accoutrements ; and the procession was closed 
 by the march of the conquering army. In this manner 
 they reached Berne, and entered the city amidst exulting 
 shouts of welcome from the people. Erlach, having 
 saved his country, laid down the authority with which 
 in the hour of need he had been invested. Berne re- 
 newed her league with the forest cantons, and gave them 
 practical tokens of her gratitude. The celebration of a 
 solemn divine service was ordained on every future an- 
 niversary of the day of Laupen, that pious remembrance 
 and ardent emulation of its glories might be preserved 
 through all succeeding generations. 
 
 The triumphs of Swiss valour were soon saddened by 
 the breaking out of that great plague, which visited with 
 its ravages the greater part of Europe and Asia, and of 
 which the most vivid delineation ever written (except 
 that of a similar pest by Thucytlides) has been pre- 
 served in the Decameron of Boccaccio. Whole towns were 
 depopulated. Estates were left without claimants or 
 occupiers. Priests, physicians, grave-diggers, could not 
 be found in adequate numbers ; and the consecrated 
 earth of the churchyards no longer sufficed for the 
 reception of its destined tenants. In the order of 
 Franciscans alone 120,430 monks are said to have 
 perished. This plague had been preceded by tremen- 
 dous earthquakes, which laid in ruins towns, castles, 
 and villages. Dearth and famine, clouds of locusts, and 
 even an innocent comet had been long before regarded 
 as forerunners of the pestilence ; and when it came it 
 was viewed as an unequivocal sign of the wrath of God. 
 At the outset, the Jews became, as usual, objects of 
 umbrage, as having occasioned this calamity by poison- 
 ing the wells. A persecution was commenced against 
 ilienij and numberless innocent persons were consigned,
 
 134'9. CHEAT PLAGUE. 85 
 
 by heated fanaticism, to a dreadful deaih by fire, and 
 their children were baptized over the corpses of their 
 parents, according to the rehgion of their murderers. 
 These .atrocities were in all probabihty perpetrated by 
 many, in order to possess themselves of the wealth 
 acquired by the Jews in traffic, to take revenge for their 
 usurious extortions, or, finally, to pay their debts in the 
 most expeditious and easy manner. When it Avas found 
 that the plague was nowise diminished by massacring 
 the Jews, but, on the contrary, seemed to acquire ad- 
 ditional virulence, it was inferred that God, in his 
 righteous wrath, intended nothing less than to extirpate 
 the whole sinful race of man. Many now endeavoured 
 by self-chastisement to avert the divine vengeance from 
 themselves. Fraternities of hundreds and thousands col- 
 lected under the name of Flagellants, strolled through 
 the land in strange garbs, scourged themselves in the 
 public streets, in penance for the sins of the world, and 
 read a letter which was said to have fallen from heaven, 
 admonishing all to repentance and amendment. They 
 were joined, of course, by a crowd of idle Yagabonds, 
 who, under the mask of extraordinary sanctity and 
 humble penitence, indulged in every species of disorder 
 and debauchery. At last the affair assumed so grave 
 an aspect, that the pope and many secular princes 
 declared themselves against the Flagellants, and speedily 
 put an end to their extravagances. Various ways were 
 still, however, resorted to by various tempers to snatch 
 the full enjoyment of that hfe which they were so soon 
 to lose, at the expense of every possible violation of the 
 laws of morality. Only a few hved on in a quiet and 
 orderly manner, in reliance on the saving help of God, 
 without running into any excess of anxiety or indul- 
 gence. After this desolating scourge had raged during 
 four years, its A-iolence seemed at length to be ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 Rudolph of Erlach, the hero of Laupen, had on the 
 close of the war withdrawn himself from the stage of 
 
 G 3
 
 86' HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ISGO. 
 
 public life, and lived to an advanced age on his property 
 near Berne. There he remained in his castle, honoured 
 by all, in modest retirement : his children were at a 
 distance from him ; and while men and maids were 
 busied in husbandry, the old man often was left under 
 the sole protection of his hounds. The sword which 
 he had worn in his country's battles hung on the wall. 
 In this solitude he was visited one day by his son-in- 
 law, Jost von Rudenz, who had on many occasions 
 excited Erlach's displeasure. A bitter altercation is 
 supposed to have taken place between them ; and Ru- 
 denz, in an excess of rage, snatched the sword from the 
 wall, struck down the old hero, and escaped. When 
 intelligence of the murder reached Berne, the whole 
 population, horse and foot, sallied forth to seize the 
 murderer ; who, however, was not taken, and is sup- 
 posed to have shortly afterwards met his death in some 
 unknown manner. Thus fell Erlach. 
 
 Even in peace Berne pursued with great success her 
 plans of aggrandisement by feuds, or by acquiring cas- 
 tellan jurisdictions, and also made many purchases of 
 territory at this time, by which the town became so 
 much involved in debt, that nothing but the spirited 
 exertions of the burghers could have cleared away its nu- 
 merous embarrassments. While such was the external 
 progress of Berne, the internal tranquillity of the town 
 became disturbed by the strife between the higher ranks 
 of nobility and the lesser nobles, as well as the respectable 
 burghers. These dissensions were, however, composed 
 with much discretion, moderation, and equity ; a few sus- 
 picious characters were removed from the council, and 
 future encroachments on the part of the authorities were 
 provided against by judicious regulations. 
 
 Zurich, under the wise and moderate government of 
 Roger Manesse, who, on the death Brun, succeeded to 
 the dignity of burgomaster, sought a remedy in dili- 
 gence and industry for the serious wounds which severe 
 and protracted warfare had inflicted on the morals and 
 the wealth of its population ; whose numbers had, more-
 
 1370. THE PFAFFENBRIEF. 87 
 
 over, been diminished by one eighth. The first aim of 
 the government of Zurich was to ameliorate its im- 
 poverished condition ; the second, to set limits, by strong 
 sumptuary laws, to the decay of moral disciphne, and 
 to new modes of extravagance ; the third, to secure the 
 freedom of the burghers by wise amendments in a 
 defective constitution, which had bestowed upon the 
 burgomaster more extensive powers than should be 
 given in a free state to any one. Thus, in four and 
 twenty years of almost uninterrupted peace, Zurich 
 gradually rose to even more than her former prosperity. 
 Berne could certainly boast of greater power than 
 Zurich, of more illustrious rulers, of a more high- 
 minded and warlike people. Zurich, on the other hand, 
 pursued with greater energy the arts and undertakings 
 of peace ; and while Berne advanced with rapid strides 
 to the rank of a powerful commonwealth, bore away the 
 palm of civilisation and improvement. 
 
 Lucerne, torn by perpetual party contests, and exter- 
 nally exposed to the power of Austria, remained far 
 behind Berne and Zurich. 
 
 Zug and Glarus were quiet and contented, as it was 
 no longer in the power of Austria to invade their rights 
 and liberties. 
 
 The forest cantons felt but little concern about the 
 outward world, and followed the still tenour of their 
 pastoral Ufe ; but they were not the less endowed with 
 a free spirit, and prepared at any moment to fight for 
 their freedom, friends, and country. While the con- 
 federacy thus enjoyed its liberties, the towns of St. Gall, 
 SchafFhausen, Basle, Soleure, Sion, and Lausanne, strug- 
 gled eagerly to attain the like advantages. 
 
 The forest cantons, along with Zurich, Lucerne, and 
 Zug, adopted, in 1370, a set of regulations very re- 
 markable for those times, which were known under the 
 title of the PfafFenbrief, the object of which was to 
 hinder the abuse of clerical influence, to abolish the im- 
 punity enjoyed by ecclesiastics, even in cases of enor- 
 
 6 4
 
 88 HISTORY OF SWITZEllLAiVD. 1365. 
 
 mous criminality, to narrow the operation of their 
 intrigues and their vindictiveness, and to render them 
 amenable to the native laws and tribunals. The pecu- 
 niary wants of princes and nobles prompted bolder and 
 bolder measures against the clergy ; the towns taxed 
 them ; the peasantry refused to pay any longer many 
 services of vassalage imposed by their authority ; and 
 the church vassals themselves, especially in the district 
 of Appenzell, hardly maintained the semblance of obe- 
 dience to their mandates. 
 
 The power of the nobility declined with that of the 
 clergy, as the great barons set themselves to vie with the 
 magnificence of the princes of Austria, Savoy^ and Milan : 
 thus preparing their own ruin by the abandonment of 
 their primitive manners, as well as by the consumption 
 of their patrimonial wealth. The noble houses of Mont- 
 fort, Neufchatel, Kyburg, and a few others^ maintained 
 themselves with difficulty between the rising Swiss re- 
 public and the growing powers of Austria and Savoy. 
 
 During the peace with Austria, the confederacy had 
 to repel two other assaults of hostile power. No prince 
 or town was at that time sufficiently rich to support 
 standing armies; or if there were any whose wealth might 
 have enabled them to do so, they would hardly have 
 dared to combat the repugnance of their people, who 
 justly regarded standing troops as an instrument for their 
 subjection. In case of war, the nobles with their squires 
 followed for a certain time their prince's banner on horse- 
 back, while the common people served on foot ; belli- 
 gerent towns, on the other hand, called out their burghers 
 and out-burghers. This mode of conducting war had 
 obvious disadvantages. As the vassals of princes were 
 only obliged to a limited term of service, a large army 
 not unfrequently disbanded just at the moment when 
 the best success might have been expected ; and as the 
 nobles and people felt the constant recurrence of warfare 
 more and more burdensome, it often happened that 
 military service was refused. Other disadvantages^ more-
 
 1365- ARNOLD OF CERV'OLA. SQ 
 
 over, were inseparable from these imperfect military ar- 
 rangements, which often crippled the conduct of the best 
 planned undertakings. And if the towns had not exactly 
 the same irapetUments to struggle with, as were often 
 opposed to princes by the turbulence of their vassals, 
 they had others perhaps equally embarrassing. The 
 wealth acquired in trade introduced effeminacy, decay of 
 martial spirit, and dread of death ; and gave rise to the 
 wish to free themselves by any means from a personal 
 share in warHke expeditions. To liberate towns and 
 princes from these difficulties, bold and enterprising men 
 soon offered their services : these men, who, for the most 
 part, were poor nobles, or burghers and peasants anxious 
 to distinguish themselves by deeds of valour, levied on 
 their own account large troops of rapacious rabble, often 
 to the number of many thousands. Thus escorted, they 
 roamed about, maintaining themselves and their armies 
 at the cost of the unfortunate lands which lay in their 
 line of march ; and offering their mercenary services, for 
 one or more campaigns, to towns and princes. When 
 dismissed by one employer, if they did not immediately 
 find another they betook themselves to predatory excur- 
 sions on their own score. Not a few of these leaders 
 were murdered by their own band ; many met a dis- 
 graceful death on the scaffold ; but, on the other hand, 
 some won for themselves domains and principalities. 
 Their formation was the first trace and original germ 
 of standing armies; and has considerable resemblance 
 to the manner in which partisan corps are formed 
 in modern warfare. As the invention of this mode 
 of making war belonged to Italy, the leaders of these 
 troops received the Italian name of condottieri. One 
 of these mercenary captains, Arnold of Cervola, a man 
 of acknowledged courage but indifferent reputation, had 
 fought in the pay of France against England : after the 
 close of that war, he marched through several districts 
 at the head of twenty, thirty, or even forty thousand 
 men ; and, spreading devastation around him, advanced
 
 90 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1375. 
 
 upon the town of Basle. On other occasions he avoided 
 attacking fortified towns with his ill-disciplined troops, 
 who were totally devoid of all preparation, practice, and 
 appetite for services which required patience and order : 
 but Basle had only just been rebuilt after a wasting 
 earthquake : its trenches were in many places still choked 
 with rubbish, which gave unusual facilities for storming. 
 At this moment of terror Basle begged for aid from the 
 confederates ; and in a few days Berne and Soleure, 
 which were leagued with that town, sent 1500 men to 
 its assistance. As soon as they were received in the 
 suburbs, the leader of Berne addressed them : — " Hav- 
 ing been sent to venture all for you, faithful and true 
 friends and colleagues, post us where the danger will be 
 greatest." A day later, 3000 picked troops arrived from 
 the other cantons to defend Basle, as a bulwark of the 
 confederacy, although they had then no direct league 
 with it. Cervola, who had heard of Swiss valour and 
 Swiss poverty, found it advisable to turn his march 
 northwards without an attempt on Basle : in the follow- 
 ing year (1366) he was despatched by his own followers, 
 in Provence. 
 
 Ten years after the menaced inroad of Cervola, In- 
 gram or Ingelram de Coucy, count of Soissons and earl 
 of Bedford (titles both conferred on him by Edward III. 
 of England, whose daughter Isabella he had received in 
 marriage), proclaimed a feud against Austria, that power 
 having refused to pay the marriage portion of his mother 
 Catharina, daughter of the late duke Leopold, slain at 
 Morgarten, on pretence that the towns and lands assigned 
 for its payment had fallen for the most part into the 
 hands of the confederates. In Coucy 's army were many 
 English in splendid armour, with gilt helmets, or high- 
 crowned iron caps (Germanice, gugel-ha.ts, or capuches,) 
 whom the cessation of the war between France and 
 England had reduced to an unwelcome state of inaction, 
 and who willingly joined the standard raised by a son- 
 in-law of their monarch. Besides these excellent war- 
 riors, from whom the bands of Coucy were sometimes
 
 l."8f). INGELRAM DE COl'CY. Pl 
 
 called the Englanders, and sometimes, on account of 
 their strangely fashioned hats, the Guglers, Coucy picked 
 up numerous recruits in France and the Netherlands, 
 and was also reinforced by the remains of Cervola's army. 
 With these bands, which carried terror before them, 
 spread devastation around, and left misery behind them, 
 he began his expedition against Austria. Leopold now 
 applied for the assistance of the confederates, which was 
 afiForded with alacrity on the part of Berne and Zurich, 
 as the open country of these cantons was equally ex- 
 posed to attack. But the forest cantons declared that 
 they would not sacrifice their people in order to protect 
 the lands of a hostile power from invasion ; they would, 
 therefore, view the course of the war merely as spec- 
 tators ; and if the enemy should reach their borders, 
 they hoped, by God's assistance, and by the vigour of 
 their own right arms, to be able to defend themselves. 
 They adhered to this determination, although they would 
 have done better to take up arms in defence of the 
 Aargau, not on the duke's account, but because it was 
 an avant-mure of Zurich and Berne. On the approach 
 of Coucy 's force, an unaccountable panic seems to have 
 taken possession of the Austrians and their Swiss allies : 
 the invaders plundered and laid under contribution the 
 whole country from the Jura to the gates of Berne and 
 frontiers of Zurich. As the produce of these tracts hardly 
 sufficed to feed their own inhabitants, such dearth and 
 desolation ensued, that many not insignificant towns 
 could with difficulty defend themselves from the wolves. 
 Coucy 's army itself suffered dreadfully; and the oppres- 
 sions which it was forced, for self-preservation, to heap 
 on the land, brought the people at last to despair and to 
 resistance. Three thousand English warriors were de- 
 feated near Buttisholz, by a few hundred inhabitants of 
 Entlibuch (a district among the mountains that decline 
 from the higher Alps towards the Aargau), assisted, 
 however, by straggUng bands from Lucerne and Unter- 
 walden. As the conquering men of Entlibuch were 
 riding home on EngUsh horses, exultingly displaying the
 
 92 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1382. 
 
 arms and ornaments of the vanquished, the baron Peter 
 of Dorrenberg, as they passed his castle, cried out, — 
 " O noble blood, alas ! that peasants should wear your 
 decorations." — "That hath come to pass," replied an 
 Entlibucher, "because we have this day mingled noble 
 blood with blood of horses." A mound, called the En- 
 glish barrow, near the wood of Buttisholz, still remains 
 as a monument of the action. 
 
 Count Rudolph of Kyburg, one of the few remaining 
 jiowerful nobles, expiated a treacherous attempt to sur- 
 prise the town of Soleure, over which he claimed some 
 jurisdiction, by the loss of a great part of his hereditary 
 domains ; as the citizens of the town in question took 
 their revenge, with the aid of Berne, by inroads on his 
 lands and those of his friends. Berne, with her accus- 
 tomed policy, took the opportunity of appropriating Thun 
 as well as the bailliage of Griessenberg. 
 
 Though the recent peace still remained unbroken, 
 many secret causes of discord were in active operation, 
 which could not fail to produce a new and sanguinary 
 contest. The support which the count of Kyburg had 
 received from the Austrian territories had awakened the 
 distrust of the confederates, while the ruin of that an- 
 cient house, and the growth of the power of Berne, had 
 exasperated the ill-will of the nobles towards the con- 
 federacy. Duke Leopold III. of Austria, who resembled 
 in pride as well as in courage that Leopold who had 
 fought with the confederates at Morgarten, brought 
 bitter complaints against the confederates for receiving 
 into their league, in defiance of treaties, Entlibuch, Sem- 
 pach, Meyenberg, Reichensee, and other places, on which 
 he had claims, as either subject or mortgaged to him : he 
 charged Lucerne with breaking into his castle of Rothen- 
 burg in time of peace, and Zurich (whether with or 
 without foundation we are only enabled by history to 
 conjecture) with having planned a similar inroad upon 
 Rappersweil. On the other hand, besides the share 
 which Leopold had, contrary to his solemn engagements, 
 taken in the count of Kyburg's quarrel with the con-
 
 1386. BATTLE OF SEMPACH. QS 
 
 federates, he had violated several points in the late 
 pacification, and had done injury to the trade of the con- 
 federates, by the erection of a bridge at Rappersweil, 
 as well as by the exaction of new tolls and dues at that 
 place and at Rothenburg. And if Leopold had hitherto 
 taken no further steps against the confederates, his for- 
 bearance was not so much attributed to love of peace, or 
 regard to the faith of treaties, as to the obstacles which 
 were laid in his way by circumstances. As soon as these 
 were overcome, he marched into the Aargau, and swore 
 a solemn oath, by God's assistance, to thssever " that 
 insulting league of the Swiss, the source of so much 
 unrighteous warfare." 
 
 The hatred of the nobles now broke forth against the 
 free burghers, so that messages of defiance reachetl the 
 confederacy from I67 lords temporal and spiritual, 
 which, in order to enhance their stunning effect, were 
 delivered in twenty messages successively. At this 
 crisis Berne declined taking the part in the common 
 danger which seemed enjoined by gratitude for the 
 aid of her confederates at Laupen, on pretence of an 
 eleven years' truce with Leopold ; of which, however, 
 the term was to expire in a few months. The other 
 cantons reinforced the Zurichers, against whom the first 
 attack was apprehended, with I6OO men, and ravaged 
 in conjunction with them the neighbouring lands of 
 Austria; but on the news of a threatened inroad on 
 Lucerne, the force destined to garrison that town was 
 detached thither, while the Zurichers protected their 
 own walls against the division of the ducal force by 
 which they were menaced. Meanwhile the duke 
 marched rapidly towards the interior of the country, at 
 the head of a body of picked troops ; and on the 9th of 
 July, 1386, met the Swiss advancing from Zurich in 
 the neighbourhood of Sempach. 
 
 Arrogance and scornful menace heralded the march of 
 an enemy confident of a sure and easy victory. Cords, 
 as on a former occasion, were prepared to hang the ex- 
 pected captives. A certain baron of Hasenburg, who
 
 94) HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1386. 
 
 suggested prudent caution, received the punning nick- 
 name, heart of hare (Hasenherz) ; and, in order to owe 
 the honour of victory solely to themselves, the heavy- 
 armed nohility dismounted from their horses, cut the 
 long peaks then in fashion from their shoes, and formed 
 an extended line of battle, seemingly impenetrable, 
 through the formidable length and close array of the 
 presented spears. The Swiss had nothing but boards 
 attached to their left arms by way of bucklers, but 
 "harged manfully notwithstanding their rude accoutre- 
 ments, in reliance on their God, and in the cause of their 
 country. Their leaders fought in front of tlie battle, 
 and many of them soon fell before the levelled spears of 
 the enemy. It was then that Arnold of Winkelried, a 
 knight of Unterwalden (for the chivalry was not all on 
 one side), resolved by his heroic death to render an im- 
 perishable service to his father-land. Exclaiming, " I will 
 make way for you, confederates — provide for my wife 
 and children — honour my race!" — he rushed upon the 
 spears, and grasping several with his arms, he bore them 
 to the ground with the weight of his body, over which 
 the confederates forced their way through the broken 
 ranks of the enemy, who were unable to manoeuvre from 
 the closeness of their array, and half smothered under 
 the sultry summer's sun in their ponderous armour. 
 The high-souled Leopold feU beside the sinking banner 
 of Austria, resolved to share the fate of those true fol- 
 lowers who had sacrificed themselves in his cause. More 
 than 600 of the higher and lower nobility were left on 
 the field, with about 2000 of their less distinguished 
 adherents. The slauffhter would have been greater had 
 not the Swiss yielded too eagerly to the appetite for 
 plunder. Fifteen banners fell into the hands of the 
 victors, who lost about 200 men ; but amongst these 
 some of their bravest. The avoyer Gundoldingen, a 
 man in high esteem among his countrymen, and deeply 
 imbued with the spirit of a republican government, died 
 repeating the words, " Tell the men of Lucerne to retain 
 no avoyer longer than a single year in office."
 
 1387. THE BAD PEACE. Q5 
 
 Leopold IV., surnamed the Proud, continued during 
 several months longer the war commenced by his father 
 against the confederates. He enjoyed the aid of a nume- 
 rous and powerful body of nobles, eager to revenge their 
 friends and relatives slain at Sempach, or to vindicate 
 the honour of their order. Yet this feud, in which 
 Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne took principal parts, re- 
 sembled a mere predatory excursion more than any thing 
 else. Berne seized the opportunity to aggrandise her- 
 self, and gained a firm footing in the Oberland. Lucerne 
 destroyed several strong fortresses. Zurich did the 
 same, and distinguished herself by valiant deeds of arms 
 in the Wehnthal. But the conquest of the Austrian 
 town of Wesen, in the Gaster, by the seven old cantons, 
 alone deserves notice here, not so much on account of 
 the importance of the acquisition as of its consequences. 
 Since neither fame nor profit accrued from these events 
 to the house of Austria, and the confederates themselves 
 were tired of this desultory warfare, a year and a half's 
 truce was easily mediated by several imperial towns. 
 This was called the Bad Peace, on account of the nu- 
 merous acts of ill faitli which were exercised on both sides 
 while it continued, and because its whole duration was 
 employed not in pacific transactions, but in warlike pre- 
 parations. At that time the minds of the confederates 
 were penetrated with such hatred against Austria, that 
 they could not hear the name of that house without ex- 
 asperation. Whoever spoke well of Austria was regarded 
 as an enemy — whoever should have adorned his hat with 
 peacock's feathers, the ducal ensign, would have lost his 
 life by the fury of the peojjle. It is recorded that no 
 peacock was permitted in all Switzerland ; and Peacock's 
 Tail became the most offensive of all nicknames. The 
 national antipathy rose to such a height at this time, that 
 many writers, not without ground, refer to this epoch 
 the definitive separation of the Swiss confederation from 
 the German empire. 
 
 Towards the close of the truce, the Swiss garrison in 
 the conquered town of Wesen were surprised by a
 
 \}G HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1388. 
 
 treacherous junction of the burghers with the Austrians; 
 and the vogt, with all who could not escape over the 
 walls, were murdered. The confederates advanced from 
 the lake of Zurich, but did not attempt to penetrate 
 through the strong body of Austrian troops collected in 
 the neighbourhood ; and the men of Glarus were left to 
 themselves for the space of nearly two months, while 
 the mountain-passes were blocked up with snow. Never- 
 theless, they rejected the conditions proposed by the 
 enemy, which amounted, indeed, to nearly entire subjec- 
 tion. Unexpectedly, on the 9th of April, 1388, a hostile 
 army, several thousand strong, made its appearance from 
 the neighbouring lands of the Aargau, Thurgau, and the 
 remote Swabian territories, and attacked the fortress of 
 Naefels. A handful of 200 men, commanded by Mat- 
 thew of Biihlen, though reinforced by 300 others who 
 came up from the neighbourhood, were not strong enough 
 to maintain an unfinished line of fortifications extending 
 across a valley from one hill to another. Their entrench- 
 ments Avere forced, after a stout resistance. AYhile the 
 enemy, confiding in their far superior numbers, and des- 
 pising the insignificant bands of Glarus, dispersed in 
 every direction in quest of plunder, Biihlen collected his 
 handful of men on the mountain ridges near Ruti. Even 
 in an open country resolute men are capable of great 
 things; and little bands of warriors cut their way from 
 all quarters to their country's banner floating from the 
 height. The men of Glarus, reinforced by a few Schwy tzers 
 and other chance auxiliaries from the valleys in their 
 rear, by a succession of spirited charges, brought the 
 enemy first to wavering and confusion, and at last to a 
 disorderly flight. The bridge at Wesen gave way beneath 
 the pressure of the fugitives. Above 3000 common men 
 and 183 knights fell on the field, or found their death 
 in the lake and in the river. The entreaties and mag- 
 nificent offers made by the sorrowing relatives for leave 
 to build a convent on the field of battle were rejected by 
 the community of Glarus, who justly feared that such a 
 foundation mighty in course of time, find means to ap-
 
 1388. BATTLE OF NAEFELS. 97 
 
 propriate the best lands, acquire a dangerous influence, 
 and encourage that of foreigners. The same community 
 ordained that, on each succeeding April, the principal 
 able-bodied member of each family in the district should 
 go in procession to Naefels, passing every spot and stile 
 which had witnessed the achievements of their forefa- 
 thers. Then and there should be read before the assembled 
 people the history of the day of Sempach, the events in 
 ■the Gaster, and, finally, of the victory of Naefels. After 
 the celebration of mass for the souls of their brave ances- 
 tors, and due commemoration of their constancy in the 
 cause of freedom, the people were allowed to relax in 
 moderate festivity. * 
 
 After incessant hostiUties waged for more than thir- 
 teen months, some imperial towns succeeeded in effecting 
 a truce, or peace, as it was called, for seven years, in 
 which the Bernese acquiesced with reluctance. In this 
 peace the confederates retained their actual conquests. 
 Zurich, Uri, and Unterwalden, however, acquired nothing. 
 The event of the war, and the terms of peace, shook to 
 their foundations the financial resources of Austria, as 
 well as its power and influence on the popular mind in 
 Switzerland. The attempt was therefore renewed to sow 
 disunion among the confederates, and subdue those spirits 
 by fraud which had only been roused by open violence. 
 Duke Leopold gained over to his interests the burgomas- 
 ter Rudolf Schon, and the majority of the council at 
 Zurich. Without the knowledge of the great council, 
 and in spite of the remonstrances of the rest of the con- 
 federates, who watched their proceedings with attention, 
 they closed with Austria a still more binding alliance 
 than that of Brun had been. Zurich therein exempted 
 herself from guaranteeing the recent conquests of the 
 confederates, &c. The envoys of the latter had recourse 
 to measures justifiable only by the peculiar relations and 
 danger of the confederacy. They employed their per- 
 sonal influence in the streets and public places on the 
 members of the great council and congregated burghers. 
 The ascendency of the government rapidly fell, as it had 
 
 u
 
 98 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1394>. 
 
 only been based upon arts of intrigue and coercion. Its 
 members were displaced, and, in part, banished ; the 
 Austrian league dissolved, and changes made in the con- 
 stitution, in consequence of which, the former rulers were 
 superseded by firm friends of the confederacy. 
 
 Convinced of the necessity of adopting regulations 
 conducive to internal strength and harmony, the con- 
 federates concluded as a body that state compact which 
 received the name of the Sempach declaration, which 
 was intended to prevent the recurrence of the disorders 
 which had marked the late war, and which prohibited 
 self-revenge among the confederates, provided for the 
 safety of commerce and intercourse, the maintenance of 
 discipline, and the prevention of unnecessary violence 
 and plunder among the soldiery. The seven years' 
 peace with Austria was prolonged, in 1394>, for twenty, 
 and in lilS, for fifty years. While the influence of 
 that power sunk in Switzerland; while one ancient, proud, 
 and powerful house was extinguished after another, two 
 new confederations became organised in the east. Rhsetia 
 was the one, — the other was Appenzell. 
 
 Enclosed by rugged chains of the higher Alps, and 
 possessing a climate rapid in its vicissitudes, from eternal 
 ice to almost Spanish sultriness, Rhastia presented, in 
 the times of which we are treating, a strange mixture 
 of free communities with the bondsmen of the church 
 and the nobles. Already liad a century elapsed since 
 the confederates had achieved their freedom, when the 
 Rhaetians, for the first time, manned themselves to 
 struggle for that glorious object. They formed al- 
 liances, partly amongst themselves, and partly with the 
 neighbouring confederates ; but their struggles were as 
 yet too undecided, their internal relations too confused 
 and unregulated, to deserve farther notice for the present. 
 
 With more decision, and therefore with more effect, 
 the district of Appenzell entered on the struggle for in- 
 dependence. It consisted of some half-dozen nameless 
 hamlets, at the northern end of the ancient Rhjetian 
 territory, where an insulated group of mountains, like a
 
 1401. REVOLT OF APPENZELL. 99 
 
 sort of natural fortress, rises high above the circumjacent 
 country. The snow-crowned head of the Sentis seems 
 to tower supreme over wide tracts, from the Tyrol, over 
 the distant Swabian plains, as far as Wirtemberg. Ar- 
 rogance, combined with oppression and tyranny, first 
 aroused in the inhabitants of this obscure region a force 
 which had been hitherto unknown to themselves, but 
 which extended its workings over a wide circle, until 
 arrogance and imprudence on their own part again 
 limited its results within a narrower field. Cuno, of 
 Staufen, was invested, in 1379, ^^ith the dignity of abbot 
 in the monastery of St. GaU, which for a considerable 
 time back had appropriated the imperial and all other 
 dues throughout the four districts around it. Cuno held 
 the wisdom of a ruler to be best shown by extension of 
 his rule ; his servants also delighted in surpassing their 
 lord's excesses, and in barbing his oppressions with insult. 
 Cuno refused to confirm the prescriptive franchises of 
 the peasantry, or to gratify their wish to have their 
 officers selected from the natives of their own district ; 
 augmented the dues and imposts to which they were 
 liable, and exercised his feudal rights with the most 
 tyrannical rigour. At length, the four districts under 
 his government combined for common resistance ; but 
 the ferment was for once appeased through the good offices 
 of impartial towns and nobles in the neighbourhood. 
 These conciliatory labours were however rendered useless 
 by attempts on the part of the abbot and his officers to 
 avenge themselves on the abettors of the recent dis- 
 contents. Rigours made still farther rigours necessary ; 
 and in January, 1401, the four districts leagued them- 
 selves witli the town of St. Gall, which had been irri- 
 tated already by the abbot. They expelled that prince's 
 officers, and threw up their allegiance. Constance, 
 and five other imperial towns, which had shortly before 
 allied themselves with the prince-abbot, as well as with 
 the town of St. Gall, again succeeded in dissolving the 
 league of the citizens with the mountaineers. When 
 the commons of Appenzell found that force was about to 
 
 H 2
 
 100 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1403. 
 
 be employed against them, they unanimously swore to a 
 firm union. They now sought an alliance with the Swiss 
 confederacy ; but Schwytz alone answered their ad- 
 vances. The abbot now allied himself more closely with the 
 Swabian towns, and, through their mediation with St. Gall, 
 where the princely name and influence still worked 
 powerfully on the leading men, and attempted to coerce 
 the combined mountaineers by force of arms. 
 
 But the latter had received reinforcements from the 
 ever-ready Schwytzers, and had moreover been joined by 
 volunteers from Glarus, though that canton was pre- 
 cluded, by its league with the confederates, from entering 
 into open alliance with Appenzell. On the 15th May, 
 1403, the weU-appointed enemy, 5000 strong, while 
 attempting to penetrate towards Speicher, received, in 
 the hollow road before Vogeliseck, a signal overthrow 
 from 1800 ill-armed shepherds of Appenzell, backed by 
 a handful of men from Schwytz and from Glarus. Few 
 of the conquerors lost their lives, while 400 of their 
 enemies perished ; and the town of St. Gall atoned for 
 its courtly subservience by the loss of its leaders and 
 many of its citizens. Nevertheless, the men of St. Gall 
 and Appenzell renewed their league in 1404, unrestrained 
 by any resentment of their losses on the part of the 
 former. Abbot and monks made their escape to Weil, 
 while the Appenzellers, ever advancing in boldness, re- 
 ceived lands and villages into their league, without regard 
 to existing rights, and maintained the cause of the vassals 
 of the nobles against their lords, who regarded them 
 from thenceforth as their enemies. This rendered it 
 easy for the abbot to stir up the nobles of the Thurgau 
 and others to participate in the war against these dis- 
 turbers of the peace ; and he was thus occasioned also to 
 court the assistance of duke Frederick, although hitherto 
 the holders of the abbacy had always cherished distrust 
 against his house. Scarcely had the duke resolved to 
 aid the prince-abbot, when the deeply outraged count 
 Rudolph of Werdenberg, whom the rapacity of Austria 
 had robbed of his paternal estates, presented himself as a
 
 1405. ENGAGEMEXT AT THE STOSS. 101 
 
 comratle to the AppenzcIIers. In order to silence any 
 thing like distrust, he submitted himself to voluntary 
 hardships, which an ordinary knight's page of those 
 times would have thought unendurable. He went clothed 
 like themselves, often with bare feet, and fought in their 
 ranks; but his courage, as well as counsel and experience, 
 soon placed him amongst the number of their leaders. 
 
 On a rainy day of June, 1405, the main body of duke 
 Frederick's forces advanced to the borders of Appenzell, 
 through the Rheinthal, and began to ascend the Stoss ; 
 where the short turf of the meadows, slippery from the 
 rain which had fallen, afforded no sure footing for the 
 heavy-armed troops. Four hundred men of Appenzell, 
 with some from Glarus and Schwytz, rolled fragments of 
 rock and beams of wood down on the enemy, who had 
 hardly advanced midway up the hill, when Rudolf of 
 Werdenberg gave the signal for onset. Then rushed 
 the men of Appenzell with loud shouts on the already 
 broken lines of the Austrians ; and the slippery soil 
 favoured their barefooted bands as much as it embarrassed 
 those of the enemy. The I'ain had, besides, rendered 
 the cross-bows of the latter unserviceable. Notwith- 
 standing these disadvantages, the Austrians fought des- 
 perately, till a new array of combatants appeared on the 
 heights in the rear, who seemed designed to cut off their 
 retreat. The sight of a new enemy entirely broke their 
 courage, and they fled down hill precipitately, pursued 
 by the men of Appenzell; whose wives and dau(jhters, 
 in shepherds' smocks, composed the dreaded reserve, of 
 which a distant apparition had inspired too great a panic 
 to wait for the correction of a nearer view. 
 
 Duke Frederick, in the mean time, had advanced from 
 another quarter, and carried his ravages, at the head of 
 his glittering chivalry, up to the very gates of St. Gall. 
 Finding the place too strong for his means of attack, he 
 fell back again upon Arbon, when his disorderly line of 
 march was assailed by the burghers of St. Gall, divided 
 into several small detachments, from which considerable 
 loss was sustained by the ducal force at Hauptlisberg. 
 
 II 3
 
 102 HISTORY OF SWITZERLANn. 1408. 
 
 The duke was sorely stung by this disgraceful reverse; 
 but still more so by the news of the disastrous rout at 
 the Stoss. He had now recourse to artifice for revenge; 
 and giving out that he designed to retreat from Arbon 
 to the Tyrol, he drew his forces off towards the Rhine ; 
 but, on arriving at the village of Thai, he wheeled his 
 troops suddenly round, and led them up the Wolfshald, 
 towards Appenzell. He hoped to take the pastoral po- 
 jiulation by surprise ; but his intention was already 
 known at Appenzell. Four hundred men rushed down 
 on the disorderly troops of Austria, who were toiling 
 upwards without the least apprehension or precaution. 
 They had time, however, to take a strong position in a 
 churchyard, and the battle was fought obstinately on 
 both sides. At length, the Austrian lines were again 
 broken, and the ducal army driven down the Wolfshald 
 with enormous slaughter. The duke was by this time 
 really sick of the contest, and retreated to the Tyrol in 
 good earnest. 
 
 The hitherto unheard name of Appenzell was now 
 spread far and wide by renown. Even during the winter 
 months they besieged the castle of Bregenz, which had 
 often annoyed the neighbouring inhabitants. But they 
 were blinded by the self-reliance grounded on good 
 fortune, so far as to utter open threats against the Swabian 
 nobles, and thus raise up new allies to their enemy. 
 A combination was formed against them, called the St. 
 George's Shield, or League ; and their scattered bands, 
 enfeebled by the rigours of winter, were attacked on the 
 13th of January, 1408, at break of day, by a body of 
 above 8000 well-armed warriors. They rallied their 
 force as well as they were able ; but notwithstanding 
 the determined stand which they made, in which their 
 captain fell, they were at length compelled to retreat, 
 with the loss of many prisoners, and of all their pre- 
 parations for a siege. But so imposing was the memory 
 of their tried and proved valour, that their most em- 
 bittered enemies could not stimulate the conquerors, 
 however superior in number, to molest their retreat.
 
 1412. INDEPENDENCE OF APPENZELL. 103 
 
 The Appenzellers themselves were disposed to terms 
 of peace by this disaster, and made a compromise with 
 the nobles and the abbot, by which the latter was finally 
 compelled to acknowledge their independence ; and duke 
 Frederick of Austria having recovered his possessions, 
 the cause of warfare ceased in that quarter. They confined 
 themselves thenceforwards to the defence of their own 
 freedom, which they sought to secure by alliances with 
 powerful lords in their neighbourhood ; but still more 
 by procuring themselves reception from the confederacy : 
 not, indeed, into the rank of a separate canton, but into 
 the number of their citizens and countrymen. The 
 conditions on which this privilege was granted them 
 were directed to secure the confederates from entangle- 
 ment in unnecessary warfare, through the ardour and 
 irritability of the Appenzellers. To this end the latter 
 were obliged to promise never to take up arms without 
 the consent of the confederates ; to give them aid in all 
 future wars with their whole force ; while, in wars 
 undertaken on their own account, they contented them- 
 selves with such aid only as the confederates might 
 choose to afford, and for which Appenzell was besides 
 to pay. JMoreover, the confederates reserved the right 
 of adding to, or taking from, the articles of the treaty 
 at their discretion. 
 
 The confederates could look without alarm to the 
 approaching close of the Twenty Years' Peace, for their 
 freedom and repose were firmly established, while the 
 former predominance of Austria existed now no longer 
 in Switzerland. Confusion and distress prevailed on all 
 sides, — in Germany, in France, in Spain, in Italy, and, 
 most of all, in the ecclesiastical state. The confe- 
 deracy alone enjoyed order and repose. The wars of 
 princes at that time were carried on with unwieldy 
 heavy cavalry, and their infantry was wretched. But 
 the Swiss understood the art of war better. Compelled 
 to fight on foot by their poverty, as well as by the 
 nature of the country, and opposed for the most part to 
 
 H 4
 
 10-t HISTORV OF SWITZERLAND. 1412. 
 
 superior numbers, they were forced to watch atten- 
 tively every advantage, to trust to a resolute onset and 
 immovable steadiness, and to baffle by their quickness 
 of manoeuvre the unwieldy numerical force of their 
 antagonists. Thus the confederacy stood prepared for 
 all events when the peace of twenty years came to a 
 close. Duke Frederick of Austria wished to prolong it ; 
 and in order to obtain this end he was obliged, besides 
 conceding other points to the confederates, to confirm 
 for fifty years their possession of all the conquests ac- 
 tually held by themselves or their allies of Soleure and 
 Appenzell. Thus a century after the Austrian pride and 
 arrogance had commenced the war against the freedom 
 of Switzerland, the latter had come so triumphantly out 
 of the conflict, that duke Frederick was glad to conclude 
 a treaty with them on any terms. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 FROM THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE TO THE BATTLE OP 
 ARBEDO. 
 
 1414—1422. 
 
 STATE OF THE CONFEDERATION. OF THE CHURCH. GREAT 
 
 SCHISM. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. FLIGHT OF POPE JOHN. 
 
 OUTLAWRY OF FREDERICK DUKE OF AUSTRIA. CON- 
 QUESTS OF THE CONFEDERATES. ERECTION OF FREE BAI- 
 LIWICKS. CAPTURE AND DEPOSITION OF POPE JOHN. DIS- 
 SOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. FRANCESCO 
 
 POGGIO. GIPSIES. THE MAZZE. FEUD OF URI AND 
 
 UNTERWALDEN WITH PHILIP VISCONTI DUKE OP MILAN. 
 
 MARCH OF THE SWISS ON BELLINZONA. BATTLE OF ARBEDO. 
 
 The history of the Swiss has been traced in the fore- 
 going pages since the loss of their original savage 
 freedom : we have seen them in the power of foreign 
 nations ; we have hailed the re-appearance of their 
 native spirit, the vigour and good fortune which ac-
 
 1418. STATE OF THE CONFEDERATION. 105 
 
 companied their struggles with their powerful an- 
 tagonists. But precisely this good fortune induced 
 gradual deviations from the noble maxim on which 
 their league was founded, that of making friends in- 
 stead of acquiring subjects. This deviation had already 
 become perceptible in the towns which we have seen 
 acquiring new dom.ains by conquest or purchase ; it 
 has already been remarked in Schwytz and Uri ; and 
 the recital of the following transactions will present 
 it in a still clearer light, and wiU also display its 
 natural effects in the perilous out-breakings of intes- 
 tine feud and civil discord. The aggrandisement of 
 particular cantons excited the envy of others, which 
 was inflamed to the highest degree by the sustained and 
 sedulous efforts which the former made to preserve and 
 to increase their acquisitions. As at this time tlie body 
 of confederates had no reason to fear attacks from any 
 of their neighbours, the feeling of reciprocal obligation 
 died away by degrees among themselves. The previous 
 bonds of union became relaxed so much the sooner as 
 the confederates had yet to receive such lessons from 
 experience as were bestowed in later times on their 
 descendants : vanity and selfishness usurped the place of 
 pubUc spirit ; and even when the leading men in a 
 canton were not actuated by personal ambition or rapa- 
 city, they took it for a proof of the purest patriotism to 
 aggrandise their canton at the expense of the rest, and 
 did not renounce their projects of aggrandisement, 
 though they endangered the peace, or even the existence, 
 of the confederacy. We shall presently see Zurich, iu 
 alliance, first with Austria, and afterwards with France, 
 contending, during fourteen years, with its utmost 
 strength and energies, against the other confederates 
 united. A war from which this, if no other lesson may 
 be extracted, that the same people is capable of the 
 brightest or the darkest deeds, according as it yields to 
 the sway of pure or impure impulses. 
 
 The aflPairs of the church about this time arrested the
 
 106 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1414. 
 
 attention of governments as well as individual enquirers. 
 The disorders of the ecclesiastical polity^ and the evils 
 thereby engendered, had increased in rapid progression. 
 Negligence of their functions and encroachments over 
 their limits on the part of the clergy brought contempt 
 on their order. The consequences of this contempt 
 were schisms and ghostly extravagances, in spite of the 
 exertions made by a few superior spirits, who, so far 
 as was allowed by prevailing prejudices, endeavoured to 
 disseminate sounder ideas on religious subjects. It was 
 now that those Flagellants appeared, who were not to be 
 satisfied with the penances of the strictest monastic 
 orders. These were followed by the Beghards and Be- 
 guines, whose associations originally were framed for 
 laudable objects, but soon collected crowds of idle vaga- 
 bonds, and encouraged all the rude exaggerations of 
 false devotion. The Beghards were first favoured then 
 suppressed, and their places of meeting, for instance at 
 Basle, transferred to institutions of charity. Precau- 
 tions were adopted against them, as well as against their 
 hordes of sturdy beggars, and all deviations in matters 
 of faith were visited in some places, Berne for example, 
 with the correction of fire and sword. 
 
 Three popes, of whom each had his own phalanx of 
 adherents, then stood in opposition to each other. The 
 original constitution of the church had been abandoned 
 many centuries back, in which the bishops issued orders 
 in all clerical concerns, as the overseers of spiritual com- 
 munities. On the other hand, the doctrine of one 
 visible head of the church had gradually obtained the 
 ascendency ; and thus from a plurality of popes, each 
 anathematising the others, arose manifold perplexities. 
 Nor had the horrible persecutions of the Albigenses, 
 against whom a crusade had been preached, sufficed to 
 crush the efforts of those who sought to restore the 
 church in some measure to its primitive form. These 
 efforts were revived by the Waldenses. In England, 
 where from time to time clear views on the subject had
 
 .1414. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. 107 
 
 contended with the pretensions of the hierarchy, John 
 WiclifFe, in the latter half of the fourteenth century, 
 strove against a whole host of clerical abuses, combated 
 the frauds of the mencUcant friars, and translated the 
 Holy Scriptures into his mother tongue. He, too, was 
 assailed with the accustomed persecutions ; but a part 
 of his doctrines strayed to a congenial soil in Bohemia, 
 and found a distinguished apostle in John Huss, whom 
 the council of Constance afterwards condemned to the 
 stake, in contravention of its own safe-conduct. 
 
 The necessity of church reform began to be felt in all 
 Europe ; and, through the exertions of the emperor, a 
 general assembly of the church was, after many delays, 
 appointed to be held at Constance, towards the close of 
 the year 1414, at which the desired reformation was to 
 be carried into eflPect by a council of the higher clergy, 
 sitting in the presence of the emperor, and assisted by a 
 numerous body of princes and of delegates from almost 
 every country in Europe. Of the three anti-popes, 
 John XXIII. alone, and with reluctance, had appeared 
 on the summons. But when he found that bis own 
 nomination to the popedom was to be brought in ques- 
 tion, he betook himself to flight, in breach of his pro- 
 mise, abetted by duke Frederick of Austria. This 
 conduct drew on the latter the ban of the empire, ac- 
 companied by the interdict of the council. He was, 
 besides, charged with various other offences, and de- 
 clared to have forfeited his fief. Many lords, lay as 
 well as clerical, of whom most had been the former 
 friends of Frederick, hastened to declare themselves 
 against the outlaw. The confederates were called to aid 
 against the former enemy, in execution of the ban of 
 the empire ; but the proposal that they should violate 
 a treaty which had so recently been sworn for fifty 
 years excited very reasonable scruples. The council, 
 indeed, promised them absolution from that as well as 
 all their other sins ; and the emperor guaranteed to 
 them the permanent possession of whatever lands they 
 might conquer from their hereditary enemy : but the
 
 108 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1415. 
 
 forest cantons, as also Zurich, Zug, Lucerne, and 
 Glarus, remained as yet inaccessible to sophistry or 
 temptation. On the other hand, Berne was anxious to 
 embrace an opportunity so favourable for extending her 
 own territory, and striking a finishing blow to the power 
 of Austria in her neighbourhood. Accordingly, on the 
 repeated calls of the emperor and the council, to which 
 the other confederates still delayed obedience, Berne 
 armed without waiting for their concurrence. This 
 aroused the jealousy of Zurich, who would not stay 
 behind and lose her share in the booty. Finally, the 
 rest of the confederacy gave in to the example of their 
 principal colleagues ; Appenzell and Uri were the only 
 places which still held out. In order to avoid sharing 
 their expected spoils with their colleagues, the Bernese 
 promptly took the field, before any of the others were 
 in readiness, marched into the Aargau, and besieged 
 Zofingen. A diet had been held at Sur by the lords 
 and towns of the Aargau, at which it had been proposed 
 to seek an alliance with the confederates, and admission 
 into the rank of a new canton. This was frustrated by 
 the influence of the nobles, who maintained a firm 
 attachment to Austria. On this it was resolved by the 
 towns to apply for the protection of the confederacy. 
 Too late ! the Swiss banners were already over the fron- 
 tiers, and Berne, as usual, foremost of all. In eight 
 days, with very trifling losses, the Aargau, as far as the 
 Reuss, was in their hands. 
 
 At Freyburg in Brisgau, where Frederick and the 
 pope had taken refuge, one messenger of misfortune fol- 
 lowed another. The revolt of large numbers of his vas- 
 sals, the loss of the Thurgau, of the Aargau, of Alsace, 
 the popular discontent in the dominions yet remaining 
 to him, were announced to the imfortunate duke in quick 
 and stunning succession. Such a series of reverses at 
 length broke his resolution; and preventing the escape 
 of the pope who still continued obstinate, he repaired to 
 Constance to tender his submissions at the feet of the 
 emperor, who vouchsafed his gracious pardon on con-
 
 1415. FREE BAlLIWICkS. 109 
 
 dition of the pope being delivered up, and the duke's 
 whole domains being surrendered into his (the emperor's) 
 keeping, until he should graciously please to give them 
 back to his repentant vassal. After many months of 
 humihation, and a few abortive sallies of impatience, the 
 powerful mediation of duke Ernest, Frederick's brother, 
 procured the restoration of the bulk of his lands, and 
 the removal of the ban and sentence of outlawry. 
 
 While Frederick was making his submissions at Con- 
 stance, the confederates were besieging his castle of 
 Baden, which they had captured, before any notice ar- 
 rived of the suspension of hostilities. The imperial 
 heralds of peace were within a league's distance of Ba- 
 den, when the strong and splendid fortress, from which 
 Albert had menaced the forest cantons, where the ex- 
 peditions to Morgarten and Sempach had been planned, 
 and where the Austrian princes often held their courts, 
 was already in flames. The emperor expressed great 
 intlignation, and demanded that the confederates should 
 give their conquests up to the empire. They replied by 
 an appeal to the imperial guarantee by which the per- 
 manent possession of their conquests had been assured 
 to them; and when the emperor persisted in his de- 
 mands, he was given to understand that these who had 
 made the conquests in question would not so easily be 
 persuaded to abandon them. This hint induced the 
 emperor to content himself with a sum of money, in 
 consideration of which he allowed the confederates to 
 retain their acquisitions in perpetual mortgage. The 
 delegates of Uri renounced all participation in the newly 
 conquered lands of the confederacy, and excited the de- 
 rision of their less magnanimous colleagues by proposing 
 to relinquish them to the emperor, in order not to vio- 
 late the truce with Austria. The six other cantons came 
 to an agreement on the subject of their common acqui- 
 sitions, that each in turn should appoint a bailiff over 
 them for two years, and that an annual account of their 
 administration should be given.
 
 110 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1415. 
 
 If in the establishment of these common, or, so called, 
 free bailiwicks, the confederates swerved from the more 
 enlarged policy of their fathers (who had received 
 Glarus and Zug into the rank of their confederates), and 
 showed that they wished rather to possess indifferent 
 subjects than friends and fellow-combatants in the cause 
 of common freedom, yet the system of rotation in the 
 government of the conquered lands might probably ex- 
 cite less aversion in their inhabitants than would have 
 been caused by a partition of districts which had pre- 
 viously composed one jurisdiction. Gross administra- 
 tive abuses were at that time out of the question. Sove- 
 reignty was exercised in a spirit of great mildness and 
 indulgence to the independent feelings of its subjects. 
 Nevertheless the subsequent abuses in the government 
 of these common bailiwicks, the political insignificance 
 to which their population was consigned, and the moral 
 evils thereby engendered, remain a warning example of 
 the consequences produced by all deviations from the 
 path of correct principle. 
 
 After Frederick's submission, the elector of Branden- 
 burg was employed to secure, by fair or forcible means, 
 the pope's person. John was brought a prisoner to 
 Constance ; the council made enquiries into his course 
 of life from youth upwards; found it to have been 
 highly vicious and scandalous; declared him to be more 
 deserving of death at the stake than the papal chair, and 
 pronounced a formal sentence of deposition. John lived 
 several years in easy custody; was afterwards released, 
 and went to Florence, where he was favourably received 
 by his successor, and died cardinal bishop of Frascati. 
 The choice of a new pope (Martin V.), which, by an 
 improvident or insidious vote of the council, was made 
 to precede the farther agitation of the points of which 
 the discussion had formed their original object in meet- 
 ing, restored, indeed, the unity of the papal pow-er, but 
 not the order or discipline of the church, whose new 
 head thought nothing of such urgent importance as to 
 bring about the speedy dissolution of an assembly, the
 
 lilS. CARDINAL POGGIO. GIPSIES. Ill 
 
 very existence of which he viewed as a menace to the 
 hierarchy. 
 
 Cardinal Poggio, one of the first men of what was 
 then the first nation of Europe, present at this council, 
 has left us a description of the gaieties attending it, 
 which exhibits Swiss manners in amusing contrast with 
 those of Italy. In Switzerland, and the neighbouring 
 regions of Germany, the mode of life in all classes was 
 homely and domestic, but by no means sombre or mo- 
 rose. They loved the song and dance ; and, in their 
 melodies, pious hymns or martial strains alternated with 
 love-songs. Their games were of an athletic or bur- 
 lesque kind : gambling was as little in the habits as in 
 the laws of the people. Though the birth of illegiti- 
 mate children was not a rare occurrence, it appears, 
 according to Poggio, almost incredible how utterly un- 
 suspecting was the confidence of parents and husbands. 
 This may partly be accounted for by the general turn to 
 gaiety, incompatible with dark distrust or deep-laid ma- 
 chinations. Poggio compares the mode of life which he 
 found at the baths of Baden to the ancient Greek de- 
 scriptions of the games of the goddess of Paphos. 
 
 The multitude of masterless servants, forsaken fe- 
 males, and vagabonds of every description, whom cu- 
 riosity, or the hope of easy winnings, under the pretext 
 of devotion, had collected at Constance, leagued them- 
 selves with the bands of sturdy beggars who had long 
 formed a kind of confraternity. About this time, too, 
 swarms of unknown strangers made their appearance, 
 brown in complexion, foreign in aspect, ill supplied with 
 clothing : their leader was named Michael, or, as he 
 styled himself, buke Michael of Egypt : his followers 
 were known by the name of Cingari or Zingari (in Ger- 
 man, Zigeuner, gipsies). So little was known of oriental 
 languages in those times, that these adventurers could 
 teU what tales they pleased about their origin. * They 
 pretended to have come from Lower Egypt, and to 
 belong to the number of those who had not received 
 
 » Mullcr, iii. 115.
 
 112 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1418. 
 
 Joseph and Mary; that they had now become Christians, 
 and were bound on a seven years' pilgrimage. It has 
 at length been conjectured, from their language, that 
 they were driven out by the great convulsions of India, 
 when the dynasty of the sultan of Ghaur was overthrown 
 by Pir ]Mohammed Jehan Ghir, the grandson of Timur. 
 
 The council of Constance had not yet been closed, 
 and the conquest of the Aargau was but newly com- 
 pleted, when a fresh source of disquietude was opened. 
 Even in remote antiquity, traces of a lively love of 
 freedom had displayed themselves in the Valais. That 
 district had maintained a brave though unsuccessful 
 struggle with Rome ; and had always known how to 
 vindicate and extend its freedom against Savoy, and other 
 powerful enemies, whether external or internal. When, 
 in 1411, the confederates surprised and took possession 
 of the valleys of Ossola, the baron Guiscard of Raron, 
 captain-general of the Valais, and co-burgher of Berne, 
 had allowed certain contemptuous expressions to escape 
 him, which had deeply offended the irritable warriors of 
 the forest cantons : accordingly they sent one of their 
 leading men to Berne to deliver their complaints against 
 Raron. Berne replied that it was not in her power to 
 procure satisfaction for them, as Raron's right of citizen- 
 ship had already expired for some time. The forest 
 cantons now apphed to the Valaisans themselves, by 
 whom the power of the family of Raron had long been 
 felt oppressive and dangerous. Guiscard himself lay 
 under the imputation of hating, out of innate pride, aU 
 popular sovereignty ; and of leaning more to the houses 
 of Milan and Savoy than consisted with his duties as a 
 burgher of the Valais. The popular resentment having 
 now come to a head, it was resolved to crush the baron 
 and his family ; but lest the ringleaders of so bold an 
 undertaking should incur danger, an old custom was 
 brought into play to agitate the people. 
 
 A young birch was pulled up by the roots, on whicli 
 was fixed a human countenance rudely carved in wood, 
 and wearing the expression of grief. Below thisj in the
 
 1418. THE MAZZE. 113 
 
 stem of the tree, a nail was driven by each of the plot- 
 ters, which symbolised a solemn engagement to persevere 
 in their enterprise. In the night this figure, commonly 
 called a mazze, was bound to a tree on a weU frequented 
 thoroughfare. On the following morning, crowds of 
 passing wayfarers gathered round the tree; the agitators 
 mixed with them, and thus ascertained the popular tem- 
 per. As soon as they found it favourable (?. e. disposed 
 for plunder and violence), a bold and well-spoken man 
 stepped forth as maater of the Mazze, unbound it from 
 the tree, and set it up on an open space beside him. 
 Questions were then addressed to the figure ; as, " Mazze, 
 what is your pleasure ? " and its patron was requested 
 to reply for it. At first he refused with weU-assumed 
 embarrassment ; but at last, affecting merely to comply 
 with the will of the people, he turned to the Mazze ; 
 " Mazze, these good people are willing to help you ; — 
 speak, — name the man whom you are afraid of. Is it 
 theSillinen — theAsperling — the Henngarten?" (names 
 of powerful famihes in the Valais). The Mazze stood 
 immovable. " Is it the baron of Raron .'' " The Mazze 
 bowed its head, and the master stood beside it in a sup- 
 plicating attitude. He then addressed the multitude ; 
 " Brave men, you have heard whom the Mazze com- 
 plains of ; whoever will fight for the Mazze, let him hold 
 up his hand !" A majority instantly showed itself in 
 favour of the Mazze, and all law and order were sus- 
 pended. The summons went through the whole land 
 to the rescue of the Mazze : the obnoxious baron's castles 
 and estates, as well as those of his relatives, friends, and 
 dependants, were sacked by a furious multitude ; and 
 nothing but a rapid flight could have saved the lives of 
 those who were thus solemnly devoted to the vengeance 
 of the people. 
 
 The Swiss had already marched over the Penine Alps 
 about the commencement of this (the fifteenth) century, 
 and had permanently occupied the Eschenthal and the 
 Val Levantina. These conquests drew on them the se- 
 verest check they had hitherto met with. I'hiUp Maria
 
 Ill HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1422. 
 
 Visconti^ duke of Milan, whose brother had lost the 
 lands in question, took every means to regain them : he 
 succeeded, by dint of dexterous negotiation, in obtaining 
 from the count of Sax Misox, the owner of Bellinzona, 
 a promise that he would cede the town which com- 
 manded the pass into Italy southwards, and into the Val 
 Levaiitiua northwards. Uri and Unterwalden, however, 
 obtained by purchase the promised domains ; threw a 
 garrison into the town ; obtained a confirmation of their 
 title from the emperor, and took a position which ad- 
 mirably covered their own possessions, while it offered 
 every facility of attack on the Milanese. Visconti would 
 have purchased back Bellinzona from the confederates, 
 but found his proposals rejected, and was reduced to 
 intrigue in silence : he watched his opportunities for 
 more than a year and a half, while the confederate gar- 
 rison gave itself up to a dangerous security. In the 
 mean time he formed traitorous connections in the town 
 itself; and, on the first occasion which offered, his ge- 
 neral, Agnolo della Pergola, surprised and took Bellin- 
 zona, allowed the Swiss free egress, and took possession 
 of the Val Levantina as far as the St. Gothard. So soon 
 as this was known to the men of Uri and of Unterwal- 
 den, they made no doubt that the confederates would 
 instantly take up arms to avenge the affront aimed, 
 through their sides, at the whole Helvetic body. 
 
 But the views of the confederates were exceedingly 
 divided on the expediency, as well as on the duty, of 
 maintaining these acquisitions on Italian ground. At 
 length assistance was promised by Lucerne, Schwytz, 
 Nidwalden, Zug, and Glarus. The troops of Lucerne, 
 Uri, Zug, and Unterwalden, 3000 strong, took the field, 
 Avithout waiting for the rest, and reached Bellinzona 
 without meeting with any opposition. Here, however, 
 they were encountered by an army far superior to their 
 own, commanded by the most distinguished officers in 
 Italy, and sustained at Arbedo, not indeed an entire 
 defeat, but severe loss. Disunited and discouraged, the 
 confederates marched homewards. Success, wdiich had
 
 1422. BATTLE OF .ARBEDO. 115 
 
 invariably crowned their arms against the Germans, for- 
 sook them now for the first time, when opposed to the 
 troops of Italy. 
 
 In the following year, after much negotiation, and 
 many conferences, the confederates concluded a peace 
 with the duke, not on Swiss soil, but amidst Italian 
 influences, of which this treaty bears the stamp in its 
 very phraseology. The cantons are termed communes. 
 All their conquests were abandoned — all the title-deeds 
 and the imperial confirmations of them given up. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 WAR OF THE CONFEDERATES WITH ZURICH. 
 
 1436—1450. 
 IXHEUITANCE OF FREDERICK COUNT OF TOGGENBURG. DIS- 
 PUTES OF SCHWTTZ AND GLARUS WITH ZURICH. FEUD OF 
 
 SEVERAL CANTONS WITH ZURICH. PEACE. LEAGUE 
 
 OF ZURICH WITH AUSTRIA. ALL THE CONFEDERATES 
 
 AGAINST ZURICH. THE ROTTEN PEACE. RENEWAL OF THE 
 
 WAR. DAUPHIN OF FRANCE ATTACKS BASLE AT THE HEAD 
 
 OF A BODY OF ARMAGNACS. BATTLE OF ST. JACOB ON THE 
 
 BIRS. LOUIS OFFERS TO MEDIATE PEACE BETWEEN ZURICH 
 
 AND THE CONFEDERATES. INTELLECTUAL CULTURE IN THE 
 
 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. SCHOOLS. DECLINE OF POETRY. 
 
 FELIX HAJIMERLIN OR MALLEOLUS. INSTANCES OF POPU- 
 LAR SUPERSTITION. 
 
 Thk confederates might have already learned from 
 experience how much disunion weakened them, and 
 lessened the respect entertained by foreign powers for 
 their collective force. But their recently made conquests 
 had evoked amongst them the evil spirits of jealousy and 
 ambition. An unreflecting impulse towards aggrandise- 
 ment had rendered them insensible to the constant truth, 
 that no strength is imparted by constrained and disaf- 
 fected subjects, and that no acquisitions would com-
 
 Il6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 14S6. 
 
 pensate the bitterness thus engendered amongst them. 
 The evil was augmented by the influence of leading men, 
 who knew how to communicate to the states in which 
 they presided the contagion of their individual passions, 
 and took a pride in making their preponderating influ- 
 ence universally perceived and acknowledged. Zurich 
 not only separated herself from her confederates, but 
 threw herself completely into the arms of the common 
 enemy; while even the democratic canton of Schwytz 
 gave itself up to ambitious projects of aggrandisement. 
 
 Count Frederick of Toggenburg had accepted, in the 
 year 1400, the co-burghership of Zurich, partly moved 
 by feelings of distrust towards Austria, partly to procure 
 himself a point d'appui in Switzerland itself against the 
 power of the confederation. The rigours which he ex- 
 ercised on his subjects, while the example of the con- 
 quering people of Appenzell encouraged the oppressed to 
 resistance, rendered alliance very desirable with a place 
 of leading importance, through which he might make 
 himself sure of the confederates. He renewed his right 
 of citizenship in 1 405, and, besides, obtained the freedom 
 of Schwytz. 
 
 Rudolf Stussi, burgomaster of Zurich, at that time 
 stood in high consideration with the count, and with the 
 rest of the confederates ; but, unfortunately, he knew not 
 how to bear his honours meekly. It happened that his 
 son, when on a visit to count Frederick, made himself 
 laughed at for his arrogance by the count's young rela- 
 tions, as well as the other young nobles at his court. 
 The count endeavoured to pacify Stussi's resentment on 
 the occasion ; but the irritated vanity of a blinded father 
 rendered the latter forgetful of the dignity of his station 
 no less than of the good of his country. The confidence of 
 his countrymen, and his own distinguished position among 
 them, were by no means enough to satisfy his preten- 
 sions, so long as others were not compelled to feel their 
 whole weight. The count soon afterwards lost a law- 
 suit at Zurich against the inhabitants of Siegberg, by a 
 sentence which he considered an unjust one. In conse.
 
 14S6. INHERITANCE OF TOGGENBURG. 117 
 
 quence, when Zurich desired that Frederick should 
 name his heir, in order to know to whom he meant to 
 transfer his civic rights; the count held out hopes that 
 he meant to name his wife, the countess Elizabeth, who 
 was particularly attached to the Zurichers ; but, instead 
 of this, he fixed on other relations, and shortly before his 
 death he agi-eed with Schwytz upon a permanent juris- 
 diction over Toggenburg and Uznach, with reserve of 
 the time which the common rights with Zurich had yet 
 to run. He left his wife only the life-rent of his inhe- 
 ritance, and died on the 30th of April, 143G, having, as 
 some thought, purposely aimed in his last testamentary 
 dispositions at throwing matter of discord among the 
 confederates. 
 
 The heirs, supported by Schwytz and Berne, of which 
 6ome of them were burghers, proceeded to enforce their 
 claims. Schwytz exacted oaths of allegiance in Tuggen 
 and the Upper March. Zurich endeavoured to gain for 
 herself Gaster and Sargans, which were divided by dis- 
 putes among themselves, and made an alliance with the 
 countess, who bequeathed the domain of Uznach to the 
 town. On the refusal of the leading people of Uznach 
 to acknowledge the bequest, and to do homage to Zurich 
 Stussi exclaimed, in order to intimidate them, " Know 
 ye not your very bowels belong to us .'' " Arrogant 
 treatment only rouses the spirit of those who are not 
 utterly sunk in apathy; and the threats of Stussi served 
 but to add strength to the decision of the people of Uz- 
 nach. Similar results took place at Gaster and Windcck, 
 whose inhabitants wished to be subjected to Austria 
 rather than to Zurich. The Zurichers begged the 
 friendly mediation of Schwytz ; but the latter, instead of 
 meeting their advances, entered into close alliance with 
 the people of Glarus, who found it for their interest 
 themselves to take possession of the territory claimed by 
 Zurich. The projects of aggrandisement pursued by 
 Stussi at Zurich were rivalled in Schwytz and Glarus by 
 Ital Reding and Jost Tschudi ; but tlie latter were 
 discreet enough to keep their personal enmities subor- 
 
 1 3
 
 118 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1437. 
 
 dinate to worthier ends. On both sides, however, the 
 desire .to aggrandise their own cantons and their own 
 persons induced forgetfulness of the common good of 
 their country and of concord, on which its strength and 
 happiness mainly depended. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1 437, Zurich and Schwytz 
 had already posted troops on their frontiers, when the 
 confederates made haste to interpose their mediation, 
 and appointed a diet to be held at Lucerne. The dele- 
 gates were incessantly employed during four weeks in 
 holding consultations, or in offering propositions to the 
 opposite parties. They separated at length without 
 having come to any conclusion ; and it was agreed to 
 hold a new assembly of nineteen arbitrators, chosen 
 from the five neutral cantons and the town of Soleure. 
 
 The second attempt at arbitration failed as the first 
 liad done, because the terms proposed appeared, not alto- 
 gether without reason, to indicate on the part of the (so 
 called) impartial confederates something like a leaning 
 towards the side of Schwytz and Glarus, if not a 
 decided plan for the humiliation of Zurich. A third 
 meeting, attended by delegates from several of the free 
 towns of the empire, as well as by all those of the con- 
 federacy, met with no better success than the two former ; 
 for by this time Schwytz would no longer hear of com- 
 promise of any kind, being exasperated by Zurich hav- 
 ing taken into co-burghership the people of the count of 
 Werdenberg-Sargans, who had previously contracted a 
 common league with themselves and Glarus. Further 
 attempts to negotiate were to equally little purpose. 
 Zurich, more and more disposed to violent measures by 
 the sense of having suffered injustice, appealed to the 
 Arbitration of the emperor, without, however, choosing 
 to comply with his orders, that they should open a free 
 market, and transit of goods to Schwytz and Glarus. 
 Still, however, a hollow truce was prolonged, and the 
 parties appeared at Berne, on the invitation of the neutral 
 cantons, where a general meeting was held by the 
 council and the delegates of the cantons, and a declar-
 
 1440. MAR WITH ZURICH. 119 
 
 ation issued, which was afterwards communicated to the 
 disagreeing parties. On receiving it, the Zurichers pro- 
 tested against the menace which it held out on the part 
 of the neutral cantons, of intervention with their whole 
 force in case of its rejection. The league of the confede- 
 racy, they said, did not include freedom of trade or 
 transport; and amongst the ancient rights which had 
 been reserved in its formation, one of the principal ones 
 was the right of appeal to the emperor. 
 
 In a diet at Zug, in the spring of 1440, Zurich 
 refused any unconditional recognition of the rights of the 
 confederates, and renewed its prohibition of all exports, 
 while Schwytz and Glarus renewed theirs in the articles 
 of wood, hay, &c. Moreover, Zurich blocked up the 
 transmission through her territories to those cantons of 
 all rents and dues, whether from monasteries or private 
 persons. On the other hand, Schwytz and Glarus sud- 
 denly took possession of Sargans, where the formerly 
 arrogant partisans of Zurich surrendered without even a 
 show of resistance, and consented to renounce their rights 
 of co-burghership with that town. Both sides gave 
 notice to the confederates; and Zurich, ever disposed to 
 rely on uncertain hopes and vague expressions, reposed 
 too much dependence upon several of the cantons. 
 Schwytz and Glarus now declared war against Zurich, 
 and took up, with above 2000 troops, a position on the 
 Etzel, while a superior force of Zurichers hastened to 
 post themselves near Pfeffikon. Troops arrived from 
 Uri and from Unterwalden, which had hitherto delayed 
 to espouse either side in the contest. Their choice be- 
 tween the two contending parties was determined by a 
 chance exclamation of one of their own comrades. 
 " God forbid," said the standard-bearer of Uri, Werner 
 der Frauen, " that I should bear my country's banner 
 against those who have all along made their appeal to 
 the judgment of the league, and in favour of the rebels 
 who renounce it." Both these cantons now broke with 
 Zurich ; and thus the flame of war at length burst 
 forth in the fifth year since the origin of civil dissen- 
 
 I 4
 
 120 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1440. 
 
 slon. A sudden panic struck the troops of Zurich, who 
 fied over the lake to the town in the night of the 5th of 
 October, and thus completely lost the confidence of the 
 neighbouring population, which in several districts had 
 not been long subject to Zurich, and were now with ease 
 converted from her adherents to her enemies. The troops 
 of Zug, Lucerne, Berne, and Soleure, now advanced into 
 the territory of Zurich, and the whole Argovian nobility 
 made common cause with Berne ; as Zurich had become 
 extremely obnoxious to them by her conduct towards the 
 heirs of count Toggenburg and Austria ; and the cause 
 of the confederates seemed for once to be identified with 
 that of the nobles. Such is the speedy punishment of 
 that grave political error committed by those who make 
 themselves many enemies at once, without secure or 
 sufficient aids and alliances. 
 
 Fire, slaughter, and depredation, now laid waste the 
 lands of Zurich, flourishing with the fruits of a long 
 peace, and so lately enjoying the highest consideration 
 in the confederacy. The miserable peasantry sought to 
 save themselves, and the remnant of their property, in 
 the town. Zurich at length acknowledged the authority of 
 the league; but now Schwytz andGIarus claimed to retain 
 the conquests which they had made for themselves and 
 their confederates. At length, however, terms of pacifi- 
 cation were adjusted under the presidency of the Bernese 
 leader, Henry of Bubenberg. Whatever had been lost 
 by Zurich across the lake of Wallenstadt was to remain 
 in the possessionof Schwytz and Glarus, — all other claims 
 to be settled in conformity with the common rights of 
 the confederacy, — freedom of traffic and intercourse re- 
 established, — Zurich making a reservation only in the 
 article of foreign wine. 
 
 The disadvantageous terms of this peace, above all the 
 territorial cessions to Schwytz and Glarus, which formed 
 the first example of conquests made by confederates over 
 each other, had filled the hearts of the Zurichers with 
 bitterness, while the dissolution of union among the con- 
 federates had revived the hopes as well of the Argovian
 
 1442. LEAGUE OF ZURICH WITH AUSTIllA. 121 
 
 nobility as of all the other friends and adherents of 
 Austria. Stussi and his party at Zurich sought to re- 
 trieve their fallen reputation at all risks. They applied 
 to the Austrian margrave, William of Hochberg, offered 
 to cede Kyburg to the emperor^ and finally entered into 
 an alliance offensive and defensive with the house of 
 Austria. Zurich, indeed, expressly reserved the rights 
 of the confederacy ; but the incompatibility of those 
 rights with the objects of this new league was too ob- 
 vious not too justify surprise and displeasure on the part 
 of the other confederates. To flatter the resentment of 
 Zurich, as well as to set up a new combination against 
 the hated league of the Swiss, a new confederation was 
 agreed upon, under the presidency of Zurich and the 
 guidance of Austria, in which the Austrian districts, the 
 bishoprics of Coire and Constance, the abbot of St. Gall, 
 several secular lords and towns, Appenzell and St. Gall, 
 should be included. 
 
 The confederates demanded explanations from the 
 Zurichers, with regard to their league with Austria ; and 
 the latter sought to justify themselves by alleging the 
 restrictions contained in it, and the necessity under 
 which they lay of securing their foreign trade. Con- 
 stantly shifting diets and decisions succeeded each other , 
 Schwytz, in disgust, refused to send her delegates to a 
 meeting at Baden ; and Zurich refused to ajjpear at an- 
 another, to account for her league with Austria. A 
 numerous division of her troops had already adopted the 
 red cross, the distinguishing badge of that power, and 
 many displayed the hated peacock's feather on their 
 crest. The troops of Schwytz now posted themselves on 
 their frontier, declared war on the Austrians and the 
 Zurichers, and repelled, though not without loss, an at- 
 tack of their forces near Freyenbach. Without any 
 fixed plan, the margrave and Stussi advanced with 
 5000 men over the Albis towards Zug, burned Blick- 
 enstorf, and retreated over the bill again with at least 
 equal rapidity, when the banners of Lucerne, Uri, and 
 Unterwalden, unexpectedly came in sight
 
 122 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1443. 
 
 All the confederates now united their forces against 
 Zurich , and 5000 or 6OOO troops marched over the 
 Aibis, on the town itself, on the 22d of July, 1443. 
 The garrison and burghers made an obstinate stand, 
 under the double disadvantage of surprise and want of 
 discipline. Thrown into confusion by a manceuvre of 
 the enemy, they retreated with considerable loss into 
 the town, which only escaped capture through the want 
 of order in the attack. Stussi died as a hero, if he had 
 erred as a politician ; and contributed much, by the 
 stand which he made at the bridge over the Sihl, to the 
 rescue of his unfortunate native city. 
 
 From Zurich the confederates marched to Baden, and 
 to Rappersweil, and laid siege in vain to the latter place. 
 The stout defence of the town brought about an armis- 
 tice ; the bad observance of which, and ill-concealed aim 
 of gaining time, acquired for it the name of the rotten 
 peace. Both sides employed the interval of truce to add 
 to their forces. The emperor and duke Sigismund 
 sought aid of France and Burgundy. The confederates 
 compelled the district of Griiningen into allegiance. At 
 a diet at Baden, in March (1444), the clerical and lay 
 lords and free towns could bring about no compromise 
 between Zurich and the confederates, \rhen the pas- 
 sions of men in power and of the multitude are excited, 
 there may be more danger in speaking truth to a coun- 
 tryman, than difficulty in conquering an enemy. Three 
 burghers of Zurich lost their lives in a popular tumult, 
 being charged with having shown some leaning towards 
 the cause of the confederates at Baden. 
 
 The confederates drew their forces together at Cloten 
 for a new campaign. They were now, moreover, joined 
 by the men of Appenzell. Greifensee was defended 
 for four weeks against their whole force by the steady 
 valour of ^Vildhans of Breiten-Landenberg, the com- 
 mander of a small but faithful garrison. No diversion 
 was attempted from Zurich; and these undaunted men, 
 cut off from all succour, were finally forced to surrender 
 at discretion The success of the confederates was
 
 1444'. BATTLE OF ST. JACOB. 123 
 
 Stained by the decapitation of sixty-two of the garrison, 
 promoted by the landamman of Schwytz, Ital Reding. 
 The honest captain Holzach of Menzingen was de- 
 nounced as a friend of Austria, by that young but savage 
 chieftain, for daring to plead the cause of common hu- 
 manity. The conquerors, who, except on urgent emer- 
 gencies, never left their hearths for any long period 
 returned homewards, but soon united again for the siege 
 of Zurich. 
 
 But now was Switzerland threatened on the west by 
 a new enemy, the dauphin of France (afterwards Louis 
 XI.) at the head of a formidable body of Armagnacs, 
 These were troops of the same description as those 
 which, under Ingelram de Coucy, had already ravaged 
 part of Switzerland. Bernard, count of Armagnac, had 
 employed them in the service of the house of Orleans ; 
 and though their leader fell in a popular tumult at Paris, 
 they retained his name, and continued to distinguish 
 themselves as Armagnacs. On the tidings of the ad- 
 vance of the French upon Basle, I6OO men were sent 
 by the Swiss to strengthen the place. This little bana 
 surprised a far superior force of the enemy on the banks 
 oftheBirs, and their fortunate rashness was crowned 
 with success and booty. Spurred by this earne-^t of 
 victory, and regarding neither the commands of their 
 officers, nor the immense superiority of the enemy, they 
 rushed headlong through the stream of the Birs, but 
 were soon stopped by the enemy's heavy artillery and 
 cavalry. Five hundred Swiss took their stand on an 
 open ait in the stream ; 700 behind garden walls, near 
 St. Jacob, against the constantly renewed attacks of 
 the thoroughly discipHned enemy. After ten hours of 
 the most murderous conflict, only ten of the Swiss es- 
 caped ; the rest were left dead on the field by the side 
 of many thousands of their enemies. This was the 
 battle of St. Jacob by Basle, which spread the renown 
 of Swiss valour through the most remote regions, not- 
 withstanding a victory dearly bought by France, and 
 vainly boasted of on a medal struck by order of Charles
 
 124 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1444. 
 
 VII., representing two prisoners bound back to back, 
 with the legend Helvetiorum contumacia et temeritas 
 fc.rro frenatn mccccxliv. The dauphin afterwards 
 sliowed that he knew better how to estimate the advan- 
 tages derivable to his crown from the alliance and the 
 arms of the confederates than his father had done. In 
 the mean time he saw the folly of all attempts on a 
 country, of which the borders were defended with such 
 obstinacy. He promised not to march with his army 
 through any part of the lands of the confederacy, and 
 offered his mediation in order to terminate the war of 
 the confederates with Zurich and Austria. 
 
 Our narrative cannot stop to notice many minor 
 actions, and must even omit a whole series of diets and 
 pacific overtures. In all affairs of any importance, the 
 confederates had the advantage; but the districts which 
 were the seat of war had been wasted to such a degree 
 by their ravages, as to furnish them with no farther 
 means of subsistence. They were, besides, heavily bur- 
 dened Avith the garrisons which they had to maintain 
 at Baden, Bremgarten, MeUingen, Griiningen, Pfeffikon, 
 &c. Both parties, in short, were tired out ; and the 
 war continued not so much from hope of advantage on 
 either side, as because too many obstacles to a compro- 
 mise had been raised by the exorbitant pretensions of 
 both. However, at length the full and entire conviction 
 of necessity enforced on them the postponement of all 
 other considerations. The intervention of the electors 
 of Mentz, Trier, and more especially of Louis, the 
 young elector palatine, resulted in a conference at Con- 
 stance, where many neutral personages were present. 
 Through Louis's indefatigable activity, and with the aid 
 of other active and numerous mediators, the foundations 
 of a peace were laid. In the midst of contradictory de- 
 mands and allegations, the end in view was limited with 
 admirable discretion to the estabhshment of tranquillity, 
 obUvion of the past, and the division of the points in 
 dispute. The league of Zurich with Austria was de-
 
 14.60. FOPULAR IGNORANCE. 125 
 
 clarecl null and void, as contrary to the rights of the 
 confederacy. 
 
 We find the state of intellectual progress in the first 
 half of the fifteenth century scarcely more satisfactory 
 than that in which the spiritual polity was left on the 
 untimely dissolution of the council of Constance. Those 
 cobwehs of the brain which were accredited as sciences, 
 as Uttle deserved the name as they did that of wholesome 
 nourishment for the mental wants and appetites of the 
 people ; while ignorance of the languages of antiquity 
 set a seal upon the liighest productions of genius, and 
 even on the original records of Scripture. What dark- 
 ness must have still prevailed when a German monk 
 could preach as follows : — "A language has been 
 lately invented, called (ireek. This Greek is the mother 
 cf all schisms ; and in it a book hath been written, which 
 is called the New Testament, and in which are many 
 perilous passages. Another language also hath arisen, 
 which is Hebrew. Whosoever learns the same becomes 
 a Jew !" Till the foundation of the university of Basle, 
 which took place in the year 1460, no effectual care was 
 taken for learning in any part of Switzerland. A toler- 
 ably instructed man was rarely found at the head of the 
 schools, even in considerable towns. A person was 
 considered perfectly fit for the office of pastor, who 
 could read w'ith facility, translate a little, rerain the 
 simplest rules of grammar in memory, sing tolerably 
 well, and had any degree of natural eloquence. The most 
 precious relics of Greek and Roman literature lay in 
 numbers in a dark tower of the convent of St. Gall, 
 and were rescued from dust and oblivion chiefly by 
 foreigners. The poetical art of the Minnesingers had 
 vanished; and the science of music had fallen into a state 
 of utter decay, till the council of Basle made some at- 
 tempts to revive it. Felix Hammerlin, who bore the 
 punning surname of Mal/mlus, a canon of Zurich, an 
 upright, learned, and sensible man, a very voluminous 
 writer, and possessor of the then enormous number of 
 500 volumes, was long the greatest light of the con-
 
 126 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1450- 
 
 federacy. Even he, however, in those times the most 
 learned man in Switzerland, and whose acquirements 
 made him pass for a magician with the multitude, 
 cherished many superstitious fancies. He held it, for 
 exami)le, highly fitting to pronounce certain forms of 
 benediction over diseased cattle, or to still a tempest 
 raised through satanic art by similar artifices, and, as a 
 general rule, in cases of necessity not by any means too 
 scrupulously to wave the devil's assistance. He fully 
 approved the proceedings of the bishop of Lausanne, 
 who caused sentences of Scripture to be read against the 
 horse-leeches, which, to the great disgust of that fish- 
 eating prelate, killed all the salmon. He also acquiesced 
 in the indictment of the glow-worms before the spi- 
 ritual court of the bishop of Coire, who, when the 
 insect-advocate pleaded that the creatures of God did 
 well to seek nourishment for the sustenance of their 
 bodies, pronounced upon them solemn sentence of ba- 
 nishment into regions uninhabited by man. In like 
 manner, the eels in the lake of Geneva were banished 
 by one bishop of Lausanne, the earth-worms, grass- 
 hoppers, and field-mice, by another. Failure in the 
 accomplishment of these and similar sentences was of 
 course ascribed entirely to the sins of the nation. 
 
 If the people placed implicit faith in fooleries of this 
 kind, they no less firmly believed in signs and wonders, 
 preternatural phenomena of every description ; and even 
 spiritual dignitaries, in these respects, were no whit more 
 enUghtened than the lowest of the laity. Many were 
 supposed to have a compact with infernal spirits, and 
 thousands were led to death at the stake on account of 
 this delusion. Happy was the man who, by intensity 
 of devotion, and still more by bequests to religious houses 
 on his death-bed, could secure a good reception for his 
 soul in the next world. But what were looked upon 
 as the holiest of all holies were the body of Christ con- 
 tained in the host, the bones of martyrs and saints, 
 and other relics. Whoever could get any thing of this 
 kind in an honest way, was regarded by himself and
 
 1460. POPULilR SUPERSTITIONS. 127 
 
 Others as a made man^ body and soul. But whoever 
 came unfairly by such treasures, purloined them, or 
 cast scorn upon them, was struck by wrath from heaven, 
 and by God's judgments on earth. 
 
 Anna Vogtii of BischoffzeU conceived the evil thought 
 of working enchantments with the host, and stole the 
 same from the church of Ettiswyl, in the canton of 
 Lucerne, on the Sith of May, 1447. She soon, however, 
 shrunk from her own device, and cast the host behind a 
 hedge privily. Whereupon a white seven-leaved rose 
 sprouted instantly forth from the ground, and in its calix 
 lay the consecrated wafer. The beasts of the field came 
 and bowed before it. The surrounding radiance revealed 
 it to the eyes of an innocent shepherdess, who discovered 
 it to the people of the village. Whereupon the priests 
 came out with toll of bell, with cross and banners, at- 
 tended by a multitude of believers, to bring the holy 
 thing back to its place. A chapel was buUt in memory 
 of the circumstance, where the host did itself credit by 
 working many signs and wonders. We scarcely need to 
 add, that Anna Vogtii was burnt. 
 
 Greater was the general consternation at Berne than 
 would have been caused by a surprise from the most 
 powerful of her enemies, when, in the year 1460, in the 
 cathedral church of St. Vincent, the host was missing 
 one fine morning ! That no thunderbolt from heaven 
 should have fallen on the delinquent seemed a sign of 
 the Almighty's displeasure against Berne. Innocents 
 were put to the torture to force from them a confession 
 of the theft. Fasting and strict disciphne were enjoined 
 by flaming ordinances ; penitential homilies were fulmin- 
 ated from all pulpits. A new and costly receptacle was con- 
 secrated to the host, and veneration to the mother of God 
 was displayed by renewing her temples. After the lapse 
 of years, a priest confessed the theft on his death-bed. 
 
 Eleven o'clock one Sunday night, owing to the neg- 
 ligence of the monks of Einsiedlen, three t.trangers made 
 away with certain relics from that monastery. The sacri- 
 legious plunderers, seized with horror, let their spoil drop
 
 r28 HISTORY OF S\VITZERLAND. 1460. 
 
 in the highway at a short distance from Zurich. The 
 intelligence reaches Zurich, — the powers spiritual and 
 secular, with the whole town at their heels,hasten forth, — 
 the treasure is brought reverently and solemnly into the 
 great cathedral church, — and a season of extraordinary 
 fertility is attributed to this holy acquisition. Poor 
 Einsiedlen, shamed and sad, forsaken by her pilgrims, 
 could only with great pains and expense recover her lost 
 property ; and even such men as Hammerlin regarded 
 its restitution with a sigh, as the most serious loss to 
 Zurich. 
 
 The dearth of real devotion amidst all this supersti- 
 tion was felt, and sought to be remedied by pomp of 
 ceremonial. Zurich was particularly distinguished for 
 splendour of church-service, even in the times of distress 
 and indigence, which long wars had brought upon the 
 town. The pope was viewed as the visible centre of 
 God's power upon earth, as the infallible guide of all 
 men in their spiritual concernments : but so soon as he 
 and his priests stretched forth their fulness of power over 
 temporal matters, they had to rue, as we have already 
 seen, the instant disappearance of the last trace of reverent 
 obedience.
 
 1456. THE YOUTH OF ZURICH. 129 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE TO THE 
 DEATH OF CHARLES THE BOLD OF BURGUNDY. 
 
 1453—1477. 
 
 FIRST ALLIANCE OF SWITZERLAND WITH FRANCE. LOUIS XI. 
 
 CHARLES DUKE OF BURGUNDY. HIS CHARACTER. TAKES 
 
 POSSESSION OF ALSACE. APPOINTS PETER VON IIAGENBACH 
 
 GOVERNOR. CONDUCT OF THE LATTER. COMPLAINED OF BY 
 
 THE SWISS. OFFENSIVE ANT) DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE OF SWIT- 
 ZERLAND WITH FRANCE. WITH AUSTRIA FATE OF HAGEN- 
 
 BACH. BERNE DECLARES WAR AGAINST BURGUNDY. 
 
 CHARLES INVADES SWITZERLAND. DESCRIPTION OF HIS 
 
 CAMP. SIEGE OF GRANSON. COLD-BLOODED MURDER OF 
 
 THE GARRISON. BATTLE OF GRANSON. EXULTATION OF 
 
 LOUIS XI. CHARLES RE-APPEARS IN THE FIELD. BATTLE 
 
 OF MORAT. LAST EFFORT OF BURGUNDY. BATTLE OF 
 
 NANCY. DEATH OF CHARLES. ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 The long and severe struggle carried on by the confede- 
 rates with Zurich and her powerful allies, if its effects 
 had been in some respects mischievous, had yet un- 
 questionably heightened the courage and confidence of 
 the people, and had rendered their little territory re- 
 spectable in the eyes of its more powerful neighbours. 
 Meanwhile the newly vindicated spirit of independence 
 was often apt to swell into presumption and violence. 
 Wherever there was room for martial enterprise, the 
 youth of Switzerland asked not what was the cause, but 
 where was the seat of warfare; and even the authorities 
 were too disposed towards making conquests to con- 
 sult for the preservation of peace with any great so- 
 licitude. An anecdote remains of the youth of Zurich, 
 which indicates the restless and exuberant flow of en- 
 ergies characteristic of the period before us. In the year 
 1456 the young burghers of Zurich were invited to a 
 feast at Strasbiu-g. They set out from Zurich in the 
 
 K
 
 130 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1453. 
 
 mornings taking with them a covered pot of millet broth 
 ■with warm loaves, took boat down the Limmat, the Aar, 
 and the Rhine, regardless of the dangers of their rapid 
 course, and on the same evening brought their broth and 
 bread, still warm, to the table of their friends, to show 
 with what despatch, in case of emergency, Strasburg 
 might expect aid from Zurich. After a few days spent 
 in manly exercises the gallant youths returned to their 
 native town ; but left the pot behind them, which, as a 
 monument of their enterprise, was deposited in the 
 armoury of Strasburg. 
 
 The first alliance of Switzerland with France was 
 closed under Charles VII., in 1453, and had no other 
 end than to secure friendly relations between the two 
 countries. This league was renewed in 1467, by the 
 next king, Louis XL, who had already, as dauphin, 
 purchased some experience of Swiss valour on the bloody 
 day of St. Jacob, and who from that experience strove 
 by every means, direct and indirect, to fix his Swiss 
 allies on his side, and to turn their powerful arms 
 against his formidable enemies, especially against the 
 house of Burgundy. He contented himself, at first, 
 with the renewal of the simple league of friendship 
 formed by his father ; but it was not long before he re- 
 sorted to the arts of intrigue and bribery, in order to 
 employ the confederates in a more effective manner 
 for his own ends. 
 
 In the year 1467, Philip, surnamed the Good, duke 
 of Burgundy, died at Bruges, in Flanders. His do- 
 minions were inherited by his son Charles, appropriately 
 distinguished as the Bold, who mortally detested the 
 French monarch, and was hated by him mortally in re- 
 turn. In the trial of strength which soon took place 
 betwixt them, Louis evinced the ascendancy of prudence 
 and intelligence over powerful but unregulated energies. 
 He had succeeded to the throne of his father with ex- 
 traordinary abilities for ruling, and with no inconsider- 
 able experience ; and he sat there as if he only looked 
 upon himself in the light of the first officer of the state.
 
 1467. LOUIS XI. CHARLES THE BOLD. 131 
 
 whose life should be devoted to the functions of his 
 office. The main object which he steadily placed and 
 kept before his eyes was the foundation of unhraited 
 monarchical power in France, and the humiliation of 
 the arrogant and restless feudal nobility, at the head of 
 which were the dukes of Burgundy, Normandy, and 
 Bretagne. To the attainment of this object Louis pro- 
 ceeded without scruple by direct or indirect paths. He 
 employed mildness and rigour by turns, divine and 
 human authority, flattery and bribery, — constantly 
 fraud, — rarely force. Fidelity to his word he only 
 practised when it served his purposes. So soon as pro- 
 fit ctppeared on the other side, he never scrupled to 
 violate the most positive engagements. He was com- 
 monly then most dangerous to his enemies when he 
 seemed to be most utterly inactive; and pursued his ends 
 most eagerly precisely at the moment when all the world 
 believed he had abandoned them. It was said of him, 
 " that he only slept with one eye in war-time, but kept 
 both his eyes open, day and night, in time of peace." 
 Such was Louis towards all his enemies foreign and 
 internal, and above all, towards his hated rival of Bur- 
 gundy. Between the latter power and France neither 
 peace nor war could be said to exist, but abundance of 
 faithlessness, changeableness, and irritation. Cunning 
 at last carried off the victory, bought at the charge of 
 others; and Louis attained his ends by perseverance and 
 caution, and by the skilful use of many secret instru- 
 ments. 
 
 Charles the Bold of Burgundy, the great rival of 
 Louis, though nominally his vassal, yet in effect was 
 not less powerful than the monarch himself, and was by 
 no means disposed to play a subordinate part to him or 
 to any other person. The flourishing condition of his 
 territories, enriched by industry, commerce, and navi- 
 gation ; the accumulated treasures of his ancestors, the 
 attachment of his subjects, and the excellence of his 
 troops, seemed to secure him superiority over any rival; 
 and his position at the head of all the malecontents in 
 
 K 2
 
 132 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1467- 
 
 France completed his claim to be viewed as the king's 
 most formidable enemy. Charles was of middle stature, 
 strong make, brown complexion^ black eyes and hair, 
 with an aquiline nose, a broad forehead, and somewhat 
 prominent chin. His whole physiognomy indicated a 
 stern and martial temper. He had known, from child- 
 hood upwards, no pleasures more alluring than the ex- 
 citements of the chase or the camp — no worthier scope 
 of human undertakings than the glory of a second Alex- 
 ander. Insatiable ambition formed the groundwork of 
 his whole character. His brain teemed with projects of 
 aggrandisement, of the possible realisation of which a 
 doubt never occurred to him. Courage, generosity, and 
 openness were amongst the brilliant qualities of Charles. 
 When he once thought he had tried and proved the cha- 
 racter of a friend, he treated him thenceforward with the 
 most unlimited confidence; but towards enemies, or 
 those who were indifferent to him, he was not always 
 scrupulous in keeping his engagements. He took to 
 himself the credit of unconquerable firmness ; but good 
 fortune hardened this quality into arrogance and obsti- 
 nacy, so that his heart was closed in the day of disaster 
 not less to the counsels of prudence than to the feelings 
 of humanity. Such were the very opposite dispositions 
 of the two princes, whose enmity was the chief cause 
 of the most severe struggle which had ever been main- 
 tained by tlie confederacy. 
 
 Recent feuds had rather provoked than pacified those 
 nobles who maintained the part of hereditary enemies 
 of Switzerland. Duke Sigismund of Austria, too weak 
 in resolution to withstand the constant promptings and 
 persuasions of his council, and too weak in resources to 
 undertake any thing against the Swiss confederacy single- 
 handed, was easily prevailed upon to look out for foreign 
 aid. He first endeavoured to gain allies in Germany, 
 and failed : next he turned his views towards France, 
 which had so lately sent the Armagnacs to vex the Swiss 
 borders ; but the cautious Louis had not so soon for- 
 gotten the day of St. Jacob : and saw, besides, too well
 
 1473. CHARLES ACCEPTS ALSACE. 133 
 
 how useful Switzerland might be to him, to wish for its 
 destruction, had he possessed the power to effect it. For 
 these reasons he granted, indeed, a subsidy in money ; 
 but declined the duke's proposal that he should take into 
 his hands^ by way of mortgage, the Austrian territories 
 bordering on Switzerland, under condition of protecting 
 them against the Swiss confederacy. Sigismund ad- 
 dressed himself next, as some afSrm, by advice of Louis, 
 to Burgundy. Such advice appears extremely charac- 
 teristic of the far-sighted, acute, and subtle policy of 
 that prince. Knowing the duke's temper, as well as that 
 of the confederates, and well aware that the former would 
 embrace, without hesitation, so good an opportunity of 
 extending his dominions, he could easily foresee that 
 when such irritable characters as Charles and the Swiss 
 became neighbours, the outbreak of a war of extermin- 
 ation could not be far off. Then he would have a glo- 
 rious opportunity of gratifying his hatred to the duke, 
 without any risk or exertion on his own part, at most 
 by some expense in money, and perfidy, Avhich cost him 
 nothing. If the inevitable conflict turned to the ruin of 
 the duke, then Louis had provided for his personal ven- 
 geance, and might safely trust to his cunning to secure 
 him the lion's share of the booty. On the other hand, 
 even if the duke should be victorious, Louis's own 
 experience furnished sufficient grounds of certainty, 
 that before the Swiss gave themselves up for beaten, they 
 would exhaust the strength of Charles so completely, that 
 he must fall into the king's hands in a manner disarmed 
 and defenceless. Either event could not but be advan- 
 tageous to Louis : the last, perhaps, he deemed the more 
 desirable of the two, as it might possibly place the Swiss 
 as well as Burgundy at his mercy. 
 
 With Charles of Burgundy, Sigismund's advisers had 
 no trouble in inducing him to accept a mortgage of the 
 counties of I'firt, Sundgau, Brisgau, Alsace, and the four 
 forest towns, in return for a considerable sum of money. 
 How, indeed, could that ambitious prince, whose favour- 
 ite scheme was the junction of his unconnected domains, 
 
 K 3
 
 134 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1473. 
 
 and, if possible, the erection of a kingdom extending 
 from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, — how could 
 such a prince reject so rich an acquisition, which placed 
 in his h<inds a key to Germany, Switzerland, and Upper 
 Burgundy, and lay contiguous to the latter, which was 
 already his own property ? The voluntary cession of 
 lands so valuable to him he regarded as a signal piece 
 of good fortune : the reservation of a future resumption 
 appeared to him merely nominal, as Sigismund's expen- 
 sive habits seemed to afford no prospect of it ; and the 
 proviso for the maintenance of the ancient constitution 
 was regarded as an empty form requiring no ob- 
 servance. Thus had the Austrian nobles gained their 
 end, of giving a powerful and dangerous neighbour to 
 the confederacy : what did not, however, come within 
 the range of their calculations, was, that thereby they 
 had exposed the lands of the empire to great dangers, 
 and prepared (in the words of Bullinger) " a rod for 
 their own backs." 
 
 The government of the newly acquired lands was 
 delegated to the knight Peter von Hagenbach, a tried 
 and proved servant of Charles, who had raised himself 
 by his merits at the duke's court from the humblest 
 station : this man, who, like other upstarts, thought to 
 efface the discredit of his birth by domineering assump- 
 tion acted rather as a tyrant than a governor. As he 
 leaned for support entirely on his patron, and treated all 
 the world besides with total disregard, he scrupled not 
 to deprive the nobles and commons of their franchises, 
 and transgressed his deputed powers with so little de- 
 cency or mercy, that he acquired the appellation of the 
 " scourge of God." His first employment, notwithstand- 
 ing the express terms of the mortgage, was to regulate 
 every thing according to the laws and customs of Bur- 
 gundy. No representations or remonstrances were at- 
 tended to; nothing remained but silence and submission; 
 for Charles had known how to crush the independent 
 spirit of far more strong and poAverful populations. The 
 confederates regarded these transactions, which were
 
 Ii73. PETER VON HAGENBACH. 135 
 
 ominous of no good to themselves^ with a mind prepared 
 for all events, but not without anxiety. Relations out- 
 wardly amicable prevailed between them and Burgundy, 
 till Hagenbach went so far as to plant the colours of the 
 latter power on the Bernese territory of Schenkenberg : 
 this occurrence Louis instantly turned to his own advan- 
 tage. The confederates had empowered Berne, whose 
 government was better versed in diplomacy, and ac- 
 quainted with the French language, than those of the 
 other cantons were in general, to close a treaty with 
 France in the name of the whole league, in any case of 
 necessity or expedience : this was accordingly done. The 
 king and the confederacy reciprocally engaged to give 
 no aid to the duke of Burgundy : this arrangement de- 
 prived the duke of aU hope of Swiss assistance in exe- 
 cuting his projects against France. Charles, Avho did 
 not wish to bring the confederates still closer to the king 
 than they were already, commanded his vogt to desist 
 from farther encroachments. The enmity between Charles 
 and Louis increased ; and, but for Berne's prudent and 
 resolute conduct, the confederates might already have 
 been plunged in a war. Many had been won by French 
 gold, others were inclined to the cause of Burgundy, and 
 the state of affairs became more and more complex. The 
 barons of Heudorf, Eptingen, and other noble foes of 
 the Swiss, saw with dissatisfaction that the mortgaged 
 lands had now been for three years in the duke's pos- 
 session, without the expected war with the confederates 
 having commenced : they therefore endeavoured, under 
 the shield of Burgundy, to embitter the Swiss by flagrant 
 violations of the last treaty of peace, and the law of 
 nations. Thus the Swiss had now incentives to war on 
 two sides ; a third was soon added : for the mortgaged 
 lands, which had formerly been ruled with mildness and 
 equity, now, oppressed as they were by a reckless tyrant, 
 looked for relief towards the Swiss league. Hagenbach had 
 made himself, in a short time, as detested as the Gesslers 
 and the Landenbergs had formerly been in Switzerland. 
 The imposts which he exacted, the regulations which he 
 
 K 4
 
 13()" HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 147^. 
 
 introduced, were utterly unendurable to the people : his 
 merciless rigour, joined with haughty arrogance; his 
 boundless immoralities, extortions, and judicial murders, 
 filled up the measure of popular hatred ; which, more- 
 over, laid to his charge all that was done by him in 
 performance of the will of his master. Charles, who 
 felt no enmity against the confederates, assured them 
 of his undiminished favour ; and procured, by inter- 
 vention of Sigismund, a settlement of the feud with 
 Heudorf and others. But Louis's intrigues, and Hagen- 
 bach's recklessness, diminished the advantageous impres- 
 sion made by the duke's efforts ; and, not long afterwards, 
 Charles offended personally a highly respectable body 
 of Swiss delegates, who came to complain of the conduct 
 of his vogt. 
 
 Hagenbach, who could not conceal his hatred of the 
 confederates, seized every opportunity of outrage against 
 the whole people, or its individual leaders. He increased 
 the tolls, invaded the rights of Swiss owners of land 
 whose property lay in the new Burgundian territory, and 
 supported with his influence every enemy of Switzerland. 
 Swiss traders were robbed by the nobles with his know- 
 ledge and connivance, and made prisoners for the sake 
 of extorting ransom. Hagenbach himself tried every 
 method of reducing Muhlhausen under the power of 
 Burgundy ; and when the harassed town pleaded her 
 existing league with the Swiss, the vogt scoffingly pro- 
 mised to convert it from a cow-house to a garden of 
 roses. 
 
 About this time the sorely oppressed districts ad- 
 dressed the most urgent petitions for release to duke 
 Sigismund. That good but feeble prince sincerely de- 
 plored that he had put his land in more powerful keeping 
 than his own, from which it would not be easy to recover 
 it. The lower union, a league of the most considerable 
 towns of Alsace, had promised to advance the sum re- 
 quired to redeem the mortgaged estates. But the assistance 
 of the warlike confederates was likely to be requisite in 
 effecting the redemption ; as it was easy to foresee that
 
 147*i. CHARLES OFFENDS THE SWISS. 13? 
 
 Charles would accept no pecuniary equivalent for domains 
 which he now viewed as his own absolute property. Sigis- 
 mund, therefore, made overtures of alliance to the Swiss. 
 
 Shortly after these transactions Charles entered Alsace 
 with 5000 horse, and a numerous courtly attendance. 
 Panic preceded him every where. Many left the country 
 with their property. The peasantry sought refuge in 
 the towns; the towns solicited aid of the confederacy. 
 Several fortified places closed their gates. Basle made 
 a defensive alliance with Switzerland, in case of any 
 sudden surprise, and received an addition of 800 Swiss 
 to its garrison, with the promise that in case it were 
 besieged the whole force of the confederacy should 
 march to its relief. In the mean time the confederates 
 conducted themselves as if they had no cause for appre- 
 hension. They sent a deputation to the duke to pay 
 their respects, and to lay their complaints before him 
 against Hagenbach. At a more auspicious moment 
 Charles might probably have averted the impending 
 storm from his head, by affording satisfaction for the 
 grievances complained of; but now, surrounded as he was 
 by the worst foes of Switzerland, he showed offensive 
 pride and haughty coldness. The humiliating ceremony 
 of falling on one knee before the duke was enforced on 
 the reluctant republicans ; and after they had followed 
 in his train for some time, they were uncourteously dis- 
 missed from Dijon, without reply to their application. 
 
 From this time forward the confederates attached 
 themselves decidedly to Charles's enemies, while Hagen- 
 bach, to the duke's own disadvantage, received encou- 
 ragement in his mischievous proceedings. On the 10th 
 of January, 14-74, Berne closed, in the name of all the 
 confederates, an offensive and defensive league with Louis 
 of France, which could point at nothing else but war 
 with Burgundy. In this alliance the eyes of the con- 
 federates were blinded to their true interests by a large 
 immediate profit. True policy would certainly not have 
 led tliem to annihilate a power which alone balanced that 
 of France. But their measures were much more the
 
 138 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. MJ^. 
 
 result of momentary impressions than of any systematic 
 plan or principle. From this epoch first began the de- 
 moralising influence of French manners and money^ 
 through enlistments and pensions. The intelligence of 
 this alliance took the duke by surprise, and he left no 
 means untried to win the Swiss back to his interests. 
 An embassy was sent to the confederates to soften the 
 impression made by Charles's haughty deportment. 
 Thfir efforts seemed to meet with success. But the em- 
 peror and the French king, convinced that a check must 
 be ■ given to Burgundy for the sake of their own safety, 
 and that the confederates were the instruments best adapt- 
 ed for that jmrpose, plied them with such active intrigues, 
 that hostile steps were soon taken. The alliance v/hich, 
 we have already seen, Austria courted with Switzerland 
 finally took place. It was long before the Swiss could be 
 convinced of the sincerity of the Austrian intentions. 
 The hereditary hostility of that house to Swiss free- 
 dom was still retained in too lively remembrance ; but 
 Joseph von Sillinen, provost of Beronmunster, succeed- 
 ed at length in satisfying his countrymen of the honour- 
 able purposes of Austria. One hundred and fifty-nine 
 years after the battle of Morgarten, eighty-eight years 
 after the defeat of duke Sigismund's grandfather at 
 Sempach, that prince and the whole body of confederates, 
 contracted, under the guarantee of France, the eternal 
 covenant, a treaty transmitted almost uninterruptedly 
 to our own times. All wars and disputes were to be 
 ended by it. Austria abandoned all claim to restitution 
 of her losses in Switzerland, whether early or recent. 
 Freedom of trade and intercourse was restored. Neither 
 party should favour or support the foes of the other ; 
 but stood pledged to afford each other reciprocal aid. 
 Hardly had this treaty been concluded, when Sigismund 
 hastened to demand the release of his land from the 
 duke of Burgundy. The towns of the lower union ad- 
 vanced the sum, which in a few days lay in readiness at 
 Basle. Sigismund, whose first intention had been to 
 humble the Swiss by aid of the Burgundians, was now
 
 l^T^- TRIAL AND BOOM OF HAGENBACH. 139 
 
 well pleased to find the former disposed to take his 
 part against Burgundy. He made a visit to Switzer- 
 land in person, and won the hearts of the people so 
 completely, that all remembrance of ancient enmity 
 vanished, and the Swiss vied with each other in cordial 
 welcome of their new ally. 
 
 When Hagenbach was informed of these transactions, 
 he resolved to take all possible means to secure the duke 
 his master in possession of the mortgaged lands, as he 
 knew that Charles affirmed himself to have purchased 
 them, and had no idea of making restitution. In this view, 
 Hagenbach aimed at securing the fortified town of Brei- 
 sach, entered the place on Good Friday, at the head of 
 some hundred Lombards, disturbed divine service, com- 
 mitted various acts of violence, and drove matters so far 
 with an already disaffiicted people, that a tumult arose, 
 in which his Lombards were driven out of the town, he 
 himself taken prisoner in the name of duke Sigismund, 
 and his life rescued with chfficulty from the fury of the 
 people. Hagenbach was thrown into a dungeon, and 
 Sigismund sent a new vogt to replace him in his terri- 
 tories thus regained without stroke of sword. Charles 
 threatened loudly, and marched one division of his army 
 to the frontiers. Hagenbach, in the mean time, lavished 
 promises in vain to procure his liberation. He still en- 
 tertained hopes from his master ; but Charles was not 
 magnanimous enough to interfere in the behalf of an old 
 servant, whose death would give so welcome a pretext 
 for revenge. Four weeks after Hagenbach's imprison- 
 ment he was brought to trial. The archducal coun- 
 cillors, the delegates of the mortgaged lands and the 
 towns of the Lower Union assembled, surrounded by 
 innumerable multitudes, brought together by curiosity or 
 malice. The prisoner had often been awaked from 
 uneasy slumber by the clatter caused by new arrivals of 
 delegates, as they rode through the city gates, under the 
 cell where he lay in confinement. His terror may be 
 imagined when the keeper announced the arrival of a 
 troop of tall and strong, though grey-headed, strangers.
 
 1 10 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1474. 
 
 coarsely clad, and indifferently mounted. " Those must 
 be the Swiss !" he exclaimed : " God help me; for they 
 have much to bring against me !" His gloom itici- 
 pations did not deceive him. He was doomed to ueath ; 
 and no less than eight candidates disputed the honour of 
 executing the sentence. 
 
 Hagenbach's execution was the signal for war ; and 
 Charles swore he would lose his hfe rather than hi& 
 revenge. His revenge he was, however, compelled for 
 the moment to postpone, being entangled in a war of 
 some importance in another quarter. This interval was 
 employed by the confederates in providing for their 
 security on all sides. Friendly relations were esta- 
 blished with Milan and Savoy. Duke Rene of Lorraine, 
 whose territories excited the cupidity of Charles, as they 
 very inconveniently severed his southern from his north- 
 ern possessions, was taken into the union against Bur- 
 gundy. Hostilities %vere commenced in the Sundgau, 
 in the autumn of the same year, by a division of troops 
 under the command of Hagenbach's brother. Berne 
 appointed a diet of all the confederates at Lucerne, and 
 was invested with discretionary powers to take measures 
 for the general good. Vain were the representations of 
 those who saw clearly, and said loudly, that the con- 
 federates were placing themselves as tools in the hands 
 of the French king, and that, so soon as they had done 
 his work, he would rob them of the profits. On the 
 2d of October, 1474, an aUiance with France was con- 
 cluded at Berne in the name of all the confederates. 
 The Swiss engaged to supply the king with 6OOO fight- 
 ing men whenever he might need their assistance : on 
 his part he should only be summoned to aid in case of 
 necessity ; and in all wars with Burgundy might con- 
 tribute his contingent in the shape of a pecuniary subsidy. 
 Thus the crafty Louis called the Swiss confederacy to 
 arms for the promotion of his own ends against Bur- 
 gundy, while he turned away the ravages of war from 
 his own territories. On the 9th of October, an embassy 
 from the emperor summoned the confederates to attack
 
 1474'. BERNE DECLARES WAR WITH BURGUNDY. 141 
 
 the duke of Burgundy, with the promise, that while 
 they advanced on the south-east of his territories, the 
 empe ; would assail them on the side of the Nether- 
 landsr The confederates hastened to Lucerne to com- 
 plete their deUberations ; but before these had been closed, 
 Berne, on the strength of the full powers which were de- 
 volved on her, declared war with Burgundy. Many, 
 indeed, did not consider these powers as warranting, in 
 their true sense, a measure so decisive ; but regarded 
 them as merely having been given for the conclusion of 
 the necessary treaties with France. But the murmurs 
 of those unseduced by French pensions and promises 
 were shortly to be drowned in the shouts of victory. 
 
 The foregoing declaration against Burgundy brought 
 out the confederates more boldly than ever on the theatre 
 of events beyond the circle of their compact. In the 
 preceding age they had struggled against Austria in 
 defence of their national existence ; in the war of the 
 Aargau they merely obeyed the summons of the empire; 
 they engaged in the war with Zurich first from passion, 
 then for their own protection. But now Berne had 
 drawn the other confederates, with the prospect of 
 but limited assistance from abroad, into mortal strife 
 with the mightiest of their neighbours, whose dominions 
 stretched from the coasts of the North Sea over the 
 greater part of the rich and populous Netherlands, over 
 the duchy and free county of Burgundy, and many other 
 lordships besides. 
 
 The army of the confederates, amounting in all to a 
 force of about 18,000 men, appeared before Hericourt, 
 a strong-hold of Diebold of Neufchatel in the Franche 
 Comte'. It was in vain that a strong body of Burgun- 
 dians, under the command of Jacob de Romont, count de 
 Vaud, made an effort to effect a diversion. On the 13th 
 of November he was routed by the avoyer of Schar- 
 nachthal and Fehx Keller of Zurich. Hericourt was 
 surrendered, and taken into possession in the name of 
 duke Sigismund of Austria. The army returned home- 
 wards; and the discontent which had arisen among
 
 142 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1475. 
 
 many of the confederates on account of the precipitate 
 declaration of %var on the part of Berne was put an end 
 to by the victory, and still more by the plunder. The 
 confederates, however, renewed at Lucerne the regula- 
 tions of their old martial law, on account of the disorders 
 which had taken place through the stimulus of wine and 
 love of plunder ; considering, moreover, that disturbers 
 of discipline are less deserving of mercy than open ene- 
 mies. It was resolved that a division of the rear-guard 
 should receive orders to cut down all who engaged in 
 plunder before the battle was over ; and that then what- 
 ever booty was made should be fairly shared in common. 
 Louis XL lavished flatteries ; begged aid of the lords 
 confederates, in case the duke should attack him, and 
 promised to participate with them all the hazards of 
 warfare. If his subsidies to the cantons suffered occa- 
 sional delays, his pensions to their leading men at least 
 were paid punctually. On the 6th of April, 1475, the 
 account of the disbursements to those magistrates and 
 officers, who had in effect sold themselves to France, was 
 regularly settled between Louis's commissioner and the 
 Bernese avoyer Diessbach.* 
 
 Republican venality was soon repaid by royal faith- 
 lessness. The first of their august aUies who forsook 
 the Swiss was the emperor Frederick, who, equally re- 
 gardless of them as of Rene' and duke Sigismund, con- 
 cluded a dishonourable peace with the duke of Burgundy 
 in order to win the daughter of the latter for his son. 
 Actuated by similar delusive expectations, Louis closed 
 a nine years' truce with Charles, in which he sacrificed, 
 without scruple, the interests of Switzerland, as well as 
 of the lower union of Burgundy. In the perilous po- 
 sition of the confederates, the margrave Rudolph en- 
 deavoured to mediate a truce for them with Burgundy. 
 His conciUatory labours did not prosper, as the former 
 would not abandon those allies which were still true to 
 them. Charles had now achieved the complete conquest 
 of Lorraine ; and from thence marched through Be- 
 
 * MuUer, iv. 725, &c.
 
 li'jG. CAMP OF CHARLES. 143 
 
 Sanson in mid-winter, in order to chastise the con- 
 federates, above all, the Bernese, for their audacity. 
 Flames and other incenchary devices on his banners 
 gave a sufficiently graphic announcement of his intentions. 
 At Besancon he was joined by his corps of artillery, and 
 by reinforcements from Italy and Burgundy, which 
 brought his force up to about 60,000 men. This army, 
 though numerically imposing, consisted in a great mea- 
 sure of raw and hastily levied troops, and advanced as 
 if the object of its meeting were the joyous celebration 
 of some festival, instead of mortal strife with the de- 
 scendants of the victors of Morgarten, Sempach, and 
 Laupen. Charles drew in his train the greater part of 
 his court, the whole splendid cortege of his attendants, 
 all his treasures and valuables, a crowd of cooks and 
 tradespeople of all descriptions, with whole stores of 
 their several commodities, and a multitude of light and 
 loose companions ; so that his camp, including all its 
 useless followers, might contain perhaps 100,000 per- 
 sons.* This motley host inundated the land Uke 
 a mountain torrent. Charles formed an encampment, 
 which, in display of wealth and magnificence, resembled 
 a luxurious capital city more than a place of arms. It 
 was regularly laid out in wide streets. The richest and 
 the most diversified articles of convenience and of orna- 
 ment were displayed in tents and booths. But for the 
 sullen roar of artillery, the scene would have appeared 
 a fair rather than a camp. An artificial mount was 
 raised in the midst, on which stood the magnificent 
 tent of the duke himself. From the oriental pomp 
 of this pavilion Charles might gaze with gratified pride 
 upon the glittering lines beneath him, little imagining 
 that he looked on all his glories for the last time. 
 
 On the 19th of February Charles laid siege to Gran- 
 
 • " A grand chevauch^e," says Philip de Comities, " venoit le due 
 Charles, avec moult gens d'armes, de pied et de cheval, repandant la terreur 
 au loin par son est innombrable. hk fetoient cinquante mille, voire plus, 
 de toutes langues et contn'es, force canons et autres engins de nouvelle 
 facture; pavilions et accoutrements tout reluisants d'or, et grande bande de 
 valets, marchands, et fiUes de joyeux amour."
 
 m HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 147f). 
 
 son, a little town on the lake of Neufchatel. He attacked 
 the place in his usual manner, by storm — by which all 
 that he gained was the possession of an untenable town, 
 while the garrison withdrew into the well-fortified castle, 
 on which the duke's artillery kept up an incessant fire. 
 Unhappily the powder magazine in the castle exploded; 
 the master gunner was killed, and a dearth of provisions 
 began to be felt in the garrison. Nevertheless their 
 courage did not abandon them, and no thought was en- 
 tertained of surrender, till a Burgundian made his 
 appearance in the castle, by name Ronchant, who had 
 already at a former period wandered about Switzerland, 
 and acquainted himself with the character of the people. 
 This knowledge he employed with sinister skill in prac- 
 tising on the garrison with fabricated intelligence. He 
 assured them that Freyburg was already in ashes, Berne 
 had surrendered at discretion, and the troops of the 
 confederates were disbanded. He spoke alternately of 
 the dreadful wrath of the duke, and of his gracious dis- 
 positions towards the garrison, and was seconded so well 
 by a strong party in the castle, that the bolder spirits 
 were forced to yield to the cry for capitulation. Ac- 
 cordingly the castle was evacuated, and its recent de- 
 fenders brought into the camp before Charles, who 
 contemptuously asked, on their appearance, " "Who are 
 those people ? " and affected to know nothing either of 
 Ronchant or his promises. Persuaded by his council- 
 lors that a signal example was necessary, the terror of 
 which would throw all other fortified places open to him, 
 misled, moreover, by pride of power, the quality most 
 opposite to any thing like true greatness of soul, Charles 
 gave up the garrison of Granson to execution. Most of 
 them were stripped naked and hanged on trees the same 
 day ; the remainder drowned in the lake on the follow- 
 ing morning. The silent intrepidity with which they 
 met their death extorted respect, mingled with awe, 
 from the enemy ; and the fortune and honour of Bur- 
 gundy sunk from the hour when that atrocious crime 
 received its consummation.
 
 147^- BATTLE OF GRAXSOX. 145 
 
 On the very day when these proceedings took place, 
 the main body of the Swiss army, 20,000 strong, was 
 drawn together near Neufchateh The news of the mas- 
 sacre filled them with deep rage and thirst for venge- 
 ance, M'hile the duke gave himself u]) to idle dreams of 
 renown and conquest. M'hen informed of the approach 
 of the confederates, he made his preparations for imme- 
 diate action. His army was entrenched behind Granson, in 
 an admirable position, well fortified by art and by nature, 
 with the lake on the right, the chain of the Jura on the 
 iefc, in front the Arnou, the banks and approaches of 
 which were covered by a formidable artillery. It was 
 evident that the Swiss, whose whole force hardlv 
 amounted to a third of that of the duke, could not 
 attack him in this secure position with any chance of 
 success. They therefore resolved to draw him out by 
 stratagem, and directed an attack upon the castle of 
 Vaumarcus, which lay between Neufchatel and Granson, 
 and in which, by the account of several writers, some of 
 Charles's favoured counsellors and courtiers had tem- 
 porarily taken up their residence. The confederates 
 hoped that Charles's pride would render it impossible 
 for him to remain a quiet spectator of the action. Thev 
 had calculated rightly, for (Jharles, sooner than they an- 
 ticipated, and before they had made their assault upon 
 Vaumarcus, quitted, against the advice of his best 
 counsellors, a highly advantageous position ; and, in 
 order to protect a fortress utterly insignificant, marched 
 to meet the Swiss upon ground where he could neither 
 deploy his forces, nor make any important use of his 
 artillery and cavalry. 
 
 On the Sd of March, the vanguard of the Swiss, 
 the men of Schwytz and Thun, accompanied by nu- 
 merous volunteers, advanced from Neufchatel. It was 
 early in a dull and misty morning. Having ascended 
 the heights in the neighbourhood of the castle, they saw 
 to their astonishment, when the vapours cleared from 
 the low grounds, the whole force of the enemy drawn 
 out into the valley before them. The Burgundians ad- 
 
 L
 
 146 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1470. 
 
 vanccd. The Swiss sent back to hasten the inarch of 
 their slowly advancing main body, and then fell on 
 their knees to pray, according to the custom of their 
 fathers. The enemy, unacquainted with this pious 
 usage, and imagining that the whole confederate army 
 was before them, and had fallen on their knees to im- 
 plore mercy, raised a simultaneous shout of derision. A 
 troop of cuirassiers dashed forwards to trample down 
 the supplicants, but was indifferently received by the 
 long s])ears of the confederates, and effectually repulsed 
 by their advance in close order. After a discharge from 
 the Burgundian artillery, which was pointed too high to 
 take much effect, Charles endeavoured with his best 
 troops to break the line of the Swiss in front, while 
 count Louis of Chateau Guyon, a personal foe of the 
 confederates, charged them in flank, at the head of 
 6000 horse. Now was the hottest rage of battle. The 
 Swiss were hard pressed. Twice had Chateau Guyon 
 seized with his own hand the banner of Schwytz ; when 
 he was struck down. His troops wavered, dismayed by 
 the faU of their leader. At this moment, a new and 
 fearful sound arose from the heights in the rear of the 
 confederates, and drew thither the eyes of the Burgun- 
 dians. A fresh array of combatants covered the ridge. 
 The horn of Uri blew the note of death, which was 
 caught up and re-echoed by that of Unterwalden. And 
 when the whole body of Swiss, after discharging their 
 pieces with deadly precision, came down, man upon 
 man, while new bands issued continually from the hollow 
 ways and the thickets, that inexplicable sort of panic 
 came on the Burgundians, which occasionally seizes the 
 most resolute. They gave the battle up for lost. A 
 feint of their own cavalry, who attempted by a retrograde 
 movement, to draw the Swiss into a disadvantageous 
 position, was taken by the infantry as a signal for 
 flight. Vainly did Charles, at the head of his horsemen, 
 throw himself across the swarm of fugitives. The 
 whole host fell asunder; and instead of retreating to the 
 fortified camp, where they might have raUied, took to
 
 1476. EXULTATION OF LOUIS. 14'^ 
 
 flight, some towards Granson, some into the woods am 
 fields, some over the Arnou or the mountains, and other; 
 again in boats across the lake. The unfortunate princq 
 with only five companions, directed his flight througl 
 the nearest pass of the Jura.* 
 
 When the spoil of the duke's camp came to be sharei 
 among the -cantons, it was found to contain 120 pieces 
 of ordnance, (iOO standards, and about 10,000 pack- 
 horses. These and an infinite quantity of other muni- 
 tions of war, the whole of the ducal ornaments and 
 valuables of every description, his golden seal, a pound 
 in weight, his decorated prayer-book, the treasures of 
 his generals and courtiers, remained in the possession of 
 the victors. The rich hangings and pavilions were for 
 the most part cut to pieces. Gold was shared by hat- 
 fuls; diamonds, which now adorn the most magnificent 
 crowns in Europe, were first ignorantly thrown aside, 
 then sold for trifling sums. In the division of this 
 booty the least part came to the common stock. Many 
 subsequent diets were engaged on the subject; and one 
 of the great diamonds was sold in 1 492, on the public 
 account, for 5000 guilders. In imitation of foreign 
 usages, the most distinguished leaders were created 
 knights on the field of battle by the avoyer, Nicholas 
 of Scharnachthal, as the oldest knight present. The 
 town and castle of Granson were speedily retaken, and 
 the exasperated youths of Berne and Freyburg hung 
 part of the garrison up by the same ropes from which 
 they had taken down their slaughtered brethren. They 
 remained three days on the field of battle, and Granson 
 was left occupied by a Swiss garrison. 
 
 Perhaps even greater pleasure was given by Charles's 
 defeat to his evil angel Louis XI. than that which was 
 experienced by the victors themselves. Indeed the battle 
 was fought as much in his cause as in theirs, without 
 having cost him any thing more than money and dupli- 
 
 • " A bien dire la veritt'," says Comines, "jecroy que jamais depuis il 
 n'eut rcntendement si bon qu'il avoit cu auparavant cette bataille." 
 — Liv. V. ch. 3. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 HISTORY OF SWITZEULAND. 14'67. 
 
 city. On the first breaking out of war he had hastened 
 to Lyons, in order to be nearer the scene of action. From 
 thence he sent spies in various disguises into Switzerland, 
 and waited with impatience for decisive intelligence. The 
 Swiss, justly indignant at his treacherous conduct, had 
 alarmed him with the idea that they meant to close a 
 treaty of peace, if not actually of alliance, with his rival. 
 At length, however, arrived the tidings of Granson, on 
 the reception of which, the only alloy to Louis's satis- 
 faction was, that more Burgundians had not been left 
 dead upon the field. However, he contrived to conceal 
 his pleasure, and did not omit to send the duke a mes- 
 sage of condolence. The richest of his presents, and the 
 strongest of his assurances, were lavished on the Swiss, 
 to engage them in the farther prosecution of the contest ; 
 for the day of Granson had neither sufficed to still his 
 apprehensions, nor to satisfy his thirst for revenge. 
 
 Charles, in the mean while, rallied all his resources : 
 every sixth man was enhsted, every sixth penny was 
 exacted; only a single iron vessel was left to any cook; 
 the bells were taken down from the church-towers to be 
 cast into cannon, and new artillery was brought from. 
 Lorraine. Fresh troops were levied in Savoy and Italy ; 
 and thirteen days after the rout of Granson, Charles 
 re-a{)peared in the Valais, and remained for seven weeks 
 at Lausanne, where he found himself again at the head 
 of an army still superior in numerical force to his former 
 one. The confederates, on the other hand, showed no 
 eagerness to comply with Berne's summons to the field. 
 They discovered, or fancied, projectsof aggrandisement on 
 her part ; expressed cUssatisfaction with the division of 
 the plunder ; and did not hold themselves bound to cross 
 the limits of the confederacy. A conference of their 
 delegates took place at Lucerne, where new regulations 
 were adopted with regard to plunder, &c. Finally, a 
 thousand men, with a newly arrived body of German 
 cavalry, were despatclied to Freyburg, who, supported 
 by the citizens, engaged several divisions of the Bur- 
 gundian aiuny with vigour and success.
 
 1476. BATTLE OF MORAT. 149 
 
 Berne detached 1500 men to garrison Morat on the 
 lake of that name, under command of the ex-avoyer 
 Adrian of Bubenberg, a man such as extraordinary 
 emergencies demand^ although they do not always supply. 
 He had strenuously opposed the war with Burgundy 
 at the outset, and therefore had been thrown into the 
 background by the dominant party ; but a man of his 
 character never dreams of avenging on his country the 
 wrongs which he may have received in his own person 
 from his countrymen. He exacted of the garrison under 
 his orders a;i oath to inflict immediate death on any one 
 trho should speak of surrender, himself the first, in case 
 he should be guilty of such a proposal. On the 9th of 
 June the Burgundian troops appeared before Morat. 
 Attempts to take the place by storm were repelled with 
 signal loss to the enemy, and the breaches made on the 
 walls were all repaired during the night. ^Fherever 
 danger appeared, Adrian showed himself. He sent to 
 Berne to dissuade his fellow-citizens from exposing 
 themselves by precipitately attempting to relieve him, 
 until they should be reinforced by the rest of the con- 
 federates : in the mean time, he should know how to 
 maintain his post without assistance. 
 
 Berne renewed, with earnestness, her summons to the 
 confederates, some of whom had regarded Morat merely 
 in the light of a point of aggrandisement for Berne, not 
 as an important advanced post of the confederacy. But 
 at length they took a larger view of the circumstances, 
 and hastened to assist the besieged. Louis XI. remained 
 inactive, having betaken himself to Lyons, on pretence 
 of a pious pilgrimage, in order to observe the march of 
 events, and be prepared to act according as his interest 
 should dictate. He pretended friendship alternately to 
 both sides. All the force which Berne could muster, 
 with the aid of her out-burghers, reinforced from the 
 other cantons, from Basle, the lower union of Burgundy, 
 and a strong body of Austrian cavalry, drew up on the 
 high grounds stretching on the south-west of Morat; and 
 the young count Rene hastened through an enemy's 
 
 L 3
 
 150 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 147^. 
 
 country to join them. A Swiss council of war in those 
 times was not wont to deliberate whether or no an attack 
 should be made, but what was the most effectual mode 
 of making it. Hans of HaUwyl led the van and the 
 right wing ; Waldmann, jointly with Wilhelm Herter 
 of Strasburg, the main body ; Hertenstein of Lucerne 
 commanded the rear. For the first time the confederates 
 formed in widely extended lines. They overlooked the 
 whole Burgundian army, entrenched behind quickset 
 hedges in close order of battle, with formidable batteries 
 in their front. AMien the Austrian cavalry officers ad- 
 vised the confederates to ensconce themselves behind a 
 fence of baggage-waggons, and await, in this position, 
 the attack of the enemy, Felix Keller of Zurich made 
 reply, that the confederates were wont to be beforehand 
 with their enemies. " God with us against the world ! " 
 cried Hallwyl to his followers. At this instant the sun 
 broke through the heavy clouds which had veiled it. 
 " Heaven lights us to victory!" he exclaimed, waving 
 his sword. " Forward ! think of your wives and chil- 
 dren : youths, think of your loved ones; yield them not 
 up to the lewd and godless enemy ! " 
 
 They rushed without hesitation on the terrible artil- 
 lery, which galled the cavalry more than the foot- soldiers. 
 The garrison of Morat made a sally simultaneously with 
 the general charge of their countrymen. The body guard 
 of the duke and a free company of English maintained 
 their ground gallantly for some time, but were driven in 
 at length, and all was lost. The flying troops of Bur- 
 gundy were pursued as far as AA'^iflisburg, with the 
 shouts, " Remember Brie ! Remember Granson ! " Fif- 
 teen thousand corpses strewed the wide extent of the field 
 of battle ; thousands sunk in the neighbouring lake and 
 morasses.* The plunder, in arms, valuables, and forage, 
 
 • The ossuary at Morat, which received the bones of the slain Burgun. 
 dians, exhibited the following inscription, till its destruction by the French 
 in 1798 : — 
 
 Deo Opt. Max. 
 
 Caroli inclyti et fortissimi Ducis Burgundise, 
 
 Exercitus, Muratum obsidcns. 
 
 Hoc sui monumentum reliquit. 
 
 M.CCCC.LXXVII.
 
 1477. BATTLE OF XAXCY. 151 
 
 though it could not be compared to that of Granson^ was 
 considerable ; but in this^ as in former instances, the 
 rules of division were not adhered to. Charles fled, 
 without once halting, to Morges. Notwithstanding the 
 desire of Berne to follow up the victory, the confederates, 
 for the most part, hastened homewards from the field 
 of battle. 
 
 The emperor, the pope, and the king of Hungary, 
 ofTered their mediation for a peace ; but Charles could 
 not be brought to renounce his pretensions to Lorraine. 
 Too late he made approaches to his people in his mis- 
 fortunes, and sought to inspire* them with ardour for his 
 cause. The Burgundians and Netherlanders received his 
 advances coldly ; and while he yielded up his mind to 
 gloomy discouragement, Rene had again made himself 
 master of his capital, and a considerable portion of his 
 territory. Charles now collected all the force at his com., 
 mand, and prepared to besiege Nancy, while count Rene 
 went to solicit aid of his friends the confederates. He 
 presented himself in tears before the council of Bernej 
 who, mindful of the reproaches they had incurred on a 
 former occasion, would now conclude nothing without 
 taking the sense of the other cantons. A diet was con., 
 voked at Lucerne, before Avhich Rene renewed his press- 
 ing entreaties. It now occurred to every one, that a 
 struggle with their enemy in Lorraine, and in the pay 
 of count Rene, was preferable to gratuitous blows im- 
 pending on their own frontiers. Count Rene was enabled 
 to return to his own territories at the head of 8000 
 Swiss, of numerous reinforcements from Germany, and 
 of such of his own subjects as adhered to his cause. In 
 point of numbers Charles's force was inferior to that of 
 Rene : he was surroimded, indeed, by his bravest and 
 his most devoted warriors ; but discouragement pervaded 
 the mass of his followers. His faithful adherents ear- 
 nestly implored him to retreat, to collect his strength, 
 and harass his antagonists with delays ; but a Neapolitan 
 favourite of Charles, Campo-Basso, who had already 
 long betrayed the trust reposed in him, unhappily still 
 
 L 4
 
 152 III'^rORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1477' 
 
 retained his entire confidence ; and, under this man's 
 guidance, Charles bhndly rushed on destruction. On 
 the onset of the enemy, this wretch would have gone 
 over to them, but was repulsed by the confederates with 
 horror; Charles was left exposed in flank, and surrounded 
 by the enemy ; his bravest fell ; his disheartened troops 
 were soon scattered ; and the duke himself, resolved to 
 stake all upon a last throw, received a random death- 
 stroke in the melee. 
 
 So soon as Louis was certified of his hated rival's 
 death, he exerted himself to appropriate his succession, 
 with an eagerness whicli seems to have got the better of 
 his habitual cunning and caution. The princess Mary, 
 daughter of the deceased duke of Burgundy, might pos- 
 sibly have been gained in marriage, by skilful negoti- 
 ations, for Louis's younger son, the duke d'Angouleme ; 
 but as Louis attempted to exercise his authority over 
 j\Lary as a crown vassal, demanded her hand for the 
 dauphin, and developed too precipitately his plans of 
 union with Burgundy, he alienated the princess alto- 
 gether from his house. Soon afterwards a marriage 
 treaty was closed for her by the states of the Nether- 
 lands with the archduke Maximilian, son of the em- 
 peror, in whom they hoped to find a protector against 
 the threatened encroachments of Louis, and a ruler not 
 too powerful for the safety of their liberties. 
 
 Immediately on the fall of Charles, the states of Upper 
 Burgundy endeavoured, through the agency of delegates, 
 at the head of whom stood the archbishop of Besancj^on, 
 to establish for themselves either a sort of independence, 
 or a league on equal terms with the Swiss. The Bernese 
 alone perceived advantage to the confederation in ac- 
 cepting the alliance of these districts ; the other cantons 
 preferred receiving 100,000 Rhenish guilders, in consider- 
 ation of granting a treaty of peace, and leaving the land 
 to its own disposal. They argued that a ransom would 
 be shared amongst them equally, while a distant domain 
 or alliance would advantage none but the towns. In the 
 midst of these discussions, French troops took possession
 
 1477. DEATH OF CHARLES. 153 
 
 of the district in the name of their master, as feudal 
 sovereign. Terms of peace were at length arranged 
 between Louis and Maximilian, on condition of France 
 ceding Upper Burgundy. Convinced of the importance 
 of cajoling the Helvetic body, Louis granted extraor- 
 dinary privileges to Swiss settlers in France ; and not 
 only gave high appointments to those in his actual ser- 
 vice, but, moreover, retained numbers in his permanent 
 pay, and dazzled the eyes of the multitude eiFectually, 
 by sending mule loads of gold to glut the avarice of his 
 Swiss allies. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 iERA OF THE COVENANT OF STANTZ. 
 
 1477—1481. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE BURGUNDIAN WAR ON SWITZERLAND. IN- 
 CREASE OF CRIME. FEUD OF URI WITH MILAN. BATTLE 
 
 OF GIORNICO. CLAIMS OF SOLEURE AND FREYBURG. DIS- 
 SENSIONS. NICOLAS OF THE FLUE. COVENANT OF STANTZ. 
 
 SURVEY OF THE STATE OF THE HELVETIC BODY UP TO THIS 
 
 PERIOD. 
 
 The death of the duke of Burgundy, which excited such 
 surprise among the members of his house, and in his 
 more remote provinces, that for the space of several 
 •weeks they disbelieved the intelligence, changed at a 
 blow the whole relations of southern and central Europe. 
 The renown of Swiss bravery rose higher than ever ; 
 since, in collision witli it, that mighty power was bro- 
 ken, in the presence of which the greatest kings had 
 trembled. But their glory was too dearly bought by 
 deep pervading evils : Swiss valour became from thence- 
 forwards a marketable commodity, the value of which 
 had effects the most destructive to a free state. Fo- 
 reigners came to purchase adherents amongst them : the
 
 154 HISTORY OF SWITZEIILAND. H??. 
 
 influence and the gold of France, of Austria, of the 
 papacy, of Milan, and of other powers, bore every thing 
 down before them in the diets, in the council chambersj 
 and general assemblies. The uncorrupt defenders of 
 their country's cause, where any such were still to be 
 found, were derided or defamed by party leaders ; the 
 sober republican spirit disappeared almost entirely; obe- 
 dience ceased to be rendered to ill-regulated authorities, 
 which themselves transgressed their own laws and limits. 
 The sudden wealth diffused by plunder and pensions 
 excited its possessors to profusion and extravagance ; 
 while amongst others it inflamed the desire of procuring 
 themselves, at any price, the means for the like indul- 
 gences. Love of labour was too often superseded by the 
 taste for a loose rapacious idle life ; domestic virtues 
 became rare; immorality made public progress. Dis- 
 banded soldiers, and idle vagabonds of every other de- 
 scription, threatened the public security to such a degree, 
 that a diet, held in 1480, decreed the punishment of 
 death to all thefts and robberies, the amount of which 
 would pay for a rope. Accordingly in a very few months, 
 1500 wretches were despatched by the hand of the public 
 executioner, although the dean of Einsiedlen Bonstetten 
 gives the number of Swiss at that time capable of bear- 
 ing arms no higher than between fifty and sixty thousand. 
 A surprising state of security for a short time followed 
 these rigours ; but similar causes soon reproduced similar 
 effects. 
 
 Since the powerful duke of Burgundy, in his first 
 collision with Swiss valour, had lost his treasures ; in the 
 second, the flower of his army ; and in the third, his 
 life, no enemy seemed any longer formidable: there was, 
 accordingly, no end of provocations to war on the part 
 of the Swiss. 
 
 Some timber had been felled by subjects of Milan, in 
 a wood of the Val Levantina belonging to Uri ; where- 
 upon the youth of that canton instantly crossed the 
 St. Gothard, and retaliated by robbery and ill treatment 
 of the Milanese subjects in the neighbouring villages.
 
 1478. BATTLE OF GIORNICO. 155 
 
 Uri^ instead of inflicting condign chastisement on these 
 young people, took them under her protection, proclaimed 
 war on the Milanese, and applied for aid to the rest of 
 the confederates. The latter saw the injustice of the 
 proceeding, endeavoured to mediate, but at the same 
 time were not willing to desert Uri in this emergency ; 
 they therefore despatched troops to act according to the 
 circumstances. 
 
 On this the duke of Milan sent considerable forces 
 under the command of count Borelli up the Ticino. At 
 the village of Giornico lay the Swiss vanguard, consisting 
 only of 600 men from Uri, Lucerne, Schwytz, and Zurich; 
 the other confederates, nearly 10,000 strong, were as 
 yet far behind. Borelli marched upon Giornico with a 
 picked body of troops. It was mid-winter. The Swiss 
 flooded the meadows in their front from the Ticino, and 
 the surface freezing rapidly, they accoutred themselves 
 with skates. As the Milanese cavahy and infantry ad- 
 vanced over the slippery field with difficulty, they were 
 met by the Swiss, who sallied forth from Giornico firm 
 on their feet ; and, few as they were, were more than a 
 match for the staggering ranks of the numerous enemy. 
 Frischhans Theilig, the leader of Lucerne, was, with 
 his good sword, the angel of death to the Milanese ; 
 15,000 of whom fled panic-struck from GOO Swiss. This 
 almost incredible victory spread the fame of the Swiss 
 through all Italy : Milan purchased peace, paid indem- 
 nities, and consented that Uri should retain in fee for 
 ever the Val Levantina, and the Val Brugiasco, on the 
 tenure of paying annually a waxen taper three pounds in 
 weight to the cathedral of Milan. 
 
 The results of the Burgundian war were very pre- 
 judicial to the internal connection of the cantons, and 
 gave a powerful shock to their already imperfect union. 
 Besides the jealousy entertained towards Berne by all 
 the others, the rural cantons cherished a distrust of the 
 towns : it seemed to them that the latter maintained a 
 better understanding with Freyburg and Soleure than 
 with them, and they complained of being postponed in
 
 156 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1480. 
 
 consideration and in influence. It could not be concealed 
 from them what enormous sums had flowed into the 
 towns from foreign sources : not less were they dissatis- 
 fied with the unequal division of plunder. 
 
 The towns of Soleure and Freyburg had stood stoutly 
 by tlie confederates in most of their wars, especially in 
 the late war against Burgundy : Berne took pains to 
 procure their admission into the confederacy. On the 
 other hand, the people of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, 
 offered strenuous resistance to the measure : they feared 
 lest the towns, which far surpassed them in mental cul- 
 tivation, might in time become exclusive lords ascendant 
 in the confederacy. This jealousy induced them to resist 
 the augmentation of the number of the leading towns in 
 the league. On the other hand, the towns cherished sus- 
 picions of another kind with regard to the free rural 
 population. It was suspected that the people of the small 
 cantons aimed at establishing equal freedom in all Swit- 
 zerland; and thus seducing the subjects of the towns to 
 throw off the dominion of the burghers, and erect an 
 administration of rural communes. This was a consum- 
 mation not devoutly wished by the citizens : they had 
 acquired their subjects by purchase or by conquest, and 
 were determined to preserve what they called their rights 
 over them. 
 
 Thus arose reciprocal distrust in the confederacy ; and, 
 unfortunately, chance confirmed the suspicions of the 
 burghers. Peter of Halden, a stout old soldier, had 
 reasons of his own (besides those which he professed to 
 partake with the public) for discontent with the landvogt 
 of Enthbuch, and the lords of council at Lucerne. He 
 and his kinsman, the ex-landamman Heinrich, burgher 
 of Obwalclen, and his brother-in-law Kiihnegger, were 
 occasionally apt to wax warm in their cups on the sub- 
 ject of their country's degradation : they spirited each 
 other up at length to adventure a bold stroke in the town 
 on St. Leonard's day. The men of Obwalden were to 
 attend the feast in numbers : the avoyer, the council, 
 and the rest of their opponents, were to be summarily
 
 1481. NICOLAS OF THE FLUE. 157 
 
 despatched^ and the fortifications pulled down. Lucerne 
 was to be hereafter a petty village, and Entlibuch a 
 free state. Such were the high-reaching views of the 
 conclave. Unluckily the burghers of Lucerne became 
 acquainted with them, as Peter had betrayed himself 
 in his pot-valiance : he was arrested, confessed all, 
 and was condemned to decapitation. 
 
 About the time of this insurrectionary episode, the 
 confederates were holding a diet at Stantz, in the canton 
 of Unterwalden : it was there that distrust and anger 
 broke out openly amongst the cantons on the subject of 
 division of the Burgundian booty, admission of the towns, 
 &c. &c. The three democratic cantons uttered such 
 threats against the towns, while the towns were so ex- 
 asperated against the rural cantons, that the delegates of 
 Suleure and Freyburg voluntarily and modestly refrained 
 from the enforcement of their claims ; and nothing less 
 than an instant appeal to arms, and the total dissolution 
 of the confederacy, appeared impending, 
 
 A pious hermit, Nicolas of the Flue, had lived in 
 solitude many years in the district of Obwalden, ab- 
 ijorbedin prayer and in holy contemplation. He was re- 
 verenced in the whole land on account of his devotion. It 
 was said, that he had lived for many years without food, 
 except his monthly partaking of the sacrament. He 
 slept in a narrow cell upon hard boards, with a stone for 
 his pillow ; while his wife, who had brought him ten 
 children, lived on their lands in the neighbouring valley. 
 He had formerly served his country in the war of the 
 Thurgau, with a high reputation for courage and hu- 
 manity. 
 
 Ariien this venerable man was made acquainted with 
 the discord which prevailed among the confederates, he 
 instantly left the hermitage for Stantz, and entered the 
 hall where the diet was assembled. All rose from their 
 seats to greet so unexpected an apparition. The solitary 
 addressed the assembly with the dignity of a messenger 
 from heaven, and admonished them to maintain jieace 
 and concord, ia the name of that God who had given
 
 158 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1481. 
 
 SO many victories to themselves, and to their fathers 
 before them. " You have become strong, he said, by the 
 foice of union, and now will you sever that union for 
 the sake of a wretched booty ? Far be it that sur- 
 rounding lands should ever hear such things of you. 
 Let not the towns insist on claims injurious to the old 
 confederates. Let the country places remember how 
 Soleure and Freyburg fought at their sides, and freely 
 receive them into the confederacy. Beware of foreign 
 intrigues, confederates ! beware of internal discords ! 
 Far be it from any to take gold as the price of their 
 father-land ! " 
 
 " It is seldom," says an intelligent Swiss historian *, 
 " that truth comes off victorious in the conflict of pas- 
 sion, unless its assertor stand out as a being of other 
 mould from his hearers. If he seems but a man like 
 the men around him, his words will be little heeded." 
 The solitary's strange and solemn warning found re- 
 sponsive chords in the hearts of the whole auditory. In 
 a single hour the affairs at issue were settled. Frey- 
 burg and Soleure were received into the confederacy. 
 The proposal of the venerable Nicolas, that territorial 
 conquests in war should be shared according to cantons, 
 but all other spoil, according to population, was acceded 
 to. It was also resolved, that no one, without permis- 
 sion of the authorities, should assemble popular meet- 
 ings, or make dangerous propositions. If the people of 
 any canton offered resistance to their legal authorities, 
 the rest of the confederates should combine to bring them 
 back to obedience. 
 
 The covenant of Stantz, under which title the deci- 
 sions of this diet have come down to us, is remarkable 
 as the first solemn occasion on which the cantons col- 
 lectively fixed and defined their federal constitution. It 
 therefore presents a fitting opportunity to pause in our 
 narrative, in order to take a review of the Helvetic body 
 up to this period, in its principal points of political, 
 social, and military developement. 
 
 * Ludwig Meyer of Knonau.
 
 1481. COVENANT OF STANTZ. 159 
 
 The original idea of the coirfederation was that of a 
 family, in which all possessed an equality of rights. 
 Places of honour were given but for a short term : the 
 burgomaster or avoyer (the highest rank in towns) 
 might one year preside in the Helvetic diet, and vanish 
 the next in the crowd of burghers, or sit as a common 
 member of council. The whole body of burghers was 
 assembled to name pubhc officers, decide upon war and 
 peace, and enact laws. It was, however, in the rural 
 cantons only that this practice continued to exist. The 
 increasing population, wars, and treaties of the towns, 
 rendered the constant convocation of the body of 
 burghers impossible, who, therefore, elected delegates 
 to the councils ; without, however, yielding the rights of 
 sovereignty in the last resort. 
 
 The mode of procedure in all transactions was simple. 
 If any thing seemed too weighty for the httle council, 
 the great one was convoked, which consisted of numer- 
 ous popular delegates. In cases of dispute about the 
 ineum and tuum, or in which the honour or property of 
 a burgher came in question, the judges (commonly mem- 
 bers of council) sat in the open air on the highway. 
 The accused and accuser could speak for themselves, or 
 choose advocates from amongst the judges. In cases 
 unprovided for by the laws, the court decided either 
 according to precedent, or on principles of equity. All 
 severities inflicted upon criminals were regarded as al- 
 lowable and salutary. Torture was in general use; and 
 any one would have been ridiculed who expressed a fear 
 lest innocence might suffer. The pain of death was 
 enhanced by all imaginable torments ; such as nipping 
 the flesh with red-hot pincers, trailing at the tail of a 
 horse, or breaking on the wheel, as gentle preludes, or 
 substitutes, to death by the means of fire, sword, or rope. 
 Blasphemy, murder, robbery, and theft, were punished 
 capitally : lesser offences with banishment, branding, 
 slitting of ears, &c. 
 
 For security against attacks, whether from within or 
 without, the several cantons joined themselves in a
 
 lOO HISTORY OF SWITZKULAND. 1481. 
 
 federal league, which regulated their relations to each 
 other, and the amount of contribution incumbent on each 
 for the common defence. The Pfaffenbrief, and that of 
 Sempach, mention of which has already been made, 
 were the only records of this league since the period of 
 its first formation. The provisions made by the latter 
 of these documents were ratified and extended by the 
 covenant of Stantz. These regulations, prompted by 
 the circumstances in which they were made, were in- 
 tended to direct the efforts of all to one end, to limit the 
 sphere of selfishness, and to curb reckless licentiousness. 
 They might, perhaps, have answered their purpose, 
 had simplicity and sincerity continued to be cherished 
 in Switzerland, while the old confusion still prevailed 
 throughout the rest of Europe ; but they proved too 
 weak against the inroads of moral corruption in the in- 
 terior, and the general advance of civilisation in other 
 countries. 
 
 The confederates still did homage to the emperor as 
 their liege lord ; but held themselves bound to httle 
 else than not to bear arms against him, and to obtain 
 from him, as matter of form, the sanction of their li- 
 berties. Common interests were consulted upon at the 
 diets of the confederation. The presiding canton, or any 
 other in cases of emergency, called together the delegates 
 of the rest of the Helvetic body, though it was not very 
 clearly defined to whom belonged the right of sitting and 
 voting. The inequality of rights amongst the confe- 
 derates had an injurious effect on their deliberations, by 
 keeping up a constant disposition to distrust and envy, 
 and disadvantageous above all was the condition of the 
 free bailiwicks. 
 
 The military skill of the confederates stood in the 
 highest repute during the infancy of the art of war in 
 Europe. Levies of men were made in the towns by 
 guilds, in the country by communes and bailiwicks. 
 Exceptions from service were rare, and only allowed on 
 condition of finding substitutes : those who were unable 
 to provide themselves with arms and food were supplied
 
 1481. MILITARY AND CIVIL POWERS. l5l 
 
 at the expense of their communes. The principal 
 weapons were spears, halberds, arquebuses, and cross- 
 bows. In addition to these, battle-axes and swords were 
 considered necessary: knives and daggers came by degrees 
 into use. The body was sheathed in armour; the head 
 was covered with a helmet, or a strong felt hat, adorned 
 with a cock's or ostrich feather. A Avhite cross, stitched 
 on several parts of the clothing, served as a badge, for 
 which a key of the same colour was substituted in later 
 times. The confederates had become familiar, not only 
 with the use of guns, but also with that of pieces of 
 heavy artillery. Their cavalry, such as it was, was 
 formed by noblemen and church vassals. 
 
 The warriors of each canton, however scanty their 
 number, took the field under a leader of their own, who, 
 as well as the Venner (banner-bearer or banneret) was 
 chosen by the government. The election of captains 
 was trusted to the communes ; twenty or thirty men 
 formed a troop. The highest authority, after that of 
 the general and banneret, was enjoyed by the commit- 
 tees of the council and burghers, who formed the council 
 of war with the above-mentioned officers. All matters 
 of consequence were laid before the assembled troops, by 
 whom the question of peace or war was often, in fact, 
 decided, and who considered themselves invested with a 
 power at least co-ordinate with that of the council and 
 commonalty at home. The most express orders of the 
 dvil authorities often received the following laconic 
 reply : " That a contrary decision had been formed by 
 a majority of votes in the army." 
 
 A declaration of hostilities preceded the invasion of 
 an enemy's territory. The Swiss held it dishonourable 
 to assail any one without having given him notice of 
 their intentions ; they knew not, or despised, the feints 
 and manceuvres adapted to mislead the foe, or force him 
 to give battle. Their troops were drawn up for action 
 in close column, or in solid squares; after several ranks 
 of spearmen came halberdiers; then again sjjearmen; in 
 front or in flank arquebusiers ; in the centre were the 
 
 M
 
 l62 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1481. 
 
 banner and standard bearers. (It may bere be observed, 
 that the banner of a canton had more importance at- 
 tached to it than an ordinary flag, which indeed might 
 be inferred from the bigh rank in the army which, as we 
 have already said, was held by its guardian.) The 
 troops were exhorted to valour by their officers in the 
 presence of the enemy, and then, having invoked on their 
 knees, with outstretched arms, the aid of the Deity, 
 they rushed with alternate animating cries upon the 
 hostile ranks. 
 
 No prisoners were allowed to be made ; none were 
 allowed to retreat though wounded ; each was ready to 
 cut down his comrade, rather than see him take to flight. 
 The Swiss regarded wounds and death so little, and 
 obeyed the word of command with such precision, that 
 the close mass of their combatants was moved with the 
 utmost facility, sometimes forming a wedge, sometimes 
 contracting, sometimes extending their lines. The Swiss 
 did not distinguish themselves in the siege of fortified 
 places. If they failed in the first onset, their zeal cooled 
 with marvellous suddenness. They were better skilled to 
 provide for the defence of their native country. For that 
 end they collected munitions of war of all descriptions, 
 barred the passes, announced the approach of the foe by 
 beacons, shots, and alarums, and gathered all who could 
 move so much as a stick on the point of danger. 
 
 The occupation most congenial to the temper of the 
 free Swiss, next to that of a soldier, was that of a shep- 
 herd. In the pure air of their mountains, with their 
 easy charge of cattle, the longest summer day seemed to 
 pass rapidly. The more arduous toils of husbandry were 
 comparatively neglected, no branch of trade or manufac- 
 tures acquired leading importance, and the insecuri ty of the 
 roads created serious impediments to the transport of com- 
 modities through Switzerland from Venice and elsewhere. 
 
 Though no description of privilege was acknowledged, 
 yet a difference of ranks came to prevail. Those nobles 
 who had settled in the towns, and who had sacrificed 
 some advantages in order to secure the rest, maintained
 
 l^Sl. NOBLES AND BURGHERS. l63 
 
 in many respects a higher footing than the burghers. 
 Some were in possession of riches, others of experience 
 and knowledge of mankind, all had been from youth 
 upwards accustomed to the use of weapons. Beside this 
 old nobility, a new sprung up. Men who had enjoyed 
 a high reputation on account of their wealth, abilities, 
 or achievements, bequeathed consideration to their off- 
 spring. Their very name awakened advantageous re- 
 miniscences ; their descendants were chosen willingly by 
 the people for its leaders, and had various means of 
 maintaining and augmenting their wealth and influence. 
 On the other hand, in families of a humbler grade, hus- 
 bandry, the life of a shepherd, or some mechanical craft, 
 descended from generation to generation. But the dif- 
 ferent ranks were separated by no impassable chasm : 
 the knight of the empire did not shrink from mixing his 
 blood with that of the burghers, and hardly aimed at 
 higher polish of manners. If instances of collision some- 
 times occurred, they were seldom dangerous : the as- 
 sumptions of the nobles were met not only with serious 
 checks, but with coarse and homely ridicule, — the most 
 formidable of all weapons in a state of society stamped 
 by familiarity and openness. The homely monosylla- 
 bles thee and thou remained in general use, and were 
 even employed by governments in their missives to their 
 functionaries. The burghers expressed their opinions 
 freely on all affairs of a public nature; and the highest 
 members of government might be seen at their doors on 
 fine evenings, exchanging greetings with all who passed, 
 hearing complaints, and imparting counsel. 
 
 But these traces of an earlier sera disappeared by de- 
 grees. Simplicity, sincerity, a sense of honour, and love 
 of country, daily became of more and more rare occur- 
 rence, until at length the all-engrossing thirst for gold 
 left no room for any other feeling. Indulgences were 
 relinquished with reluctance, to which the Swiss warrior 
 had accustomed himself in the course of his campaigns : 
 remembrance of past jollities, and disgust at present pri- 
 vations rendered his heart of easy access to temptation. 
 
 31 2
 
 l64 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1481. 
 
 What could inspire those with dread^ who feared nei- 
 ther death nor wounds — who valued protracted exist- 
 ence little, and only lived for the moment .'' War was 
 their watchword ; war afforded full swing to their ajipe- 
 tites ; and decay of domestic happiness, neglect of 
 education, in short, universal disorder came in its train. 
 
 Those warriors who would while away the interval 
 between one campaign and another agreeably betook 
 themselves to Baden in Aargau. Here in a narrow 
 valley, where the Limmat flows through its rocky bed, 
 are hot springs of highly medicinal properties. Hither, 
 to the numerous houses of public entertainment, resorted 
 prelates, abbots, monks, nuns, soldiers, statesmen, and 
 all sorts of artificers. As in our fashionable watering 
 places, most of the visitors merely sought to dissipate 
 ennui, enjoy life, and pursue pleasure. The baths were 
 most crowded at an early hour in the morning, and 
 those who did not bathe resorted thither to see ac- 
 quaintances, with whom they could hold conversation 
 from the galleries round the bath-rooms, while the 
 bathers played at various games, or ate from floating 
 tables. Lovely females did not disdain to sue for alms 
 from the gallery-loungers, who threw down coins of 
 small amount to enjoy the ensuing scramble. Flowers 
 were strewn on the surface of the water, and the vaulted 
 roof rang with music, vocal and instrumental. Towards 
 noon the company sallied forth to the meadows in the 
 neighbourhood, acquaintances were easily made, and 
 strangers soon became familiar. The pleasures of the 
 table were followed by jovial pledges in swift succes- 
 sion, till fife and drum summoned to the dance. Now 
 fell the last barriers of reserve and decorum ; and it is 
 time to drop a veil over the scene. 
 
 But what horror seized the dissolute crowd when 
 intelligence suddenly reached them that the plague 
 was spreading its ravages over the land ! Instant flight to 
 the farthest mountain-recesses hardly baffled contagion; 
 youth and strength afl^orded no security ; even love and 
 friendship yielded to the universal panic, and the sick
 
 1481. THE PLAGUE. lG5 
 
 were left to die without consolation or attendance. The 
 wrath of God was traced in this visitation ; the churches 
 filled with penitent and penance-performing sinners^ and 
 pilgrimages were made with all contrition and humihty. 
 Yet scarcely had the scourge ceased to be felt, when the 
 eld mode of life was resumed as eagerly as ever. 
 
 Notwithstanding the foregoing statements, Switzer- 
 land was perhaps less degraded than the other states 
 of Europe; where the princes carried on warfare at 
 discretion, over-ran the lands which they conquered, 
 plundered the owners, and fired their dwellings ; while 
 even in peace the insecure state of the roads impeded 
 intercourse. In most other states, the habits of the 
 soldiers, chiefs, and clergy, were even more iinmoral 
 than in Switzerland : public functions were venal ; in- 
 humanity was encouraged by the cruel inflictions visited 
 upon criminals; and even palaces were disgraced by the 
 most disgusting want of cleanliness. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 LEAGUE OF ST. GEORGE AND SWABIAN WAR. 
 
 1489—1501. 
 
 ADJIINISTRATION, ARREST, AND DEATH OF HANS WALDMANN AT 
 ZURICH. — COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE BURGHERS AND PEA- 
 SANTRY. PETTICOAT LEAGUE. DIET AT WORMS. FRENCH 
 
 INTRIGUES AND INFLUENCE ON THE HELVETIC BODY. CARE- 
 LESSNESS OF THE LATTER WITH REGARD TO PAPAL BULLS AND 
 
 THE PERSON OF THE EMPEROR. ALTERCATIONS WITH THE 
 
 IMPERIALISTS. COMMENCEMENT OF THE SWABIAN WAR. 
 
 SUCCESSES OF THE SWISS AND THE GRISONS. EMPEROR MAX- 
 IMILIAN ENTERS THE ENGADINES. RETREATS INTO THE 
 
 TYROL. TREATY OF PEACE. RECEPTION OF BASLE AND 
 
 SCHAFFHAUSEN INTO ALLIANCE WITH THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 The transient restoration of concord could not restore 
 the primitive moral habits of the people. Rapacity and 
 ostentation flourished in the towns, corruption in all 
 Beats of civic authority, immorality and idleness in the 
 
 M 3
 
 l66 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1489. 
 
 people. Younp; men often marched in troops of hun- 
 dreds and of thousands, headed hy bands of music, 
 over the Rhine and over the Alps, to follow royal 
 standards in quest of booty or a grave. Nor was there 
 any lack of fuel for their ardour. In one year, on 
 the side of Italy, four wars were raging. Inter- 
 nal strife and uproar soon recommenced. The noble 
 lords and priests of Zurich, who hated Waldmann the 
 burgomaster, because he sought to impose bounds on 
 their arrogance, inflamed the town and country people 
 against him by their discourses. Hans Waldmann was 
 the son of a peasant of Zug, and had come to Zurich 
 first in the humble character of a tanner, had dis- 
 tinguished himself at Morat and at Nancy ; and had 
 at last attained to eminence by sheer force of courage 
 and intellect. But it was now whispered against him, 
 that he favoured INIilan and Austria; and the Zurichers 
 accused him of abuse of power through pride and pas- 
 sion. The burgomaster gave himself no concern about 
 secret murmurs ; and woe to those who dared to speak 
 or act against him openly ! When Theilig of Lucerne, 
 the hero of Giornico, who had offended him, came into 
 Zurich, bringing bales of cloth for sale, the burgomaster 
 caused him to be taken into custody and beheaded, 
 though his native town made urgent solicitations for 
 the life of her illustrious citizen. 
 
 Such tyranny, notwithstanding his great qualities, 
 brought universal hatred, and at length ruin, on Wald- 
 mann. His enemies took advantage of the tumults of 
 the peasantry, and a revolt of the rural communes on 
 the lake of Zurich. The country people advanced in 
 arms up to the w^alls of the town, complaining of the 
 injustice of the laws, and of other grievances. Dele- 
 gates from the other cantons offered their mediation, 
 and at length a proclamation was agreed upon by the 
 council, that the complaints of the communes should be 
 investigated, and satisfaction given to the people. But 
 Waldmann, who thought fit to regard the honour of 
 the town as being compromised by such a declaration.
 
 1489- DEATH OF WALDMANN. l67 
 
 caused the town-clerk to alter parts of the wording, as 
 if the country people had only alleged supposed griev- 
 ances, and only obtained thus much by their humble 
 supplications, that those grievances should be looked 
 into on the first fit opportunity. 
 
 As soon as the falsification of this document be- 
 came known, a new revolt took place against the town, 
 which, moreover, was disturbed in its interior. The 
 burgomaster no longer went out without armour, and 
 usually slept at the town hall. Authority is tottering 
 when it protects itself by any other panoply than the 
 popular attachment. The burgomaster Waldmann was 
 tumultuously arrested, put to the torture, and finally 
 decapitated, on the 6th of April, 1489. 
 
 On the day of his death, the subjects and authorities 
 of Zurich presented themselves as parties before the bar 
 of the confederacy, who brought about a permanent 
 agreement between them. It was enjoined upon the 
 peasantry, in the first place, to be faithful and obedient 
 to the great council of Zurich. On the other hand, 
 the privilege was granted them of bringing their com- 
 modities to what market they pleased, of exporting them 
 wherever they chose, of exercising arts and trades in 
 the villages, planting vines and purchasing lands at 
 pleasure, electing a sub-vogt in the lake-district, &c. 
 If at any time the town attempted to exercise a lawless 
 power on their subjects in the rural communes, the lat- 
 ter should send delegates to the diet of the confederacy, 
 that justice might be done to their complaints. This 
 instrument was signed on the 9th of May, 1489, for 
 the seven cantons of the confederacy, by their dele- 
 gates. 
 
 New matter of mistrust occurred to revive the old 
 ill will subsisting between the confederates and Austria, 
 on the refusal of the former to join the new leaaue of 
 St. George, otherwise called the Swabian, and derisively, 
 the Petticoat League, from a sort of kilt at that time 
 worn by tlic nobles, which, at a later period, came into 
 general use amongst the people, and was called a jupe, or 
 
 M 4
 
 l68 HISTORY OF SWITZKRLAND. 1495. 
 
 petticoat, in the sumptuary laws of Thurgau, dated 1530. 
 To this league the princes, counts, and knights of the 
 empire, and the towns of the Franconian, Swabian, and 
 Rhenish circles, acceded, partly of free will, partly on 
 compulsion. Its ostensible object was to put an end to 
 the still existing system of club-law, and the prevalent 
 abuses of the right of self-defence. Its secondary and 
 secret intent was to overawe the Bavarian dukes, and 
 other turbulent members of the empire, who made them- 
 selves obnoxious by opposing the will of the emperor, or 
 disturbing the tranquillity of their neighbours. The 
 confederates, who clearly saw that a league of this de- 
 scription threatened themselves as well as others with 
 subjection, declined all accession to the compact. These 
 considerations, however, did not prevent most of the free 
 imperial towns and trading corporations from joining the 
 new project of alliance, which held out hopes of in- 
 creased security for trade and communication. They 
 stigmatised those who refused concurrence as partisans 
 of anarchy. " So frequently," says an eloquent Swiss 
 annalist, " does the love of freedom yield to the love of 
 profit!" 
 
 The grand diet of 1495, at Worms, where Maximilian 
 called for the aid of the empire against France and the 
 Turks, where private feuds were prohibited under pain 
 of the ban of the empire, and the court of the Imperial 
 Chamber erected for the general administration of justice, 
 was attended, indeed, by delegates from Switzerland; 
 but the proposal of taking 6OOO Swiss into the pay of 
 the empire was without effect. So were not the largesses 
 and intrigues of Bailli of Dijon, the indefatigable French 
 agent in Switzerland. This man, who was familiarly 
 nicknamed the Baillie, explicitly declared to the Bernese 
 delegates, that if his purposes were thwarted by the few, 
 he should know how to effect them through the many. 
 To such a pitch may things come in a country, where 
 once foreign influence is permitted to establish itself. 
 More than 20,000 Swiss were soon under arms for France 
 in Lombardy. Berne was so completely forced to tem-
 
 14'95. PETTICOAT LEAGUE. l69 
 
 porise with the French party, that she sent envoys to 
 welcome the troops returning from that service, depressed 
 as they were by the losses they had suffered, and dis- 
 figured by the loathsome aspect of many among their 
 number, who returned from Naples infected with a for- 
 midable malady, which was then supposed indigenous 
 in that city, and was naturalised too speedily all over 
 Europe. 
 
 Renewed demands of the empire on the confederates, 
 and renewed warnings against the intrigues of France, 
 remained equally ineffectual with all former ones; though 
 Berne was still devoted to the emperor, and exerted 
 herself vainly to prevent enlistments for France. The 
 pope was now called upon to support the imperial dignity 
 against all who should continue recusant ; but, on man- 
 dates being issued by the papal legate at Lindau, which 
 threatened with excommunication all who should refuse 
 to quit the service of France, the confederates replied by 
 simply appealing to a better informed pope or to a general 
 council. The elector of Mentz, who acted as high- 
 chanceUor of the empire, showing his pen to the Swiss 
 delegates, gave them to understand how serious evils 
 that little implement might draw upon their common- 
 wealth. They replied, that what halberts had failed in 
 doing, goose-quills were not likely to do. And when 
 the emperor declared, that he himself; if they should 
 still refuse compliance, would stand foremost against 
 them, Conrad Schwend, the burgomaster of Zurich, re- 
 turned for answer, " Our people are so ignorant and 
 rustic, that I fear they might not even spare the imperial 
 crown itself." 
 
 Though many who had joined the Swabian league 
 were discontented with it, and many feared the loss of 
 that degree of independence which had hitherto been pre- 
 served among the members of the empire, yet the number 
 of the foes of the Swiss confederacy increased in a still 
 greater proportion. Many powerful lords retained here- 
 ditary aversion to it. Many towns and subjects envied 
 its privileges, and many Germans were scandalised at
 
 170 HISTOnV OF SWITZERLAND. HQO- 
 
 seeing the confederates continually arrayed against them 
 under the flag of France. Reciprocal abuse took place 
 on every opportunity. Cow-houses and cow-herds were 
 the delicate appellations most commonly bestowed upon 
 the Swiss and their country. " Spare me, spare me, 
 dear good bull-heads ! " cried an unlucky Swabian when 
 made captive by the Swiss in the ensuing war ; and his 
 curious cry for mercy having only procured him worse 
 treatment, he solemnly swore he had never heard any 
 other name applied to the Swiss. Numerous satirical 
 songs enhanced the mutual embitterment. 
 
 If the emperor and princes of the empire regarded 
 the confederates as rebels, the latter, on the other hand, 
 appealed to existing treaties ; and to much that these 
 might not expressly contain they considered long pos- 
 session as having given them a prescriptive right. During 
 the absence of the emperor in the Netherlands, his Ty- 
 rolese councillors, who distinguished themselves beyond 
 the rest in prompting the most arbitrary measures, re- 
 solved to delay hostilities no longer against the Grisons, 
 whom they viewed as the most recent revolters. About 
 the middle of January, 1499, they marched a force of 
 4000 men into the Munster-thal, on the border of the 
 Engadines. On this, Uri, and soon afterwards the six 
 other cantons, despatched reinforcements to the Grisons. 
 
 Berne still had hopes of preserving peace, and the 
 bishops of Constance and Coire effected an armistice. 
 But a series of provocations from the Austrians soon 
 brought about the commencement of that contest to 
 which history has given the name of the Swabian war, 
 without any declaration of hostilities. Meyenfeld was 
 given up by treachery to the enemy, who massacred the 
 garrison, and occupied the town and the neighbouring 
 mountain passes. Even before the reinforcements arrived 
 from the other cantons, the men of the Grisons carried 
 away the honour of the first victory, in which 400 of 
 the enemy were slain : the rest retreated into the castle 
 of Gertenberg. 
 
 The enemy marching from Constance had succeeded
 
 1499- SWABIAN WAR. 171 
 
 in surprising the Swiss garrison of Emmatingen in their 
 sleep, and killing seventy-three defenceless men in their 
 beds. But they paid for it severely in the thickets of 
 Schwaderloch, when 18,000 of them were routed by 
 barely 2000 Swiss, so that they found the gates of Con- 
 stance all too narrow to receive them in their flight, and 
 reckoned a greater number of slain than there had been 
 of Swiss arrayed against them. 
 
 A body of Swiss on the Upper Rhine marched into 
 the Wallgau, where the enemy was entrenched near 
 Frastenz, 14,000 strong. Heinrich Wolleb of Uri en- 
 couraged his men to disregard these odds against their 
 own comparatively scanty numbers: they rushed under the 
 roar of the artillery on the ranks of Austria, and strewed 
 the plain with thousands of hostile corpses. The rest 
 of the Austrians, panic-struck, made their escape through 
 wood and water; " for then," says a native historian*, 
 " every Swiss fought as if the victory depended on his 
 single arm : for the glory of his country every one rushed 
 with cheerful countenance on danger and death, and 
 never counted the numbers of the enemy," The men 
 of the Grisons fought with no less vigour, as was tes- 
 tified on the Malserheath, in the Tyrol, where 15,000 
 Austrians were attacked in their entrenchments, and com- 
 pletely routed, by a band of only 8000 men from the 
 Grisons. 
 
 When the emperor Maximilian, in the Netherlands, 
 heard of battles upon battles being lost by his armies, 
 he addressed himself to the princes of the empire for 
 aid against the Swiss boors, " in whom there was no 
 virtue, noble blood, or moderation." Eager for revenge, 
 he marched in person at the head of 15,000 men, to 
 attempt once more the subjection of the Grisons. The 
 inhabitants of the Engadines, with noble self-devotion, 
 burned their huts, and retired into the mountains. They 
 annoyed the enemy by rolling fragments of rock on them 
 from the heights ; and in two days' time the army was 
 reduced to such a condition, as to be well pleased to 
 
 • Glutz Blotzheim.
 
 '72 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1499- 
 
 effect its retreat back into the Tyrol, although not without 
 considerable loss. 
 
 Peace was at length negotiated, and finally concluded, 
 on the 22d of September, 1499' The emperor con- 
 firmed the confederates in the possession of their ancient 
 rights and conquests, and ceded to them, besides, the 
 jurisdiction over the Thurgau, which had hitherto been 
 a privilege of the town of Constance. Thenceforward the 
 emperors never again entertained the idea of attempting 
 to dissolve the confederacy, or annexing its domains to 
 the German empire. 
 
 " Tims ended," says a Swiss historian, " the last war 
 of the old confederates in the cause of their own freedom 
 and independence. They came out of the struggle in 
 which they had defended their hereditary rights against 
 the empire and the emperor more renowned, more re- 
 spectable, than ever. But notwithstanding all the favours 
 of fortune, which crowned confederate valour with its 
 well-earned rewards, the period of this war has much 
 matter of distressing meditation for the true friend of 
 his country; who may draw from it too plain prognosti- 
 cations of the following universal tide of corruption." 
 
 The reception of the towns of Basle and Schaffhausen 
 into a closer league with the cantons followed imme- 
 diately on the Swabian war. 
 
 Basle, an ancient free town of the empire, distin- 
 guished by its advantageous site and growing magnitude, 
 the seat of an university, of a bishopric, and an extensive 
 trade, and the market of the whole surrounding region, 
 had long adhered, without any positive compact, to the 
 confederacy, and had often received its friendly aid in 
 cases of emergency. During the Swabian war, the town 
 was torn by intestine divisions. The burghers took the 
 confederate, the nobility the Swabian, side; and both par- 
 ties, openly and secretly, afforded every service in their 
 power to their respective friends. The confederates here- 
 upon marched into the district of Basle, made threaten- 
 ing demonstrations towards the town, and demanded to 
 know whether they were to look upon its citizens as
 
 1501. ALLIANCE WITH BASLE AND SCHAFFHAUSEN. 173 
 
 friends or as enemies. On this the nobles fled, and 
 amused themselves, during their self-inflicted exile, in 
 committing highway robberies on the merchants of their 
 native town. The latter applied for aid to the con- 
 federates, who gladly embraced the occasion of forming 
 a closer alliance with Basle, which was formed in 1501, 
 to mutual satisfaction, though with some opposition from 
 the rural population. There was never a more joyous 
 day in Basle than that of her i-eception into the league 
 of the confederacy. The magistrates rode in solemn 
 procession to meet the Swiss delegates, who entered the 
 town on the festival of its patron saint, the emperor 
 Henry. The procession of the delegates, the council and 
 the burghers, first visited the cathedral, and from thence, 
 after attending the holy office, went to the corn-market. 
 The treaty of alliance was here read from a scaffolding, 
 and reciprocally sworn to by the contracting parties. 
 
 The flourishing town of Schaff'hausen had been leagued 
 with the confederacy more closely even than Basle- since 
 1454, and had always shown unimpeachable fidelity. 
 Its reasonable desire to become a member of the con- 
 federacy was therefore at length gratified in 1501. 
 Thus was the league of the Thirteen Cantons completed 
 nearly two centuries after the deed of William Tell. The 
 Valais and the Grisons were also allied with the con- 
 federacy; and the free towns of St. Gall, Miihlhausen, 
 and Rothweil m Swabia, were joined with it in a league 
 of mutual defence.
 
 174 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1499* 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 ITALIAN EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 1 499—1522. 
 
 CORRUPTION OF THE HELVETIC BODY. LOUIS XII. LUDOVIC 
 
 SFORZA. FRENCH OCCUPATION OF MILAN. CLAIMS OF THE 
 
 CONFEDERATES ON THE MILANESE AND BELLINZONA. ENLIST- 
 MENTS OF SFORZA IN SWITZERLAND. OF LOUIS. SFORZA 
 
 BETRAYED BY THE SWISS. IMPRISONED BY THE FRENCH FOR 
 
 LIFE. TREATY OF THE EMPEROR WITH THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 FRUSTRATED BY FRENCH INTRIGUES. — LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. 
 
 BATTLE OF AGNADELLO. CHARACTER OF SCHINNER BISHOP 
 
 OF SION. ALLIANCE AGAINST THE POPE BETWEEN THE 
 
 FRENCH KING AND THE EMPEROR. HOLY LEAGUE AGAINST 
 
 FRANCE. GASTON DE FOIX. FRENCH EXPELLED FROM 
 
 ITALY BY THE POPE, SWISS, AND VENETIANS. DUCHY OF 
 
 MILAN RECONQUERED BY THE FRENCH WHO ARE DEFEATED 
 
 BY THE SWISS AT NOVARA. EXPEDITION OF THE LATTER TO 
 
 DIJON. PEACE WITH FRANCE. FRANCIS I. INVADES PIED- 
 MONT. BATTLE OF MARIGNANO PERPETUAL PEACE BE- 
 TWEEN FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND. 
 
 After having viewed the Helvetic body in the first and 
 brightest epoch of its freedom, then engaged in civil and 
 intestine commotions, afterwards exalted to the pinnacle 
 of martial glory, and finally triumphant in its latest 
 struggle for independence, we have now to regard its 
 members in a state of rapid decay, selling their victorious 
 arms by auction to the highest bidder, and shamefully 
 staining their former fame for constancy and honour. 
 It is impossible to trace without a feeling of repugnance 
 the relations, whether foreign or domestic, in which 
 Switzerland was engaged during a period which, in spite 
 of martial achievements, must be deemed the most 
 deplorable and disgraceful of her history. Neither 
 honourable connections with foreign powers, nor salutary 
 arrangements in the interior, will henceforth yield the
 
 1499- CORKUPTION OF THE HELVETIC BODY. 175 
 
 materials of our narrative. It became the only object 
 of state policy in Switzerland to drive a lucrative traffic 
 with the blood of its inhabitants ; and though the article 
 must be acknowledged to have fetclied a high price, it 
 is not the less a scandalous blot in the history of the 
 country, that so vile a trade should so long have remained 
 the only one pursued with any energy by the people and 
 its leaders. It is true, that the Helvetic seats of go- 
 vernment were surrounded with more outward splendour 
 than ever. Ambassadors crowded thither from the em- 
 peror, from the pope, and from many other monarchs, 
 l)rinces, nobles, and free towns, soliciting, with emulous 
 zeal, their friendship and alliance, and bidding against 
 each other for the iron arm of Switzerland, by offers of 
 absolution, special privileges, rich presents, large pen- 
 sions, and high pay. 
 
 This state of things, which was looked upon by the 
 many as the very acme of glory and prosperity, a few 
 regarded, on better grounds, as pregnant with the worst 
 evils ; for even a superficial view was enough to reveal 
 the misery which was ill disguised by tinsel decorations. 
 The social mischiefs generated by foreign bribes and 
 foreign service were so obvious, even at the very times 
 we are treating of, that the governments of the cantons 
 were compelled, however reluctantly, to issue repeated 
 prohibitions of pensions and enlistments, and to threaten 
 severe penalties against the transgressors. Unfortunately, 
 however, for the effect of these regulations, while the 
 members of successive diets raised their right hands in 
 solemn abjuration of the receipt of foreign pensions, the 
 left palm was secretly extended to receive them. This 
 melancholy period is delineated as follows in the ener- 
 getic language of old Bullinger : — " In these times it 
 stood ill with the confederates, whom many princes and 
 lords solicited secretly and openly, proffering and pro- 
 mising moneys, and misleading simple people who had 
 heretofore known little of such dealings. Moreover, 
 the confederates were divided amongst themselves, — 
 some being for the papacy, some for France, and some
 
 176 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1^99- 
 
 for the empire, — whereby the old simplicity and bro- 
 therly love were extinguished, and the bond of the con- 
 federacy loosened. A lewd and wanton life was com- 
 monly practised, with gluttony, gaming, dancing, and 
 all manner of wantonness, day and night, especially 
 where diets were held, as at Zurich, Lucerne, and Baden. 
 The common people in town and country were drawn 
 away from honest labour to idleness, lewdness, and war- 
 like undertakings, — and reckless and abandoned habits 
 thus prevailed every where." 
 
 The king of France, Louis XII., and the duke of 
 Milan, Ludovic Sforza, surnamed Moro, or the Moor, 
 from his dark complexion, had co-operated zealously in 
 mediating peace between the confederates and the em- 
 peror ; not that either of them cared for the welfare of 
 Switzerland, but because they both stood in need of the 
 stout arms of the Swiss to combat with each other for 
 Milan, which the latter ruled de facto, while the former 
 set up claims to it. This was the second enterprise pre- 
 pared by France against Italy ; but it differed from the 
 former, undertaken by Charles VIII., in being primarily 
 directed against Sforza (the very man whose alliance had 
 principally occasioned the Italian expedition of that mo- 
 narch), and in pointing against that former friend of 
 France the arms of Italian powers which till then had 
 ranked with her enemies.* An alliance had been formed 
 against Sforza between the pope, the king of France, and 
 the republic of Venice, which made his position one of 
 extreme danger, and compelled him to take every means 
 for procuring the aid of Switzerland, which seemed to 
 afford his only hope of rescue. The confederates long 
 hesitated which side they should choose. The voice of 
 reason, urging to remain neutral, was heard in vain. 
 The majority maintained that the Swiss, the resources 
 of whose territory did not suffice to nourish all its 
 offspring, must of necessity seek foreign sources of re- 
 venue. These were alone to be found in foreign alli- 
 ances; and the only point for careful consideration was 
 
 * See Sismoiidi, Rt'p. Ital. vol. xiii. c. 99.
 
 14<99> LOL'IS XII. LUDOVICO SFORZA. 177 
 
 fiom what quarter the greatest amount of profit was to 
 be looked for. Duke Sforza had already found the gold 
 of France an obstacle in the attainment of his views on 
 the confederates, and its magnetic influence once again 
 attracted the majority. Moreover Sforza, in 1496, had 
 refused recognition of the privileges acquired by the con- 
 federates in the Milanese, and when the Swabian war 
 broke out had assumed a hostile attitude towards them. 
 All this had very naturally estranged them from his 
 interests, and tended to frustrate his latter attempts to 
 engage them in his alliance. Louis, on the other hand, 
 spared neither gold nor promises, closed a defensive 
 alliance with them, aided them in the Swabian war, and 
 thus acquired the attachment of the great mass of the 
 people. Both princes commenced active preparations 
 for hostilities. No prohibitions, not even the threat of 
 capital punishment, could deter Swiss soldiers from de- 
 serting their country's service, and from going over to 
 that of France or Milan, even before the conclusion of 
 peace between Switzerland and the emperor. 
 
 Sforza's situation became more and more critical. 
 How, indeed, could he enter the lists, with ajiy hope 
 of success, against the power of France and of her 
 warlike allies ? He therefore hastened anxiously to co- 
 operate in the conclusion of peace between Austria and 
 the confederates, in order to conciliate the latter by his 
 good offices, and acquire claims on their subsequent 
 assistance. But even before the close of that peace, 
 Milan was in the hands of France by the aid of a large 
 body of Swiss troops, who had engaged in the French 
 service in defiance of their governments. Sforza, w-ho 
 was detested by his subjects, foand himself abandoned 
 by all on the approach of the French army, and only 
 succeeded with difficulty in placing himself and his 
 treasures in safety, under the protection of the emperor. 
 In August, 1499j the French were in possession of the 
 whole duchy excepting the ValteUne. 
 
 The confederates, on receiving the intelligence of these 
 events from Louis XIL, immediately resolved to prohibit
 
 178 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1500. 
 
 all engagements in the service of Sforza, to send the 
 king an embassy of congratulation, to demand the re- 
 storation of their rights over the Milanese, as well as the 
 town and domain of Bellinzona for Uri, and to recall 
 to recollection the remaining arrears in the subsidies. 
 The confederates received friendly treatment and royal 
 largesses, but their claims were only answered with 
 empty words. This, with the indifferent treatment be- 
 stowed on the Swiss soldiers, alienated numbers from 
 France. Sforza gladly seized the opportunity of win- 
 ning the confederates back to his interests. The diet 
 showed itself now disposed to listen to his proposals ; 
 but even before he had time to make them, 5000 Swiss 
 had joined his standards, consisting principally of those 
 who had been iU treated by France. The duke advanced 
 rapidly upon Como, with these and other troops from 
 the Valais. The French had rendered the people of 
 Milan averse to them by their arrogance and utter con- 
 tempt of discipline, and had reduced that people to long, 
 for the return of their old master, whom they now found 
 infinite reasons for preferring to their new one. Po- 
 pular revolts prepared the restoration of Sforza. With 
 the exception of a few fortified places, he reconquered 
 his whole duchy not less rapidly than he had If^st it. He 
 was welcomed back with joyous acclamations into his 
 capital ; reinforced his army, and advanced upon No- 
 vara, which surrendered, with the exception of the ci- 
 tadel. 
 
 It was not before Sforza had succeeded in regaining 
 the good will of the confederates, that Louis was aware 
 of the impending danger. He demanded instant aid 
 and reinforcements from the confederation. These were 
 promised, on condition that the subsidies in arrear were 
 paid, and that all legitimate claims of the confederates 
 were conceded. The envoys of Milan and Austria co- 
 operated with admirable skill against France. Sforza 
 in the mean time had reconquered Milan. In these 
 circumstances, Bailli of Dijon, whose merits have already 
 been alluded to as a member of the French embassy.
 
 1500. SFORZA BETRAYED BY THE SWISS. 179 
 
 employed the only infallible expedient to arm the Swiss 
 in the interests of France. He travelled from one place 
 to another ; distributed gold in handfuls ; did not hesi- 
 tate to gratify the most impudent demands; and by these 
 methods, with or without consent of the cantonal go- 
 vernments, he had soon levied a force of 24,000 Swiss. 
 Freyburg was selected for the place of rendezvous. The 
 troops were soon in motion for Italy, joined the French 
 army, marched upon Novara, and for the first time, 
 Swiss stood against Swiss in the pay of foreigners. 
 
 The news of the advance of this army had reached 
 Sforza; but relying on the promises of the diet, he re- 
 fused to believe it, and rejected the advice of his more 
 clear-sighted Swiss officers to faU back upon Milan, 
 where men and money, provisions, fortifications, in a 
 word, all the requisites for withstantUng the French, lay 
 at his disposal. In the mean time, a diet at Lucerne 
 <lecided that the Swiss engaged on both sides should 
 be ordered home, and resolved, besides, to oS'er its me- 
 diation to the belligerent powers ; but all was already 
 decided before the arrival of its delegates. The over- 
 whelming force of France had shut up the duke in 
 Novara ; and the castle was, moreover, in their hands. 
 These material advantages were, besides, aided by 
 treachery. The Swiss officers on both sides came to 
 a secret understanding. Many deserted from the duke ; 
 a few, perhaps, prompted by indisposition to fight 
 against their countrymen, but most from a more tender 
 care for their gold and for their booty. Those who 
 remained clamoured for their pay, raised disturbances, 
 and threatened to disband and return to their homes. 
 The duke was in a manner constrained to a vigorous 
 resolution by the greatness and the imminence of his 
 danger. He resolved to cut his way through the be- 
 sieging force to Milan ; marched his troops out, and 
 charged with his cavalry. At this critical moment, the 
 Swiss in his service wheeled round, declaring that they 
 would not fight against their countrymen in the French 
 army. This movement decided the fate of Sforza. The
 
 180 HISTORY or SWITZERLAND. 1500. 
 
 Swiss, without his consent or knowledge, treated with 
 the French, and stipulated free egress for all except the 
 duke and several Milanese nobles. The only point they 
 yielded to the entreaties of their betrayed employer was 
 the permission to accompany their march in disguite. 
 He joined their ranks accordingly in the garb of a com- 
 mon soldier, or, by the account of some authors*, of a 
 Cordelier monk, but was betrayed by Rudolph Turmann, 
 a native of Uri, and languished out the remainder of his 
 days in a French dungeon. His mercenary Swiss, on 
 their return to their country, were received as the re- 
 ports which had preceded them well warranted : not 
 only had they entered foreign service at a moment when 
 their country was endangered by a war not yet concluded, 
 but they had taken gold from both sides at once, had 
 deserted from the one to the other, and had robbed foreign 
 merchants within the peaceful borders of Switzerland. 
 Strict investigation and severe animadversion were en- 
 joined by the diet on the several cantons. Some of the 
 delinquents in effect were punished ; but illicit enlist- 
 ments were too closely connected with the pensions and 
 emoluments of leading men to allow that results of any 
 great consequence should ensue. Rudolph Turmann, 
 whose offence was at least one of the most flagrant, was 
 executed at Uri by way of atonement for the common 
 guilt. 
 
 The Swiss reputation for valour and rapacity had 
 become diffused so widely by their mercenary victories, 
 that their services were sure to be soHcited wherever 
 martial work was on hand ; but all other demands were 
 disregarded, so soon as the rival powers of France and 
 Austria entered the field. France, indeed, had played 
 them false on many former occasions, yet France con- 
 tinued still the general favourite, through her well-timed 
 liberality in pecuniary largesses. On the other hand, 
 the recent reminiscences of the Swabian war had revived 
 the old distrust against Austria ; yet the emperor, too, 
 
 * M(?moires de Louis de La Tremouille, cited by Sismondi, Hist. de> 
 Rep. Italiennes, torn. xiii. p 64.
 
 1505. MAXIMILIAN TKEATS WITH THE SWISS. 181 
 
 had many friends in Switzerland, whom he partly owed 
 to political considerations, and partly to the slights and 
 affronts of France. In 1501 the rival potentates took 
 the field against each other ; and both renewed their 
 active applications to the confederates. Maximilian 
 claimed their escort, as members of the holy Roman 
 empire, in his coronation-progress to Rome, and justified 
 the Italian nickname bestowed on him of Massimiliano 
 pochi denari, by humbling himself so far as to offer 
 mortgages of part of his land as securities for the pen- 
 sions which he promised them. This roused the com- 
 petition of the French, who were secure of winning the 
 day with Swiss cupidity, as the envoys of Maximilian 
 could only plead their cause in words and writings, 
 while those of France employed the stronger rhetoric of 
 ready money. In November, 1505, the existing pro- 
 hibitions against pensions were repealed; and the council 
 and burghers of Berne were released on the authority of 
 the bishop of Lausanne, from the obligation of the oaths 
 which they had taken on that subject. Nor did the 
 diets affect much longer hesitation, when Louis desired 
 leave to levy 4000 men under the titles of a body- 
 guard and guard of honour. The labour-loathing youth 
 of the cantons flocked in numbers to meet the sum- 
 mons : 8000 were enlisted by the French, — many re- 
 jected. It was not until the actual march of the 
 troops that the affair seemed to inspire the diet with 
 scruples. The new recruits were accordingly ordered 
 not to cross the Po. But the French dollars spoke to 
 their apprehensions more conclusively than any declar- 
 ation of the diet: they crossed the Po; assisted in the 
 conquest of Genoa, and were shortly after dismissed by 
 the king with abundance of pay and flattery. Louis 
 returned triumphantly through Milan into France. 
 
 Maximilian was divided between anger and apprehen- 
 sion, when he found that the confederates had attached 
 themselves to his enemy. Yet he did not despair of 
 ultimate success in his designs. He convoked a solemn 
 diet at Constance in 1507, at which delegates from Swit- 
 
 N 3
 
 182 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ISOJ- 
 
 zerland attended^ and were received with high honours 
 and rich presents. They acceded to the decisions of the 
 diet, and promised to escort the emperor's Roman ex- 
 pedition with a body of 6"000 men ; providing only that 
 nothing should be undertaken hostile to France. Maxi- 
 milian exhausted his store of flatteries and favours to 
 secure the duration of these good dispositions. On the 
 return of the Swiss delegates from Constance, the can- 
 tons confirmed the treaty with the emperor ; but French 
 intrigues soon changed the aspect of affairs. The French 
 ambassador, Rocquebertin, kept open house in Zurich, 
 and was friendly and accessible to all comers. In Baden, 
 where crowds of military adventurers and easy fair ones 
 assembled, rather for pleasure than for health, he often 
 paid the score for whole parties, and threw gold into the 
 baths, and among the women. His colleague, Pierre- 
 LouiSj acted the same part at Lucerne as he had done 
 at Zurich and Baden. The effects of this expenditure 
 were to render the confederates more and more lukewarm 
 in the service of the emperor ; and every successive 
 meeting of the diet subtracted from the number of the 
 promised escort. The disposition to fulfil their recent 
 engagements had entirely disappeared in most places; 
 but Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, still offered their 
 services, and promised to send 8000 men to support the 
 imperial army. Parties became more and more heated, 
 and threatened to produce a civil war. It came under 
 iliscussion at the diet by what means this calamity could 
 be averted ; and several of the cantonal governments 
 found themselves compelled to make regulations against 
 the proceedings of the French embassy. Happily for 
 the peace of the confederacy, the ardour of the Germans 
 cooled along with their own ; and the Roman expe- 
 dition was abandoned. 
 
 To retrieve the ill success of this abortive undertaking, 
 and to revenge himself on Venice for having contributed 
 to its failure, Maximilian eagerly caught at the scheme 
 for the ruin of that republic contained in the so called 
 League of Cambr ay of 1508^ planned by pope Julius IL,
 
 150Q, BATTLE OP AGNADEIJijO. 183 
 
 in alliance with France and Spain, for the partition of 
 the Venetian territory. To this alliance also acceded 
 Savoy, Ferrara, and Mantua. It was whispered that 
 the league was directed not only against Venice, but 
 against free commonwealths in general, and would con- 
 sequently endanger the confederates. This apprehen- 
 sion for once procured a hearing to the warnings of the 
 true friends of their country. Strong measures were 
 proposed against enlistments ; but as soon as the tempt- 
 ing dollars tinkled, the drums beat, and the flags waved, 
 — all was forgotten, — and numerousbands of confederates 
 rushed into the field. An embassy from Venice arrived 
 too late in Switzerland, for the purpose of directing the 
 attention of the diet to the common danger, and eifect- 
 ing between the two republics a usefvd and sincere 
 alliance. Already, on the 14th May, the French, sup- 
 ported by 6000 confederates, had won the battle of 
 Agnadello over the Venetians, which would have as- 
 suredly sealed the doom of the latter, if the jealousy 
 and disunion of the allies, and especially the altered 
 views of the pope, had not rescued from ruin the then 
 mistress of the seas. After the battle of Agnadello, 
 Julius II. began to apprehend the preponderance of the 
 French, whom he hated ; and his rancour against Ve- 
 nice yielded at length to more cool-blooded political cal- 
 culations. Accordingly, he made overtures to the latter, 
 and did every thing in his power to break the league, 
 and, if possible, to arm most of its members against 
 France. His views were chiefly directed towards the 
 confederacy. His confidential counsellor, Matthew Schin- 
 ner, bishop of Sicn, entered Switzerland with a good 
 store of gold and absolutions ; and on the 13th March, 
 1510, a league "for the defence of the church" was closed 
 betwixt the pope and the cantons ; the confederates en- 
 gaging to supply GOOO men, while the holy father pledged 
 himself to the distribution of various ghostly and worldly 
 benefactions. 
 
 The extraordinary man who brought this alliance to 
 pass, who impressed thereby a direction altogether un- 
 
 N 4
 
 ]84< HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1500. 
 
 expected on the whole poHiical system of the confe- 
 derates, and became theuceforwards the soul of all their 
 enterprises against France, claims our attention on ac- 
 count of the influence exercised for a considerable time 
 by him on the destiny of Switzerland. His parents 
 were of humble station in Miihlebach, in the Upper 
 Valais. His destiny brought him in contact during 
 boyhood with an old priest, who knew how to excite 
 his pupil's soul to high endeavours. Schinner gained 
 distinction as a scholar at Zurich and Como, by assi- 
 duity and versatile talent. He exhibited an early pre- 
 dilection for the study of the ancient Roman writers ; 
 his pittance was devoted to the purchase of their works, 
 for which he willingly paid the price of every conve- 
 nience, and almost every necessary of life. His learn- 
 ing, spirit, and eloquence, combined with his ascetic 
 mode of life and rigid morality, attracted great attention 
 to his preaching, while he was yet only a parish priest in 
 the Valais. The bishop remarked him, and favoured 
 his rise, which soon became so rapid, that in 1500 he 
 liimself obtained the episcopal office, and with it a sphere 
 commensurate to his activity and ambition. From 
 thenceforward his hand might be traced in aU affairs of 
 importance. His energy in word and act, his over- 
 powering eloquence, his intrepid zeal in the cause of his 
 native country, his immovable fidelity to the papal court, 
 together with his bitter hatred of France, excited and 
 enabled him to arm all Europe against that power, and 
 to spread his own renown throughout the civilised world. 
 He possessed, in a high degree, the art of veiling his 
 acute views with the semblance of extreme simplicity ; 
 had friends and connections every where ; and was ini- 
 tiated thoroughly into all the deepest mysteries of state- 
 craft, so as to give colour and countenance to the popular 
 superstition, that a familiar demon disclosed to him 
 whatever was hidden from others. Most means ap- 
 peared legitimate to him in furtherance of his ends ; 
 but all became allowable when the object was to gratify 
 his hatred of France. It was sympathy in this point
 
 loOp. ALLIANCE AGAINST THE POPE. 1S5 
 
 which procured for him the confidence of the similarly 
 disposed Julius II.; and the services which he rendered 
 towards the gratifying of that pontiff's resentments, and 
 his own, procured his nomination to the dignity of car- 
 dinal. 
 
 The ten years' alliance which Louis had closed with 
 the confederacy in 149.9, came to a conclusion, without 
 either of the contracting parties showing any desire to 
 renew it. France stood on the most amicahle footing with 
 the emperor, and in the most favourable situation with 
 regard to all other powers ; so that Louis thought him- 
 self able to do without the purchase of Swiss blood. He 
 was besides induced, by ill-timed motives of parsimony, 
 to prefer the cheaper services of the Landsknechts ; and 
 he thought himself sure, in any case of emergency, of 
 obtaining as many Swiss as he chose, without consent 
 of their governments. The cantons were as hitle dis- 
 posed as the king to protract the alliance. As soon as 
 the French had gained their own purposes, they had 
 treated the confederates with their customary insolence. 
 After the victory of Agnadello, to the gaining of which 
 Swiss soldiers had so powerfully contributed, they were 
 dismissed from the French army without their pay, and 
 loaded with insults. Louis himself, when the confe- 
 derates, in the course of negotiation, demanded higher 
 pensions in return for their services, is said to have re- 
 plied, that he was not accustomed to let mountain-boors 
 like them prescribe laws to him. He proceeded to con- 
 nect himself more closely with Maximilian ; and the 
 two princes resolved to attack the pope, and to deprive 
 him of his spiritual and secular prerogatives ; of the 
 former by a council of the church convened at Pisa, of 
 the latter by the force of arms. The first scheme was 
 frustrated by Julius, who thundered his anathemas on 
 the council of Pisa, and convoked an opposition-council 
 at Rome. The former body, moreover, was compelled 
 by a popular revolt to fly to Milan. The secular arms of 
 the royal allies had, however, better fortune. The papal 
 army was soon driven back on all points ; and Rome
 
 1S6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1512. 
 
 would, in all probability, have fallen into the hands of 
 Louis, if some inexplicable scruple had not withheld him 
 from desecrating by military violence the residence of 
 God's vicegerent on earth. The French army fell 
 back again upon Milan ; and its departure relieved the 
 pope from a severe illness, the effect of disappointment 
 and anxiety. 
 
 It was not, however, long before Julius contrived to 
 engage Spain, England, and Venice in the so called holy 
 league against France ; even Maximilian wavered, and 
 his ambassadors secretly hinted at the diet of the con- 
 federacy, that if the latter meditated any attack on 
 France, they need not be deterred by fear of hostilities 
 from the emperor. At the same time Maximilian 
 sliowed himself willing to recall the German Lands- 
 knechts from the French service. But Louis did not 
 let himself be intimidated. Troops of Germans, Italians, 
 even of Swiss, joined his army ; and the excellence of 
 his general Gaston de Foix, duke of Nemours, seemed 
 to offer a secure guarantee of victory. Events for 
 a while justified his confidence. In February and April, 
 1512, Gaston forced the combined papal and Spanish 
 army to raise the siege of Bologna; from thence marched 
 upon Brescia, routed the Venetians; and on the 11th of 
 April won a no less bloody than brilliant victory over 
 Spain and the pope, in the neighbourhood of Ravenna. 
 The day was dearly bought by the young hero with the 
 sacrifice of his life and the flower of his army. With 
 him expired the fortune of France in Italy. 
 
 From the extremity of danger which again menaced 
 the holy father, he saw himself unexpectedly saved by 
 the aid of the confederacy. King Louis had attempted 
 to renew his connection with the latter, and the itching 
 felt by many a palm for the touch of French dollars 
 augured a favourable issue to his overtures : but the 
 high demands of the Swiss deterred the frugal mind of 
 the monarch, and after the victory of Ravenna the 
 French broke off all negotiations. This was highly ad- 
 vantageous to the cause of the pope. A Swiss embassy
 
 1512. FRENCH EXPELLED FROM ITALY. 187 
 
 negotiated with cardinal Schinner at Venice, while at 
 Zurich the papal legate, Philomardo bishop of Veroli, 
 distributed plenary absolutions, plentiful blessings, and 
 some little of the gold which he had previously collected 
 from the Swiss for the remission of their sins. The 
 Swiss embassy at Venice was completely gained by the 
 courtesies of the Venetians and the cunning of Schinner. 
 On one occasion the cardinal surprised them with two 
 sumptuous presents made them by the pope, consisting 
 of a red silk hat with rich trimming, and decorated with 
 gold and pearl embroidery representing the descent of 
 the Holy Ghost in the shape of a dove, and a golden 
 sword in a sheath of gilded copper, of which the hilt 
 was adorned in like manner with pearls. The value of 
 these presents was enhanced by the cardinal's exposition 
 of their mystic meaning, and of the privileges annexed 
 to them by the hand of the holy father. The over- 
 joyed ambassadors returned home ; and though many 
 places broke with France unwiUingly, war was at length 
 decided on by the diet. 
 
 In May, 1512, a force of 20,000 confederates as- 
 sembled at Coire, under the command of Ulrich von 
 Hohen Sax, the experienced leader of Zurich. The 
 Grisons, too, who considered their alliance with France 
 as dissolved by acts of violence and injustice on her 
 part, and their old league with the confederates as more 
 binding, joined their party. Their combined forces 
 marched on Verona, and the town was deserted by the 
 French. On the 30th of May, they began their march 
 from Verona, and effected a junction with the Venetians 
 at Villafranca. From thence their march resembled 
 an uninterrupted triumphal procession, and overflowed 
 with plunder and pleasure. The already inadequate 
 forces of the French, which besides were daily weak- 
 ened by the emperor's recall of the Landsknechts, aban- 
 doned even fortified towns without attempting serious 
 resistance. On the approach of the confederates to 
 Milan, the fathers of the Pisan church assembly, who 
 had betaken themselves thither, and who had just de-
 
 188 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1512 
 
 posed the pope from all his spiritual and secular dig- 
 nities, were the first to seek their safety in flight. A 
 popular insurrection, marked by horrible atrocities, 
 wrested this metropolis from the French. Important 
 troubles also took place in Genoa and other towns. At 
 Tavia the French army vainly attempted some defence. 
 From thence it fled in disorder over the mountains, 
 'i'he king retained in the whole of Italy hardly any 
 other place than the fortresses of Milan and Cremona. 
 At the former place the confederates pulled down the 
 splendid monument of the hero of Ravenna, and even 
 dragged his corpse from the grave, that one who had 
 been anathematised by the pope might not rest in con- 
 secrated ground. 
 
 After the expulsion of the French, disputes arose be- 
 twixt the Swiss, the confederates, and the cardinal, with 
 regard to the allotment of their conquests. The Vene- 
 tians decamped in one night unexpectedly, and without 
 r.ny previous notice. Disorders threatened to break out 
 in the Swiss army; and at length it was resolved to re- 
 turn home, well paid and enriched as they were with 
 plunder. The pope rewarded the seasonable aid of the 
 confederates, by bestowing on them the title of " De- 
 fenders of the Freedom of the Christian Clmrch," and 
 solicited an embassy to be sent to Rome from the diet ; 
 in order, as he pretended, that his trusty and beloved 
 sons might take a part in all affairs of importance, but 
 in truth that he might entrap them more completely by 
 means of pensions, flatteries, and presents, and show the 
 whole world how devoted to him was the valiant and 
 formidable Helvetic body. 
 
 Now came the important question, into whose hands 
 the conquered duchy of Milan should be delivered. 
 This query could not possibly be indiflferent to any of 
 the allied powers — least of aU, perhaps, to the con- 
 federates, whose trade must be in some degree dependent 
 on the favour or disfavour of the ruler of Milan. The 
 Milanese themselves wished for the son of their late 
 ruler, the expelled Ludovico Moro. This choice pleased
 
 1512. MAXIMILIAN SFORZA. 189 
 
 the pope, as coinciding with his plan for purging Italy 
 entirely from foreigners. It also pleased the con- 
 federateSj who wished for a prince in Milan not power- 
 ful enough to do without their friendship and alliance. 
 The emperor and Spain, on the other hand, hoped to 
 see the ducal crown on the head of a younger branch 
 of the imperial family. At an assembly in Mantua, 
 the pope and the confederates carried the day ; and it 
 was resolved to invest with the dukedom Maximihan, 
 the eldest son of Ludovico Moro. The confederates 
 fixed their relations with the new ruler by formal 
 deeds. 
 
 Apparent quiet was now restored in Italy; and it was 
 thought that Louis, embarrassed as he was from all 
 quarters, would be compelled to abandon hope of re- 
 conquering Milan. But a new and fearful conflagration 
 soon blazed up from the embers. The country wasted, 
 impoverished, and depopulated by the consequences of 
 war, depredations, and banishments, had expected of the 
 new government cures for its many and deep wounds. 
 The easy-natured prince gave ear to the wishes of his 
 subjects, and formed the most benevolent intentions ; 
 but his womanish weakness allowed him to put nothing in 
 execution; and what little good might have issued from 
 his irresolute and powerless hands was intercepted by 
 the rapacity of the imperial, papal, and Swiss embassies. 
 Hence arose a wish for the return of the French, who 
 had subjected the people to less grinding oppression. 
 This change of sentiments did not escape the pene- 
 tration of those who were its principal objects. They 
 had still retained connections in the Milanese, and only 
 watched a favourable moment to re-enter into possession 
 of the land. That moment seemed to have come ; for 
 they succeeded in opening negotiations with the Swiss, — 
 and the king expected great effects from the tried power 
 of his gold. Ikit an offended people is not so easily re- 
 conciled. Before the French embassy could even obtain 
 its safe conduct, certain sums were to be paid, the 
 castles of Lugano and Locarno evacuated^ and solemn
 
 190 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1513. 
 
 engagements taken to make no secret levies. The con- 
 ditions imposed by the Swiss during the course of 
 negotiation, and especially the entire renunciation of 
 Milan and Asti, appeared to the king so rigorous and 
 unbearable, that the whole transaction failed, as neither 
 promises nor even bribes could bend the determination 
 of the confederates. Though there were many who 
 preferred the French crowns and fat pensions to the 
 consecrated banners, hats, and swords of the pope, his 
 copious benedictions, and his frugal gifts ; yet ill will 
 against France was so prevalent, and Schinner employed 
 alternately words and gold with such dexterity, that the 
 French embassy not only were very roughly treated, 
 but, their intrigues having exposed them to suspicion, 
 were threatened with immediate dismissal. 
 
 The death of Julius II. seemed to open better pros- 
 pects for France; which soon disappeared, when cardinal 
 John of Medicis, who had just escaped from French 
 captivity, succeeded to the papal chair by the name of 
 Leo X. On the other hand, the king succeeded in 
 forming a close alliance with the Venetians, who had 
 felt themselves affronted by the allies. The disunion 
 of the confederates, the defenceless state of the duchy, 
 and the possession of the fortresses of Milan and Cre- 
 mona, seemed to ensure success to any new attempt on 
 the part of France. Sixteen thousand picked troops, 
 with a band of traitorous Swiss, were collected under 
 the most eminent French generals, and directed their 
 march across the mountains towards Asti. Ten thou- 
 sand Venetians, under command of count Alviano, 
 moved on Verona, and captured several places. A re- 
 volt in favour of France took place in Genoa. Duke 
 Maximilian, on the other hand, with neither men nor 
 money, was surrounded by a disaffected people, and was 
 within the range of the French artillery, even in his 
 own palace. His position was by no means enviable, 
 though 4000 confederates had akeady joined him, and 
 more numerous forces were expected. He found him- 
 self betrayed by one of his generals ; his city of Milan
 
 l513. FRENCH DEFEATED AT NOVARA. l^l 
 
 opened its gates to the French ; and the rest of the 
 country soon followed the example set by the capital. 
 Novara and Ccmo only preserved their allegiance to the 
 duke. Into the former of these towns Maximilian 
 threw himself, with the Swiss in his pay, and a few 
 hundred Lombard horsemen, and was soon blockaded 
 there by the French army. He looked forward to a 
 fate like that of his father, who, thirteen years before, 
 in the same circumstances, had been betrayed by the same 
 confederates in whose hands his destiny now lay. The 
 hostile leaders confidently anticipated the same issue. 
 But the fideUty of the Swiss for once deceived their 
 expectations. In vain the French heaped promises upon 
 promises ; the only reply was a sally from the gar- 
 rison. In vain the French artillery battered down the 
 fortifications; the resolution of the Swiss was so far 
 from wavering, that the gates of Novara were con- 
 stantly kept open in defiance. On the second day, when 
 the garrison w^as reduced to the last extremity, the 
 enemy's discharges unexpectedly ceased. The French 
 had raised the siege with precipitation, on intelligence 
 of the approach of a Swiss army, which, however, was 
 detained on its advance by many difficulties. At length 
 the main body was collected at Arona, and waited there 
 three days for the rest. On their non-arrival, it was 
 finally resolved to advance and provoke an engagement. 
 The French were not to be found before Novara, but 
 had formed an encampment half a league from the town. 
 Their great superiority, not only in number, but in ca- 
 valry, artillery, and in the advantage of their position, 
 might have clissuaded the confederates from attacking 
 them until their whole number should have come up ; 
 but they nevertheless resolved to engage. 
 
 Before daybreak on the 1 3th of June, the Swiss 
 army, 9000 strong, made its onset. Each single dis- 
 charge of the French artillery stretched on the ground 
 fifty or sixty of the assailants, who pressed forward in 
 close column. Nothing, however, could stop them ; and 
 it soon came to a conflict between man and man, with
 
 I<j2 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1513. 
 
 knives and daggers. The French cavalry had long kept 
 off attacks in tlank^ and even fallen on the rear of the 
 confederates. Every thing yielded at length to the 
 obstinate courage of the Swiss. In five hours they had 
 gained a complete victory, and covered the field witli 
 8000 of the enemy ; but their triumph was bought 
 with the blood of 1500 of their countrymen. The re- 
 maining divisions came up on the same evening and the 
 following morning. Plunder and forced contributions 
 iu Piedmont, Montferrat, and Saluzzo, indemnified the 
 victors for outstanding arrears of pay. 
 
 In order to give the people new occupation, and in 
 compliance with the emperor's summons, the con- 
 federates now undertook an expedition into France. 
 Against that power, an alliance which had been formed 
 between the emperor, pope Leo X., Ferdinand of Ar- 
 ragon, and England, and which called itself by the 
 name of the Holy League, already had commenced open 
 hostilities. Ostensibly, this league was only formed 
 against the Turks ; but France was aimed at also by it, 
 in a manner not to be mistaken. The act of adhesion, 
 subscribed by the confederates and the duke of Milan, 
 stated the holy league to have been closed against ty- 
 rants, the Turks, and specially for the defence of the 
 Italian nation. Its duration was fixed for the lifetime 
 of the high contracting parties. 
 
 The emperor sent artillery and cavalry under the 
 command of duke Ulrich of Wiirtemburg, with whom 
 several of the cantons were in alliance. The combined 
 forces appeared before Dijon in September, 30,000 
 strong instead of 1 6,000, the number which had been 
 called out by the diet. The French general La Tremouille 
 could hardly gather 6000 men round him, and panic 
 unpeopled the open plains of France; but the Swiss force, 
 although adequate to the greatest undertakings, was, at 
 the moment, without guidance or order. So early as 
 the 13th of September, a peace was effected in spite of 
 the duke of Wiirtemburg's remonstrances, through flat- 
 teries, insinuations wiih regard to the views of the
 
 1515. FRANCIS I. 193 
 
 emperor, and the most seductive assurances of all kinds. 
 The king was to concede whatever belonged to the pope, 
 the duke of ]\Iilan, or the emperor, and give up the 
 castles of Milan, Cremona, and Asti to the confederates. 
 Four hundred thousand crowns should be paid to the 
 latter ; half within eighteen days, the other moiety 
 before the 11th of November, Conditions were also 
 made in behalf of duke Ulrich and his followers. Four 
 splendidly clothed hostages remained with them as secu- 
 rities, and the army returned homewards as if beaten 
 out of the field. 
 
 It was soon perceived that the king had no intention 
 of confirming this treaty. The only man of importance 
 among the hostages escaped from an inn at Zurich, 
 where he ought to have been carefully watched. The 
 proposal made by several men of honour and courage, 
 immediately to renew the invasion of France, was frus- 
 trated by the party in the French interest, which now 
 began to raise its head anew. The duke of IMilan more 
 and more betrayed his incapacity, and excited discontent 
 among his protectors: nothing, however, at last remained 
 for him but deference to their will, and avoidance of 
 whatever might displease them. 
 
 Through the pope, who was playing fast and loose 
 with the confederates, king Louis now sought to renew 
 his friendship with them ; but he did not succeed, as he 
 would not renounce his jjretensions upon Milan. On the 
 other hand, though well aware of the faithlessness of 
 Leo, they renewed with him the league which they had 
 formed with his predecessor. 
 
 On the death of Louis XII., Francis I., his successor, 
 proposed terms of alliance to his " dear and honoured 
 friends" the Swiss. The bearer of these was repri- 
 manded for coming without having made previous ap- 
 plication for safe-conduct ; and the only answer vouch- 
 safed to him was, that peace had already been closed at 
 Dijon. But the youthful monarch was not to be diverted 
 from his purpose ; and the delegates of his uncle the 
 duke of Savoy employed every possible means, at sue- 
 
 o
 
 1.04 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1515. 
 
 cessive diets, to gain the Swiss over to his interests with- 
 out renunciation of Milan. All was in vain ; and the 
 efforts made to turn their distrust towards other powers 
 only confirmed its direction against France. The French 
 had in the mean time occupied Genoa ; and pope Leo, 
 in whose policy the interest of the house of Medicis took 
 precedence of all other considerations, prevented the 
 confederates from anticipating their movements. Maxi- 
 milian Sforza, whom the great preparations of the new 
 ruler of France had filled with anxiety, renewed his 
 applications to the confederacy, who sent him 24,000 
 regular troops in three divisions, who were followed by 
 COOO volunteers. There was but little union or disci- 
 pline in this army ; yet it obeyed the decree of the diet 
 for occupation of the mountain passes, marched towards 
 Piedmont under Prosper Colonna, an experienced Mi- 
 lanese general, and took up a position between Susa and 
 Saluzzo. Unexpectedly the French army appeared in 
 the district of Coni, accompanied by an hitherto unpre- 
 cedented force of 20,000 Landsknechts, and by the then 
 notorious black band of Gueldres, and furnished with 
 eighty pieces of artillery. Colonna was surprised at 
 Villafranca by the French, before the bulk of the Swiss 
 force could come up to his assistance : moreover the 
 Inaction of the emperor inspired distrust, and retreat 
 was at length decided on. The men of Berne, Freiburg, 
 and Soleure, marched homewards through Arona ; the 
 troops of the other cantons, and the volunteers, towards 
 Milan : the heavy artillery was carelessly left at Novara. 
 The cantons, in the meanwhile, with the exception of 
 Uri, Schwytz, and Glarus, were engaged in negotiation 
 with French envoys ; and though the proposals of the 
 lattpr were less advantageous than might have been looked 
 for from the duke of Savoy's assurances, yet terms of 
 peace were finally agreed between the parties. Imme- 
 diately on its conclusion, that division of the Swiss troops 
 which had reached Arona, accompanied by the Valaisans, 
 pursued its march homewards ; but the Bernese volun- 
 teers, cind the Argovian reinforcements, remained behind
 
 1515. BATTLE OF MARIGNANO. 195 
 
 with the rest of the Swiss army. They were now upon 
 the point of disbanding, when, on Schinner's persuasion, 
 the body-guard of the duke, and part of the Swiss troops, 
 provoked an action with the French in the vicinity of 
 Marignano. Schinner soon succeeded in moving the rest 
 to support their countrymen ; and the French army 
 double the Swiss in numbers, found itself unexpectedly 
 attacked in its strong position, protected by sixty-four 
 pieces of heavy artillery, a deep trench, hedges, and 
 walled enclosures. Regardless of the fearful execution 
 done by the cannon, the Swiss pressed forwards, and 
 soon compelled the black band to retreat ; every thing 
 gave way before them : the king fought in the murder- 
 ous meUe, surrounded by his nobles; and nothing but 
 darkness put an end to the struggle. The French leaders 
 employed the night in recovering their order. Early on 
 the 14th, the main body of Swiss renewed their onset, 
 with Uri and Zurich at their head ; and the French at 
 least sold their lives dear to their antagonists, who rushed 
 upon thern under the well-pointed fire of their guns. 
 But the fortune of the day was reversed about noon by 
 the Venetians, who fell upon the rear of the Swiss, al- 
 ready exhausted by this buttle of the giants (as it was 
 called by the old general Trivulcio), Nevertheless the 
 latter repulsed the first charge ; but the obstinacy of the 
 new assailants at length decided the victory. The con- 
 federates, compelled at length to yield to the unwonted 
 necessity of retreat, retired slowly, carrying off as many 
 as possible of their wounded, as well as the guns, stand- 
 ards, and horses captured from the enemy. The Swiss 
 had lost from six to seven thousand men, and neither 
 prayers nor promises could keep them in Milan, whither 
 they had betaken themselves at first: they hastened home- 
 wards, without any great anxiety being exhibited by the 
 enemy to pursue them. And thus ended the last expe- 
 dition on Lombardy undertaken by the confederates in 
 their own name and in that of their country. 
 
 The king of France, astounded by a victory which 
 rather wore the aspect of a <lefeat, closed the so called 
 
 o 2
 
 196 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1515. 
 
 perpetual peace with the confederacy in the following 
 year ; a treaty which did justice to its title by a duration 
 almost uninterrupted for three centuries, and formed the 
 basis of all subsequent negotiations between the Swiss 
 cantons and the kings of France. Francis was thus 
 enabled to hire the aid of the confederates against the 
 emperor, the pope, and the duke of Milan ; and their 
 soldiers bled in his service for some years without suc- 
 cess or advantage to their country, unless we should ex- 
 cept an invitation to Paris in the quality of godfathers 
 to his new-born son. On this occasion every canton sent 
 a delegate thither, each with a baptismal present of fifty 
 ducats. A present on which Francis set a higher value 
 was that of 16,000 Swiss soldiers, who were sent to aid 
 his Italian expeditions : but when 3000 of these troops 
 had fallen at Bicocca ; and when, out of 15,000 others 
 who had marched into Lombardy, hardly 4000 ever re- 
 turned, the taste for such expeditions became by de- 
 grees less general in Switzerland.
 
 1519. RESULTS OF THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS. 197 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 ^RA OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 1519—1531. 
 
 GENERAL RESULTS OF THE ITALIAN EXPEDITIONS. CORRUPTIONS 
 
 OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. CASE OF JETZER. LEO X. 
 
 EXTENDS THE SALE OF INDULGENCES SENDS AN APOSTOLICAL 
 
 COMMISSIONER INTO SWITZERLAND. ULRICH ZWINGLI 
 
 APPOINTED PREACHER AT ZURICH. RESOLUTION AGAINST 
 
 COURTISANS. FIRST DISPUTATION OF BADEN. COUNCIL OF 
 
 ZURICH. ITS REFORMS OPPOSED BY THE OTHER CANTONS 
 
 ANABAPTISTS AND OTHER SECTARIES. LEVIES OF TROOPS 
 
 IN SWITZERLAND BY FRANCIS I. BATTLE OF PA VIA. CAP- 
 TURE OF THE FRENCH KING OCCASIONS CONSTERNATION IN 
 
 SWITZERLAND. SECOND DISPUTATION AT BADEN. .^ CAUSE 
 
 OF REFORM ESPOUSED BY BERNE. THOMAS MURNER. ANA- 
 BAPTIST EXCESSES. IMBITTERMENT OF RELIGIOUS PARTIES 
 
 CHRISTIAN LEAGUE. ATTACK ON CAPPEL. DEATH OF 
 
 ZWINGLI. 
 
 The Italian expeditions had for some time contributed 
 to maintain the Swiss military character ; but by degrees 
 it became evident^ that the changes in the art of war 
 attendant on the general use of fire-arms, and on the de- 
 cline of the heavy cavalry of the middle ages, had placed 
 other nations in possession of an infantry not inferior to 
 their own. The rays of power, refracted from two cen- 
 turies of victory, could not linger very long after the loss 
 of real pre-eminence. The latter campaigns in Italy had 
 not tended to retrieve the consideration of foreigners, 
 whose faith, if not in the courage, at least in the conduct 
 of the dreaded mountaineers, was at length completely 
 shaken. Through the effects of these campaigns, too, 
 the character of the people had been rendered more 
 intractable than ever ; the bond of the confederacy had 
 been still farther loosened; domestic virtue and useful 
 activity banished, and the vital juices drained from the 
 
 o 3
 
 198 HISTOliy OP SWITZERLAND. 1500. 
 
 nation by slaughter^ or dried up by contagious disorders. 
 AH these too perceptible and prevalent evils must have 
 tended, in no small degree, to prepare the minds of 
 many for tliose new religious impulses which were soon 
 to set the world in motion. 
 
 Christianity had been more and more perverted, and 
 employed for purposes foreign from its origin : this had 
 been effected the more easily, as almost all knowledge 
 was confined to the clergy ; while the ignorance and 
 implicit faith of the people rendered it mere brute ma- 
 terial in their hands. Though the princes of Europe, 
 after a long struggle with the popes, had been able to 
 maintain their most important prerogatives ; and though 
 even the confederates had restrained within certain limits 
 the manifest assumptions of the hierarchy, yet in spi- 
 ritual concerns the civil governments of Europe had 
 become mere subdivisions of the ecclesiastical empire. 
 
 ^Vhen the bishop of Rome had brought the people of 
 Christendom so far as to revere in him a delegate of the 
 Godhead, and had thereby become a legislator and judge 
 in matters of faith, the original records of that faith of 
 course sunk in importance. The popular religion came 
 to consist in implicit adoption of whatever was prescribed 
 by the priesthood ; and, above all, in superstitious ve- 
 neration of its head. Arrayed in forms of constantly 
 increasing outward splendour, it ceased to aim at an in- 
 ward elevation of the soul, and became, with most, a mere 
 amusement of fancy and of the senses. The appropriate 
 destination of man to the active use of his mental and 
 corporeal powers was forgotten ; while renunciations, 
 pilgrimages, penances, donatives to consecrated places, 
 observance of innumerable holidays, were held infallible 
 methods of salvation. Prayers were addressed no longer 
 to the Deity, but to the dead who had been raised by 
 the pope to saintship ; and this veneration became by 
 degrees a species of actual worship, which extended it- 
 self to lifeless things, to images, and symbols. To these, 
 and to the relics and the rags of the saints, to the sound 
 of bells, to holy water, &c., miraculous and divine powers
 
 1506. MONKISH I3IP0STURES. IQ<) 
 
 were attributed. When misfortune came upon either 
 individuals or communities, it was sure to be ascribed 
 to the neglect of some ecclesiastical precept or observ- 
 ance ; and reconcilement with the Deity was to be sought 
 by one or other of the above-mentioned appliances. 
 
 Instruction, whether moral or religious, had become 
 in a manner closed against the people : the use of the 
 Bible was wholly withc'rawn from laymen ; and the 
 select few of the clerical order who did or could read it, 
 used it only in the study of scholastic theology, and in 
 the propping up of canonical and hierarchical preten- 
 pons. Ignorance and dissoluteness prevailed among the 
 /ower clergy : the higher, in particular the Italian, gave 
 themselves up to every species of licentiousness ; and 
 Iheir crimes went for the most part unpunished, as they 
 nad managed to exempt themselves from the civil juris- 
 dictions. Ever since the cessation of the schisms which 
 had been caused by rival candidates to the papal chair, 
 it was occupied, after brief lucid intervals, by men who 
 gave themselves up to the most execrable vices, or who 
 pursued the most perfidious policy. 
 
 If the attempts of Arnold of Brescia, Huss, and 
 others, and the measures of the councils held at Con- 
 stance and Basle, had failed of their anticipated effect, 
 they had, however, introduced a very general conviction 
 of the necessity for some sweeping church reform. But 
 this reform, instead of being sought by any rational 
 means, was expected to proceed, as it were, spontaneously 
 from the very men whose dignities, wealth, and influence 
 depended on the corruption of religion. In the mean 
 time, the invention of printing, the newly-revived 
 acquaintance with the writers of antiquity, and the 
 diffusion of a more profound study of the Scriptures, 
 accelerated the coming of the mighty change. 
 
 The indolence and vices of the clergy had occasioned 
 discontent even in Switzerland. The rivalship of the 
 several monastic orders, in their claims to saintship, mi- 
 racles, and relics, was productive of innumerable decep- 
 tions. Four Dominican monks were burnt at Berne in 
 
 o 4
 
 200 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1506*. 
 
 1.509, who, in order to maintain^ in opposition to the 
 Franciscans, the doctrine of their order on the immacu- 
 late conception, had endeavoured to manufacture a new 
 miracle by deluding a simple brother of the order. There 
 is something horribly ludicrous, if the phrase may be 
 permitted, in the details of this iniquitous transaction ; 
 and as the whole affair is a tolerable sample of the means 
 of yiioral influence used by the rival confraternities, the 
 recital of it may not be entirely without interest. 
 
 In a chapter of the order held at Wimpfen on the 
 Neckar in 1506, it was resolved, after general condo- 
 lences on the growing influence gained by the Francis- 
 cans, and the poverty and contempt into which their 
 own order was falling, to venture one bold stroke for 
 winning back their hold on public opinion. After long 
 deliberations on the place and mode of execution, the 
 sub-prior Franz Uelschi offered his monastery at Berne 
 as the theatre, and promised his best aid in getting up 
 the intended drama. He described the population of 
 that town as simple and valiant, and, therefore, easily 
 moved to attest, by force of arms if necessary, the truth 
 of any miracle worked in honour of their native place. 
 The proposal was accepted with alacrity. On his return 
 to Berne, Uelschi confided his purpose to the prior 
 Johaim Vater, friar Bolshorst, and the steward of the 
 monastery, Steinegger, as well as to the other principal 
 monks. He himself undertook the arrangement of the 
 plot, and soon found a fit subject for deception in a 
 simple-hearted tailor, Jetzer by name. The plotters 
 reckoned securely on the credulity of this poor wretch, 
 from the air of earnest devotedness with which he had 
 sought admission as a lay-brotlier, offering them in re- 
 turn for that privilege all that he possessed, which con- 
 sisted in fifty-three florins and a few pieces of silk. They 
 liegan their operations upon him as soon as he entered 
 the cloister, first by nightly noises, then by visual appa- 
 ritions of St. Barbara, and a soul out of purgatory. The 
 superstitious fears of this poor fanatic were thus by 
 degrees worked upon so effectually, that he threw him-
 
 1506. CASE OF JETZER. 201 
 
 self for spiritual assistance into the arms of Bolshors^ 
 who had purposely been assigned as his father-confessor. 
 The artful betrayer encouraged Jetzer's faith in the 
 foregoing appearances, and in the promise of a visit 
 from the V^irgln, which it seems had been made him by 
 St. Barbara. By these means he was easily persuaded 
 to perform perpetual penitential exercises, and, in short, 
 to act the part of a saint for the popular edification, 
 whereby shoals of curious visitors were attracted to the 
 Dominican convent. 
 
 The eclipse of the Franciscans was, however, incom- 
 plete, unless they could be deprived of the monopoly of 
 the five prints of our Saviour's wounds, which had 
 drawn the adoration of a barbarous age to the emaciated 
 body of St. Francis. One step was made towards the 
 attainment of this end by Bolshorst, who approached 
 our unluckv tailor's bed in the character of the Virain, 
 and with lofty strains on the grace which was thus 
 vouchsafed to him, drove a sharp nail through one of 
 his victim's hands. The cry of pain put forth by the 
 latter hindered his betrayers from finishing their work on 
 that occasion ; but on the following night, after giving 
 him a strong sleeping-draught, the requisite marks were 
 produced by means of corrosives on four other parts of 
 his person. "When he awoke, the monks took advantage 
 of his amazement to expatiate on the miracle wliich had 
 taken place, and persuaded him to regard himself as a 
 favourite of the Virgin, if not actually as the Saviour of 
 mankind. They took him into a room hung with pic- 
 tures of Christ's sufferings, which the deluded fanatic 
 set himself to imitate in looks and gestures : he wrung 
 his hands as if he were in the garden of Gethsemane ; 
 he drooped his head as if it were encircled by the crown 
 of thorns ; sometimes he fell into strong convulsions, 
 aided by the potions administered, and sunk down as 
 one struggling with the agonies of death. The people 
 streamed in greater crowds than ever to the monastery, 
 supped themselves full of horrors on the spectacle set 
 before them, and listened with implicit faith to the
 
 202 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1506. 
 
 homilies of Bolshorst, who enlarged on the glory vouch- 
 safed by these new miracles to the Dominican order, 
 and on the evidence which they afforded of the errors of 
 the Franciscans. It was now the turn of the latter to 
 be neglected ; and respectable, even learned men, began 
 to partake the reigning delusion. No question but that 
 the crazy tailor of Berne would have maintained to this 
 day a distinguished legendary station, had he been 
 quietly withdrawn from the stage at the zenith of his 
 glory. 
 
 But the betrayers had successfully reached the sum- 
 mit of effrontery only to suffer a more tremendous fall. 
 Secure in the blind credulity of his victim, Bolshorst 
 took less pains to disguise his voice on his next appear- 
 ance in the character of the Virgin, and was recognised 
 by Jetzer, who railed at him till he was forced to leave 
 the apartment. It fared no better with the prior, who 
 took his place the next night ; and the sub-prior was 
 equally unsuccessful in supporting the part of St. Catha- 
 rine of Siena. It was now resolved to still the rising sus- 
 picions of the lay-brother, by acknowledging the latter 
 deceptions ; but, on the other hand, to persist in the 
 reality of the earlier visions, and persuade him to con- 
 tinue his fanatical exhibitions. In this they succeeded 
 with some trouble ; but growing fears of detection urged 
 them to hasten the closing scenes of their drama. A 
 report was put about by old women, that an image 
 of the Virgin in the Dominican church had been seen to 
 weep, A congregation of the curious was of course 
 attracted, who saw the tears, and moreover saw Jetzer 
 kneeling before the miraculous image in an attitude of 
 palsied immobility. His four betrayers approached him 
 with an air of utter unconsciousness, and asked him 
 what was the reason of his presence there, and of those 
 tears ; he affirmed that some invisible power had trans- 
 ported him thither, and held him there until he should 
 have disclosed all to the leading men of the canton. 
 Upon this the monks had actually the audacity to solicit 
 the attendance of the avoyer Eriach, and of several of
 
 1506. CASE OF JETZER. 203 
 
 the principal members of council. Jetzer declared in 
 their presence that the mother of God wept because of 
 the ruin of the town, which would assuredly be caused 
 by the receiving of French pensions, and, above all, by 
 farther tolerating the errors and false doctrines of the 
 Franciscans. Amidst the general surprise at this an- 
 nouncement, several clear-sighted men tacitly combined 
 themselves to give the affair a thorough investigation. 
 
 At the same time, a suspicion awoke in Jetzer's mind 
 that his holy brothers meant to make away with him : 
 indeed they made no farther secret of this, on his refusal 
 to partake suspicious viands, after he had detected them, 
 on more than one occasion, engaged in preparing their 
 mummeries, or in enjoying their nocturnal orgies. They 
 forced him to swallow a poisoned wafer, the fatal effect 
 of which was, however, withstood by the strength of his 
 constitution. They next tortured their victim into a 
 solemn promise of silence ; but he soon afterwards seized 
 an opportunity to escape, and reported in the town the 
 norrible tricks which had been played on him. The 
 Dominicans, backed by a powerful party, still dared to 
 deny the charge, and even despatched messengers to 
 Rome, whence they hoped to procure a sentence in their 
 favour. But it soon appeared that the council of Berne 
 had sent a similar message to the bishop of Lausanne 
 and the pope; in consequence of which Julius despatched 
 his legate, Achilles de Grassis, who, with the bishops of 
 Lausanne and Sion, and in the presence of several 
 members of council, commenced the investigation at 
 Berne, according to the usual mode of procedure at that 
 time in criminal cases. Poor Jetzer, who might have 
 been thought to have already suffered enough, was once 
 more put to the torture, but stoutly persisted in his former 
 story. The confessions of the monks, which were of an 
 equally dark and revolting nature, were likewise sent to 
 Rome, after the council of Berne, with some trouble, 
 had obtained communication of them to eight of its own 
 members. The only reasons given for the sentence, 
 which was published were, that the criminals had denied
 
 SO-i HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1509. 
 
 the Godheadj coloured the sacramental wafers^ and painted 
 false tears upon an image of the Virgin ; and, moreover^ 
 had mocked the sufferings of the Saviour, by the five 
 prints of wounds which they had made on the person of 
 Jetzer. The four monks were publicly divested of their 
 priestly functions, and delivered up to the secular power 
 for execution by fire, which accordingly took place, in the 
 presence of many thousand spectators ; but in so clumsy a 
 style, that the popular abhorrence of the criminals was 
 forgotten in the feeling excited against the executioner. 
 Jetzer, who had still been retained in custody, contrived 
 to make his escape by the aid and connivance of com- 
 passionate souls, but was again arrested, several years 
 afterwards, and made some farther disclosures supple- 
 mentary to his former ones, which threw additional light 
 on the aim and plan of the conspiracy. Innumerable 
 versions of the whole disgusting history were spread 
 in several languages through all Europe, and deeply 
 wounded the credit of the Dominican order, while it 
 infinitely scandalised all simple believers. Meanwhile, 
 philosophical minds found pregnant matter of inference 
 from this case to a hundred others similar ; and it gave 
 no inconsiderable impulse to the first steps of the infant 
 reformation. Besides which, the faith of the Swiss in 
 papal infallibility had been much undermined in the 
 course of the Italian expeditions, and the metropolis of 
 the Christian world became the butt of jests and proverbs. 
 The inconsiderate rapacity of the papal court at this time 
 conduced to plunge it in still deeper discredit. 
 
 Pope Leo X., whose love of splendour and warlike 
 undertakings kept him constantly in need of large re- 
 venues, extended the sale of indulgences beyond all former 
 limits, and sent an Italian monk, Bernard Sampson by 
 name, laden with them, as apostolic commissioner into 
 Switzerland. This man offered his wares to the poor at 
 the rate of a few pence, and drew from the rich whatever 
 they chose to bestow. Tariffs of the rates of absolution 
 were established, and married women encouraged to buy 
 against the will of their husbands.
 
 1519' SALE OF INDULGENCES. 205 
 
 "VVTien Bernard Sampson made his appearance in 
 Schwytz^his first opponent wasUlrich Zwingli,the parish 
 priest of Einsiedlen. This extraordinary man was born 
 at Wildhausen, in Toggenburg, a. d. 1484-: he was 
 distinguished even in boyhood by his ardour for know- 
 ledge, and studied at Berne, Basle, and Vienna. Being 
 appointed to a curacy in Glarus, he attended its banner, 
 according to the custom of those times, in the battles of 
 Novara and Marignano. Here he learned to know, by daily 
 examples, the causes and effects of dissolute morals, of 
 pensions, foreign enlistments, and the prevailing neglect 
 of religion. \VTiile thousands around him were not in 
 the smallest degree sensible of the prevalence and ex- 
 tent of corruption, ZwingU implored remedial measures 
 at the hands of bishops and prelates, when hardly past 
 the period of extreme youth. 
 
 The trader in indulgences proceeded to Berne, which 
 was then the seat of wealth and superstition. At the 
 price of a stallion Jacob von Stein purchased absolution 
 for himself, his soldiers, his ancestors, and his vassals, 
 at Belp. The bishop of Constance openly declared against 
 this traffic; and the dean of Breragarten, BulUnger, dis- 
 tinguished himself so much in opposition to the seller of 
 indulgences, that the latter launched the ban of the 
 church against him, from which he could be released by 
 nothing short of 300 ducats. 
 
 In Zurich, where corruption of morals had spread 
 itself as widely as in any town of Switzerland, fomented 
 as it was by the presence of foreign ambassadors, and 
 by the frequent holding of diets, Sampson had hoped to 
 make a lucrative haul, the rather as a diet was sitting on 
 account of transactions with A\'Lirtemburg. But at the 
 same epoch Zwingli was placed as preacher in the ca- 
 thedral; and his exhortations soon had powerful effect, as 
 they were backed by influential and respectable persons. 
 The trader in indulgences was compelled to evacuate 
 Zurich; and received emphatic hints from manymembers 
 of the diet, that he had better not pursue his mission in 
 Switzerland. ZwingU preached to crowded congregations
 
 206 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1519. 
 
 against the prevailing corruption of morals, foreign en- 
 listments, and foreign luxuries. A general anxiety was 
 excited by his sermons for acquaintance with the biblical 
 writings; and, in the following year, the government 
 promulgated an ordinance that preachers should be guided 
 by the word of God exclusively. From the presses of 
 Amerbach, Froben, and Petri, at Basle, Bibles, classical 
 writings, and, at last, those of Luther and Erasmus, 
 were disseminated. The latter author, who visited the 
 Basle university in 1519, contended with success against 
 superstition, so long as the expression of his clear views 
 remained unchecked by the apprehension of hurting 
 himself with powerful persons and parties, and turned 
 monastic abuses into ridicule by his satirical powers, 
 while his Latin version, with notes, of the New Tes- 
 tament, awakened a disposition for the well-grounded 
 study of Scripture. When, at a diet in Baden, in 1520, 
 the legate Pucci demanded the destruction of all Lutheran 
 writings, his proposal was by no means met with alacrity; 
 and, in the same year, the confederates unanimously re- 
 solved that all courtisans* who were not deterred by 
 the notice thus afforded them, should be put in sacks and 
 drowned. 
 
 Had Zwingli and his fellow-labourers only sought to 
 effect an ecclesiastical reform, they would have gained 
 their end more easily than by extending their aim to a 
 moral one, as they felt themselves bound to do. Their 
 attacks on foreign services and pensions made them 
 enemies among numerous and influential classes. With 
 these open or secret opponents in the laity were united 
 monks and other clerical personages — some from con- 
 viction, others from apprehension of the eflfects which 
 any radical change must have on their own interests. 
 
 * Cuvrtisanerie was the name applied to one of the most impudent abuses 
 of the cathohc church, Italian priests, and other vagabonds, made their 
 appearance in Switzerland, furnished with papal titles of succession to such 
 benefices, i^namedoruiinamed'; as should be vacant. Curacies, deaneries, and 
 prebends were invaded by the holders of these scandalous documents; and 
 not only were well-deserving candidates excluded by them from oitices 
 which they had earned by the labour of years, but it often happened that 
 more than one of these 'letters patent were given for a single place or 
 benefice, whereby disoiuers, cjuarrels, and even bloodshed were occasioned.
 
 1523. REFORMATION COMMENCED AT ZURICH. 207 
 
 So long as the new doctrines worked no visible al- 
 teration in the outward form and features of the eccle- 
 siastical polity, the court of Rome and its legates paid 
 but slight attention to them ; the more so, as the exhort- 
 ations of Zwingli against French influence seconded 
 the secret political views of Leo X. But when during 
 Lent, in 1522, many neglected the ordinance for fasting, 
 without having purchased dispensations for the use of 
 forbidden food, the bishop of Constance issued a man- 
 date against all innovations, and despatched to the council 
 of Zurich a missive directed to the same purpose. 
 
 Zwingli and the majority of his followers had hitherto, 
 for the most part, abstained from attacks on the outward 
 forms of the church ; but the resistance which was now 
 rising forced them to a more complete development of 
 their system. Zwingli now inculcated the avoidance of 
 all merely external observances in the service of the 
 Deity. He diffused his doctrines in small pamphlets or 
 treatises, which, like those of Luther, were eagerly read. 
 He now demanded a public investigation of the charges 
 brought against him by, his accusers. Accordingly a 
 disputation was fixed to be held on the 29th of January, 
 1523, at Zurich, to which the delegates of the cantons 
 assembled at Baden were invited. All the preachers of 
 Zurich, with many foreign prelates and men of learning, 
 assisted at this disputation in the presence of the great 
 council. The episco;)al vicar, John Faber, endeavoured 
 in vain to postpone investigation, and to defer it to a 
 general council. Zwingli was not confuted by his op- 
 ponents ; and the great council encouraged him by an 
 ordinance to persevere in preaching the word of God ; 
 and eiijoined on the other preachers to advance nothing 
 which they were not prepared to make good from the 
 same source. A second disputation was held in the 
 autumn of the same year, at which a decision was first 
 pronounced against images and image-worship, and next 
 for abolition of the mass. These decisions were commu- 
 nicated to the Basle university, the bishops of Constance^ 
 Baslcj Coire, and the twelve cantons, accompanied with
 
 208 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1524. 
 
 a challenge to produce their objections. In the following 
 spring the delegates of the confederacy appeared before 
 the great council of Zurich, admonished it to desist from 
 all innovations, threatened the exclusion of Zurich from 
 the diets of the confederacy, promised that rigorous mea- 
 sures should be taken against courtisans, and for the 
 removal of all clerical abuses. The sentiments of the 
 delegates were, however, far from unanimous ; and 
 SchafFhausen showed some disposition" to approximate 
 to the system of Zurich. 
 
 The great council of Zurich, which in a manner had 
 assumed to itself the conduct of the affairs of the reform- 
 ation, replied, that it would accept correction only from 
 the word of God ; and proceeded in its career of inno- 
 vation. Processions, pilgrimages, and images were done 
 away with, — relics, amongst which were discovered several 
 gross deceptions, were buried, — the sacrament was restored 
 to its original institution, and communicated in both 
 kinds to the laity. The inmates of the monasteries 
 received permission to leave them, and the monasteries 
 themselves were turned into alms-houses, schools, and 
 hospitals, while a great part of their revenues was applied 
 to the support of preachers, charities, and gymnasia. 
 In a short time aU the ceremonies and services of the 
 Romish church were abolished, without the slightest 
 disorder, throughout the whole canton. Many members 
 of the clerical order married ; but so great is the force 
 of ideas in which men have been brought up, that many 
 of the bigoted adherents to the old system, who had 
 connived at, or excused as unavoidable, the practice of 
 concubinage by the catholic clergy, were the loudest in 
 condemning the marriage of clergymen as a crime. 
 Tliomas Wyttenbach, and others of that order, who had 
 entered into the holy state of matrimony, were fairly 
 compelled to renounce their clerical functions altogether. 
 
 Though most of the Swiss governments and dignified 
 clergy opposed themselves to the doctrijies of the reform- 
 atidn, these doctrines spread in every quarter where en- 
 trance was not closed upon them. According as the
 
 1524. ANABAPTISTS. 209 
 
 friends of one or the other creed in a canton gained 
 preponderating influence in the council, reform either 
 made rapid progress or suifered retardations. At Schaff- 
 hausen, St. Gall, Miihlhausen, Basle, in the Grisons, 
 and the Thurgau, it received alternate checks and en- 
 couragements. Constance decreed that teaching should be 
 regulated according to the word of God only. Several com- 
 munes in Appenzell abolished the mass, retaining, how- 
 ever, the images over the altar. Berne, which, in 1523, 
 had allowed some nuns at Konigsfelden to leave the 
 cloister and marry, in 1524, displaced preachers who did 
 likewise, and adhered in most of its measures to the ma- 
 jority of the cantons. 
 
 As Christianity, in its very cradle, afforded occasion 
 to schisms and false doctrines, even so the reformation 
 soon developed infinite varieties of principle. Long 
 before Luther and Zwingli had come forward, many 
 elements of disorder were fermenting in the bosom of 
 the German population ; and now those whose enthu- 
 siastic wishes were unsatisfied with the doctrines of the 
 moderate reformers were joined by men whose ambition 
 was more worldly, and the existing discontents secured 
 them numerous auxiliaries. Confounding the condition 
 of the first Christian societies with that of modern em- 
 jiires and communities, they sought to level all the 
 existing forms of ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction. 
 Some refused the payment of tithes, others complained 
 of feudal burdens and services ; many denied the use- 
 fulness of a spiritual order, and others the necessity for 
 authority of any kind, except of such as suited with the 
 reign of the saints. As many of them only allowed the 
 baptism of adults, and consequently bestowed the rite a 
 second time on their followers, they acquired the name 
 of wiedertdufer (anabaptists). In many places they not 
 only withdrew themselves from divine service, and taught 
 their doctrines in forests and retired places, but threw 
 off all allegiance to the temporal government : Zurich, 
 Soleure, Appenzell, the district of St. Gall, and the 
 
 p
 
 210 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1524 
 
 bishopric of Basle, were especially infested by them. 
 Without reflecting that no new idea ever warms the 
 human heart withou-t exciting human passions, timid 
 people joined chorus with the enemies of the reformation 
 in attributing entirely to its principles the fever in the 
 brain of a set of enthusiasts. 
 
 Another occurrence, which stood in no connection 
 with these movements, did nevertheless contribute not a 
 little to give rise to apprehensions of a similar kind. The 
 Swiss land-vogt. Am berg, in the Thurgau, carried off in 
 the night a protestant preacher of Burg, near Stein. This 
 occasioned a tumult among the populace, who attempted 
 to free their pastor ; and failing in the attempt, plun- 
 dered and burned the monastery of Ittingen. Spectacles 
 like these alarmed the governments, as well as many 
 powerful individuals. The subtle and accomplished 
 Faber, episcopal vicar at Constance, exerted himself to 
 increase their apprehensions ; and many former friends 
 of reform in Berne and other places had now become its 
 declared and open enemies. 
 
 Although at Zurich the authorities, as well as the 
 reformers, did their utmost to avoid the imputation of 
 scandalous or violent measures, yet they could not 
 always succeed in checking the zeal of individuals. Not 
 only were reciprocal provocations exchanged betwixt 
 their own and the neighbouring cantons, but in Zurich 
 itself some of the clergy denounced with more than cle- 
 rical zeal ideas to which they had not been accustomed. 
 A shoemaker, Nicholas Hottinger, and others had over- 
 thrown a crucifix even before the disputation, and the 
 subsequent prohibition of idolatry. After an imprison- 
 ment of several months, Hottinger was banished for two 
 years ; but being afterwards arrested for indiscreet ex- 
 pressions at Klingnau, he was carried to Lucerne, and 
 there illegally condemned to death. Thither, too, a 
 preacher of the name of Oechsli was carried, put to the 
 rack, but at length restored to liberty. Frequent diets 
 were held, at which the necessity was acknowledged of 
 leading Zurich back from her errors into the bosom of the
 
 1524. LEVIES OF FRANCIS I. 211 
 
 catholic church, and of arresting the march of heresy in 
 the undecided cantons. 
 
 While the leaders of the government of Berne con- 
 curred with the other cantons in maintaining the old 
 system, the new doctrines still continued to gain a firmer 
 footing. In the Grisons, the loose and scandalous de- 
 portment of bishop Ziegler occasioned much agitation 
 among the people. In consequence, without any secession 
 from the Romish see, regulations of church discipline 
 were made, which show how much may be done by a 
 catholic government even in spiritual matters. 
 
 During these proceedings, foreign influences had been 
 active in most parts of the confederacy. Many warlike 
 spirits had already forgotten the lessons of the last cam- 
 paign in Italy : 6OOO Swiss, and 4000 men from the 
 Orisons and the Valais, joined the French army, which, 
 in the autumn of 1523, marched under Bonnivet 
 through Piedmont into Italy. It was only because the 
 French general did not take advantage of the circum- 
 stances that Milan failed to be captured by his army. 
 His sUghted fortune soon changed for the worse. The 
 Swiss were so embittered by the loss of several hundred 
 men, surprised and cut to pieces by the enemy, that for 
 some time they spared none of the prisoners, even when 
 the French brought them in. 6OOO troops from the Ori- 
 sons were compelled to retreat by the skilful movements 
 of their antagonist, John of Medicis, and a new Swiss 
 reinforcement of 6OOO or 8000 men, after affording many 
 proofs of valour, only served to facilitate the retreat of 
 the French out of Upper Italy. The confederates them- 
 selves had been obliged to advance pay for their troops, 
 and not much more than the third part of those who had 
 marched ever returned; and these returned, stripped of 
 every thing over the Great St. Bernard. 
 
 Francis I. now put forth his whole strength and re- 
 sources. Fear of the increasing power of the emperor, 
 Charles V., had engaged pope Clement VII. on the side 
 of the French ; and, in order to win the support of the 
 confederacy, the new allies agreed that the duchy of 
 
 p 2
 
 212 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1525. 
 
 Milan, when it was conquered, should belong to the 
 third son of the king, whom they had carried to the 
 baptismal font. The king weakened his army by 
 marching one division against Naples, and by the harass- 
 ing siege of Pavia, undertaken during the winter. He 
 found himself unexpectedly attacked, on the 6th oi 
 February, by the most experienced generals of the em- 
 peror; whose army had gained strength, in the same 
 proportion as that of Francis had lost in number and in 
 confidence. He received an utter defeat, and was made 
 prisoner, notwithstanding all the exertions of his per- 
 sonal intrepidity. The leader of the Swiss, John of Dies- 
 bach, threw himself into the thickest of the battle, in 
 order to escape surviving dishonour ; and, with few ex- 
 ceptions, the other leaders fell in a similar manner. 
 The fugitives returned home by the way of Como, 
 almost in rags ; and the general consternation caused by 
 their tidings was equal to that occasioned by the disas- 
 trous day of Bicocca. The lessons of experience, how- 
 ever, did not suffice to hinder about 8000 Swiss recruits 
 from joining Francis again on his return from Spanish 
 captivity. 
 
 Even the friends of the old system in Switzerland 
 were, at length, compelled to propose a disputation ; but, 
 mindful of the consequences of those which had been 
 held at Zurich, they chose a theatre fitter for their pur- 
 pose, and adopted regulations, by which they hoped to 
 secure the victory. Berne's proposal of meeting at 
 Basle was negatived by the magistrates of that town 
 themselves : Baden was preferred as a place standing 
 under the safeguard of the eight orthodox cantons. The 
 disputation was fixed for the l6th of May, 1526; and 
 the bishops of Basle, Constance, Coire, and Lausanne, 
 were invited to assist at the meeting. Zurich was coldly 
 and formally admitted to send delegates ; but Zwingli 
 received timely warnings not to make his appearance. 
 Besides the delegates of the cantons, many lay and clerical 
 personages of note attended the sittings. Dr. Eck of 
 Ingolstadt, and the celebrated (Ecolampadius, were the
 
 1528. REFORM AT BERNE. 213 
 
 most distinguished champions of the opposite parties. 
 The catholic majority of the meeting, without publish- 
 ing any report of their proceedings, declared themselves 
 to have triumphed in the controversy, and prohibited 
 the works of Luther and Zwingli. But Berne, Basle, 
 and SchafFhausen, issued a counter-declaration, that they 
 would consider nothing as proved, until they had minutes 
 of the evidence. Glarus and Appenzell also refused 
 acquiescence. 
 
 The cause of reform was now espoused by Berne : it 
 was announced to the four bishops in that canton, that 
 their authority was no longer to be recognised, and the 
 same arrangements were made about church property as 
 at Zurich. Notwithstanding the opposition of many 
 members of the government, a solemn engagement was 
 entered into against foreign pensions and alliances, and 
 the league with France was limited to the observance of 
 the perpetual peace. Great was the effect of so complete 
 a revolution, in the councils of this most important 
 member of the Helvetic body. 
 
 Thomas Murner, a friar of Lucerne, and one of the 
 most vehement opponents of the reformation, wrote, in 
 the most offensive manner, against Berne and its mea- 
 sures. The anabaptists had found numerous adherents 
 in that canton, and excited some disturbance in the 
 district of Schenkenberg; commotions also took place 
 in the vicinity of Interlachen, where the peasantry re- 
 garded the suppression of the monasteries as including 
 the cessation of all payment of dues and offerings. 
 These disorders were soon composed by the aid of tie 
 men of Thun ; and Berne discovered her strength in the 
 atlhercnce of her faithful people. New disturbances 
 next broke out in the Oberland, where the men of Hasli 
 carried the restoration of the mass by a majority of forty 
 voices. Uri and Unterwalden sent thither a party of 
 priests to foment disaffection, and the repeated admoni- 
 tions of the government were fruitless. The revolt soon 
 extended over the Grindelwald, and as far as Untersee ; 
 and many districts refused to contribute their aid 
 
 p 3
 
 214 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1529. 
 
 against the insurgents. Moreover, 800 Unterwaldners 
 marched over the Brunig, and, in conjunction with the 
 men of Hash, took possession of Untersee. The wise 
 and prudent policy of Berne was now rewarded by the 
 devotedness of by far the greater number of her subjects 
 The Unterwaldners hastily retreated, and a general sub- 
 mission took place, without shedding of blood. 
 
 The national sympathies, momentarily revived by the 
 disaster of Pavia, soon expired in the bitterness of con- 
 troversy. Men who had been taught from their youth 
 upwards, that beyond the pale of the church there was 
 no salvation, — that all dissenters ought to be forced back 
 into the orthodox creed, and that no engagement with 
 heretics was binding, — were capable of the most atro- 
 cious outrages, when personal passions added their 
 venom to that of religious hatred. A priest of Zug 
 suffered severe punishment for having eaten in com- 
 pany with Zwingli at Zurich. Two men of the March 
 were burnt in Schwytz. Such occurrences sufficiently 
 showed the reformers in what light they were looked 
 upon by the opposite party, and forced them on the 
 most decisive measures in self-defence. Nor did they 
 abstain from sanguinary reprisals : Marcus Wehrli of 
 Frauenfeld, a zealous foe of the new doctrines, was ar- 
 rested in his passage through Zurich, in company with 
 the land-vogt of Unterwalden, and beheaded on the 
 charge of persecutions and false accusations of heresy. 
 
 About this time Zug and Lucerne stamped a small 
 cross on the new coinage of Zurich, to signify that 
 church plate had entered into its composition. Five 
 cantons required the people of Bremgarten to deliver up 
 their new books and Bibles, a demand to which Zurich 
 and Berne alone openly opposed themselves. These two 
 cantons now set on foot a so-called Christian league, to 
 which they declared themselves compelled by the at- 
 tempts of eight of their colleagues to suppress the re- 
 formation among their subjects. Into this alliance all 
 confederates espousing the reformed creed were admis- 
 sible; and so sacred was the bond of the empire still
 
 1531. DEATH OF ZWINGLI. 215 
 
 esteemed in Switzerland, that its rights were made points 
 of express reservation, as were those of the confederacy 
 itself. 
 
 The opposite persuasions were first brought into 
 hostile collision by an attack made by the Catholics on 
 Cappel, where the defeat of Zurich was aggravated by 
 the death of Ulrich Zwingli. The enemy found him 
 lying on his back severely wounded ; and, not knowing 
 his person, asked if they should bring him a confessor. 
 This being declined, by a faint motion of his head, they 
 exhorted him to call on the holy Virgin and the saints. 
 Rejecting this suggestion in a similar manner, he was 
 saluted by the enraged foe with the names of dog and 
 heretic, and despatched by the sword of a citizen of 
 Unterwaldeii. - Thus," says BuUinger with touching 
 simplicity, " thus was master Ulrich Zwingli slain in 
 the midst of his own flock, with whom he remained 
 even unto death." The body was not recognised till the 
 day after the battle, when the fury of the enemy dis- 
 played itself by dishonouring it. In vain their leaders 
 enjoined moderation and reverence of the dead. The 
 multitude determined that the body should be quartered 
 and burned by the public executioner of Lucerne. 
 Even the ashes were purposely mixed with impurities, 
 lest his friends should enjoy the last mournful solace of 
 collecting them. 
 
 V 4
 
 216 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. B. C. 57 . 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 FROM THE ALLIANCE OP BERNE AND FREYBURG WITH 
 GENEVA TO THE BORROMEAN LEAGUE. 
 
 1526 — 1586. 
 
 TOWN OF GENEVA. ITS EARLY HISTORY. OPPRESSED BY THE 
 
 DUKE OF SAVOY. MAMELUKES. CRUELTIES EXERCISED ON 
 
 THE BURGHERS WHO COURT THE ALLIANCE OF FREYBURG. 
 
 DUKE CHARLES ENTERS THE TOWN. EXECUTION OF BER- 
 
 THELIEK. ALLIANCE OF BERNE AND FREYBURG WITH GE- 
 NEVA. IMPOTENT RESENTMENT OF THE DUKE. SPOON 
 
 LEAGUE. TREATY OF ST. JULIAN. ZEAL OF FAREL AND 
 
 OTHERS. ABOLITION OF CATHOLICISM. EQUIVOCAL DE- 
 PORTMENT OF DUKE CHARLES. CONQUEST OF THE VAUD BY 
 
 BERNE. CO-BURGHERSHIP BFTWIXT BERNE AND GENEVA, 
 
 CALVIN. SEBVF.TUS. EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION. ^ 
 
 COUNCIL OF TRENT. BORROMEAN LEAGUE. CALENDAR. 
 
 CONTROVERSY. ESCALADE OF GENEVA. 
 
 The original foundation of Geneva is buried in obscure 
 antiquity. It was already a considerable town under 
 the Romans, in the age of Caesar and Diviko. Under 
 Charlemagne and the Burgundian kings it was possessed 
 of many important franchises, through which it raised 
 itself gradually to almost complete independence. Situ- 
 ated on the banks of the Leman lake, at its southern 
 extremity, surrounded by extensive suburbs and highly 
 productive vineyards, the seat of a bishopric, the central 
 point of the trade of France, Germany, and Italy, pro- 
 prietress of a great fair, and acknowledging no lord 
 paramount but the emperor, Geneva grew in prosperity 
 through the industry, the enterprising and independent 
 spirit of its burghers. Their rights were, however, con- 
 stantly in danger from the counts de Genevois, who 
 derived their title from the name of the town, and the 
 bishops of Geneva, whose episcopal seat was within its 
 walls. The preservation of the town was not less owing 
 to the quarrels of the counts and the bishops than to
 
 1519' DUKES OF SAVOY. 21? 
 
 the native love of freedom in its burghers. At a later- 
 period the favour of the German emperors conferred the 
 principality of Geneva on the bishops, and the power of 
 the counts fell into decay. On the other hand, the 
 ducal house of Savoy aimed, during the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, at sovereignty in Geneva. The burgliers them- 
 selves had called in its assistance against the counts; but 
 when their new allies grasped at all the prerogatives of 
 their former masters, established themselves in the forts 
 of the town, and encroached on all its liberties, they 
 learned to lament their folly in expelling a weaker 
 enemy by the aid of a too powerful protector. Even the 
 ambitious plans of Savoy were long frustrated by the 
 energetic stand made by the bishops combined with the 
 burghers, until towards the close of the fifteenth and the 
 commencement of the sixteenth century, when an almost 
 uninterrupted line of princes of the house of Savoy as- 
 cended the episcopal chair of Geneva. The last of them, 
 a contemptible weakling, abdicated in favour of duke 
 Charles III. all the secular rights which he supposed 
 himself to possess in the town. This illegal abdication 
 caused considerable disturbances. The burghers almost 
 unanimously refused to accept the yoke of Savoy, and the 
 few who seemed inclined in its favour were stigmatised 
 with the name of Mamelukes. The duke now had re- 
 course to open violence to complete an undertaking which 
 he had begun in contempt of justice. Burghers of 
 Geneva were imprisoned in the Savoyard territory, con- 
 fessions of a conspiracy extorted from them by means 
 of torture, and employed as a pretext for their judicial 
 murder. These proceedings struck the Genevans with 
 terror. Many, dreading a similar destiny, banished them- 
 selves from their country. Many turned an eye of hope 
 on the neighbouring Swiss confederacy. Philip Ber- 
 thelier, a Genevese exile, gained over the government of 
 Freyburg to the cause of his fellow-countrymen; and in 
 the year 1.519 the municipality of Geneva resolved to 
 form an alliance with that town. On this the duke took 
 up arms, as remonstrances were in vain with the Swiss,
 
 218 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1519. 
 
 and unexpectedly appeared with his army before the 
 gates of Geneva. The inexperience, indecision, and 
 disunion of the burghers worked in his favour not less 
 than the discipline of his own troops. He entered the 
 town, disarmed the burghers ; and Geneva would have 
 undergone the extremities prepared for conquered rebels, 
 had not some moderation been forced on the duke by his 
 fear of the Swiss. Freyburg summoned the aid of the 
 confederacy, and the summons was answered from all 
 sides with alacrity. "Every one," says an old writer, 
 " who had any thing like heart in his breast, was re- 
 solved to aid in the rescue of Geneva, and in punishing 
 the duke's usurpations." Six thousand Swiss entered 
 the Savoyard territory, and threatened an unsparing 
 retaliation for every act of violence which should be 
 ventured at Geneva. The duke had prudence enough to 
 conceal his resentment, and to pay the war expenses of 
 the Freyburgers. Geneva thus remained in his hands ; 
 a general amnesty was promised; notwithstanding which 
 Bertheher's head fell on the scaffold, and the town was 
 obliged to give up its league with Freyburg. The latter 
 was persuaded with great difficulty, by the rest of the 
 Helvetic body, to accept the terms of this treaty. 
 
 Duke Charles now rioted without restraint in the en- 
 joyment of his newly regained dominion. Wherever 
 his wiU met with opposition, it was summarily sup- 
 pressed by the sword. All independence of spirit 
 seemed for ever crushed in Geneva. But when the 
 duke mixed in the grand contest for Milan, the town 
 employed the occasion to renew its struggle for freedom. 
 On this the duke passed sentence of death on the heads 
 of the popular party, who fled to Freyburg, and be- 
 sieged the Helvetic body with their complaints. Frey- 
 burg again declared herself, with Berne's concurrence, 
 for the cause of Geneva. The duke hastened thither in 
 alarm, released the prisoners, and procured a declaration 
 of his sovereignty from an assembly of the burghers, 
 surrounded by his body-guard. Thereupon he left the 
 town, imagining that he had placed his dominion over
 
 1526. BERNE AND FREYBURG. 21.9 
 
 it on a new and permanent basis. Formidable discon- 
 tents broke out on his departure. The council declared 
 those who had been banished " friends of their country." 
 The citizens called loudly for a league with Berne and 
 Freyburg. Every street re-echoed the cry of " Long 
 live the confederates ! " The highest municipal func- 
 tions were conferred on a friend of Switzerland. The 
 exiles returned home, and brought along with them a 
 project of co-burghership with Beyne and Freyburg. 
 The whole town, excepting six individuals, joined in the 
 shouts of congratulation with which the proposal was 
 received. Even the bishop Peter de la Beaume, a par- 
 tisan of Savoy, but rather a weak than an ill-intentioned 
 man, declared that he would oppose no impediment to 
 the measure. On the 12th of May, 1526, a league was 
 sworn between Berne and Geneva, for reciprocal aid, 
 freedom of trade and intercourse, defence and protection 
 of liberty and property. The allied towns answered 
 the duke's remonstrances with the threat that they would 
 secede from the alliance between Savoy and the Helvetic 
 body. He was kept quiet besides by the apprehension 
 of losing the Pays de Vaud, which lay so well within 
 the reach of the Swiss, and which had been twice be- 
 fore conquered by them already. 
 
 The Genevans now laboured to consolidate their free- 
 dom, to appropriate the rights of the duke to themselves, 
 and to remodel the whole frame of their constitution. 
 The adherents of Savoy were driven out of the town, 
 their goods confiscated, and forty-four of them sentenced 
 to death in case of return. The bishop was still tole- 
 rated, as long as he continued undecided, and appeared 
 to incline in favour of the town. When he afterwards 
 betrayed his leaning to Savoy, his authority, too, was 
 speedily at an end. These events were viewed by the 
 duke with powerless indignation ; and the only signs of 
 hostility which he ventured in return were the closing of 
 all trade with the town, the reception of the exiles, and 
 the capture and imprisonment of prior Bonnivard, a 
 courageous and enlightened friend of freedom. Fear
 
 220 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1526. 
 
 of the confederates deterred him from stronger mea- 
 sures. In the mean time a new enemy appeared against 
 the town, in the shape of a league of the Savoyard no- 
 bihty. Some of them, carousing in a castle of the 
 Vaud, had boasted that they would sup the Genevans 
 up like spoon-meat. This sally suggested the formation 
 of a fraternity which took the name of the spoon league, 
 and the members of which mounted a spoon as their 
 badge in front of their hats. This league might pro- 
 bably meet with secret encouragement from the duke, 
 but he dared not openly sanction, and had neither the 
 power nor the will to prevent it. Shortly afterwards, 
 when the head of tliis association was slain by the ex- 
 asperated burghers of Geneva, a struggle arose of a very 
 harassing nature for the town. On this the allies of 
 Geneva took the field with 10,000 men. The members 
 of the spoon league were no match for such a force : 
 their castles were burned, their soldiers scattered, and 
 nothing remained for themselves but submission. 
 
 Through Swiss mediation an armistice was concluded 
 at St. Julian. Reciprocal guarantees of trade and inter- 
 course were agreed upon. The duke guaranteed peace 
 on the part of his subjects, — Berne and Freyburg stood 
 securities for the tranquillity of Geneva. If the treaty 
 should be broken by the duke or his subjects, possession 
 of the Pays de Vaud might be taken by the governments 
 of Berne and Freyburg. On the other hand, in case of its 
 violation by Geneva, the former towns should be bound 
 to take up arms against it. A considerable part of the 
 war expenses was imposed on the duke, and in return 
 his original rights over Geneva were restored to him. 
 Thenceforwards the situation of the town was very pre- 
 carious. The duke for the most part only fulfilled so 
 much of the treaty as served his purpose, and scarcely 
 concealed his thirst for revenge, which he watched for a 
 safe occasion to gratify. On the other hand, the Swiss 
 were tired of the league, and wished to secede from it. 
 This determination was only altered by the most earnest 
 supplications of the Genevans.
 
 1535*. ABOLITION OF CATHOLICISM. 221 
 
 The bishop excommunicated the town ; the town threw 
 off the authority of the bishop ; and the triumph of the 
 new creed was decided. The images were destroyed by 
 a spontaneous popular movement ; and the council was 
 persuaded by one Farell, subsequently a colleague of 
 Calvin, to do away with the mass. The expulsion of 
 the bishop, by which his intrigues were rendered harm- 
 less, was the most important step towards the attainment 
 of freedom, and the reception of the reformed creed 
 .vas the best means of retaining it; as the constant 
 friendship of so powerful a neighbour as Berne Avas thus 
 secured, by the double bond of policy and community 
 of sentiment- 
 
 lu defiance of the treaty of St. Julian, the Savoyard 
 nobility and the banished episcopal partisans continued 
 their hostilities against Geneva. The town was closely 
 blockaded, and reduced to severe extremities. Traitorous 
 plans were discovered for its capture. The enemy showed 
 themselves daily before the gates, and devastated even 
 the suburbs. Duke Charles viewed these incidents in 
 silence, if, indeed, he tlid not secretly encourage them. 
 This equivocal demeanour was imputed to him by Berne 
 as a breach of the treaty of St. Julian. Certain it was, 
 he had closed that treaty reluctantly enough, and had 
 fulfilled it as indifferently as possible ; his inactivity, 
 However, during the hostile proceedings against Geneva, 
 admitted of excuse on two grounds. The town had pro- 
 voked his anger by the expulsion of their bishop, and 
 the curtailment of his own ducal rights, and had given 
 him a plausible pretext for evading the performance of 
 his engagements. He was himself, besides, threatened 
 with an attack on the side of France, and certainly had 
 not the power, if he had even had the will, to keep 
 within bounds the turbulence of his subjects. These 
 extenuating circumstances were utterly overlooked, and 
 notliing was regarded but the outrages which had taken 
 place ; for Berne had resolved to turn the duke's em- 
 barrassments to her own advantage. All negotiations 
 were fruitless ; and Berne held a high and threatening
 
 222 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1536*. 
 
 language, demanding that the channels of trade should 
 be opened; the banished Genevans expelled; the nobles 
 of the Vaud kept in check. A truce of six months 
 desired by the duke in the consciousness of his weakness 
 was refused him. Charles declared, with the energy of 
 despair, that he considered himself no further bound by 
 treaties. Several weeks later he sought vainly to retrieve 
 the effects of this precipitation by a special embassy, and 
 formal list of charges against Geneva. Berne was fuUy 
 determined upon war — the rest of the Helvetic body 
 strongly against it ; but Berne relied on the favourable 
 sentiments of her own people. 
 
 On the 21st of January, 1536, 7000 Bernese marched 
 into the Vaud, and in a few days the whole district fell 
 into their hands. Even the lake of Geneva did not stop 
 their triumphant progress. They took possession of the 
 district of Gex, and, on the south of the lake, of a con- 
 siderable portion of the dukedom of Chablais. Such rapid 
 and important conquests, in the worst season of the year, 
 excited attention and envy in the rest of the Helvetic 
 body. The confederates recommended the abandonment 
 of a war in which the emperor might so easily mix, to 
 the detriment of the whole league. Berne acquiesced 
 with facility in many of their demands; but in the main 
 business resolutely adhered to her own purposes. The 
 conquest of the Vaud was completed in 1554, by the 
 ruin of the once-powerful counts of Gruyeres, who 
 found themselves compelled to cede their extensive landed 
 domains to Berne and Freyburg for a moderate sum of 
 money; and thus underwent the same doom which had 
 successively reduced to nothing all the ancient houses 
 within the bounds of the confederation. 
 
 The grasping spirit of Berne showed itself next in a 
 dishonourable manner towards the Genevans. The latter 
 had hoped for more than a mere transmission to her 
 powerful ally of a sovereignty grounded in usurpation. 
 It was death to their hopes, when Berne declared that 
 all the powers of the dukes and bishops had descended 
 into her hands by right of conquest ! The main point
 
 1535'. CALVIN. 223 
 
 was, however, given up after long discussion. A co- 
 burghership between the free towns of Berne and Geneva 
 was closed for five and twenty years in 1536, which 
 was afterwards converted to a perpetual league of the 
 same description. 
 
 Hardly had political independence been asserted, when 
 its enjoyment was disturbed by religious discord ; and 
 that ascendency which had been lost by dukes and bishops 
 over Geneva was transferred to an itinerant preacher — 
 John Calvin. 
 
 The second great reformer of the sixteenth century 
 was born at Noyon in Picardy, on the 10th of July, 
 1509. His father, Gerard Chauvin, a cooper, devoted 
 him at an early age to the clerical profession. Calvin, 
 in a letter to Claude d'Hangest, abbot of St. Eloy at 
 Noyon, avows himself indebted to the family of that 
 prelate for early instruction and liberal education. When 
 hardly twelve years old, he was appointed to a canonry 
 in the cathedral of his native town ; and, six years after- 
 wards, to a parochial cure, which he soon exchanged for 
 another. Thus Calvin had obtained several benefices, 
 by aid of patrons, before his twentieth year, and before 
 the termination of his studies at Paris. Here he made 
 the acquaintance of a countryman, some years older than 
 himself, Peter Robert Olivetan, from whom he received 
 the first germs of the new religious doctrines, which had 
 already begim to obtain diffusion in France : he was 
 thereby induced to quit the field of theology for that of 
 law, which he studied at Orleans and afterwards at 
 Bourges. In this he made rapid progress; and instructed 
 himself at the same time in Greek under Melchior Vol- 
 mar, a German, who confirmed him in the tendency to 
 adventurous speculation, which had already been excited 
 in his mind by Olivetan. In 1532 he returned to Paris, 
 and gave up his benefices. In the same year he pub- 
 lished a Latin commentary on the two books of Seneca, 
 De Ckmentid, under the name of Johannes Calvinus, 
 lengthened and latinised from Jean Chauvin, according 
 to the taste of the times. In the following year he was
 
 224 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1536. 
 
 forced to flee from Paris, having incurred suspicion, along 
 with his friend Michael Cop, the rector of the university, 
 on account of some discourses of the latter on the new 
 doctrine. Calvin next betook himself to Du Tillet, canon 
 at Angouleme, with whom he pursued the tranquil course 
 of his studies, and began to collect materials for his 
 work on Christian Doctrine. From thence he repaired 
 to the court of Margaret queen of Navarre, sister of 
 Francis I. ; who, less from any decided attachment to 
 the new creed than to science in general, protected men 
 of learning whom their opinions had expelled from 
 France. Here Calvin was well received, and formed 
 the acquaintance of several men who in the sequel be- 
 came useful to his party. He proceeded next to Basle, 
 where he published his work on Christian Doctrine, 
 Institutio ChristiancE Religionis ; the intention of which 
 was to clear his slandered brethren from the charges 
 brought against them, from pohtical motives, of being 
 turbulent anabaptists, having nothing in common with 
 Luther. It would be quite beside our purpose to en- 
 large upon the points in which he went farther than 
 Luther, with regard to the topics of free-will, account- 
 ablenesSj and the merit of good works ; we content 
 ourselves with indicating a few of the bold deductions 
 which he drew from his own principles. He not only 
 contested the supremacy of the pope, but the authority 
 of general councils. In his view neither bishop nor 
 priest could be visible head of the church ; and he ac- 
 knowledged no other vows than baptismal ones, no other 
 sacraments than baptism and the Lord's supper ; nor 
 did he regard even these as indispensable to salvation. 
 Masses he deemed a desecration ; saint-worship, idolatry. 
 The preface to (.he above-mentioned work, which was 
 addressed Ad Christianisshnum Regem qua hie ei liber 
 pro confessione fidei offertur, had no effect in putting a 
 stop to religious persecution in France ; as the most 
 Christian king, Francis I., was totally devoid of all en- 
 thusiasm, and actuated wholly by political motives. Cal- 
 .vin visited Italy, where he was favourably received by
 
 1538. CALVIN. 225 
 
 the duchess Renata, daughter of Louis XII. of France, 
 and wife of Hercules d'Este ; hut was soon compelled 
 to take to flight, and returned once more to Paris. Here, 
 however, he could not remain in safety, and took his 
 way to Basle through Geneva, where the reformed doc- 
 trines had now been estabhshed for some years, and where 
 Farel was engaged in preaching them. Calvin united 
 with this man ; and soon received a commission fiom 
 the government as a teacher of theology, to which he 
 devoted himself exclusively, leaving pulpit oratory to 
 Farel. But they speedily drew a host of powerful ene- 
 mies on their shoulders, by some trifling deviations from 
 the established ceremonial. Under their auspices lea- 
 vened bread was used in the sacrament ; the baptismal 
 font was removed out of the church, and aU festivals 
 were abolished, excepting Sundays. These innovations 
 were disapproved by the synod of Lausanne, and com- 
 pliance with the decision of that body was enjoined on 
 Calvin and Farel by the magistracy of Geneva : on their 
 refusal, they were ordered to quit the tov.n within three 
 days, and took their departure accordingly in April, 
 1538. Thence they proceeded to Berne, from which 
 place Calvin went to Strasburg, where admission had 
 been gained by Bucer for Luther's doctrines ten years 
 previously. Here he was appointed, through the influ- 
 ence of Bucer, to the professorship of theology ; and, at 
 the same time, obtained permission to establish a French 
 church, which soon became considerable by the influx 
 of refugees from France. It was here that he published 
 his work on the Lord's Supper, in which he set himself 
 as well to controvert Luther's opinion, who interpreted 
 that sacrament in the Uteral sense, as that of Zwingli, 
 who understood it figuratively. It %vas not till a later 
 period that he declared himself, without reservation, in 
 favoiu" of the latter doctrine. 
 
 Meanwhile Calvin's views were still directed towards 
 Geneva ; and his friends at length succeeded in effecting 
 his recall. A deputation was sent from thence to Stras- 
 burg, expressly for the purpose of soliciting the raagis-
 
 226 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1538. 
 
 tracy of that town to restore their pastor to his flock. 
 On his return, he laid before the council a set of regul- 
 ations with regard to church discipline, which were im- 
 plicitly adopted. In accordance with these, a consistory 
 was permanently established, consisting half of clerical, 
 half of lay members, to watch over the conservation of 
 morals and pure doctrine. By this body every one was 
 liable to be called to account for the most insignificant 
 words or acts ; and cases where ecclesiastical penalties 
 seemed inadequate were referred for animadversion to 
 the council. Thus Calvin was, in some sort, made the 
 arbiter of every act, and almost every thought, of his 
 fellow-countrymen. His spirit held exclusive sway in 
 the council as in the consistory ; and neither of these 
 bodies ever failed to punish any one who ventured to 
 oppose his measures. Thus a member of the magistracy 
 was displaced and sentenced to two months' imprison- 
 ment, " because he was a man of irregular life, and 
 connected with Calvin's enemies." In like manner Jacob 
 Gruet was condemned to the block, for having written 
 immoral verses and godless epistles, and for having con- 
 spired to overthrow the ordinances of the church. 
 
 The pious perseverance with which every excess and 
 disorder was prosecuted and punished at Geneva occa- 
 sioned popular tumults, and at last a regular revolt, 
 which was followed by judicial executions. However 
 great were the services of Calvin, in introducing repub- 
 lican manners and useful activity, — of which the effects, 
 after the lapse of ages, are still visible in the industry and 
 intellectual tone of Geneva, — yet he inflexibly enforced 
 the rigorous maintenance of orthodoxy, the idea of which 
 he transferred from the system in which he had grown 
 up to that which he had later espoused. His influence 
 procured the exile of Bolsec, an ex-Carmelite, for having 
 dared to attack the doctrine of predestination. A still 
 deeper disgrace was brought on the memory of Calvin 
 by the execution of Michael Servede (Servetus), who 
 suffered at the stake for holding anti-trinitarian tenets, 
 which, however, he had not attempted to disseminate
 
 1540. EFFECTS OF THE REFORilATIOX. 227 
 
 at Geneva. Calvin had, indeed, proposed a milder mode 
 of death ; but it is easier to set bigot zeal in motion than 
 to moderate its subsequent violence. 
 
 The manners of the great Genevan reformer were 
 marked by strict sobriety ; his character was sombre and 
 inflexible. His only idea of friendship was utility to 
 his grand design ; his only passion was centered in the 
 triumph of his opinions. His temper was impatient, 
 and endured no contradiction. " None of my struggles," 
 he wrote to Bucer, " against my other failings, many 
 and great as they are, are equal to those which I have 
 to wage with my temper ; over this devouring beast I 
 have not yet attained the mastery." The tone of his 
 controversial writings was almost always sharp and con- 
 temptuous ; and he seldom succeeds in suppressing his 
 full consciousness of superiority. As a theologian, Calvin 
 stood second to none of liis contemporaries in depth of 
 learning, acuteness, and the art of setting forth his sub- 
 ject. His Latin compositions are distinguished for me- 
 thod, correctness, and dignity : he was, moreover, an 
 accomplished jurist, and able politician. But none of 
 these advantages singly, nor all conjointly, would ever 
 have raised him to the head of a distinct religious party, 
 but for his bold rejection of outward ceremonial. It was 
 this that, on the one hand, gained the support of many 
 instructed persons, who were disposed to regard as de- 
 rogatory all appeals to the senses, while it furnished the 
 uninstructed with a compendious method of marking out 
 their difference from the opposite persuasion, independ- 
 ently of any essential ground of separation, to investi- 
 gate which such disciples were neither willing nor able. 
 
 The effects of the reformation made themselves 
 manifest in all the relations of private and public life. 
 General attei-.tion was directed to the internal wants 
 and welfare of the country ; and the rising generation 
 acquired taste for the arts of peace, and for the sciences 
 by which the mind is most enlarged and elevated. The 
 study of the ancients and of history had been revived 
 by theological enquiries. If enlistments still continued 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 HISTOIIY OF SWnZERLAND. 1540. 
 
 to take place for foreign services, yet the venality of 
 rulers and their subjects had ceased to be so prevalent as 
 formerly. Improvements were made in agriculture, 
 commerce, and manufactures ; and the reception given 
 to fugitive co-religionists introduced or furthered several 
 branches of industry. Alms-houses and hospitals were 
 instituted or improved. Strict regulations were made 
 against prodigaUty, gambling, and usury ; and rigid 
 limits were set to pubhc amusements. 
 
 Under the name of ecclesiastical discipline, the clergy 
 in Geneva and the canton of Berne assumed a very 
 extensive jurisdiction. The clergy possessed important 
 weight and influence with the people ; and when they 
 interfered in word or in writing with the constituted 
 authorities, their dicta were in general received as deci- 
 sive. Their intervention, as might be expected, was 
 not in all cases free from polemical passions, or sacer- 
 dotal arrogance ; but it oftener took an aspect of bene- 
 ficence, particularly when the secular authorities neglected 
 their duties. The better part of the clergy themselves 
 never lost sight of the evils engendered by an unhmited 
 domination of their order. 
 
 The independence of the cantons, and the difference 
 of their forms of polity, necessarily occasioned variations 
 in their church discipline. These were taken advantage 
 of by the enemies of reform to reproach its friends with 
 the want of a sure foundation for their faith. The 
 subsequent evangehcal leaders, harassed by the virulent 
 attacks of their opponents, imagined the production of 
 explicit confessions to be requisite for their justification. 
 The four evangelical cantons, Zurich, Berne, Basle, and 
 SchafFhausen, and the three allied towns, St. Gall, Muhl- 
 hausen, and Bienne, agreed upon a common form of 
 confession, to be laid before the general assembly of the 
 church when convoked by the emperor. In the same 
 year {156(5) Geneva also issued a confession, composed 
 by Farel. Finally, on the 1st of jMarch, 1566, the so 
 called Helvetic confession was promulgated at Zurich 
 ivhich was also received by the reformed churches in
 
 1545. COUNCIL OF TRENT. 229 
 
 Scotland, Holland, and Hungary, Tlius the successors 
 of the first reformers, by holding fast the letter, often 
 departed from the spirit of their great predecessors, 
 thereby aggravating the schisms among protestants, 
 and disgracing themselves and their cause by persecu- 
 tion. 
 
 The reformed cantons made frequent, but for the 
 most part ineffectual, intercessions for their oppressed co- 
 religionists in France and Savoy. Numerous refugees 
 from these countries found protection and support in 
 Switzerland. Geneva became a city of refuge for per- 
 secuted Italians, and Zurich for the English, who fled 
 from the tyranny of queen Mary. 
 
 The church of Rome, unable to withstand any longer 
 the demands for reformation, even of catholics them- 
 selves, had at last consented to open a council at Trent. 
 The selection of this spot, on the borders of Italy, and 
 within the bounds of the empire, gave assurance to the 
 emperor, as well as to the pope, that no third party 
 could establish a predominance there, and each of them 
 expected to confirm his own ascendency. Pope Paul III., 
 with many expressions of sorrow that the Evil One had 
 succeeded in enticing away a part of the confederates 
 from the bosom of the church, exhorted them collectively 
 to obedience to the council. The evangelical party re- 
 plied that they had published their confession of faith ; 
 that they could not regard a council as impartial, which 
 was subordinated entirely to the pope ; but that, on the 
 other hand, they were ready to conform themselves to 
 whatever should be resolved in a free council, and ac- 
 cording to the word of God. The absence of the pro- 
 testants disappointed the hope of bringing them back to 
 subjection to the Romish church by the sentence of the 
 council, which was now forced to content itself with 
 condemning all who rejected its doctrines. INIany im- 
 provements of discipline were enacted by this body ; 
 but at the same time it riveted the fetters of belief, 
 confirmed the papal authority in ecclesiastical matters, 
 and encroached so far on the rights of secular rulers, 
 
 Q 3
 
 230 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1579' 
 
 that several catholic states refused to submit to its deci- 
 sions. Its reception by the catholic cantons occasioned 
 the reformed ones to be regarded by them more than 
 ever as renegades and reprobates, while it served to in- 
 crease the suspicions and imbitterment of the latter. All 
 sentiments of patriotism yielded to religious hatred, 
 which constantly found new food for itself. 
 
 In former times the confederates had always main- 
 tained a jealous vigilance with regard to the pope, con- 
 sidered as a foreign power, and with regard to the cle- 
 rical order in general, as instruments of that power. 
 But now, the zeal of polemics, and the prevalent ideas 
 of the duty of submissiveness to the spiritual authority, 
 placed a part of the Helvetic body entirely at the com- 
 mand of their ecclesiastical superiors ; and, by conse- 
 quence, attached them to that line of foreign policy most 
 conformable to clerical interests. At this epoch, cardinal 
 Charles Borromeo exercised a distinguished influence in 
 spiritual and political matters. Elevated at the age of 
 three-and-twenty to the bishoprick of Milan, and the 
 dignity of cardinal, he felt an early vocation to the office 
 of reformer of the catholic clergy and church discipline; 
 but his mind was so thoroughly imbued with the spirit 
 of a dominant priesthood, that even the heads of the 
 catholic cantons were compelled to resist his proceedings. 
 He powerfully contributed towards putting in execution 
 the decrees of the council of Trent ; he established at 
 Milan a college for the bringing up of Swiss youth to 
 the clerical profession ; he induced the pope to keep a 
 permanent nuncio in the catholic cantons. His esta- 
 bUshment of Jesuits at Lucerne was still more momentous 
 in its influence on the public mind, and on education : 
 while the effect produced by the Jesuits on the upper 
 classes, was rivalled by that which the order of Capu- 
 chins exercised over the lower. 
 
 The first permanent nuncio, the bishop of VerceUi, 
 a protege of the cardinal Borromeo, brought about, in 
 1579, a league between the bishop of Basle and the seven 
 catholic cantons. This may be regarded as a sort of
 
 1582. CALENDAR CONTROVERSY. 231 
 
 catholic counterpart to the Christian league of Berne and 
 Zurich^ mentioned in a former chapter. Tlie contracting 
 parties promised each other aid in the affairs of rehgion, 
 &c. The seven cantons engaged to retain in the catholic 
 faith such subjects of the bishop as had not yet abandoned 
 it, and to use their endeavours in re-converting those who 
 had apostatised. In 1586, the so-called Borromean, or 
 golden league, was sworn by the seven catholic cantons, 
 the provisions of which were similar to those of the 
 foregoing one, Avith the addition of the following clause : 
 — That, in case of individual members manifesting any 
 inclination to desert the faith, the others should compel 
 them to abide by it, and visit the promoters of defection, 
 with condign punishment. 
 
 A ludicrous example of the length to which distrust 
 of Rome was carried by the protestant party was af- 
 forded by the controversy excited on the occasion of the 
 reform of the Julian calendar. Astronomers had reck- 
 oned that the Julian calendar, which, after every three 
 years, each containing 3Q5 days, introduced an inter- 
 calary year of SQQ, had produced, in the year 1582, a 
 miscalculation amounting to ten days, thus gradually 
 disturbing the uniformity and correctness of the measure 
 of time ; as, according to more accurate observations, the 
 year contained about twelve minutes less. Pope Gre- 
 gory XIII. commenced his reform of the calendar by 
 striking off ten days from the year 1582. The cathoHc 
 cantons adopted this arrangement, after Unterwalden had 
 offered some objections to it. The protestants, on the 
 other hand, conceived an apprehension lest the reception 
 of a calendar decreed by the pope, and named after him, 
 might pave the way for future papal encroachments ; 
 and lest their compliance might wear the appearance of 
 deference to a papal mandate. The catholic cantons not 
 only adopted the Gregorian calendar, but enjoined its 
 observance on the free bailiwicks, and instructed the 
 vogts to punish recusants. Irritated by this mode of 
 proceeding, Zurich turned the affair into a question of 
 religion : the greatest ferment, however, was in the 
 
 Q 4
 
 HISTORY OP SWITZERIiAND. 
 
 1602. 
 
 Thm-gau. The two religious parties had now not only 
 ilifferent feast clays, but confusion took place on market 
 days, and other civil arrangements. After the waste of 
 much discussion on the matter at successive diets, the 
 neutral cantons, in concert with the French ambassador, 
 finally concluded an arrangement, by which the regu- 
 lation of the calendar was committed to each canton 
 within the bounds of its own territory. 
 
 Geneva continued still the object of undisguised ab- 
 horrence to the leaders of the catholic hierarchy, and of 
 hostility more dangerous, because more concealed, to the 
 reigning duke of Savoy, Charles Emanuel. The town 
 reposed in false security, heedless of the warnings given 
 from time to time against its crafty neighbour, whose 
 policy rejected no expedient which could forward his 
 purposes. Even the notices received of the near approach 
 of the enemy were treated with contempt or carelessness. 
 On the night of the llth-12th December, l602, 2000 
 troops of Savoy advanced unperceived on the town, and 
 the duke himself hovered in the neighbourhood. Before 
 three in the morning, the walls had already been scaled 
 by 200 of them, who made an attempt to burst open the 
 new gate from the inside, while estafettes were sent off 
 to announce the capture of the town. The burghers, 
 taken by surprise as they were, and half naked, never- 
 theless rushed to arms with alacrity, slew seventy-six 
 of the Savoyards, and took tliirteen prisoners, whom they 
 afterwards hanged as brigands and assassins. The rest 
 endeavoured to save themselves by leaping from the 
 walls ; and the discomfited troops hastened to Bonne, 
 where the duke was awaiting their triumph. " Vous avez 
 fnit la une belle cagade" were the words he used to 
 D'Aubigny, the leader of the expedition. A Savoyard 
 embassy, sent to Berne to excuse this treacherous inroad, 
 received an intimation from the government that they 
 had better retreat as quick as they could from the po- 
 pular indignation. Terms of peace were, however, at 
 length negotiated by the neutral cantons, which provided 
 for free intercourse betwixt Geneva and Savoy, and
 
 1602. THE ESCALADE 233 
 
 precluded the duke from stationing any garrison at a 
 distance within sixteen miles from the town. This affair 
 has preserved, under the title of the escalade, a memor- 
 able station in Swiss history. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS WAR 
 TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. 
 
 1620—1648. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE GRISONS. EARLY HISTORY. FORMS OF 
 
 GOVERNMENT. INFLUENCE OF PARTICULAR FAJIILIES. 
 
 SPANISH AND FRENCH PARTIES. POPULAR TUMULTS 
 
 MASSACRE IN THE VALTELINE. FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH 
 
 SPAIN AND AUSTRIA. SUBJECTION OF THE GRISONS BY THE 
 
 LATTER POWER. RECOVERY OF THEIR FREEDOM AND INDE- 
 PENDENCE. STATE OF RELIGIOUS PARTIES IN SWITZERLAND. 
 
 THIRTY years' WAR. DISUNION IN THE CONFEDERACY.^ 
 
 INROADS OF FOREIGN ARMIES. INTRIGUES OF FOREIG N AM- 
 BASSADORS. PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. DECLARATION OF 
 
 SWISS INDEPENDENCE. FOREIGN RELATIONS. FRAGMENTARY 
 
 STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN SWITZERLAND. 
 
 " With the close of the reformation," says a respectable 
 Swiss annalist *, " expires almost all that can animate 
 and enliven the historian of Switzerland. He has now 
 to wade through a dull period, equally void of original 
 records as it is of events worthy to be recorded : under 
 such circumstances, the task of writing the history of 
 his country becomes as great a burden as it was pre- 
 viously a pleasure. It is true, that the age immediately 
 preceding the reformation was by no means very ho- 
 nourable to Switzerland ; still it was an age of unex- 
 hausted national vigour. The eera of the reformation 
 elevates the mind by the spectacle of the triumph of en- 
 hghtenment over darkness ; but later times show little 
 else than discord and degeneracy. The history of the 
 Swiss, from the foundation of their freedom to the over- 
 
 * J. Conrad Vogelin.
 
 23t HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 throw of their old eternal league, may be said to resemble 
 their mountain heights^ the base of which exhibits smiling 
 and fertile fields and valleys^ the middle region wild but 
 majestic ridges^ — from thence to the summit lifelessness 
 and ruin." 
 
 Without identifying our sentiments with those of the 
 author here cited, we must agree with him that the his- 
 tory of the old Helvetic body (so far as progi-essive 
 development is included in the idea of history) may in 
 some sense be considered to close with the age of the 
 reformation. And, perhaps, a gentle wish may unre- 
 proved escape the tip of our pen, that for the space of 
 nearly two centuries ourselves, as well as our readers, 
 might be allowed to indulge in unmolested slumber, till 
 aroused by the first mutterings of a mighty social change, 
 which (like the hollow sounds preceding the fall of the 
 Rossberg) foreboded the first outbreak of the French 
 revolution. True, the intervening space is occupied with 
 warfare and diplomacy in abundance ; but diplomacy is 
 a sharper's game, and war an inglorious squabble, save 
 when sanctified by national feelings and interests. It 
 will be some relief to deviate for the present from the 
 main track of our history into those remoter regions 
 which have hitherto received less of our notice, and to 
 resume the course of events which raised the highlanders 
 of RhiEtia to the rank, first of allies, and afterwards 
 members of the Swiss league. 
 
 The scenery of Switzerland Proper, with the excep- 
 tion of the lakes, does not bear away the prize of varied 
 beauty from the vales of the Grisons, where nature has 
 been lavish of her loftiest style of ornament. Rocky 
 battlements frown upon the narrow path of the traveller, 
 or indent the distant horizon with their fainter hues and 
 outlines. Life or living thing haunts not their summits ; 
 sound and motion there are none but of the glacier-stream 
 from its icy reservoir, or the avalanche rolling in thunder 
 over fissures and abysses, or the clouds that fleet or lower 
 upon the breasts of the mountains, whose summits glit- 
 ter liigh above their region m the sunHght. Lower down.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE ORISONS. 
 
 23b 
 
 the Alpine meadows, spotted with flocks and shepherds' 
 huts, repose in primitive stillness and simplicity. No 
 suspicion penetrates these pastoral sohtudes of the pro- 
 gress of human intellect, or the arts of modern luxury. 
 Lower still, he smiling villages, half enveloped in thick- 
 ets, cheerful country houses, with their pleasure grounds 
 and vineyards, and scattered hamlets, seeming to mock 
 the vicinage of the knightly towers whose ruins have 
 frowned from their rocky site for centuries. 
 
 The modes of thought and degrees of civihsation in 
 these highlands are as various as the features of their 
 scenery. There are few countries of Europe in which 
 circumstances have coincided to produce such a motley 
 mixture of manners and of usages : the very form of 
 the vallies, hy which one set of inhabitants is divided 
 from the rest as though in separate apartments, conduces 
 not a httle to the same effect. Local and communal 
 rights oppose impediments to the settlement of strangers, 
 and the natives themselves are counted strangers in 
 everv valley but their own. Marriages are rare between 
 inhabitants of distant vallies ; and a certain set of ha- 
 bits and ideas, with their accompanying propensities and 
 prejudices, are faithfully transmitted from one century 
 to another. 
 
 But even if this insulated mode of life, together with 
 varieties of chmate, were not enough to stamp the traits 
 of separate populations on the different inhabitants of 
 these highland glens, that effect would be produced by 
 their cUversities of language, which in general draw the 
 strongest lines of national demarcation. There is no 
 doubt that the people of the Grisons sprung from several 
 sources. First of all, some branches of the original 
 Gaulish stem occupied these regions under the name of 
 Lepontii and Taurisci: afterwards, the wars of the Gauls 
 in Italy occasioned emigrations out of Tuscany. The 
 valleys of the Lepontii and Taurisci afforded refuge to 
 thousands from the horrors of war, and the rage of bar- 
 barians. According to the legend preserved by Livy, 
 the fugitives were headed by one Rha;tus, whose name
 
 236 
 
 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 became transferred to the people. Even at the present 
 (lay there are traces to be found which confirm the au- 
 thenticity of tliis legend. Above all, the old Italian 
 language is traceable up to our own times under the title 
 of the Roman isch or Romaunsch. This dialect is un- 
 questionably an offspring of the Roman language, not of 
 the days of Augustus, but of earher times and ruder 
 districts. 
 
 A second dialect, spoken in the Engadines at the 
 present day, is the Ladin, which, though related to the 
 former, is more musical, and more nearly approacliing 
 to the Latin or modern. Italian. This seems to have 
 been imported by a new body of emigrants, who are 
 said to have fled thither in the time of the second Punic 
 war. Thus there are two languages in the Grisons, 
 imknown in any otlier part of Europe. Both have been 
 used by preachers, writers, and poets ; and the districts 
 where they are spoken are precluded by that circum- 
 stance from intercourse Avith others, more than even by 
 their walls of rock. 
 
 A third language spoken in the country is the Ger- 
 man, which has always been used exclusively, with the 
 exception of Latin, in courts of justice, and which has 
 already, in a great measure, superseded both the others. 
 
 A fourth is the Italian, which prevails on the borders 
 of Italy, and particularly in the valleys of Misocco, 
 Salanca, and Puschiavo. 
 
 The effects of the foregoing causes were aided by the 
 influence of political arrangements in converting every 
 valley of the Grisons into the residence of a separate 
 population, each having little in common with the 
 others. After the revolution in the fifteenth century, 
 which gave freedom to these mountainous districts, the 
 people rose at once to absolute sovereignty from a state 
 of feudal bondage and subjection. The highest possible 
 degree of individual freedom lay at the foundation of the 
 new constitution ; and the popular passion for unre- 
 strained free agency was favoured by the variety of lan- 
 guages and localities.
 
 o—- 
 
 FORilS OF GOVERXMEXT. 237 
 
 Thus arose the Rhaetian league, a federative system 
 without precedent or parallel in the history of the civil- 
 ised world. Each indi^idual member of it was a httle 
 lord in his own commune. He gave his voice on all 
 pubHc occasions ; was capable of every pubhc function : 
 provided sparingly for the maintenance of his clergy 
 and his schoolmasters, and generally not at all for that 
 of the civil authorities. Every httle knot of families 
 formed a hamlet ; every hamlet might be regarded as 
 a small independent state, with its peculiar jurischctions, 
 rights, and privileges ; each had its own local adminis- 
 tration, under the presidence of a magistrate called 
 Cuvig. Several hamlets together formed a commune. 
 in which, however, the separate rights of each were 
 made matter of reservation. At the head of it stood 
 the amman, who presided over the council and courts of 
 justice, conducted the general government in the name of 
 the commune, and represented his httle republic in the 
 general diets of the league, after his commune had sup- 
 phed liim with the necessary instructions. 
 
 A circle of neighbouring communes, without prejudice 
 to their separate rights, formed a higher and more ex- 
 tensive juristUction. A landamman, who in some places 
 bore the title of Podesta, and in others that of Land-vogt, 
 held the executive power with the concurrence of a 
 council. Each of these districts formed a republic 
 equally independent with any of the Swiss cantons, with 
 this difference, that it constituted, along with other dis- 
 tricts of like extent, a league empowered to negotiate 
 with foreigners. Rhnetia was divided into three such 
 leagues in the fifteenth century, and from thence was 
 derived its title of the Three Leagues, distinguished as 
 the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, that of God's House, 
 and the Grey League. Each of these was connected 
 with the rest by special treaties. Each had its own 
 general assembly, and aU were represented in a grand 
 assembly or diet. This only took place once a year, 
 excepting in extraordinary cases. In the interim a
 
 238 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 620. 
 
 congress of the presidents of the three leagues conducted 
 the current affairs of minor importance. 
 
 Thus the art of man strove to outdo the plastic hand 
 of Nature in moultling the Rhtetians into a number of 
 petty populations, which had neither cUmate, language, 
 usages, laws, nor feelings in common. That no repul- 
 sive element might be wanting to complete disunion, 
 religion threw a fresh apple of discord into the motley 
 mass ; and foreign intrigue speedily took advantage of 
 the schism which arose here, as in Switzerland, between 
 the reformed and catholic churches. 
 
 Since the epoch of the battle of Pavia, which put 
 Spain in possession of Milan and all Lombardy, that 
 court aimed continually, though secretly, to extend its 
 dominion over the Grison territory of the Valteline, in 
 order to maintain through the Tyrol a closer and more 
 uninterrupted connection with Austria, from whence 
 Spain, in the existing state of things, could only receive 
 aids or reinforcements at Milan, through the territory 
 of Venice or the Grisons. With these views the Spanish 
 viceroy at Milan seized every pretext for mixing in 
 the transactions of the Valteline, where religious zeal 
 produced perpetual differences. For since the Grison 
 league had permitted the free exercise of the evangelical 
 persuasion in the Valteline, many of the communes had 
 espoused that persuasion, and much dissension and dis- 
 cord was the consequence. 
 
 The king of France, as the enemy of Austria and of 
 Spain, warned the Grisons of the secret views of the two 
 combined powers ; and these warnings were re-echoed 
 by the Venetians, who had reason to fear encroachments 
 from the same quarter. Venice, France, and Spain sent 
 ambassadors to the Grisons, who were lavish of fair 
 words and presents to the heads of the leading houses, 
 who, notwithstancUng the nominal sovereignty and self- 
 government of the people, practically directed public 
 affairs by their personal influence. Of the two most 
 influential families, Planta and Salis, the former headed 
 the Spanish, the latter the French party. Each side
 
 lG20. MASSACRE IN THE VALTELINE. 239. 
 
 was accused by the other of treasonable practices, and 
 each endeavoured to spirit up the communes in its own 
 favour. These, at length, assembled round their ban- 
 ners, and set up a criminal tribunal at Coire, for the 
 trial of (so called) traitors to their country. Thereupon, 
 as commonly takes place in popular tumults, innocent 
 and guilty alike were imprisoned, exiled, or robbed of 
 their property ; and two individuals, holding eminent 
 stations, brought to the block. The evangelical clergy 
 industriously employed themselves in blowing up the 
 sparks of civil discord to a flame. They spread the 
 report that the viceroy of Milan had sent large sums 
 into the country to promote the Spanish alliance, and 
 that, in case of iU success in that undertaking, he was 
 resolved to throw the Valteline into confusion, fall on 
 the protestants, and celebrate a new St. Bartholomew by 
 the massacre of the whole evangelical party. These 
 reports, which were too soon to be verified, produced 
 the desired effect throughout the country. Rudolf Planta 
 was compelled to fly from the Engadine into the Tyrol. 
 A criminal tribunal was erected under the auspices of a 
 set of protestant preachers, which pronounced numerous 
 sentences of outlawry and confiscation, banished some 
 from the country, and brought others to the block. 
 
 The banished party leagued itself with Spain, Milan, 
 and Austria in a treacherous plot for massacring the 
 protestants in the ValteUne, and for separating that dis- 
 trict from the Grisons. The subjection and oppression 
 under which it laboured, and the general aversion enter- 
 tained by its inhabitants for the reformed faith which 
 was favoured by its rulers, held out hopes of a favourable 
 issue to the enterprise. The conspirators secured a nu- 
 merous body of adherents in the Valteline, and even in 
 the Grisons, collected under various pretences on the 
 frontier, and awaited the auspicious moment for action. 
 On Sunday, the lyth of July, l620, these bands, led by 
 Rudolf and Pompey Planta, fell by surprise on the un- 
 fortunate district. Alarums sounded from all sides, and 
 a massacre of many hundred protestants ensued, marked
 
 SiO HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. iC^O. 
 
 with circumstances of exquisite atrocity. Some were 
 thrown out of windows^ shot, strangled, or burned ; many 
 were flayed alive ; others had their eyes put out ; others 
 again were beaten to death with sticks, torn to pieces, 
 beheaded, or mutilated in various ways. Neither beauty 
 nor youth, age, deserts, or dignity, — not even the ties oi 
 friendship nor of family affection, — could mitigate the 
 rage of these savage zealots. One fellow is said to have made 
 it matter of boast that he had murdered eighteen persons 
 in one day. The head of an evangelical preacher was 
 brought into his own church, stuck on the pulpit, and 
 mocked, it is said, in the same words as the crucified 
 Jesus. At Teglio, the protestants having shut themselves 
 up in the church, the murderers chmbed up to the 
 windows and fired on the wretches within : at length the 
 doors were forced, and those who had fallen were to be en- 
 vied in comparison with those who came alive into the hands 
 of their enemies. The victorious zealots seized with 
 blood-dripping hands the reins of government, and de- 
 clared the independence of the Valteline.* 
 
 It was the Austrian and Spanish poUcy rather to 
 prompt than repress these horrors, with the view of 
 taking advantage of the general confusion to possess 
 themselves of the Valteline, — perhaps of the whole 
 of the Grisons. Negotiations were opened with these 
 courts, in the vain hope of inducing them to part 
 with the posts and passes which they occupied in the 
 Valteline. They were found, however, less disposed to 
 part with what they had got, than to appropriate Chia- 
 venna and Bormio, as well as the lower Engadine, in 
 order to keep a passage open between Milan and the 
 Tyrol, for mutual aid against the French in Italy and 
 Germany. As the negotiations soon became too tedious 
 for the patience of the people in many communes of the 
 Grisons, the peasantry took to arms in a tumultuary 
 manner, and marched on Bormio and the Valteline, to 
 conquer the land on their own account, but effected 
 nothing by their enterprise, excepting that they exas- 
 
 • For a full description of these scenes see Fox's Book of Martyrs.
 
 l623. SUBJECTION TO AUSTRIA. 241 
 
 perated the archduke of Austria, who, exclaiming, " If 
 you will have war, you shall have it ! " marched a body 
 of troops into the Grisons. After an obstinate but fruitless 
 struggle, the insurgents were compelled to yield to the 
 overwhelming force of the Austrians, who reclaimed their 
 old hereditary sovereignty over the league of the Ten Ju- 
 riscUctions, while the two other leagues were forced to agree 
 that the troops of Spain and Austria should in all future 
 time be allowed free passage through their territory. 
 
 The French monarch could not acquiesce in an 
 arrangement which allowed the Austrians entrance at 
 any moment into Italy, and established their ascend- 
 ancy so completely in that country. He closed an al- 
 liance, accordingly, in lG23, with the pope, Venice, 
 and Savoy, and marched an army through Switzer- 
 land into the Grisons. Berne and Zurich allowed his 
 troops free passage through their territories, and the 
 emigrants from the Grisons formed the vanguard of his 
 army. On its advance, it was joyfully joined by the 
 mass of the armed population ; the garrisons of Austria 
 were driven out of the Ten Jurisdictions, and possession 
 was taken of Chiavenna, Bormio, and the Valteline. 
 These territories, which had formerly been subject to 
 the league, were freed from its juristliction in the treaty 
 of peace dictated by France, and shortly afterwards ac- 
 ceded to on the part of Spain and Austria. But so soon 
 as peace was again broken between France and Spain, 
 and hostilities were recommenced in Italy, the emperor 
 marched 40,000 men into the Grisons so suddenly, that 
 no defence was possible. A part of the army was de- 
 tached to the aid of the Spaniards into Lombardy, while 
 the rest remained to overawe the Grisons. The Ten 
 Jurisdictions, along with the lower Engadine, became 
 once more the subject land of Austria. 
 
 This apparently hopeless aspect of affairs was suddenly 
 altered by the peace closed between France and the em- 
 l)eror at Cherasco, by the terms of which the latter en- 
 gaged to withdraw his troops from the Grisons. So soon 
 
 R
 
 2i2 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. iGSQ. 
 
 as the Austrian garrisons were drawn off and their 
 works demoUshed, the whole people joyfully resumed 
 their ancient league, and posted 3000 men under arms 
 on the frontiers of the country. After the land had thus 
 been freed from foreign domination, the inhabitants 
 addressed humble petitions to France and Spain for 
 leave to retain peaceably their newly-recovered territory. 
 Accordingly, a treaty of perpetual peace between Spain 
 and the Grisons was closed in l639, at Milan, in virtue 
 of which the sovereignty of the Grison league was fully 
 re-established in Bormio, Chiavenna, and the Valteline, 
 with the single proviso that the catholic church should 
 retain its exclusive rights in these districts — a proviso 
 which precisely coincided with the wishes of the catholic 
 communes. In this manner good neighbourhood was 
 restored with the house of Austria, while Gustavus 
 Adolphus furnished that house with fighting enough in 
 Germany ; so that it was well content to retain its 
 allowed prerogatives in the Engadine and within the Ten 
 Jurisdictions, without further attempts to restore an an- 
 tiquated sovereignty. Ten years had hartUy elapsed before 
 these districts purchased the jurisdiction which Austria 
 still retained in their territory. Thus the Grisons became 
 free and independent, along with the two other leagues 
 in Upper Rhaetia. 
 
 Though the treaties and campaigns of the Grisons 
 had supplied the Sv/iss cantons with matter in abun- 
 dance for discussions and discourses in diets and council- 
 rooms, they had given birth to no distinguished enter- 
 prise for the vindication of Rhaetian independence. 
 This resulted from the state of continual discord kept 
 up between the several cantons. If the reformed can- 
 tons wished to act, they were thwarted by the catholics ; 
 if the cathohc Avovdd have been active, the protestants 
 were sure to oppose themselves : the former sided with 
 Spain and Austria, the latter with France and Venice. 
 The one took gold from one party, the other from 
 the other, and closed treaties and seivt soldiers to
 
 l6'S9' STATE OF RKLIGIOL'S PARTIES. 243 
 
 serve under the standards of those foreign powers to 
 which they had attached themselves; a practice which, 
 while it enriched particular families, impoverished and 
 orphaned others. 
 
 In the free bailiwicks, where the power lay between 
 catholics and protestants, the two persuasions quarrelled 
 everlastingly. Although in the terms of the general 
 pacification, both parties in these vogtships enjoyed 
 equal freedom of worship ; yet the enjoyment of this 
 privilege was imbittered to the catholics by the reformed 
 vogts, and, on the other hand, by the cathohc vogts 
 to the protestants. Ecclesiastics mixed themselves 
 up, as usual, in the matter. The bishop of Basle, sup- 
 ported by the emperor, as long as his arms were vic- 
 torious in Germany, demanded of MiihUiausen and Basle 
 restitution of all the property of his monastery, which 
 he had lost long ago. The abbot of St. Gall reclaimed 
 larger juristUctions in the Thurgau and the Rheinthal 
 than could equitably be given him ; the abbot of Ein- 
 siedlen maintained, in opposition to Schwytz, a right of 
 taxing the forest lands ; the abbot of Fischinger wished 
 to erect a catholic altar in the reformed church at Lus- 
 torf. Each of these reverend dignitaries found partisans 
 as well as assailants. And more than once it had nearly 
 come to civil war in Switzerland, which was only with- 
 held from breaking out by the fear of the advantage 
 which would be taken of it by foreigners. For at this 
 crisis the thirty years' war, which originated between 
 catholics and protestants in Bohemia, had not only 
 spread over Germany, but involved in the sphere of its 
 ravages Sweden and Italy, Spain, France, and Hun- 
 gary. This war had been begun about matters of faith ; 
 but it was carried on for the acquisition of territory. 
 French and Venetians, Spaniards and Austrians, in turn, 
 negotiated for passages through the mountain passes 
 of the Grisons, or solicited the alliance of the confe- 
 derates ; and the armies of the belligerent powers, when 
 they drove each other from battle-field to battle-field on 
 
 n 2
 
 244 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. l63Q 
 
 German ground, often skirted very narrowly the bor- 
 ders of Switzerland. But the confederates, in the con- 
 sciousness of internal weakness and discord, had no 
 desire, in addition to the evils which they already en- 
 dured, to see the swords of foreigners in their valleys. 
 They, therefore, prudently maintained the neutrality 
 and territory of Switzerland inviolate. But so great was 
 their disunion that they hindered each other in the 
 protection of their common domains and allies. 
 When the allied town of Miihlhausen came into peril 
 by the incursions of the Swedish and imperial troops, 
 Zurich and Berne sent forces for its protection ; 
 but when the Bernese would have marched through the 
 passes of Soleure, the guards refused a passage, and 
 sounded an alarm. The land-vogts of Soleure sur- 
 rounded the troops of Berne, fired on them, cut them 
 down, killed many of their number, and disarmed the 
 rest. Soleure was, indeed, forced to give heavy com- 
 pensation, and some of the offenders were condemned 
 to death, others to banishment ; but hatred and distrust 
 w'ere not to be mitigated by legal proceedings. Shortly 
 afterwards, when the Swedish marshal Horn^ in order 
 to surprise the Austrian garrison of Constance, had 
 forced a way for his troops through the town of Stein, 
 in the Thurgau, belonging to Zurich, the catholic mem- 
 bers of the confederacy upbraided the reformers with 
 favouring Sweden to the prejudice of the emperor. Uri, 
 Schwytz, Unterwalden, and Zug, by way of counter- 
 poise, marched 3000 of their troops on the Lake of Con- 
 stance. But this occasioned the instant arming of 
 Zurich ; and a menace on the part of that canton, that 
 her forces should immetliately combine with those of 
 Sweden if the catholic confederates made common cause 
 with Austria. 
 
 Soon afterwards the imperialists at SchafFhausen in- 
 fringed on the Swiss territory, as the Swedes had done 
 at Stein. The men of SchafFhausen, indeed, took up 
 arms ; and some troops of Zurich marched out of the
 
 1048. FOREIGN INROADS AND EMBASSIES. 245 
 
 Thurgau to their assistance : but the measures taken 
 were tardy, feeble, and isolated. The villages of Bargen, 
 Altdorf, Begguigen, Barzheim, and Schleitheim were 
 partly sacked and burnt by the imperialists. The pea- 
 sants, however, banded themselves with good success 
 against the invaders ; while the panic-struck governm.ent 
 of Schaffhausen only exchanged epistolary vollies with 
 the imperial marshals. 
 
 Nevertheless, the troops of Austria made repeated in- 
 cursions on the territory of Basle, and scofied at the 
 defensive preparations of the Helvetic body. 
 
 It was often, indeed, insisted upon at diets, that the 
 holy and inviolable rights of the Swiss soil called loudly 
 for a standing force on the frontiers. But the people of 
 the interior cantons said that those on the frontiers 
 might take care of themselves, and exclaimed against 
 the expense of a standing army. Every one was will- 
 ing to have the benefits of a federal union ; but none 
 would sacrifice any thing to preserve them. Moreover, 
 the ambassadors of foreign powers interfered, as usual, 
 either in an imperative style, or by means of secret 
 intrigue and insidious counsel : and, even in minute 
 and near concernments, the confederates had not always 
 the spirit to counteract their influence. 
 
 At this time many strangers roamed into Switzer- 
 land from the seat of war in Italy and Germany. 
 Adventurers and fugitives excited the people against 
 the authorities, in order to take advantage of the public 
 confusion. These unserviceable vagrants were so nu- 
 merous, that in one day 100 of them were counted at 
 Schwytz, and at least sixfold that number in the county 
 of Baden. The land was rendered quite unsafe, until 
 rigour was used against them. At Brerngarten, 236 
 malefactors were sentenced to death within a single 
 year. Such severities struck a salutary terror into 
 those birds of passage. 
 
 The country was, however, less relieved by the 
 sword of justice than by the conclusion of the ge- 
 
 R 3
 
 246 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1C48. 
 
 neral peace of Westphalia, after a thirty years' war, 
 between the principal European powers. This treaty, 
 which restored the tranquillity of Europe, concerned 
 itself besides with the relations of the Helvetic body. 
 That body, wliich had once formed a portion of the 
 German empire, had for ages ceased to consider itself 
 dependent on the imperial government, to the support 
 of which it was neither called to contribute men nor 
 money. The only remaining vestige of dependence was 
 the formal confirmation of their franchises, from time to 
 time renewed to the confederates by the emperor. The 
 Swabian war, the design of which had been to reduce 
 the Swiss to their original subservience to the empire, 
 missed its aim ; but the claims of the empire were never 
 entirely abandoned. Occasional encroachments on the 
 Helvetic body took place, — in particular through the 
 agency of the court of the imperial chamber. But 
 now the Swiss ambassador succeeded in obtaining the 
 insertion of a clause into the treaty of Westphalia, which 
 formally, and for ever, declared the absolute independence 
 and separation of the lands of the confederacy from the 
 German empire. So that Switzerland offers, perhaps, the 
 single example of a country, the political self-existence 
 of which had never been acknowledged till the energetic 
 epochs of that existence had been long past, and till it 
 no longer possessed strength to defend, without the aid 
 of foreigners, its tardily acknowledged independence. 
 
 The foreign relations of Switzerland at this period 
 enriched, as we have seen, incUvidual families, but in 
 no degree conduced to the well-being of the country. 
 The councils of the Helvetic body were continually 
 occupied with regulations regarding the enhstments in 
 foreign services. About this time nearly 25,000 Swiss 
 were in the pay of foreigners. 
 
 The cUstresses and embarrassments of various descrip- 
 tions, incident to the warlike times of which we have 
 been treating, had unfavourable effects upon the culture 
 of science. An artificial taste, as well in thought as in
 
 1648. PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. 24? 
 
 Style, became prevalent. Astrology, and faith in super- 
 natural signs, in general retained their hold almost uni- 
 versally. As men imagine easily enough that they see and 
 hear that which they desire should be imparted to them, 
 or that which they are at any time engrossed with, swords 
 and other appearances in the heavens were often visible. 
 How fragmentary and Hmited in those times was the 
 knowledge possessed even by distinguished men, may be 
 judged by the fact, that one of the most eminent Swiss 
 diplomatists, employed in the Westphalian negotiation, 
 was obhged to ask the French plenipotentiary, Longue- 
 ville, whether French troops could not go by land to 
 Portugal without being obliged to pass through Spain ! 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 THE PEASANT WAR. 
 1653—1656. 
 
 INSURRECTION OF THE PEASANTRY IN BERNE, LUCERNE, SOLEURE, 
 AND BASLE. 
 
 There was very little harmony in the sentiments with 
 which the declaration of Helvetic independence was 
 received in different parts of the confederacy. Many 
 \'iewed the matter with indifference, and regarded it, 
 though only recently recognised, as something which had 
 long been possessed. Political emancipation brought 
 about no respite of religious dissension ; and new mat- 
 ter of embroilment was now added to the old feud be- 
 tween catholics and protestants. 
 
 Much discontent prevailed at this time among the 
 country people of more than one of the cantons that 
 many valleys remained in feudal servitude, or at least 
 were stiU subject to feudal burdens. AVhcn these 
 
 B 4
 
 248 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. l653. 
 
 people compared their own condition with that of Uri, 
 Schwytz, and Unterwalden, whose inhabitants were sub- 
 ject to no laws and no authority but such as they had 
 given themselves, and to no taxes but such as they 
 themselves had imposed, they felt the more deeply 
 their own condition as purchased bondsmen and subjects 
 of the towns, Uable to taxes and imposts without their 
 own consent being asked, and loaded with laws and 
 duties without their wishes being consulted. But they 
 felt still more vexation on being forced to yield, in 
 all points, to proud land-vogts, and rapacious men in 
 office ; wben they were struck for mere trifles, ill- 
 treated, and incarcerated ; or impoverished by exorbitant 
 and arbitrary fines. Complaints against influential and 
 official men were of little use, and had often fatal re- 
 sults to the complainant ; as relations of the land- 
 vogts, for the most part, sat in the government. Nay, 
 even secretaries, sub-vogts, and inferior officers, acted as 
 if they might persecute and plague the boors with im- 
 punity. Yet, as the evil was not every where felt 
 equally, and many just and good functionaries still 
 were to be found in the land, every thing for a while 
 remained quiet. 
 
 It was not, however, only in the free bailiwicks that 
 the people had long complained of the oppressions and 
 extortions of many among the land-vogts and other 
 functionaries, particularly those from the democratic 
 cantons, — but even in the immediate domains of the 
 ruling towns an oppressive system of government was 
 introduced, which was rendered yet more burdensome 
 by arbitrary assumptions. Actual necessities, and the 
 example of larger states, had occasioned the imposition 
 of new taxes ; and, since the recognition of Swiss inde- 
 pendence, many men in office considered themselves 
 to stand in a more elevated position with regard to 
 those whom they looked upon as their subjects. Fre- 
 quent complaints were made of severe corporal punish- 
 ments, of exorbitant and arbitrary fines, — sometimes
 
 l653. CAUSES OF DISCONTENT. 249 
 
 even of actual snares being set for wealthy persons. 
 An aristocratic government is tottering towards its fall, 
 when those who preside in it have lost the power, or 
 the wiU, to keep in check the malversations of the ofBcial 
 tools under them. 
 
 When the government of Berne made an effort to 
 improve its currency by excluding the small coins of 
 other cantons from its territory, and lowered by one 
 half the nominal value of its own batzen, discontent was 
 spread throughout the whole canton ; the more so as 
 the poorer classes suffered most by the change. The 
 people held assemblies in the villages ; and every one 
 brought his own particular wrong to swell the aggre- 
 gate. One complained of the tyranny of the land- 
 vogt, another of the government salt-monopoly, a third 
 of that of gunpowder, a fourth of the corporation re- 
 strictions, a fifth of the feudal burdens, — one and 
 all of the contempt of justice. The more the people 
 spoke, the more their heads became heated. 
 
 Such was the moment selected by the government of 
 Lucerne to lower the value of its batzen in hke manner. 
 Upon this the commune of Entlibuch sent delegates 
 to the town, and prayed that either the coin should be 
 left at its original value, or that agricultural produce 
 should be taken in payment instead of it. But their 
 petition was so harshly received, that they returned 
 home in a state of great discouragement. This height- 
 ened the existing discontent ; and when the collectors 
 made their appearance, they were driven back with 
 insult. On this the avoyer DuUiker came to Endibuch, 
 accompanied by secular and spiritual dignitaries, to 
 remonstrate with the elders of the communes. But 
 the able-bodied men from all the villages now gathered 
 together, armed with spears and clubs, bearing in their 
 van a white banner, followed by three youths who blew 
 alp-horns ; and behind them three others in old Swiss 
 costume, representing the men of Rutli ; and, lastly, the 
 whole body, 1400 strong. In this order the procession
 
 250 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. l653. 
 
 arrived at Dorf, where the delegates of the towns were 
 assembled : and here was renewed the clamour about the 
 calling in of the coinage, the raised interest of money, the 
 fines imposed by the land-vogts, &c. ; so that the delegates 
 could eifect nothing, but made their way back to the town. 
 But the country people held assemblies, posted guards, 
 searched all travellers, encouraged the neighbouring sub- 
 jects of Berne to join them ; and the ten bailiwicks of 
 the district swore to a solemn league at Wollhausen. 
 
 A¥hen matters became thus serious, the six catholic 
 cantons sent ambassadors to offer mediation. But when 
 these met the delegates of the ten jurisdictions at Wil- 
 lisau, who had committed to writing seven and twenty 
 articles of grievance, the tumults recommenced among the 
 peasantry; the confederate envoys were arrested and placed 
 under strict guard ; the principal passes towards the town 
 were occupied ; and Lucerne itself was threatened with an 
 inroad. But the lesser cantons speedily despatched 400 
 men to garrison and defend the town : Zurich and Berne 
 likewise commenced warlike jjreparations. When this 
 became known to the people of the ten jurisdictions, their 
 courage fell ; they liberated the captive envoys, and 
 begged for their mediation: which was equitably afforded 
 them in the shape of a %vritten award, which smoothed 
 over the principal grounds of dispute between the parties. 
 
 While all was now supposed to be settled, the storm 
 broke out afresh in the canton of Berne, from Thun as 
 far as the town of Brugg : for when the government 
 here attempted to call the country people out against 
 those of Lucerne, they answered, " No, we will not 
 march against our brothers ; for we have as many rights 
 to reclaim, and wrongs to complain of, as they I" In 
 all the villages, clamour and disorder had the upper 
 hand. Every one would command — no one obey. 
 Berne invoked the aid of the confederacy to quell this 
 insurrection. Schaffhausen, Basle, and Mulhausen sent 
 military aid instantly. Zurich and Lucerne, however, 
 advised friendly arbitration; to which the government of
 
 Ib53. SOFT AND HARD ONE!!. 251 
 
 Berne at length acceded. Before they had come to any 
 understanding, the forces of SchafFhausen had entered 
 the Bernese territory at Brugg, those of Basle and IMul- 
 hausen at Aarau. This embittered the people in the 
 Aargau; and a levy en masse was proclaimed throughout 
 the whole county of Lentzburg. 
 
 The disturbance now took an aspect of importance. 
 The peasants besieged the castles of the land-vogts ; sent 
 commissioners to the government of Berne ; and even had 
 recourse for foreign succours to Laberde, the French 
 ambassador. This step did grievous injury to their 
 cause; for the ambassador himself betrayed their over- 
 tures ; and the hearts of many well-intentioned persons 
 were now turned from them, since they had sought fo- 
 reign arbitrement in the cause of their native country. 
 Many persons, especially among the wealthier class, pre- 
 served their allegiance to the constituted authorities : 
 these were nick-named soft, and the antagonist party 
 hard ones. ]\Iany adherents of the governments had 
 their beards, others their ears, cut off. In the district 
 of Basle, a person of that description had his ear cut off 
 and placed in his hand, with the remark, that he was 
 now indeed an ear-hearer (tale-bearer). The heads of 
 others were held close to grind-stones, Avhich were then 
 set in motion, so that hair and scalp came off together ; 
 in order, as it was said, to harden them. 
 
 In the mean time appeared delegates from the six re- 
 formed cantons in Berne, in order to bring to a friendly 
 arbitration all disputes between the authorities and their 
 subjects. The commissioners of the revolted com- 
 munes co-operated for this purpose: and it was finally 
 decided that the government should retain the salt- 
 monopoly — the subject the right of freely purchasing 
 salt for his private use wherever he chose ; that corporate 
 restrictions should be abohshed ; the batzen remain 
 still at a depreciated value, &c. All this and more 
 being satisfactorily settled, the commissioners of the 
 communes sued for pardon on their knees before the
 
 252 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 1653. 
 
 town-council of Berne, and all seemed peaceably ad- 
 justed. 
 
 But the peasantry in Lucerne now raised a new cla- 
 mour, and said they could not acknowledge their league 
 of Wollhausen as punishable, as it was treated in the 
 recent declaration. They also sent forth emissaries to 
 the subjects of the other cantons, Avho every where pro- 
 claimed that they would no longer be vassals of the 
 towns, but free people, as those of the lesser cantons 
 were. The people in the Aargau and the Emmenthal 
 joined them; and upbraided the commissioners who had 
 prostrated themselves before the council of Berne, and 
 had accepted the agreement. In the cantons of Soleure 
 and Basle, also, many country people rose and avowed 
 their adhesion to the men of Lucerne, Emmenthal, and 
 Aargau. In the Sumiswald they held land-assemblies, 
 and elected Nicholas Leuenberger, a countryman of 
 Schonholz, to preside over the league of the four can- 
 tons of Lucerne, Berne, Basle, and Soleure. 
 
 As in the old times the counts and barons had freed 
 themselves from the power of the emperor, and had as- 
 serted their own hereditary jurisdiction in their do- 
 mains ; and as, at a later date, the large towns of Swit- 
 zerland, favoured by fortune and by circumstances, had 
 purchased emancipation from the power of the old 
 counts and barons ; so the subject peasants were now 
 in arms to vindicate a share of freedom equal to that of 
 the towns. But their enterprise was calculated badly. 
 These furious mobs neither went to work with the pious 
 uprightness and strict union displayed of old by the 
 men of the forest cantons, nor with the prudence and 
 deliberate resolution of the towns. They were rude 
 unknowing people, inexperienced in state affairs, mis- 
 trustful of each other, and each sharper set on his own 
 than on the general advantage. They listened with 
 more willingness to ranting declaimers than to the 
 counsel of intelUgent men; and they were very soon 
 found to be divided among themselves, and prepared for 
 every species of extravagance.
 
 l653. LEVIES AGAINST THE INSURGENTS. 253 
 
 Meanwhile the towns prepared themselves to quell 
 the revolters, while they continued to negotiate with 
 them in order to gain time : yet Berne and the diet at 
 Baden meant more fairly by the people. Many con- 
 ferences were planned or held with the delegates of the 
 insurgents; but no treaty could be brought to bear 
 with furious hordes, on whose resolutions no sort of de- 
 pendence could be placed from day to day. 
 
 All overtures being in vain, Zurich, then the prin- 
 cipal canton, summoned the whole confederate forces 
 into the field. Berne called out the troops of the Pays 
 de Vaud, — which, by its language, had been held apart 
 from the cause of the German subjects, — and nominated 
 Sigismund of Erlach to the command. He had about 
 10,000 men under his orders. From the cathohc can- 
 tons came about 5000, led by the colonel Zueyer ; the 
 rest of the confederates, to the number of 1 0,000, were 
 commanded by the Zurich field-marshal Wertmiiller. 
 The free peasantry of the lesser cantons stoutly supported 
 the towns in asserting their cause against the revolted 
 populace ; for they, too, were possessed of subject 
 bailiwicks. 
 
 However, the revolters also were speedily under arms. 
 But they had neither heavy artillery nor military stores, 
 nor discipline, nor leaders of experience ; since the 
 posts of command had hitherto been exclusively held by 
 burghers. 
 
 As soon as Leuenberger, the chief of the leagued 
 burghers, Schybi, UUi Galli, and the other heads of 
 the insurrection, saw that the game would be played 
 in earnest, they endeavoured to put the best face on 
 their perilous enterprise, partly by airs of defiance, 
 partly by renewed negotiations. From his camp at 
 Ostermundigen, a league from Berne, Avhere his 
 troops robbed and plundered all around them, Leuen- 
 berger once more wrote to Berne to propose a peaceable 
 settlement of the contest. The council at Berne, to 
 avoid the shedding of blood, actually sent ambassadors
 
 254 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. l653. 
 
 to the insurgents ; and offered a large subsidy of 15,000/. 
 to the peasants : not, however, as an indemnity for their 
 war expenses, but as succour and relief to their poverty. 
 The insurgent delegates finally subscribed the very 
 composition which had already once before been re- 
 jected by them ; and again promised loyalty and al- 
 legiance. But they had hardly returned to their camp 
 when all their labours were rendered null and void : 
 for, as the confederates had taken up arms, the insur- 
 gents would not lay down theirs till their antagonists 
 should have drawn off their troops likewise. 
 
 General Erlach marched from Berne on Langen- 
 thal, and in his w^ay dispersed a body of 2000 pea- 
 sants. On the plain before Herzogenbuchsee, he found 
 a guard of six peasants armed with halberts. These 
 assured him the rebels were aU dispersed ; but, as he 
 rode with his followers towards the town, shot after 
 shot saluted them. He now saw the insurgent bands 
 suddenly before him who had occupied the neighbour- 
 ing wood, and he charged them on three sides at once. 
 
 Now began a desperate conflict. The insurgents, 
 soon overpowered, defended step by step their retreat to 
 the village. While a part of it was burning at their 
 backs, they fought in the houses, and then behind the 
 ■walls of the church. Finally, they dispersed and fled 
 through the woods. 
 
 Instead of the sounds of uproar and defiance, the 
 silence of death, remorse, and terror now prevailed in all 
 the villages. The districts were disarmed ; the leaders 
 imprisoneil. At Zofingen the confederate council of 
 war sat, and held courts martial. Schybi was trans- 
 ported thither from Entlibuch, and beheaded. Leuen- 
 berger, betrayed in his own house by his neighbours 
 and comrades, was imprisoned at Berne, where he was 
 shortly after executed, and his bloody head affixed to 
 the gallows beside the insurgent covenant. His secre- 
 tary, Brosmer, died in like manner ; and UUi GaUi was 
 hanged. At Basle, seven old men, with snow-white
 
 l65i, INSURRECTION SUPFRKSSED. 255 
 
 beards^ were sentenced to death as having taken part in 
 the insurrection. Of the others, some were sentenced 
 to death, some to banishment, others to fines. Thus 
 the free bailiwicks had to pay 10,000 guilders; the 
 people of the county of Lentzburg, 20,000 ; the men of 
 Soleure, 30,000 ; and others in proportion : and the 
 emperor Ferdinand III. proclaimed a sentence of out- 
 lawry against the fugitive insurgents through the whole 
 Roman empire. 
 
 All members of the Helvetic body might by this time 
 have convinced themselves, that nothing but internal 
 union could save them in times of threatened danger, 
 whether from within or without. The most decisive 
 experience of this truth had been afforded by the inci- 
 dents of the recent insurrection. It had been seen with 
 what facility the insurgents of both religions had agreed 
 upon a common form of compact and conspiracy ; an 
 agreement which, for many generations, their rulers had 
 been unable to bring to pass. This spectacle revived 
 the wish to infuse renewed vigour into the league of the 
 confederacy. The evangelical party gave utterance to 
 this wish in 1654- ; and it was undertaken to mould the 
 former alliances into one general instrument. But as, 
 in politics, important matters are often treated slightly 
 when once they have become things of habit, so slight 
 matters are swelled into importance when any thing of a 
 novel nature is brought under discussion. The older 
 cantons would not give up the prerogatives which they 
 enjoyed over those which had been received into the 
 league at a later period. Moreover, it did not escape 
 the penetration of the catholics that their close con- 
 nections amongst themselves, and with foreign powers, 
 must yield to the more comprehensive bond of the con- 
 federacy. Many popular leaders feared the loss of the 
 most fruitful sources of gain in their vocation. And thus, 
 for the present, no re-union was possible. 
 
 Meanwhile the foreign policy of the two rehgious 
 parties took directions diametrically opposite. The
 
 256 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. l656. 
 
 evangelicals allowed no nice scruples to deter them 
 from mixing in foreign interests to promote those of 
 protestantism. The then English government (that of 
 Cromwell) paid extraordinary honours to the envoys of 
 the protestant cantons. In 16'54, they made, by word 
 and writing, the most urgent intercessions at the court 
 of Turin for the persecuted Waldenses ; contributed 
 for them 18,000 florins; spoke at length of the 
 possibility of resorting to armed intervention : and 
 it was principally through their aid, with that of 
 England and Holland, that a treaty of toleration was 
 closed at Pignerol, when the French minister, Mazarin, 
 who had originally instigated these persecutions, ceased 
 to give his support to the cause of Savoy. 
 
 In the follo%dng year, the catholic cantons renewed 
 their league with the bishop of Basle. The contracting 
 parties not only promised each other active assistance in 
 cases of religion, and in every other just cause, but also 
 equal division of all conquests made in common ; a 
 clause which seemed to point at the domains of the 
 protestant cantons, as conquests over the neighbouring 
 great powers could not be dreamed of. Still more dis- 
 quieting for the protestants was the renewal of the Bor- 
 romean league by the catholic cantons.
 
 LGoG. PROTESTANTS AM) CATHOLICS. 25? 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 RELIGIOUS WAR AND WAR OF TOGGEXBURG. 
 
 1606— 1718. 
 
 BELIGIOUS WAR. BATTLE OF VILLMERGES. THE PLAGUE. 
 
 USURPATIONS OF THE ABBOT OF ST. GALL OVER THE PEOPLE OF 
 
 TOGGENBURG. CONDUCT OF SCHWTTZ AND GLARUS OF 
 
 BERNE. WAROFTOGGEN-BURG. FUGHT OF ABBOT LEODEGAR. 
 
 TOGGENBURGERS AIM AT INDEPENDENCE WHICH li 
 
 REFUSED THEM. SURPRISAL OF THE BERNESE TROOPS BY 
 
 ACKERMANN OF UNTERWaLDEN. SECOND ACTION AT VILL- 
 
 MERGEN. PEACE OF AARAU. HOSTILE INTERFERENCE OF 
 
 THE POPE AND HIS NUNCIO. REPRISALS OF THE HELVETIC 
 
 BODY. 
 
 Scarcely was the foregoing insurrection weU disposed 
 of, when a new dispute broke out among the cantons of 
 the confederacy. 
 
 This was a fresh manifestation of that unchristian 
 hatred which prevailed between protestants and catho- 
 lics. The clergy on both sides, instead of exrinsuishins 
 the flame of discord, blew it up by their preaching. 
 
 There never were wanting occasions of dispute among 
 the governments, especially in the common or free baih- 
 wicks, where each contended exclusively for its own 
 creed and its own jurisdiction ; and none reposed con- 
 fidence any longer in their colleagues, as none would 
 beUeve any thing but evil of the rest. The cathohcs 
 would not beheve that Berne and Zurich built fortifi- 
 cations, and entered into alliances with Holland and 
 witD England, for nothing. The protestants com- 
 plained of the catholics, for confirming the Borromean 
 league, renewing their alliances with Savoy and the 
 bishop of Basle, and keeping up relations of close amity 
 with the court of Spain. 
 
 It happened that six famihes of Arth, in the canton 
 of Schwytz, were obliged to fly for holding the evaiige-
 
 258 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. l656. 
 
 lical persuasion, as their lives were hardly safe in their 
 native village. They presented themselves with tears 
 and prayers before the council of Zurich, and only 
 begged that the free transport of their property might 
 be procured for them. Upon this the council of Zurich 
 addressed pressing intercessions to Schwytz in behalf of 
 these persecuted people ; but Schwytz refused to listen to 
 their overtures, and demanded the surrender of the 
 persons of the refugees. When upon this the reformed 
 cantons appealed to the rights of the confederacy, Schwytz 
 replied : " Within our own land we owe no account to 
 any one, except to God and to ourselves." Moreover, 
 they confiscated the goods of the emigrants, threw their 
 relatives (as they also were of the protestant persuasion) 
 into prison, put some of them to the torture, and con- 
 demned others to death. 
 
 Zurich now took up arms, as all admonition and 
 mediation from the neutral cantons at diets had been 
 useless. AYith equal celerity, Schwytz and the catholic 
 cantons were in tlie field. Zurich, supported by Basle, 
 Mulhausen, and SchafFhausen, marched troops towards 
 the Rhine, occupied the Thurgau, and besieged Rap- 
 perswyl. But the catholics had already occupied Rap- 
 perswyl and the Albis, as well as Bremgarten, MeUingen, 
 and Baden, and the Brunigberg, on the side of Berne. 
 The Bernese sent detachments to the defence of Frey- 
 burg, Soleure, and Unterwaklen, and marched to Lentz- 
 burg with forty banners to the succour of the Zurichers. 
 
 There was, however, nothing like discipline in the 
 ranks of the reformers. They sacked and burned 
 wherever they came, pillaged the monastery of Rhei- 
 nau, plundered villages and churches, and drove off the 
 cattle. So little order was preserved by the Bernese, 
 that they encamped in the district of Villmergen, with- 
 out troubling themselves at all about the enemy; sent 
 out no scouts ; and were not even provided with sufficient 
 ammunition. And although some men of the Aargau 
 had descried the enemy by the village of Wohlen, and 
 gave the alarm to the Bernese ; yet no attention was paid
 
 l656. BATTLE OF VILLMERGEN. 259 
 
 to them, as some young gentlemen of Berne had ridden 
 out to reconnoitre and assured that all was safe. 
 
 More than 4000 men of Lucerne, in effect, lay in am- 
 bush on the heights of Wohlen. From a ridge in the 
 hollow way, where they were covered up to the waist, 
 they suddenly opened a fire on the Bernese lines. These 
 fell into such panic and confusion that they could hardly 
 be formed in order of battle. As powder and ball were 
 deficient, they discharged only two rounds from their 
 field pieces ; the rout was general. Ten fresh squadrons, 
 indeed, came to their aid ; but those wheeled about and 
 took to flight along with the rest. The general of Lu- 
 cerne had in his pocket during the action a letter from 
 his government containing an order not to fight, as a 
 peaceable arrangement Avas in progress : but he put it 
 up unopened, as he could guess at the contents, and pur- 
 sued the flying Bernese, of whom a vast number were 
 cut to pieces. They lost about 800 men, and eleven 
 pieces of heavy artillery. A strong body of Bernese 
 troops were posted in the neighbourhood, and saw the 
 flight of their countrymen towards Lentzburg, but did 
 not leave their position, not having orders. 
 
 Such was the fatal battle of Villmergen. The victors 
 lay encamped, exulting, three days on the field of battle ; 
 they then marched homewards, loaded with plunder. 
 A few weeks afterwards an armistice, and finally a 
 peace, were concluded. For as, during warfare, the trans- 
 port of the necessaries of life was suspended with regard 
 to the lesser cantons, and as the government of Lucerne 
 could as little as that of Berne repose confidence in its 
 own discontented peasantry, it was the interest of all 
 sides to put a speedy end to the war, which, though it 
 lasted only nine weeks, had already cost the Zurichers 
 above 414,000 florins. The pacification restored things 
 to their previous situation. In matters of religion, and 
 with regard to freedom of transit for goods between one 
 canton and another, each canton retained the power of 
 acting in its own domain at its OAvn pleasure. 
 
 The catholics might have taken even greater advan> 
 
 s 9.
 
 HGO HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. iGGi. 
 
 tage of the wretched state of discipline in the protestant 
 cantons, if their own war department had been conducted 
 at all better. Peace was now restored without the spirit 
 of peace. Both sides were exhausted; but the damage 
 done reciprocally remained without compensation, and 
 the minds of both parties were embittered more than 
 ever. This was visible every where, and chiefly in 
 the common bailiwicks. In these, what hurt the one 
 pleased the others ; and the populace exhibited their 
 unchristian zeal of doctrine according to the example 
 of their rulers. It lacked but a slight impulse to oc- 
 casion a renewal of warfare. 
 
 An officer of Lucerne, who had levied troops for the ser- 
 vice of Spain, marched them through the Thurgau, and 
 led them, with drawn sabres, into the protestant church of 
 Ripperswyl. From thence a woman pursued them with 
 curses and horrible cries to AV^igoldingen, where the 
 population were speedily up in arms on the Spanish 
 soldiers, five of whom were slain, some wounded, and 
 others taken prisoners. This event called up the re- 
 formed and catholic cantons in arms. Troops were 
 levied ; the five catholic cantons immediately occupied 
 Kaiserstuhl, Mellingen, and Bremgarten. Much debate 
 and negotiation followed. The catholic cantons were 
 not to be pacified save by blood. Two men of Wigold- 
 ingen were sentenced to death by the majority of the 
 cantons, which exercised sovereignty over the Thurgau, 
 notwithstanding Zurich's urgent solicitations for their 
 pardon. The commune of Wigoldingen being sentenced 
 to pay the whole expenses of the lengthened dispute, 
 collections were made in aid of that object in aU the 
 churches of Zurich. 
 
 Similar disputes were very frequent in these times; 
 and persecutions on account of faith were practised 
 without mercy. Thus sorrow and distress were in- 
 troduced into many households. Contagious sickness 
 next was added to all the other sources of misery, which 
 carried off" numbers, especially in Basle and in the 
 Aargau. The season had been unhealthy, and warm
 
 1667- DISPUTES IX TOGGEXBURG. 201 
 
 during almost the whole winter. Venomous worms and 
 caterpillars cohered trees, grass, and fruits; and water 
 and field mice appeared in greater numbers than had 
 before been known. This continued till the year came 
 to an end, and a hard winter followed. 
 
 Many of the Swiss, though called free, were poor 
 subjects, possessed of fewer rights than those of kings ; 
 nay, force and fraud were often used without scruple to 
 extirpate, Uttle by little, the few franchises of the people, 
 that the power of their lords might luxuriate without 
 limits. 
 
 The people had a special experience of this in the 
 district of Toggenburg. In former times, through the 
 favour of the old counts of Toggenburg, the communes 
 had enjoyed important privileges in this district — par- 
 ticipation in the appointment of the higher and lower 
 courts of justice, and in general assemblies called to 
 consult upon the military and civil administration. Xo 
 land-vogt, moreover, could be imposed on them but by 
 election from amongst the native inhabitants. 
 
 But the abbots of St. Gall having purchased of the 
 barons of Raron the jurisdiction over the land which 
 the latter had acquired by inheritance from the old 
 counts of Toggenburg; the new possessors aimed in 
 their turn at pri\-ileges, which, far from ha-s-ing pur- 
 chased, they had formally acknowledged to belong to 
 the people. And in like manner as the people of 
 Toggenburg had set up, for the protection of their 
 freedom, a common-law jurisdiction with the cantons of 
 Schwytz and Glarus ; so, in l-i6"9, the abbot also esta- 
 bUshed a defensive league with the same cantons, for 
 the maintenance of his territorial rights. As his abbacy 
 was connected with the confederacy, and he himself 
 bore the title of prince of the holy Roman empire, he 
 always knew how to take advantage of his twofold 
 title. He opposed himself to the emperor, when it 
 suited him, in his quality of confederate ; to the con- 
 federates as prince of the empire, and delegate of im-
 
 ^62 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1(554. 
 
 perial majesty; and thus he made his double character 
 stand him in good stead. 
 
 lie now began to speak of the freedom of Toggenburg 
 in ambiguous terms, and went so far as to call the 
 people his vassals, in order to accustom them to become 
 such. At last he attacked their franchises openly, and 
 much debate took place before the diets of the confederacy. 
 These, however, seconded his pretensions. Thus he first 
 obtained appellate jurisdiction from all tribunals in the 
 country to his own court ; then he assumed the right 
 of choosing a foreigner for land-vogt, of holding the un- 
 checked administration of church property, preserves, 
 and fisheries; in addition to these, he set up a claim of 
 appointing the priest in every church, and conferring 
 the rights of citizenship at his pleasure. Lastly, the 
 people were prohibited from holding assemblies ; and 
 the war administration of the country fell, in l654, en- 
 tirely into the abbot's hands. Now he domineered at 
 j)leasure, assented to compulsory enlistments in foreign 
 services, filled all places with his creatures, and re- 
 garded with indifference the appropriation of the best 
 lands to monasteries through methods the most fraudulent. 
 
 At length, the abbot Leodegar considered himself ab- 
 solute lord in the land ; he commanded the people to 
 make, and to maintain, at their own cost, a new highway 
 through the Hummelwald; and when the delegates of 
 the people dared to remonstrate that this would be a 
 burthen more oppressive than had formerly been the 
 feudal services from which they had already bought them- 
 selves free, he condemned them to a heavy fine, to public 
 recantation, and he declared them disarmed and dis- 
 honoured. 
 
 The oppressed Toggenburgers now brought their com- 
 plaints before Schwytz and Glarus. Glarustook the dis- 
 tress of the poor peasantry to heart, as also did Schwytz, 
 although the Toggenburgers professed the reformed faith. 
 " And even though they were Turks and heathens," cried 
 the Schwytzers in the general assembly, " they are never- 
 theless our countrymen and confederates, and we should
 
 1703. WAR OF TOGGENBL'RG. 263 
 
 help them to assert their rights." This incensed the abbot, 
 who appealed to all the cantons in behalf of lus con- 
 federate rights. Now came diet upon diet, from year 
 to year. Many were well inclined towards the Toggen- 
 burgers, on account of their refcnned and oppressed 
 faith ; many hostile to the abbot, for having shortly 
 before closed a defensive alliance with Austria, and for 
 appearing to regard the county of Toggenburg as a fief 
 held of the emperor and the empire. The longer the 
 quarrel lasted, the more perplexed, of course, became the 
 matter out of which it arose. At length the old religious 
 hatred threw in its venom; for so soon as Schwytz 
 and the other catholic cantons perceived that Zurich and 
 Berne afforded assistance to the Tcggenburgers chiefly 
 on the ground of their common faith, and encouraged 
 them to stand fast for their old rights, Schwytz became 
 better inclined to the abbot of St. Gall. This, however, 
 did not deter Zurich and Berne from their purpose, or 
 the citizens of Toggenburg from the exercise of their 
 franchises. The imperial envoy now stepped in with a 
 missive from his court, of Avhich the purport was that 
 the emperor wovdd settle the affair, as the county of 
 Toggenburg had indubitably, from time immemorial, 
 been a fief of the empire ; but Zurich and Berne repUed, 
 that Toggenburg lay within the Swiss frontier, and that 
 the abbot of St. Gall had long acknowledged them as 
 arbitrators. Moreover, the ambassadors of Holland and 
 the kings of England and Prussia encouraged the men 
 of Zurich and Berne in resistance to the emperor. 
 
 The matter of cUspute became more and more in- 
 definite, and tumult and violence now arose in Tog- 
 genburg itself. The abbot adhered stiffly to the main- 
 tenance of his usurped power. The Tcggenburgers 
 refused obedience, and drove away his functionaries ; 
 whereupon the abbot posted troops on all the bridges, 
 roads, and passes in the district of St. CiaU. Bailiff 
 Diirler, in Lucerne, the most zealous friend of the abbot, 
 called the catholic cantons out, to keep in check the 
 rebels of Toggenburg. On the other hand, the mayor 
 
 s 4
 
 26i 
 
 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1712. 
 
 of Berne, Willading, exhorted the reformed cantons to 
 appeal without delay to the sword, for the old rights of 
 the people of Toggenburg and the safety of the protestant 
 church. 
 
 So soon as the men of Toggenburg saw that Zurich 
 and Berne stood on their side, and that general Bodmer 
 was on his march from Zurich to their aid, with a 
 force of nearly aOOO men, they proclaimed war for the 
 maintenance of their rights against the abbot. Rabholz, 
 an eminent member of the government of Zurich, became 
 their leader, as he had before been their friend and coun- 
 sellor, proclaimed a levy en masse, and engaged the 
 abbot's myrmidons as vigorously with the sword as he 
 had already done with the pen. The abbot's cloisters 
 and castles were besieged, and the troops of Zurich 
 ravaged the whole district of St. Gall without the slightest 
 restraint of order or discipline. 
 
 No\^ also Lucerne, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, and 
 Zug took up arms, advanced on Toggenburg, and oc- 
 cupied the county of Baden. The nuncio gave them 
 26,000 thalers out of the papal treasury; and in Rome 
 prayers were offered up to the saints for their success. 
 Consecrated bullets and amulets were distributed by the 
 priests to the soldiers. Berne, on her part, raised 1 0,000 
 crowns from her own treasury, and brought 15,000 men 
 into the field. A Bernese force advanced against the 
 Stilli, crossed the Aar, and joined the forces of Zurich at 
 Wurelingen : these, at the same time, had taken pos- 
 session of the whole Thurgau. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Glarus and Soleure remained 
 neutral, as likewise did the bishop of Constance. Basle 
 and Freyburg lamented this civil contest between Swiss 
 and Swiss, and once more exhorted both sides to an 
 amicable agreement ; but the admonition came too late. 
 The abbot of St. Gall transported his valuables to Lindau, 
 betook himself to Rosbach, and appHed to the town of 
 St. GaU and to the territory of Appenzell and Glarus 
 for assistance ; but they promised him nothing further 
 than their neutrahty. The emperor, on the other hand,
 
 1712. FLIGHT OF ABBOT LEODEGAR, 265 
 
 summoned the circle of Swabia, as far as Tresburg, in 
 :tlungary, to the assistance of the abbot. 
 
 Meanwhile, the brave Rabholz had marched into the 
 old abbey-lands ; the banners of Berne and Zurich went 
 victoriously through the whole Thurgau_, as far as the 
 town of St. Gall : they there placed a garrison in the 
 abbey, and at Rosbach. The panic-struck abbot had 
 already taken refuge for himself and his valuables at 
 Augsburg. 
 
 The Toggenburgers, now that their cause was vic- 
 torious, condemned those of the abbot's people to death 
 who had acted the part of betrayers towards them ; they 
 threw off the abbot's dominion altogether, as well as the 
 connection with Schwytz and Glarus, and proposed to 
 the people of Gaster, Uznach, and others to found a 
 free and independent state, like the cantons of the con- 
 federacy ; and they planned a new constitution, which 
 they brought before the diet at Aarau. But such lan- 
 guage displeased the leaders of Berne and Zurich, as 
 they would rather have had the Toggenburgers for sub- 
 jects than for fellow-confederates : even Rabholz, the 
 zealous champion of the Toggenburg cause, declined to 
 second the wishes of tlie people, although they offered 
 him large sums of money to do so. 
 
 Meanwhile infinite wrath and discord prevailed in the 
 cathoHc cantons. Some were for peace, others for war. 
 The French and Austrian ambassadors promised assist- 
 ance; the pope sent money; Freyburg and Soleure 
 espoused their cause with the Valais, and the whole 
 cathoHc portion of tlie bailiwicks. But those reformed 
 districts, on the other hand, which had hitherto remained 
 quiet, threatened to take up arms ; and all of that per- 
 suasion in the common bailiwicks actually cUd take up 
 arms in support of Zurich and Berne. Thus, at this time, 
 nearly 150,000 Swiss stood arrayed for mortal conflict 
 with each other: at no former period had the confederacy 
 taken the field in equal force against a foreign enemy. 
 And so it happened^ that one sword kept another in the 
 scabbard.
 
 266 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1712. 
 
 While the envoys of the confederacy sat at Aarau 
 and treated of peace, the land-vogt and knight Acker- 
 mann of Unterwalden marched with 5000 men upon 
 the bridge of Sins, Avhere the forces of Berne lay in 
 their encampment. The priest of Sins, on a previous 
 understanding with Ackermann, had given a banquet to 
 the leaders of the Bernese, in order to lull their vigilance. 
 They were thus taken by surprise, so that they saved 
 themselves with difficulty. Many of the Bernese were 
 slain. Their leader, Meunier, who, with 200 men, de- 
 fended himself valiantly, first in the churchyard and 
 then in the church, was obliged at last to give himself 
 and his men up as prisoners : they would infallibly have 
 been cut down without mercy, had not Ackermann, with 
 generous boldness, curbed those blood-thirsty men. The 
 Schwytzers had moreover pressed forwards, in the direc- 
 tion of Hiitten and BeUenschanz, towards the Lake of 
 Zurich. There, however, they came upon Hans Wert-, 
 mLiUer, the vigilant commander of Zurich. Seven hours 
 long the Schwytzers fought — they lost 200 men ; but 
 they were finally compelled to yield to the Zurichers. 
 Among their slain were found consecrated tickets, with 
 numbers, and crosses, and assurances of victory. 
 
 Knight Ackermann drew catholic reinforcements 
 around him from all quarters. His troops were above 
 12,000 strong. He marched v^ith vigour through the 
 land by Muri to Wohlen and Villmergen, where the 
 Bernese stood with 8000 men. Here, in the same 
 region where the Bernese once before had suffered a 
 bloody defeat from the catholic cantons, in 1 656, the 
 turf was again to be reddened with Swiss blood shed by 
 Swiss hands. It was the 25th of July, 1712. The 
 Bernese had taken position near Meiengrun. The 
 thunder of artillery opened the conflict. Six long 
 hours the struggle was protracted. At length the 
 Bernese brought confusion and panic among the cham- 
 pions of the catholic cantons, broke their ranks and 
 put them to flight. The plain was strewed with the 
 corpses of above 2000 catholics.
 
 1712. PEACE OF AARAU. 267 
 
 The Toggenburgers now having gained possession of 
 Uznach and Gaster^ the town of Rapperswyl being sur- 
 rendered to the Zurichers, and the conquerors having 
 pressed from all sides into the catholic territory, their 
 antagonists at length became intimidated, and begged 
 for peace. 
 
 Already had the cantons of Lucerne and Uri sub- 
 scribed to the terms of peace at the diet in Aarau ; but 
 the peasantry of the former canton, incited by the papal 
 nuncio, as well as by their own priests and monks, 
 would not hear of peace, but had marched against the 
 tOAvn to force the government into hostilities, and from 
 thence against the Bernese at Villmergen. Here they 
 had rushed on merited destruction. 
 
 The general peace of the country was at length 
 concluded at Aarau, on terms of course advantageous to 
 the victors. The five catholic cantons were not only 
 compelled to cede their rights over Baden, Rapperswyl, 
 and the lower bailiwicks, in favour of Zurich and Berne, 
 but, besides, to take these two preponderant cantons into 
 partnership of dominion over the Thurgau and the 
 Rheinthal, where both religious parties from thence- 
 forward exercised equal rights. Glarus remained exclu- 
 sively in the possession of Berne and Zurich. 
 
 The humbled abbot Leodegar of St. Gall would not, 
 however, accept the terms of pacification ; and conse- 
 quently remained, to the day of his death, in obstinate 
 exile. Meanwhile the troops of Berne and Zurich 
 occupied his lands. But when the new abbot, Joseph, 
 in 171 8, accepted the above mentioned terms of peace in 
 Rosbach, his lands were restored, and the Toggen- 
 burgers placed once more in subjection to him ; but 
 with augmented rights and franchises, under the gua- 
 rantee of Berne and Zurich. The pope and his nuncio 
 only persisted in rejecting the peace of Aarau, declaring 
 it altogether null and void. This, however,, troubled 
 the reconciled confederates but little : and when the 
 people in some districts of the canton of Lucerne were 
 incited by the clergy against the government, a garrison
 
 26'8 HISTORY 01'' SWITZEKLAND. ' 1713. 
 
 from Entlibuch was taken into the town, a tax on mon- 
 asteries demanded of the pope towards covering war 
 expenses, and at the same time the recall of the nuncio 
 CaraccioUi was insisted on, who was denounced as the 
 principal promoter of all the mischief. The bitter effects 
 of this war were long felt by the catholic cantons, which, 
 in carrying it on, had incurred immense expenses. 
 Schwytz imposed on every household a tax of five tha- 
 lers. Lucerne was compelled to use force in collecting 
 her imposts. Uri could only pacify her subjects in the 
 Val Levantina by conceding extensive franchises, and 
 by designating them thenceforwards as "well-beloved 
 and faithful countrymen." 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 COURSE OF EVENTS DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1702—1781. 
 
 FOREIGN RELATIONS AND POLICY OF THE HELVETIC BODY AT THE 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. JESUIT MISSIONS. 
 
 CONDUCT OF DU LUC THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR. CASE OF 
 
 THOMAS MASSNER OF COIRE. — CONSFIRACY OF HENZI AT 
 
 BERNE. INSURRECTION OF CHENAUX AT FREYBURG. NEW 
 
 ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 
 
 On the outbreaking of the war of the Spanish suc- 
 cession, the intrigues of foreign ambassadors in Swit- 
 zerland occasioned partial ferments and divisions, but 
 the confederates kept carefully out of dangerous en- 
 tanglements. They aimed exclusively at securing their 
 neutrality ; a point in which they succeeded but imper- 
 fectly, for the security of their frontiers and communi- 
 cations was subjected to frequent interruptions. The 
 belligerent powers harassed the Helvetic body with con- 
 stant demands, and goaded them to inward dissension. 
 Such machinations were only too successful in a state 
 which was already making rapid approach to ruin, — in 
 which the common weal had ceased to be much regarded ;
 
 1702. DELATIONS WITH FRANCE. 26^ 
 
 and every one held himself justified in pursuing his own 
 interests in preference to those of his country. 
 
 The relations which subsisted between the Helvetic 
 body and France were of a deUcate and very peculiar 
 nature. The latter power founded an especial claim to 
 gratitude on the permanent employment of Swiss troops 
 in her service : the French court thought fit to forget 
 that the seeming profits of this connection were bought 
 by the confederates at the price of streams of blood, of 
 the decay of arts and agriculture, constantly increasing 
 moral corruption, and utter extinction of patriotism and 
 public spirit. But France only took account of the sums 
 of money transmitted to Switzerland, regarded the latter 
 country in the light of a sort of province, and treated 
 aU opposition to her wishes and proceedings as an overt 
 act of treason against her majesty. In this spirit the 
 French ambassador, count du Luc, expresses himself: — 
 " I had believed that, at least, families loaded by France 
 with wealth and honours, must necessarily bear the fleur- 
 de-lis traced in their inmost hearts : but I find that this 
 nation retains no sense of received benefits ; that tokeru 
 of favour only weigh with those who enjoyed them per- 
 sonally ; and do not even influence the sentiments and 
 actions of their nearest relations favourably to the in- 
 terests of his majesty." He recommended, by way of 
 remedy, to lavish constant good treatment exclusively on 
 the pensioners of France, in order that their zeal and 
 fidelity may frustrate the resistance of others. In hke 
 manner, he holds it indispensable that the friends of 
 France should, at any expense, be promoted to the first 
 official stations in the cantons. Du Luc goes on to ad- 
 vise that, in all military promotions, particular attention 
 should be paid to the men of the Thirteen Cantons, and 
 those of the Valais and the Grisons, who are accustomed 
 to regard every step made by others as a robbery com- 
 mitted on themselves. For the rest, he says, the whole 
 system of policy to be observed with Swiss statesmen 
 may be expressed in two words : — these gentlemen must 
 either be treated with great regard and honour; or fairly
 
 270 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1710. 
 
 crushed, and put out of the power of doing mischief. 
 The lengths which France was capable of going, in order 
 to strengthen her party in the confederacy, and to win, 
 fatigue, " or fairly crush" her opponents, may be judged 
 of from the following incident : — 
 
 Thomas Massner of Coire, a man of enormous wealth 
 and influence, and who was considered as the head of 
 the Austrian party in the Grisons, had made himself 
 obnoxious to France by his well-known political con- 
 nections. The following plan was adopted by the French 
 ambassador, count du Luc, in order " to deprive him of 
 the power of doing mischief." Massner's son, a -lad of 
 sixteen, a student at Geneva, was decoyed on a party of 
 pleasure into Savoy by the brother of the French agent 
 at Coire, kidnapped by the French, and carried off to 
 Fort I'Ecluse. The indignant father meditated active re- 
 prisals, and succeeded in obtaining possession of the per- 
 son of the French agent at Coire himself, MerveiUeux. 
 The French ambassador denounced the act as a breach 
 of the law of nations; while in the Grisons it passed for 
 an equitable, though extra-legal, retaliation. Massner's 
 friends compromised the matter, and engaged him to 
 liberate his captive, and ask pardon of the French am- 
 bassador, on condition that his son should likewise be 
 liberated : but Massner having honourably performed his 
 part of the treaty, and his son being still detained in 
 hopeless captivity, he fell upon new plans of revenge. 
 He took prisoner the duke de Vendome, grand prior of 
 France, carried him to Feldkirch, and delivered him up 
 to the Austrians : this excusable act of vengeance proved 
 a seed of much misfortune to Massner. The government 
 of the Grisons did its utmost to negotiate the reciprocal 
 liberation of the captives. On the demand of France, 
 a tribunal was appointed at Ilanz for the trial of Massner, 
 who sought his safety in flight. In 1711, a sentence of 
 outlawry was passed against him ; his property was 
 confiscated, his house rased to the gromid, and a monu- 
 ment of his ignominy erected on its site. Many of his 
 partisans were involved in his fall. A thousand ducats
 
 171i« CASE 01 MASSNER. 2?! 
 
 were promised for him, if delivered alive into the hands 
 of justice ; and five hmidred ducats for his dead body. 
 The outlaw lived for some time under the safeguard of the 
 emperor; but his services fell insensibly into obli\'ion at 
 the court of Vienna. Disgrace, disgust, or lingering love 
 of country, impelled him at length to quit the Austrian 
 territory ; and he wandered for awhile friendless and 
 helpless in the district of Glarus : here he was disco- 
 vered, and the French ambassador claimed his surrender. 
 He lost his Ufe in his flight by the oversetting of his 
 carriage. The conclusion of peace between France and 
 Austria, in 17 1^, brought about the liberation of young 
 Massner; who was received with exultation by his coun- 
 trymen, and loaded with honours and dignities in return 
 for his protracted trials. 
 
 The years 1702, and 1705, exhibited a phenomenon 
 m Switzerland which our own times have reproduced 
 in the countries which adjoin it, with striking if not 
 permanent effect. In 1702, two Jesuits made their ap- 
 pearance, accompanied by other monks as well as by 
 several laymen, at Chiavenna in the Swiss territory, 
 offering little devotional books and images for sale. They 
 pretended to the power of forgiving sins and working 
 miracles ; and were received with ready credulity in the 
 Valteline, though their pretensions had been laughed at 
 in France, in Italy, and even in Spain. They went 
 barefoot, slept for only three hours in the night, preached 
 and heard confessions in the day time ; they took no salt 
 with their food, tasted neither flesh nor wine, began 
 their service at break of day with a procession out of 
 the town, and in the afternoon preached abundant ab- 
 surdities in the town itself, without text or arrangement, 
 to a concourse of people from all quarters : they thun- 
 dered against vice with ludicrous gestures ; and their 
 preachments were heard kneeling by the multitude. 
 After the closeof their discourses, they frequently stripped 
 off their upper garments, and with blunt knives, which 
 they kept stuck in their girdles, cut their bare backs, 
 in such a manner that many sympathetic souls melted
 
 2:2 I'o^ 
 
 — -a£ 
 
 *M'jH.ii»;i- ^ Tf-.... - a-.. , _■ 
 
 i / " - - 
 
 Tins- -jissiiSieES oesiiEr- 
 
 Keljr.lTTT. jr 
 
 'aEii&, At &Z. A ]fc^ %ir:»:c tt^ 
 
 
 38T7 ETli': 
 
 •cal XZeSH 
 
 of 

 
 1705. jxsnx xissioss. -!~S 
 
 spiritual authority and example; loose Ittti- ; - 
 more universal than era-. " Ther imazried." :; 
 
 Hottinger, •' that they had. fuEly atoned fcr their lonner 
 sins, and lost no time in besinning a ne-v score." 
 
 The farce was lenewed in 1705. Two jescit mis- 
 sionaries came into the democratical cantons fonn Italv : 
 they pre»ched repentance and remis^cn of ?r:ri< cTerv 
 where in the open air. Inntimerahie muidiudes satherai 
 around them. A mob of all ranks followed them abotn 
 from place to place : and -J- • ^ - -' :heir hearers who set 
 up for extraordinary dev eared in black sar- 
 
 mentSj with robes and chains round their neA and loins : 
 but the most devout of all enacted the scenes of the 
 crucifixion. They went about barefoot, wesring crowns 
 of thorns on their beads, and dragging heaw curses, 
 and allcwed themselves to be struck, thrxist about, and 
 scourged by persons paid for it, misinterpreting, in a 
 childish manner, the words of Jesus Christ, — '• If anv 
 one win come after me, let him oke up his cro^ and 
 follow me." The missionaries left Switzerland loaded 
 with wealth ; and even flattered the pope with the asree- 
 able anticipation that die protestant part of Svr 
 might be led back to the lap of the church. 
 
 The outward peace enjoyed by the confederacv dur- 
 ing the eighteenth century (the last of its existence in 
 its primitive form) was contrasted by incessant inward 
 disturbances. The first of these wldch claims cur at- 
 tention is the conspiracy of Henzi at Beme. Here, as 
 in most towns of the confederacy, a more and more 
 formal and regular aristocracy had grown up by degrees 
 in the course of centuries. From time immonori^ the 
 powers of government had been held bv the avover and 
 coonciL For the protection of the burghers against the 
 encroachments of the council, and of that bodv agamst 
 the influence of the muldtude, an assemUv of £0'" :' 
 die most respectable burghers was formed, the ^ - 
 bers of which were annually elected- The r 
 portant acts, which imposed dudes on everv 
 uot only for himself but for his ro^terltv. wt_ ..i-
 
 274; HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1710. 
 
 brought before the whole body of citizens, and even 
 country people ; the more so as at that time a few vil- 
 lages constituted the whole domain of Berne. The 
 continual aggrandisement of the state rendered obsolete 
 the fundamental laws of its constitution, which became 
 imperceptibly modified in proportion as political emer- 
 gencies appeared to require alterations. When the power 
 of Berne was doubled by the conquest of the Vaud, the 
 assembly of the burghers ceased to be thought of. The 
 dignities of the state became hereditary in those families 
 which had once obtained a seat in the great council. It 
 is true that the other burghers remained eligible to pubUc 
 functicftis ; but it was rarely indeed, and generally by 
 means of intermarriages, that a new family raised itself 
 to tlie rank of the rulers de facto. 
 
 The administration of these ruling families was, in 
 general, not devoid of wisdom and equity ; and, in fact, 
 the principal subject of complaint was that participation 
 in state affairs had ceased to be open to all. It was, 
 however, precisely this system of aristocratic exclusion 
 which was felt so insupportably by many of those who 
 were subjected to it, that so early as I7IO attempts were 
 made to break it up. These were renewed with increased 
 vigour, in 1743, by six and twenty burghers, who com- 
 bined to petition the council for the revival of a greater 
 equality of rights in favour of the general body of citi- 
 zens. These adventurous men incurred the censure of the 
 authorities, and were placed under arrest in their houses 
 or banished. Amongst the exiles was Samuel Henzi, a 
 man of no ordinary talent and spirit. He had fixed 
 on Neufchatel as the place of his banishment ; the term 
 of which was shortened by the favour of the authorities. 
 On his return, the embarrassed state in which he found 
 his domestic economy, and the ill-success of his efforts 
 to obtain a lucrative office, may have mingled with other 
 motives in inducing him to take the lead in a desperate 
 undertaking of a little band of malcontents, who, without 
 money, arms, or even unity of purpose, dreamed of 
 overturning a government strong in its own resources.
 
 174'9' CONSPIRACY OF HENZI. 275 
 
 and sure of support from the whole Helvetic body^ and 
 of instituting equality of rights among all burghers^ and 
 appointment to all offices by lot. Yet, with all their root 
 and branch work, the conspirators had no idea of reme- 
 dying the real defects of the state, of satisfying the pre- 
 valent and increasing discontents of the Vaud, or of 
 prociu-ing an extension of political rights to the whole 
 people : for, in the plan of a constitution annexed to 
 their meditated manifesto, exclusive regard was paid to 
 the burghers at Berne ; and the rest of the people would 
 hardly have been bettered by their accession to the dig- 
 nities which had hitherto been engrossed by the ruling 
 families. The 13th of July, 1749, was fixed for the 
 execution of the plans of the conspirators; but many of 
 their ovm number had opened their eyes by this time 
 to the utter impossibility of success, produced by the 
 disunion and imprudence of their colleagues — to the 
 passion and cupidity of some, and the atrocious hopes 
 of murder and plunder entertained by others. No man 
 felt more sensibly the criminal views of his party than 
 the only man of ability and pubUc spirit among them, 
 Henzi. He would not betray those with whom he had 
 long pursued the same object ; but he made an attempt 
 to save himself by flight from farther participation in 
 their plans and foreseen destiny. It was too late : a 
 betrayer had already done his work. Henzi and other 
 heads of the party were taken and beheaded during the 
 first exasperation of the government. Sentence of death 
 was also pronounced upon some who had made their 
 escape ; others were imprisoned or banished, but soon 
 afterwards pardoned. On embarking with her two sons 
 to quit the Helvetic territory, the wife of Henzi ex- 
 claimed, " I would rather see these children sink in the 
 Rhine-stream than they should not one day learn to 
 avenge the murder of their father." However, when 
 the sons came to manhood, they displayed more mag- 
 nanimity than their mother ; and one of them, who rose 
 to distinction in the service of the Netherlands, requited 
 with good offices to the burghers of his native town the 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1781. 
 
 unmerited misfortunes which they had brought upon his 
 family. 
 
 In Freyburg, — where, in old times, equality of rights 
 for all burghers had been settled as a principle, — a no 
 less close aristocracy had formed itself than in Berne, 
 since the middle of the seventeenth century. A few 
 houses, under the denomination of secret families, had 
 contrived to exclude, not only the country people, but a 
 large proportion Ukewise of the town burghers, from all 
 participation in public affairs; and, in 1684, admission 
 into the number of these secret famiUes was rendered 
 wholly impossible. From thenceforwards, constantly 
 increasing discontent displayed itself both in town and 
 country. Several very moderate proposals for alleviating 
 the pressure of this oligarchy were rejected with such 
 haughtiness by the government, that disaffection swelled 
 into revolt. In 1781, Peter Nicolas Chenaux of la 
 Tour de Treme, John Peter Raccaud, and an advocate 
 of Gruyeres, of the name of CasteUaz, formed a league 
 for the achievement of a higher degree of freedom. 
 First they endeavoured to work upon the people by fair 
 promises. Then Chenaux, at the head of a select band 
 of fifty or sixty, undertook to terrify the government 
 into a compromise. But the gates being closed on the 
 party, and the walls manned with armed burghers, this 
 undertaking ended in open revolt. The toU of alarm- 
 bells summoned up the country people from every hill 
 and valley in the canton to assist in the coercion of the 
 domineering capital. A body of nearly three thousand 
 men encamped before the walls of Freyburg, and farther 
 aid was hourly expected. The terrified burghers in- 
 stantly called for the armed intervention of Berne, and 
 the latter town detached a part of its guard without 
 delay. Three hundred dragoons marched upon Frey- 
 burg, and were to be followed by fourteen hundred foot. 
 The burghers of Freyburg now thought themselves 
 strong enough to meet force with force. The garrison 
 made a sally from the town, and on the first sight of 
 the Bernese flag, not to mention the heavy artillery, the
 
 1781. INSURRECTION AT FREYBURG. 277 
 
 malecontetits solicited an armistice. The surrender of 
 their arms and of their ringleaders was demanded as 
 preliminary to all negotiation. The people refused the 
 latter of these conditions, but fled panic-struck on the 
 first attack, without making any resistance. The whole 
 affair would have ended without bloodshed, had not the 
 leader Chenaux been murdered in his flight by Henry 
 Rosier, himself one of the popular party. The two re- 
 maining heads of the insurgents got clear off: Chenaux's 
 corpse was delivered to the public executioner, and his 
 head fixed on a spear above the Romont gate. Sentence 
 of death was passed on Castellaz and Raccaud, the two 
 fugitives. Several others were visited with less degrees 
 of punishment : new reinforcements from Berne, Soleure, 
 and Lucerne, secured the town from any recurrence of 
 tumult, and their ambassadors strove to promote the re- 
 storation of tranquillity. It was ordered to be pro- 
 claimed, from all the pulpits, that the council was well 
 disposed to protect the old and well attested rights of its 
 loving subjects, as well as to hear, with its never-failing 
 graciousness, every suitable and respectful representation. 
 Three days were allotted to each commune to lay their 
 complaints and wishes before the government, through 
 delegates. But when months elapsed without the popular 
 grievances having obtained a hearing, the loss of 
 Chenaux began to be appreciated. Multitudes assembled 
 round his tomb weeping and praying : pilgrimages, as 
 if to the tomb of a saint, were made thither with 
 banners, and with crucifixes. Vainly were these de- 
 monstrations of feeling stigmatised, by the government 
 as crimes against the state, by the bishop as impious 
 profanations. They were neither to be checked by 
 posting sentinels, nor fulminating excommunications. 
 They were the last sad consolation of the people, — the 
 last substitute for hopes that were already given up. 
 
 In the disunited and feeble state of the Swiss con- 
 federation, it could not be matter of much surprise that 
 foreigners began to treat it with very little respect. 
 Instead of intrigue and corruption being now what 
 
 T 3
 
 278 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1777- 
 
 Philip de Comines had called them, the only means of 
 vanquishing the Swiss, naked menaces often proved a 
 very successful substitute. Austria, and still more 
 France, perpetually encroached upon them. A fertile 
 source of annoyance were the constant efforts of these 
 powers to jostle one another out of favour with the con- 
 federation, and in case of war to secure themselves an 
 exclusive supply of Swiss soldiers. France in general 
 gained the upper hand in these competitions, and re- 
 warded the land from which she drew whole hordes of 
 recruits by restraints on trade, prohibitions of export, 
 and all the frauds of national bankruptcy. About the 
 middle of the eighteenth century, the confederates had 
 sunk into such contempt at the French court, that they 
 refrained from addressing even the most equitable 
 demands to it, in the certain anticipation of a refusal. 
 But all slights were compensated by such banquets as 
 that which the French ambassador gave at Soleure on 
 the 13th of September, 1751, in honour of the birth of 
 an heir to the throne. On this occasion a large amount 
 of gold and silver coins was thrown to the crowd, to be 
 scrambled for at six different points of the town. In 
 honour of the same happy event, gold medals of large 
 size were distributed to all the principal persons in the 
 cantons. These were received Avith great pleasure 
 throughout the whole confederation ; and the ambassador 
 had the address to reconcile Zurich and Berne with the 
 French court, after a long period of mutual alienation. 
 Finally, in 1777j a new alliance of the %vhole Helvetic 
 body with the crown of France was solemnly concluded 
 at Soleure. But tiie onfirmation of those commercial 
 privileges, which the confederates had looked for from 
 this alliance, were postponed by one of its clauses, which 
 set forth, " that both contracting parties, animated by 
 perfect reciprocal confidence, had been unwilling to 
 delay, by farther discussions, the conclusion of the 
 present alliance."
 
 1707. " PATRICIAXS' OF GKNEVA. 279 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 DISTURBANCES AT GENEVA, AND IN NEUFCHATRr.. 
 
 1707—1789. 
 
 ARROGANCE OF "PATRICIANs" AT GENEVA. POPULAR EBUIO- 
 
 TION AGAINST THEM IN 1707. RENEWED IN 1714. 
 
 AGAIN IN 1734. DEFENSIVE MEASURES OF THE COnNCIT, 
 
 BAFFLED BY THE POPULACE. EDICT OF 1738. BURNING 
 
 OF THE BOOKS OF ROUSSEAU. REPRESENTATIVE AND NEGA- 
 TIVE PARTIES. ARMED INTERVENTION OF FRANCE, ZURICH, 
 
 AND BERNE. INTRIGUES OF THE FRENCH. OF THE NEGA- 
 TIVES. REVOLT OF THE REPRESENTATIVES, WHO ERECT A NEW 
 
 "ONSTITUTION. FRESH INTERFERENCE OF FRANCE, BEHNE, 
 
 AND SAVOY. ENTRANCE AND OCCUPATION OF GENEVA BY 
 
 THEIR TROOPS. REGLEMENT OF 1782. ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 DISCONTENTS IN NEUFCHATEL. DEATH OFGAUDOT. MAG- 
 NANIMITY OF FREDERICK II. OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 Shortly after the establishment of Genevan independ- 
 ence, it had been decreed by the general assembly, for 
 the better suppression of hostile attempts against their 
 l>ard-won freedom, that whoever should propose a change 
 in the government of Geneva should be considered to 
 deserve capital punishment. This did not, however, 
 hinder alterations being made, at different times, in various 
 parts of the constitution. So early as the middle of the 
 sixteenth century, the laws were revised and improved. 
 The advantageous situation of the town and the long 
 duration of peace promoted the increase of wealth in 
 Geneva, and the rise of many families to opulence. 
 These families aimed at separating themselves from thejr 
 fellow-citizens, even in their places of habitation, bv 
 settling in the upper part of the town, near the council- 
 house, while the other burghers inhabited the lower towi). 
 The principal families already regarded themselves as a 
 standing patriciate ; and even the name of patrician 
 came into use in the acts of council. The Reyistres du 
 
 X 4
 
 2 so HISTORY OF SWITZEIILANU. 1707- 
 
 Conseil de la RSpublique de Geneve contain the following 
 sentence, dated 1 6Q0, on occasion of calumnious reports 
 upon a member of some privileged family: — " Lesquels 
 bruits tendent a le priver de I'honneur auquel il estimait 
 etre en droit de pretendre par son age, ses services, et la 
 famille patricienne dont il descend." In the years pre- 
 ceding the breaking out of the tumults which we shall 
 have to relate, many examples of favouritism occur in 
 the elections of members of council ; and a decree was 
 passed, on the 9th January, 1 6Q7, " d'empecher que Von 
 donne aussi facilement le litre de madame aux femmes de 
 toutes conditions." 
 
 The year 1707 witnessed an effort of the inferior 
 burghers to wrest from the principal families a part of 
 their usurped power, and to introduce amendments in 
 the constitution. In this emergency, the council invoked 
 the mediation of Berne and Zurich, received a con- 
 federate garrison, and maintained itself by force of arms 
 and by execution of its principal antagonists. A renewal 
 of the disturbances which had been quelled by such 
 violent measures, was produced, in 1714, by the impo- 
 sition of an arbitrary tax by the council for the enlarge- 
 ment and completion of the fortifications of the town. 
 This stretch of power occasioned great discontent among 
 the burghers ; bitter attacks and censures on the govern- 
 ment appeared in print ; and the more strictly these were 
 prohibited, they obtained the more eager perusal and 
 credence. One of the arch-promoters of the rising storm 
 was Michael Ducrest, a Genevan burgher and noble, 
 an officer in the army, and a member of the great council. 
 This man opposed himself with extraordinary vehemence 
 to the building of the new fortifications, and heaped 
 offensive charges on the partisans of the measure. The 
 government condemned him to recant, and, on his evading 
 compliance by flight, a penal sentence was pronounced 
 against him. New attempts which he made to excite 
 disturbance were followed by a sentence of perpetual im- 
 prisonment. This sentence could not be put in exe- 
 cution, as Ducrest had taken refuge under a foreign
 
 17-^4. POPULAR EBULLITIONS. 28 1 
 
 jurisdiction, where he set at defiance the council of 
 Geneva, and provoked that body to such a degree by his 
 writings and intrigues against them, that sentences more 
 and more severe were heaped upon his head, until at 
 length the most offensive of his writings was torn by the 
 hangman, and his eiEgy was suspended from the gallows. 
 His person, however, enjoyed impunity till 1744, when 
 he was taken into custody in the territory of Berne. The 
 government of Geneva did not thirst for his blood, and 
 was content with his perpetual imprisonment. Even in 
 this situation he contrived to mix in Henzi's conspiracy, 
 was confined in the castle of Aarburg, and closed, in ex- 
 treme old age, as a state prisoner, a life which he had 
 spent in incessant labours in the cause of democracy. 
 
 Meanwhile Geneva continued to be agitated by party 
 manoeuvres and popular discontents. In the year 1734, 
 a body of 800 burghers addressed themselves to the heads 
 of the government, desiring the curtailment of the pro- 
 jected fortifications, and the repeal of the tax levied for 
 that object. The council only replied by preparations for 
 defence : fire arms were transported to the council hall ; 
 barricades erected in the approaches thither as well as in 
 those to the upper town, where the principal class of 
 burghers lived, and the garrison kept in readiness to act 
 on the first signal. All this apparatus was regarded ^\ath 
 mistrust by the burghers, who were still farther provoked 
 by reports of the approach of Bernese troops, and by the 
 removal of a part of the town artillery to the upper 
 regions, while two and twenty other pieces were spiked. 
 The multitude made themselves masters of the city guard, 
 pointed field-pieces on the road by which the troops from 
 Berne were expected, and tumultuously demanded the 
 convocation of the burgher assembly, the sovereign au- 
 thority of Geneva. The councU contrived to win over 
 the members of this body so far that they voted una- 
 nimously the completion of the fortifications and the 
 continuance of the tax for ten years. The declaration of 
 an amnesty and improvement of the criminal and judicial 
 administration formed the rest of their business. The
 
 282 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1737. 
 
 burghers laid down their arms and returned to their or- 
 dinary vocations ; so that an embassy which arrived 
 from Zurich and Berne found Geneva in a state of ap- 
 parent tranquillity. Permanent iU will was fostered only 
 against the syndic Trembley, commander of the garrison 
 and conductor of the defensive preparations of the 
 council. Whatever this person had done by the in- 
 structions of tlie council was laid to his individual account, 
 and added to the mass of dark imputations which were 
 heaped on him, as the head of an already obnoxious 
 family. He plumed himself on the favour of the con- 
 federate ambassadors, and forfeited thus the last chance 
 of retrieving himself in the public opinion. The re- 
 membrance of the armed intervention of Zurich and 
 Berne, in 1707, was too recent to admit of their am- 
 bassadors doing any good to Trembley's cause through 
 the medium of pacific intercession. The departure of 
 these embassies removed the only screen of the syndic : 
 he demanded his dismission, which was refused him, in 
 order to deprive him of his functions more ignominiously. 
 No resistance or artifice of a powerful connection could 
 save him : the tumults were renewed with increased 
 fury ; and the question soon ceased to regard the person 
 or party of Trembley, and became that of the triumph of 
 the aristocratic or democratic principle at Geneva, In 
 1737, the council ventured several arrests, and the con- 
 sequence was that the whole body of burghers rushed to 
 arms, and the council was defeated, not without blood- 
 shed. A garrison from Berne and Zurich was thrown 
 into the town : the ambassadors of these cantons, in 
 concert with the French ambassador, undertook the office 
 of mediators, and in 1 738 framed a constitution which 
 set limits to the assumptions of the council and the prin- 
 cipal families, and was gratefully and aU but unanimously 
 accepted as a fundamental law by the burghers. 
 
 After four and twenty years of repose and prosperity, 
 occasion was given to new political movements at Geneva 
 by a subject of a nature purely speculative. It pleased 
 more than one government about this time to apply the
 
 1762. BURNING OF BOUSSEAU'S "eMILE," ETC. 283 
 
 doom of fire, which had been visited by inquisitors on 
 the ill fated victims of their zealotry, to certain of the 
 more remarkable works of the human intellect, — a pro- 
 ceeding highly calculated to draw the eyes of the reachng 
 public on productions which seemed worthy of such 
 signal condemnation. On the first appearance of that 
 work of Rousseau which opened views so novel and so 
 striking on the moral, and still more on the physical, 
 education of man, the parliament of Paris had the work 
 burnt by the hangman, and sentenced Rousseau to im- 
 prisonment, which he only escaped by flight. Both of 
 these decisions were immediately repeated by the council 
 of Geneva, which improved on them by launching a like 
 condemnatory sentence against the Contrat Social of the 
 same author. It was in vain that Rousseau's connections 
 demanded a copy of the sentence against him ; their re- 
 iterated demands, though supported by a large body of 
 burghers, were rejected by the council. The popular 
 party, which vindicated the right of the burgher as- 
 sembly to bring up representations or remonstrances 
 against the council on any subject under discussion, dis- 
 tinguished themselves by the name of representatives. 
 Their claims were met by asserting a droit negatif, or 
 right of rejection, on the strength of which the council 
 pretended that nothing that should not have been pre- 
 viously consented to by themselves could come before 
 the general assembly. The partisans of the council were 
 called negatives. 
 
 The tranquillity of Geneva was once more disturbed 
 to such a degree by passionate discourses, party writings, 
 and manoeuvres, that the ambassadors of Zurich, Berne, 
 and France again interfered, and pronounced themselves 
 in favour of the council. The representatives rejected 
 their decision, the ambassadors left Geneva, French 
 troops advanced on the town, and all trade and inter- 
 course were suspended. But the French ministry 
 speedily became lukewarm in the cause of the negatives. 
 The latter, when they found themselves abandoned by 
 all foreign aid, apprehending what might ensue, patched
 
 284- HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1768. 
 
 up a peace with the representatives. By a compact 
 closed in March, 176'8, the burghers acquired valuable 
 rights, and even a third party, that of the so-called 
 natifs or habitans, (old inhabitants, excluded by birth 
 from taking part in pubHc affairs,) obtained extended 
 franchises, and was flattered with a prospect of par- 
 ticipation in all the rights of citizenship. But on re- 
 covery from the first panic, reciprocal hatred soon 
 revived. The negatives were vexed at having made such 
 important sacrifices, and aimed at resuming all their 
 former ascendency. Moreover they found a favourable 
 hearing in the French court, which had long viewed 
 with an evil eye the trade and wealth of Geneva, de- 
 sired to raise the neighbouring Versoix to a commercial 
 town, and hoped, by encouraging tumult and disorder 
 at Geneva, either to annihilate its industry and opulence, 
 or ultimately to bring it under the sovereignty of France. 
 French emissaries therefore aided the negatives in spi- 
 riting the natifs up against the representatives, by pro- 
 mising to confer on them the franchises withheld by 
 the latter. But the representatives flew to arms, took 
 possession of the gates, and speedily succeeded in dis- 
 arming the unpractised and undisciplined mob of natifs. 
 Well aware by what manoeuvres the natifs had been 
 led to revolt, they prudently abstained from taking any 
 vindictive measures against them; but, on the contrary, 
 imparted to them, in 1781, that equality of rights 
 which had been promised by the negatives, and en- 
 deavoured thus to win them over permanently to the 
 common cause. The council, on the other hand, im- 
 pelled by French influence, declared the newly-conferred 
 rights illegally extorted, and invoked the mediation of 
 Berne and Zurich. But betwixt representative stub- 
 bornness and negative assumption, the ambassadors of 
 these towns could exert but limited influence. They 
 essayed to put an end to disputes by amicable arrange- 
 ments, but were baffled by the intrigues of the French 
 court, which was resolved to recognise no democratical 
 Bystem on its frontiers, and soon proceeded to open
 
 1782. REGLEMENT ITS CONSEQUENCES. 283 
 
 force in support of its secret policy. The first act of 
 aggression was to garrison Versoix ; a measure which 
 gave just offence to Zurich and Berne^ who thereupon 
 renounced all adhesion to the mediation of 1738, and 
 left the Genevans to their own discretion. France also 
 declared she wovdd mix no more in the affairs of Ge- 
 neva — the government was overthrown — and a new 
 constitution established. 
 
 Zurich and Berne now declared formally and coldly 
 that they could not acknowledge a government erected 
 by revolt. Still more indignation was exhibited by 
 France and Savoy, who entered into a league for the 
 coercion of the town. Berne, too, joined this league in 
 1782, that the destiny of Geneva, that point d'appui 
 of her own dominion, might not be trusted altogether 
 to the caprice of foreign powers. On the appearance 
 of the allied troops before the gates of Geneva, the 
 burghers, unaware of the bad state of their defences, 
 swore to bury themselves in the ruins of their native 
 town rather than yield. But when the cannon of the 
 besiegers %vas advanced up to their walls, and the alter- 
 native of desperate resistance or surrender was offered, 
 the disunited city opened her gates without stroke of 
 sword, after the principal heads of the representative 
 party had taken to flight. Mortal dread accompanied 
 the victorious troops as they entered Geneva. Many 
 had reason to tremble for their lives, their liberty, and 
 possessions. No punishments, however, were inflicted, 
 excepting only the banishment of the principal popular 
 leaders J but the rights of the burghers were almost en- 
 tirely annihilated by the arbitrary arrangements of the 
 victors ; the government was invested by them with 
 almost unlimited power, and proceeded under their 
 auspices to prohibit all secret societies, military exer- 
 cises, books and pamphlets on recent events, and to re- 
 inforce the garrison by 1 200 men under foreign leaders. 
 Thus the town was reduced to utter subjection, and de- 
 populated by exile and emigration. From thencefor- 
 wards commerce and enterprise fell into decay ; and
 
 286 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 17H2. 
 
 for seven long years a forced, unnatural calm dwelt in 
 Geneva.* 
 
 During these years the government was conducted with 
 much mildness, the administration of justice was im- 
 partial, that of the public revenues incorrupt, art and 
 industry were encouraged to the utmost. But nothing 
 could win the lost hearts of the people back to the 
 government. The iniquity of the so-called reglement 
 of 1782, the destruction of their franchises, and the 
 disarming of their persons, had wounded irrecoverably 
 the feelings of the burghers. The malecontents increased 
 daily in number; and even many former negatives now 
 disowned their party, which had gone greater lengths 
 than they had ever wished or expected. At length, on 
 the death of Vergennes, the French minister, and arch 
 enemy of Genevan independence, the spirit of freedom 
 awoke with all its ancient strength in Geneva, and the 
 burghers arose to break their slavish fetters. But the 
 recital of the subsequent occurrences must be postponed 
 until we come to notice the train of events fired by the 
 French revolution. 
 
 The little principality of Neufchatel, the succession 
 of which had descended in the same line since the sera 
 of the second Burgundian monarchy, came, in 1707, 
 into the hands of the king of Prussia, as next heir to 
 the ancient house of Chalon. In 1748, Frederick II. 
 displayed that love of economy which distinguished aU 
 his measures, by farming out certain parts of the public 
 revenue arising from tithes, ground rents, and the 
 crown lands ; from the former administration of which 
 many of the inhabitants had enjoyed considerable pro- 
 fits. The loss of these, of course, was felt as a grievance 
 by the losers ; but what was viewed with more concern 
 by the mass of the inhabitants was the prospect of still 
 farther innovations. Accordingly five cOmmunes of the 
 Val de Travers transmitted their remonstrances through 
 a delegate to Berhn ; and their example was soon after- 
 wards followed throughout the principality. 
 * See the Appendix.
 
 1768. TUMULTS IN NEUFCHATEL. 287 
 
 The arrival of two commissaries, despatched by the 
 king to Neufchatel, was viewed with discontent as an 
 encroachment on its immunities. Shortly after their 
 coming, an attempt was made to put in execution the 
 proposed financial system, of which the only result was 
 to provoke a tumultuous popular movement. On the 
 7th of January, 17t»'7, the burgher assembly of Neuf- 
 chatel passed a resolution of exclusion from the rights 
 of citizenship, against all who should farm or guarantee 
 the farming of the revenues. On this the royal com- 
 missary. Von Derschau, brought a suit before the 
 council of Berne, against the town of Neufchatel ; and 
 the advocate-general, Gaudot, who had formerly been a 
 popular favourite, much to the surprise of his fellow- 
 citizens, seceded to the royal side, and thenceforwards 
 gave his active assistance to the commissary. 
 
 The cause was decided at Berne (with some limit- 
 ations) in the royal favour. With regard to the reso- 
 lutions of the Neufchatel burghers, already referred to, 
 it was decreed that they should be cancelled in the pre- 
 sence of the burgher assembly, and a public apology 
 made to the vice-governor. The costs of the whole 
 process to be paid by the town. Gaudot, who had at- 
 tacked the civic immunities both by word and writing, 
 naturally became an object of popular indignation. By 
 way of compensation, however, he received a lucrative 
 government office, along with the functions of procurator- 
 general, from which another man had been removed 
 who possessed the popular favour. He returned to 
 Neufchatel from Berne with the royal plenipotentiaries. 
 These and the vice-governor advised him to take up his 
 residence in the castle ; but, in spite of their recom- 
 mendations, Gaudot thought fit to repair to his own 
 residence. The same evening, clamour and disturbance 
 took place around the house, which the magistrates were 
 forced to protect by military force. The next morning 
 the mob returned in increased numbers, and was still 
 farther exasperated by missiles being thrown down upon 
 them. A carriage, escorted by servants in the royal
 
 288 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 livery, which had been sent by the king's commissary for 
 Gaudot, was knocked to pieces by the infuriated multi- 
 tude. Gaudot and his nephew now imprudently fired 
 from the windows, and their shots took effect, fatally for 
 themselves. The exasperated populace forced its way 
 into the house ; Gaudot was killed by three shots, and 
 the mob dispersed after the deed, with cries of " Long 
 live the king ! " The chief actors in this tragedy 
 escaped, and could be executed only in effigy. The 
 whole affair was ultimately compromised by the bene- 
 volent moderation of the great Frederick ; and terms 
 of pacification were accepted by the communes, which 
 provided alike against arbitrary government and popular 
 turbulence. On this occasion, Frederick displayed more 
 generosity than would have been shown by any cantonal 
 government ; and liis conduct seemed to justify the 
 general reflection, which must often occur to the student 
 of Swiss history, that when administrative abuses are 
 introduced into a monarchy, it only requires a well- 
 disposed and enlightened prince to crush the gang of 
 official oppressors and extortioners ; because such a 
 prince is powerfully backed in such measures by the 
 public opinion. Whereas, when the majority of the 
 ruhng class in misnamed republics is corrupted so far 
 as to speculate on the profits of malversation, it gene- 
 rally takes care to recruit its ranks with new accom- 
 plices ; or, at all events, only to promote to public 
 offices such men as will at least shut their eyes to pubhc 
 abuses. The magnanimity of Frederick was but ill 
 repaid to his successor by the tumults which ensued in 
 Neufchatel on the commencement of the French revo- 
 lution ; and we have lately seen the same misunder- 
 standings, as in the last century, arise between the now 
 canton of Neufchatel and its Prussian sovereign.
 
 DEMOCBATICAL CANTONS. 289 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 CBiNKRAl. VIEW OF THE STATE OF SWITZERLAND SHORTLY BEFORE 
 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The half century immediately preceding the French 
 revolution was the first in which the frontiers of the 
 Helvetic body had never been approached by foreign 
 warfare. The load of taxes which pressed on neighbour- 
 ing nations was unknown in Switzerland ; and most of 
 her governments, exclusively defended by their armed 
 populations, seemed as secure as military monarchies 
 fenced with bayonets. It is therefore that those years 
 have been described by some contemporaries as a season 
 of halcyon calm, auspicious to every kind of im- 
 provement. Others, again, look back to them as a time 
 of deplorable slavery ; during which monopolies and 
 corporation privileges had become acknowledged parts 
 of the public regimen. The country might be com- 
 pared to a well-fed and carefully-tended child, every 
 one of whose movements, however, was kept under 
 minute conti'ol. 
 
 The democratical cantons, where the assembled popu- 
 lation exercised the supreme power in their landsgemeinde, 
 held the lowest station, in almost every respect, amongst 
 the confederates. Narrowness of mind and ignorant 
 hatred of all innovation withstood every proposal of 
 improvement ; while passion and prejudice, aided by 
 the artifices of demagogues, often occasioned acts of 
 crying injustice. Juchcial proceedings were, in the 
 highest degree, arbitrary ; confession of crimes was ex- 
 tracted by torture ; which, indeed, was often employed, 
 when nothing more remained to confess. Capital 
 punishment, even for minor offences, was by no means 
 rare. Public oflSces, particularly that of bailiff or land- 
 vogt, were commonly conferred not on the worthiest, 
 but on the highest bidder ; and the proceeds of this ig- 
 
 i;
 
 290 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 nominious traffic went to the public treasury. Was it to be 
 ^vondered at if these functionaries in their turn set jus- 
 tice up to auction in their bailiwicks^ and endeavoured 
 to recover their advances to the government by every 
 sort of oppression of its subjects ? Mental cultivation was 
 extremely neglected in these cantons, scientific establish- 
 ments were rare, and those for education were, for the 
 most part, in the hands of the capuchins ; whose esprit 
 de corps' was at least on one occasion beneficial, by pre- 
 venting the admission of the Jesuits into the canton of 
 Schwycz in 1758. Elsewhere, however, similar in- 
 fluences produced worse effects. In Glarus, so late as 
 1780, an unfortunate servant girl was executed as a 
 witcli, on the charge of having lamed the leg of a 
 chilli by magic, and having caused it to vomit pins. 
 Credulous souls were even found to believe the affirm- 
 ation that the girl had administered pin-seed through 
 the medium of a magical cake, which had afterwards 
 borne its fruit within the body of the child. The po- 
 litical relations of these cantons, in the period now 
 before us, were of little importance. 
 
 The constitutions of the aristocratical cantons had all 
 of them this circumstance in common, that not only the 
 capital towns assumed the rule of the whole canton, but 
 the burghers of those towns themselves were divided 
 into ruling and non-ruling families, of which the former 
 monopolised admission to all places of honour. But the 
 governments of these cantons deserve to be treated of 
 more at length.* 
 
 Berne, which, in the first period after its foundation, 
 had no domains of any importance outside its walls, 
 possessed in that immediately preceding the Frencli 
 revolution a territory containing more than 400,000 
 inhabitants. This c(«isiderable tract of land was admi- 
 nistered by 250 ruling families, of v,rhich, however, only 
 about sixty were in actual possession of the government ; 
 and these again were divided into so-called great and 
 small families, and did not easily suffer others to rise to 
 
 • See the statistical tables in the Appendix.
 
 PAYS DE VAUiO. BERNE. 291 
 
 an equality with them. The sovereign power resided 
 in 299 persons, of whom the great council was com- 
 posed. A Uttle council or senate of five-and-twenty 
 formed the executive. The rural districts and the Pays 
 de Vaud were governed by land-vogts or baihfFs. It 
 was chiefly there that cUscontent prevailed against the 
 Bernese government. The nobles of the Pays de Vaud 
 were rendered whoUy insensible to the real and solid 
 advantages secured to them by that government, by re- 
 sentment of their exclusion from all public employments. 
 The peasants of that district, for the most part subjects 
 or bondsmen of the nobles, sighed under the weight of 
 feudal oppression and its accustomed oftspring, poverty, 
 neglected culture, mental and moral abortion. A sin- 
 gular attempt at revolt was made in 1723 by major 
 Daniel Abraham Davel, a weU-intentioned man, of ex- 
 cellent character, but a decided political and religious 
 enthusiast, possessed with the idea that he was called by 
 inspiration to emancipate the Vaud from Berne. He 
 assembled the regiment of miUtia which he commanded, 
 under the pretext of a review, and with these troops, 
 who were altogether ignorant of his real design, and un- 
 provided Avith stores or ammunition, he surprised the 
 town of Lausanne at a point of time when all the Bernese 
 land-vogts had gone to Berne for the annual installation. 
 Davel offered liis aid for the restoration of independence 
 to the hastily assembled town council. He found, how- 
 ever, no kindred spirit in that body ; and the cautious 
 citizens put him off with fair words tiU a force was 
 under arms sufficient to crush him. Meanwhile his 
 troops had discovered the real object of their commander, 
 and shrunk from him in surprise and consternation. He 
 himself was arrested, cruelly tortured for the discovery 
 of accomplices, of whom he had none, and lastly beheadecl. 
 A certain contempt of scholastic acquirements seemed 
 the prevailing tone at Berne ; and sclioo) education na- 
 turally came to deserve the low esteem v/hich it met 
 with. Accordingly those patrician youths who did not 
 serve in the army remained for the most part unem- 
 
 u 2
 
 292 HISTOllY OK SWITZERLAND. 
 
 ployed until they obtained places under government. 
 The establishment of what was called the exterior state 
 afforded but a superficial substitute for more solid attain- 
 ments, and initiated youth only too early in the petty 
 intrigues and jealousies of faction. This institution, 
 which was also known by the name of the shadow state, 
 was intended to give the youth of the ruling families 
 opportunities for acquainting themselves with the forms 
 at least of public business, and of acquiring an unem- 
 barrassed address, so important for republicans. It 
 parodised the dignities and offices of the state, the elec- 
 tion of avoyers, councillors, and senators, had its secre- 
 taries and functionaries of all ranks, and distributed by 
 lot 120 vogtships, which for the most part took their 
 names from ruined castles. Without any sufficient 
 evidence, some would refer to the sera of the Burgundian 
 war the origin of this institution, which received the 
 sanction of government in l687, and for which a council- 
 house, far more splendid than that which belonged to 
 the actual government, was built in 1729. The seal of 
 this exterior state bore an ape astride on a lobster, and 
 looking at himself in a mirror. These and similar traits 
 of humour seem to owe their descent to an ara exceed- 
 ingly remote from the measured formaUty of later times. 
 The government of Lucerne, which with Soleure and 
 Freyburg, formed the remaining pure Swiss aristocracies, 
 consisted of a little council of six-and-thirty members, 
 which, reinforced by sixty-four others, held the sovereign 
 authority. With regard to intellectual cultivation, the 
 most contradictory features were observable at Lucerne. 
 On the one hand, learning, enlightenment, and patriotism 
 were hereditary distinctions of some families; while, on 
 the other hand, the mass was imbued with ignorant fa- 
 naticism. On the one hand, the encroachments of the 
 papacy were resisted with inflexible firmness ; while, on 
 the other hand, the clergy kept possession of a highly 
 mischievous influence in the state. On the one hand, 
 a series of saints' days and holidays was abolished, as 
 being dedicated to dissoluteness more than devotion ;
 
 LfCERXE HELVKTIC SOCIETY. 293 
 
 while, on the other hand, we are horror-struck by the 
 burning of a so-called heretic. In 1747, a court, consist- 
 ing of four clergymen, sentenced Jacob Schmidli of the 
 Sulzig, a man of blameless life, to be strangled, and then 
 burnt with his books and writings, because he had not 
 only read the Bible for his private edification, but had 
 explained and recommended it to others as the sole true 
 basis of religion. His wife, his six children, and seventy- 
 one other persons, were banished, his house burnt to the 
 ground by the hands of the public executioner, and a 
 monument raised on its former site, to perpetuate the 
 ignominy (query, of the victim or of his judges ?). 
 
 The appearance of two pamplilets in 176,9, on the 
 question, " whether removal or restriction of the mo- 
 nastic orders might not be found beneficial to the 
 cathohc cantons?" excited terrible uproar at Lucerne, 
 where certain classes were constantly scenting danger 
 to church or state from some quarter. The town and 
 country clergy, and the bigots in the council, were 
 rejoiced to get so good an opportunity to persecute the 
 holders of free principles, and raised a deplorable howl, 
 as if the canton were on the verge of destruction. The 
 whole population was plunged in consternation and 
 astonishment, by thundering sermons and rigorous pro- 
 hibitions of the obnoxious work. Free-thinkers were 
 fulminated against by name from the pulpits ; and 
 Schinznacht, which had witnessed the formation of the 
 Helvetic society, was denounced as the focus and head- 
 quarters of heresy. This society, which aimed at the 
 diffusion of useful knowledge, public spirit, and union 
 throughout the Helvetic body, without reference to 
 varieties of religion, rank, or political system, was 
 founded by a knot of patriotic and instructed men, in 
 the pious hope of arresting the dechne of the confe- 
 deration. At its commencement it consisted of no more 
 than nine members, but added to its numbers with 
 astonishing rapicUty, The society was soon viewed 
 Avith an evil eye by the cantonal governments, which 
 dreaded all independence of feeling and action in the 
 
 u 3
 
 2Q4f HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 
 
 people. At Berne, political dangers were anticipated 
 from it, as symptoms of refractoriness were exhibited 
 shortly after its formation by the nobles in the Vaud ; 
 %vhile at Lucerne it was regarded as a conspiracy for 
 shaking off the catholic religion, and assisting the sup- 
 posed ambition of Berne to gain ascendency over the 
 whole confederation. 
 
 The aristo-democratical governments next come under 
 our notice, and in these, as in most of the purely aristo- 
 cratical, the metropolis had obtained unlimited power 
 over the whole canton. In these, however, particular 
 families did not engross the sovereign power ; the col- 
 lective body of citizens had maintained themselves by 
 means of the regulations of their guilds in the posses- 
 sion of considerable influence over the pubhc aflPairs. 
 Accordingly the magistracy favoured the monopolies 
 which enriched the metropolitan traders, and imposed 
 restraints on the industry and invention of the surround- 
 ing country. Thence the subjects of these towns were 
 much more harshly administered than those of the aris- 
 tocratical cantons. Their ancient charters fell into ob- 
 livion, and were withdrawn as far as possible from public 
 inspection ; they were not only excluded from civil and 
 military, but even from ecclesiastical functions ; and 
 the exercise of many branches of industry, and the sale 
 of their productions in the towns, was wholly cut off 
 by corporation privileges. Moreover, since the com- 
 mencement of the century of which we are treating, no 
 mode of acquiring the rights of burghers remained open; 
 they were only conferred on extremely rare occasions to 
 reward eminent merit ; or when the times became trou- 
 blesome to conciliate influential burghers. Hence that 
 discontent and disaffection which broke out at the close 
 of the century found a principal focus in the heart of 
 the mixed aristocracies. 
 
 In the larger cantons the public administration was 
 for the most part incorrupt ; and that of justice was 
 Mable on the whole to fewer complaints than in many 
 other European countries. The pay of public servants.
 
 VREE BAILIWICKS. Sp-'j 
 
 With few exceptions, was extremely moderate. Men 
 who had devoted their whole lives to public affairs, and 
 who had filled the highest offices in the state, lost more 
 than they gained by the bounty of their country. At 
 Zurich, the expenses of the government were wholly 
 defrayed without the imposition of taxes, properly so 
 called, from the revenues and interests of the national 
 lands and capital, from ground-rents, tithes, the salt 
 monopoly, and the produce of the premium paid by the 
 several guilds of traders in return for their exclusive 
 privileges. The same description is applicable to the 
 government of Berne, excepting that here the course of 
 justice was tedious and expensive. The superior finan- 
 cial resources of the latter canton enabled her to execute 
 more for public ends than Zurich. Berne invested con- 
 siderable sums in foreign securities, particularly in the 
 Enghsh funds ; and, besides, amassed a treasure amount- 
 ing to some millions of dollars, which became, as we 
 shall presently see, and as Mably had .predicted, the 
 booty of rapacious and powerful neighbours. 
 
 Very diiFerent was the condition of the froc or com- 
 mon bailiwicks, particularly those of the democratical 
 cantons ; here most of the land-vogts sought by every 
 species of extortion to indemnify themselves for the 
 sums for which they had in fact bought their places 
 from the general assemblies of their respective can- 
 tons. Many made an open traffic of justice ; took pre- 
 sents from both parties ; helped delinquents to evade 
 deserved punishment who could pay for exemption, and 
 exacted contributions from the wealthier class whenever 
 and wherever they could. Even farther than in the 
 German domains of Switzerland were abuses of this 
 kind carried in the Italian baiUwicks, and most of all 
 in those of the Grisons. The inevitable tendency of 
 such treatment was to debase the popular character in 
 those districts, and its effects have left unequivocal traces 
 even to this day. 
 
 In those towns of which the constitution was grounded 
 on corporate bodies, the privileges of the burghers and 
 
 u 4
 
 2Q6 history of switzkrlaxd. 
 
 their guilds received progressive extensions. Proposi- 
 tions were made which would hardly have been con- 
 ceivable in monarchical states, and could only, in fact, 
 take place where particular classes had to decide upon 
 the destiny of the rest of their fellow-countrymen. In 
 Basle it was several times proposed, under the pretext 
 of protection to agriculture, that the exercise of certain 
 manufactures should be prohibited altogether in the 
 rural part of the canton. 
 
 Agriculture was advanced by the cultivation of clover 
 and of other artificial grasses, and by the consequent 
 increase of pasturage and manure. Many districts which 
 had formerly been regarded as unfruitful were thus ren- 
 dered remarkable for fertility. The processes of ma- 
 nuring, and many others in Swiss cultivation, became 
 a model for foreign agriculturists. Arts and manufac- 
 tures were extended more and more wid^y. In the 
 canton of Berne, in the Thurgau, and elsewhere, indus- 
 try was employed on native materials in the linen-ma- 
 nufacture; in Zurich, St. Gall, and Appenzell, in working 
 up imported wool in spinning, weaving, and cotton 
 printing. Silk manufactures occupied Zurich and Basle, 
 and the latter town enriched itself by its riband manu- 
 facture. Trade in all its branches throve at Geneva ; 
 where a wholesale watch manufacture was conducted, 
 and from whence watchmaking was soon spread through 
 the district of Neufchatel, where it suggested many other 
 mechanical processes. 
 
 Intellectual culture and social refinements marched 
 abreast with commercial wealth. Not only the towns 
 were embellished with architectural structures, but in 
 the Emmenthal, and around the lakes of Zurich and 
 Geneva, arose new and splendid edifices which bespoke 
 increasing opulence. In Neufchatel, which a century be- 
 fore had been inhabited by shepherds, the villages as- 
 sumed the appearance of towns ; and the wealthy marts 
 of England or the Netherlands were recalled to the mind 
 of the traveller by the principal street of Winterthur. 
 Intercourse with other states in trade or in foreign
 
 UTERArtRE. WAR. DECAY OF PREJUDICE. 297 
 
 services naturalised new wants and desires^ yet many 
 still adhered to the old usages and manners. In whole 
 districts, especially in the democratic cantons, public 
 opinion imperiously set limits to the advance of luxury. 
 In other places sumptuary laws maintained a struggle 
 with the various arts of invention and evasion ; and a 
 wholesome state of simplicity was preserved in Zurich, 
 St. Gall, and Basle, in which celibacy became a sort of 
 rarity. 
 
 Sciences and arts were diffused extensively in Swit- 
 zerland. Albert von HaUer, the labours of whose com- 
 prehensive mind were chiefly devoted to the sciences of 
 botany and medicine, directed his attention also to poli- 
 tics and philosophy. Eloquence and daring imagination 
 conferred European celebrity on Lavater. Rousseau pro- 
 mulgated truths in education and in politics, which will 
 not be lost for future generations, Avhatever aUoy of 
 paradox or perverse misapplication they might suffer 
 from himself or his followers. The merits of the 
 Bernouillis, Eulers, Lamberts, Saussures, Bonnets, Tis- 
 sots, Zimmermanns, and others, are still present to the 
 memory of the literary public. 
 
 To render the war department of the confederacy 
 more complete, and introduce into it some degree of 
 unity, an association of military officers and magistrates 
 was formed, which held its meetings at Aarau. ]More 
 was done, however, for the military department by storing 
 up munitions of war than by well adapted martial ex- 
 ercise. Instead of attempting to give precision of move- 
 ment to the militia, the slower manoeuvres of regular 
 troops were objects of imitation. The formation of 
 the Zurich corps of sharp-shooters, however, was more 
 suitable to the real wants and nature of the country. 
 
 The bitterness of religious and political dissension 
 which had long prevailed in so many odious forms began 
 to decline, and the personal worth of men began to be 
 estimated by less absurd criteria than their speculative 
 opinions. Old prejutlices vanished, or at all events 
 were mitigated, and even if the recognition of principles
 
 298 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1789. 
 
 more enlightened was with many a matter of fashion 
 and imitation, still those may be deemed fortunate 
 whose existence falls on a period in which truth and 
 liberal sentiments find favour and adoption. 
 
 On the whole, the century was not worse than those 
 which had preceded it. Even if the forms of govern- 
 ment favoured many abuses, a more extended spirit of 
 activity prevailed amongst the people than in previous 
 generations; and though it is true that no extraordinarily 
 great actions were performed, it is also true that no 
 great occasion called for their performance. It cannot 
 be denied that too much jealousy prevailed between the 
 cantons, and that more reliance was often placed on 
 strangers than on fellow-confederates. But Germany, 
 which united might have given law to Europe, had been 
 even more distracted by like errors, reduced to a mere 
 battle-field for foreigners, and robbed of its most valuable 
 dependencies. 
 
 CHAP. XXI, 
 
 FROM THE FIRST YEARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 TO THE PEACE OF AMIENS. 
 
 1789-1802. 
 
 FIRST EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION IN SWITZEELAND. 
 
 IMITATION OF ITS HORRORS AT GENEVA. POLICY OF THE 
 
 FRENCH DIRECTOUy. CISALPINE REPUBLIC. INSURRECTI IN 
 
 OF THE PEASANTRY OF BASLE. DIFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT OF 
 
 REVOLT. INSOLENCE OF COMMISSARY MENGAUD. TROOPS 
 
 OF BRUNE AND SCHAUENBURG ENTER SWITZERLAND. CAP- 
 TURE OF BERNE. DEATH OF GENERAL ERLACH. ERECTION 
 
 OF A "CONSTITUTION UNITAIRE." STRUGGLE AND SUBJEC- 
 TION OF THE FOREST CANTONS. FALL OF THE OLD HELVETIC 
 
 LEAGUE. — ANARCHY AND TYRANNY. 
 
 The Swiss governments, as well as that large portion of 
 their subjects who were contented with their condition.
 
 1789' FRENCH REVLOUTION. 299 
 
 and desired no alteration in it, were startled out of a 
 state of perfect tranquillity by the first shock of the 
 French revolution. The shifting of the whole political 
 scenery of Europe surrounded them with entirely new 
 embarrassments. They resembled steersmen tolerably 
 capable of guiding their bark safely through the tempests 
 of their native lakes ; but who found themselves now on 
 unknown seas without chart or compass. The situation 
 of the Swiss regiments engaged in the French service 
 afforded the first reason for disquietude ; the next was 
 the apprehension of infection from the principles pre- 
 dominant in France. Alarming political movements 
 soon began in the interior ; and the solution of the 
 problems which were set before Swiss politicians by the 
 progress of events in the neighbouring countries was the 
 more difficult the more various were the views, wants, 
 and relations of the cantons, and the lands which were 
 subject to them. 
 
 It was in the latter districts, as might have been ex- 
 pected, that the new ideas gained the greatest currency, 
 and that the first attempts were made for their realisa- 
 tion. Educated and thinking men in the subject towns 
 and territories brooded resentfully on their exclusion 
 from all public posts and dignities. In those cantons 
 where trade and manufactures were most cultivated, it 
 was regarded as an intolerable hardship by the enter- 
 prising and wealthy rural proprietor, that he was hin- 
 dered by oppressive regulations from purchasing the 
 requisite raw materials, or from disposing of the pro- 
 ducts of his industry in any quarter except to a whole- 
 sale dealer of the capital. Similar resentments were 
 excited by corporate privileges. Nevertheless, in the 
 German regions of Switzerland, a longer time elapsed 
 before the new modes of thinking, and the comparisons 
 %vhich they suggested, set the public mind in motion. 
 This took place much sooner in the west, where the 
 French language and neighbourhood made communi- 
 cation easier > above all, in Geneva, where nothing but
 
 SOO HISTORY OF SWITZEHLAND. ITSQ. 
 
 an auspicious hour was waited for to burst asunder a 
 yoke imposed by foreigners. 
 
 A rise in the price of bread, which was imputed to 
 the government, gave occasion to the long prepared ex- 
 plosion. On the 26'th of February, 1789, the burghers 
 assailed the garrison with every thing which could be 
 turned into a weapon of offence. Fire-engines with 
 boiling water supplied the place of artillery : the gar- 
 rison was put to the rout, and the power of the govern- 
 ment overturned the more easily, as its foreign props 
 had now ceased to support it. The ruling class was 
 compelled to throw itself wholly on the citizens, to re- 
 store the ancient liberties of the town, and to recall the 
 banished heads of the representatives. But the hour was 
 come for the ruin of Genevan independence. The 
 country people and hahitans of the town now demanded 
 an equality of rights with the burghers, on the model of 
 republican France ; and the latter power was induced to 
 second their wishes, by the suggestions of the ex-repre- 
 sentative Claviere. The malecontents were kept for 
 a while in check by troops from Berne and Zurich ; but, 
 on the withdrawal of these in 1792, the country people, 
 habitans and natifs, flew to arms, made themselves mas- 
 ters of the town, deposed the government, and esta- 
 blished, on the model of France, a national convention, 
 with committees of general safety and of public welfare. 
 
 A show of moderation and tranquillity lasted some 
 time longer; but distrust and exasperation received 
 continual new aliment, and the disinterested friends of 
 peace could hardly prevent some furious outbreak. 
 Many votes were gained to a proposed new constitution, 
 by the hope of securing order and repose ; and in the 
 beginning of 1794 it was adopted by a large majority. 
 In April, syndics and council were again installed in 
 their former functions, and the event was announced to 
 Zurich and Berne with expressions of hope and con- 
 fidence. Berne, however, could not resolve, on the 
 instant, to give the name of confederates to these newly 
 re-estabhshed authorities ; and what had been done had
 
 l~9i. REIGN* OF TERROR AT GEXEVA. 301 
 
 no effect in mitigating the violence of those who put 
 themselves forwards as the organs of the multitude, 
 which they first set in motion for their own purposes, 
 and then were forced, in turn, to flatter its passions, in 
 order to continue popular favourites. Meanwhile, the 
 price of necessaries rose, while trade and industry 
 stagnated ; and the repeated demands for so-styled free- 
 will offerings to the pubUc were answered by supplies 
 more and more sparing. 
 
 In order to crush, at a stroke, all resistance, and to 
 furnish themselves with the necessary stores and ammu- 
 nition, the party of terrorists made a nocturnal seizure 
 of the arsenal in July, 1794, occupied all the posts in 
 warlike array ; and filled the prisons of the town, and 
 even the corn-magazine, Avith nearly six hundred men, 
 whom they chose to designate as aristocrats ; and 
 amongst whom were a number of the most respectable 
 members of the magistracy, merchants, and men of 
 letters. Of eight of the prisoners first examined, a 
 revolutionary tribunal contented itself with sentencing 
 one to death ; but the clamour and threats of the mul- 
 titude worked on these unsteady judges to retract their 
 verdict, and extend the same condemnation to all the 
 others. The doom of four of these was commuted 
 for banishment by the general assembly ; but a band of 
 wretches again collected, stormed the prisons, and the 
 bloody tribunal now sentenced their victims to be shot ; 
 and afterwards endeavoured to excuse itself on the plea 
 that this had only been done to prevent worse atrocities. 
 ]\lore executions followed, which included several per- 
 sons who had actively promoted revolution. Numbers 
 were banished, in order to secure the ruling party a 
 majority in the general assembly. The large sums 
 required by a revolutionary government for the payment 
 of public officei-s, and the armed force of the populace, 
 were defrayed by imposing heavy contributions on the 
 possessors of property ; bidifferentists being made to 
 pay double, aristocrats, a treble amount. 
 
 Party spirit, however, cooled by degrees ; approxi-
 
 S02 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 179^- 
 
 mations and concessions took place between all classes 
 of citizens, who felt, in common, the general ruin of 
 public and pnvate happiness ; and the disappointment 
 of all the hopes which had formerly found indulgence. 
 In 1796, a return to the old constitution was agreed 
 upon, on condition of equality of rights being conceded 
 to the old and new burghers, and the town and country 
 inhabitants. The exiles returned home, and all rejoiced 
 that they could again breathe freely. For two years 
 more, the little republic dragged on an infirm existence ; 
 till it was finally united with France in 1798, and 
 forced to partake, for fifteen years, the destinies of that 
 country. 
 
 Of the men who had at different times been banished 
 for political offences from Switzerland, many had taken 
 refuge in the French metropolis, and endeavoured to 
 persuade the republican statesmen that their enemies 
 were equally those of France: their representations found 
 the easier audience, as Switzerland was already regarded 
 with greedy eyes by their hearers. " At an early period 
 of the revolution," observes an English writer *, " the 
 views of France were cUrected towards Switzerland, as 
 well from its importance as a barrier on her eastern 
 frontier, as from its central position between the German 
 empire and Italy. The reduction, therefore, of Swit- 
 zerland, was a favourite object of the republican rulers, 
 and was only suspended by the dread of adding its peo- 
 ple to the host of enemies who menaced France on all 
 sides ; they accordingly temporised under the mask of 
 friendship, and succeeded in preserving the neutrality of 
 the Helvetic confederacy, by fomenting the national 
 antipathy to the house of Austria. Yet even during this 
 specious display of friendship, their agents industriously 
 spread disaffection, and prepared the mine which was 
 ready to explode on the first favourable opportunity : 
 such an opportunity presented itself at the conclusion of 
 the treaty of Campo Formio, which left the Swiss with- 
 out an ally on the Continent. At this period the French 
 
 * Coxe.
 
 1797. POMCY OK THE FUENCH DIRECTORY. SOS 
 
 republic.had acquired a colossal strength. The king of 
 Sardinia, deprived of half his territory, was tlie vassal of 
 France ; the pope, and the king of Naples, owed the 
 possession of a precarious sceptre to the forbearance of 
 the directory ; Prussia pertinaciously maintained her 
 close connection with the new republic ; and Austria, 
 vanquished by the genius of Bonaparte, had concluded 
 a dishonourable peace." 
 
 " But the French rulers were not content with planting 
 the tricoloured flag on the summit of Mont Blanc, on 
 the left bank of the Rhine, and at the mouth of the 
 Scheldt, and with establishing the limits of their empire 
 by the natural boundaries of the Pyrenees, the Alps, the 
 Mediterranean and the ocean. "NVith a view to secure 
 their territories against the future aggressions of the 
 continental powers, they purposed to form a series of 
 dependent republics along the hue of their frontiers, as 
 a kind of outwork, to remove the point of attack. At 
 the extremities of this line they had already established 
 the Ligurian and Batavian republics ; the Cisalpine soon 
 followed. A connecting link of this chain was Switzer- 
 land, which covered the most vulnerable parts of the 
 French territory ; and, from its natural strength and 
 central position, formed the citadel of Europe." * 
 
 Besides these motives, acknowledged by the French 
 themselves, their rapacity was stimulated by the trea- 
 sures known to exist at Berne and elsewhere, the amount 
 of which, as usual, was enormously exaggerated. What 
 was required, in short, was not a motive but a pretext 
 for intermedtUing with the internal regulations of the 
 Helvetic body. That body had avoided giving offence 
 with the utmost caution ; had recognised every successive 
 form of government in France ; and had turned out of 
 their territories the unfortunate French emigrants who 
 had fled thither for refuge from the rage of their own 
 countrymen. 
 
 The triumphs of Napoleon in Italy were concluded 
 by the construction of the Cisalpine republic. The Swiss 
 
 * See the Appendix.
 
 SOI insTonY of swiTZEULAN'n. 1797. 
 
 subjects of the Valteline, Cliiavenna, and Bormjo, were 
 tempted to desire participation in tlie freedom thus es- 
 tabUshed on their borders ; and Napoleon offered the 
 Orisons the alternative of conceding equal rights to these 
 districts, or of seeing them included in the new Cisal- 
 pine state. Parties ran so high on this proposal, that no 
 friendly understanding was possible ; and when the term 
 allowed for reply elapsed without any being given, Na- 
 poleon put his threat into effect, and confiscated all pro- 
 perty belonging to the Grisons contained in the above- 
 mentioned districts. 
 
 Such was the first encroachment on the ancient limits 
 of Switzerland : shortly afterwards the bishopric of 
 Basle was annexed to France. Great consternation was 
 caused by these proceedings in the confederation ; but 
 still more serious evils were at hand. In the canton of 
 Basle the peasantry murmured loudly against the town : 
 in the Aargau several towns advanced tumultuous claims 
 against Berne, for the recovery of their old and chartered 
 rights ; and the Pays de Vaud reclaimed its freedom 
 ■with more impatience than ever. It was said besides, 
 that a French army Avas already marching on Switzer- 
 land; ostensibly to support the claims of the malcontents, 
 but really to make themselves masters of the land for 
 their own purposes. Berne and Freyburg hastily levied 
 forces for the coercion of their turbulent dependencies ; 
 and a diet of the confederacy was summoned at Aarau. 
 Much was said and nothing done at this meeting, as the 
 cantonal governments neither trusted each other nor 
 their subjects. The members of the diet renewed the 
 original league of the cantons, as if urged by the pre- 
 sentiment of its coming dissolution. The oath had hardly 
 been taken, Avhen a messenger from Basle brought the 
 intelligence that the mansions of the land-vogts were in 
 flames ; that a large body of peasantry had entered the 
 town, and that all the subject districts had declared 
 themselves free. 
 
 The spectacle of feebleness and fear in the authorities, 
 combined with dogged resistance to the wishes of the
 
 1797« INSOLENCE OF MENGAUD. 305 
 
 people, of course diffused, instead of quelling, the spirit 
 of revolt. As in the thirteenth and succeeding century, 
 the prerogatives of the nobles had been forced to yield to 
 the claims of a class of burghers and of shepherds, so soon 
 as the example of the Lombard towns, and the growth of 
 public prosperity, had excited independence of feeling ; 
 so likewise, in the times of which we are treating, it had 
 ceased to be within the power of a privileged class to con- 
 tend with success against the claims of the so called third 
 order, encouraged as it was by the example of France. 
 Some districts, indeed, took no part in the prevalent 
 agitations, and pertinaciously adhered to the accustomed 
 order of things ; others, more distinguished for enlight- 
 enment and enterprise, demanded an equality of rights 
 in town and country ; others, again, required the re- 
 storation of ancient franchises : some regarded nothing 
 as attainable but by French interference ; while nobler 
 minds retained an insurmountable abhorrence for the 
 agency of strangers in the internal affairs of their country. 
 It became more and more evident, that the policy of 
 the French directory led them to foment intestine dis- 
 cord in Switzerland. For several years past it had been 
 observed, that foreign emissaries set themselves to work 
 upon the public opinion. A person of the name of Men- 
 gaud made his appearance at Basle, under the unusual 
 and equivocal title of coviDiiasary, and set his seal on 
 the papers of the French embassy : this individual not 
 only made no secret of his intelligence with the mal- 
 contents in Switzerland, but affected to display it osten- 
 tatiously. He went to Berne on the 10th of October, 
 1797, where he demanded, in a note addressed to the 
 government, the dismissal of the English ambassador, 
 "W'ickham, who had certainly exerted himself openly 
 against France, but had done so as the envoy of a power 
 at war with that country. Berne referred the demand 
 of Mengaud to the then directing canton, as a matter 
 which concerned tlie whole confederacy. Wickliam re- 
 lieved for the moment the embarrassment of the Helvetic
 
 sob' HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1797« 
 
 body, while he deprived the French directory of a pre- 
 sent pretence for violence, by taking his departure on a 
 tour into Germany ; but he left an able diplomatist 
 behind him in the person of his secretary Talbot. -Men- 
 gaud was received at Zurich and Berne with undisguised 
 aversion, and no diplomatic visits were paid him at 
 either of these places. In the month of November, an 
 embassy from the latter town had been sent to Paris ; 
 which, though admitted to an audience of the director 
 Barras, soon received a rude dismissal homewards. 
 
 Great were the hopes infused into the disaffected 
 party by the promises of Mengaud, and other subor- 
 dinate agents of France ; and proportional fears were 
 excited amongst the friends of the old system, including 
 the greater number of public functionaries. In order 
 to increase their uneasiness, Mengaud threatened the 
 diet of the confederation in January, 1798, with the 
 entrance of French troops into Switzerland, should 
 Austria be suffered to occupy the Grisons. He travelled 
 to the place of meeting at Aarau, with tricoloured flags 
 flying from his carriage ; and, on his arrival there, hung 
 out an immense banner in front of his house. The 
 triumphant revolutionists of Basle had already formed a 
 tricoloured flag of their own, by the addition of green 
 to their former cantonal colours, black and white^ and 
 their delegate at Paris, Ochs, had hastily sketched what 
 he called an Helvetic constitution, on the model of that 
 of the French republic. This document was printed in 
 ItaUan, French, and German, and distributed by Men- 
 gaud, not in official quarters only, but throughout the 
 whole population of the cantons. 
 
 In the mean time, a division of the French army, 
 under ]\Ienard, appeared on the western frontier; and 
 the Pays de Vaud, protected by it, declared its inde- 
 pendence of Berne. The Bernese government saw the 
 necessity of trying the force of arms on its subjects ; and 
 the command of the forces having been dechned by 
 councillor Erlach of Spiez, who had hitherto been one 
 of the strongest assertors of aristocracy, it was con-
 
 1798. INVASION OP THE VAUD. 307 
 
 ferred on colonel Rudolf Weiss^ who had, till then, sus- 
 tained the character of a champion of the opposite 
 system; and had contributed, by a published work*, to 
 the favourable temper of the partisans of Robespierre 
 towards the Swiss confederation. An unusual dele- 
 gation of full powers placed in his hands the whole 
 mihtary government of the Vaud. The new commander 
 held conferences with the leaders of the malcontents ; 
 published a treatise intended to conciliate them +, but in- 
 termixed conciliation with menace. Chillon was reco- 
 vered by surprise from the insurgents, and the German 
 troops of Berne were moved on the frontiers of the 
 Vaud. Meanwhile, general Menard was already on the 
 lake of Geneva, with 10,000 men of the conquering 
 army of Italy ; and to him the insurgent leaders, 
 alarmed for their own safety, addressed themselves. 
 Menard replied, that he was instructed to give them aid 
 and protection; and threatened colonel Weiss that he 
 would repel force with force, if the former should per- 
 sist in drawing troops around a territory already declared 
 independent, and in arming the communes against 
 each other. Without taking any measures of defence, 
 — without even attempting to maintain himself on the 
 high grounds, — Weiss withdrew to the neighbourhood of 
 Yverdun. It happened, accidentally, that two French 
 hussars were shot on the outposts of the Bernese army, 
 because they had not immediately answered the challenge 
 of the sentinels. This incident was taken up by Me- 
 nard, and afterwards by the directory, as an infringe- 
 ment of the law of nations, and commencement of hos- 
 tilities. 
 
 The revolution of Basle, and the entrance of French 
 troops into the Pays de Vaud, rendered it impossible for 
 reflecting men any longer to doubt that sweeping social 
 changes were inevitable. Yet the Swiss democracies 
 would not be persuaded that any one could shake their 
 
 * Coup.<i'oei1 sur les reflations politiques entre la republique Fran;aise et 
 le corps Helvutitiue. 17!?.i. 
 + UevciUuz-voiis, Suisscs, le danger approche. 
 
 X 2
 
 SOS HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1798. 
 
 constitutions^ or force on them a new species of freedom. 
 The numerous friends of things as they were still hoped 
 to steer themselves through the crisis without any great 
 sacrifices^ by mere dint of tenacity and delay. Many, 
 moreover, flattered themselves with the notion that the 
 plans of France were levelled at no wider mark than 
 the Vaud ; and were prompted by a petty feeling of 
 jealousy towards Berne, to see nothing in the affair but 
 a mortification to that envied canton. 
 
 It could hardly be conceived at Berne, that the 
 French should have advanced without meeting any re- 
 sistance up to Yverdun, while the head quarters of 
 colonel Weiss were withdrawn behind Avenche. He 
 was instantly dismissed from his command, which was 
 transferred to general Erlach of Hindelbank ; but the 
 evil effects of exorbitant discretionary powers had 
 been so sensibly felt, that the opposite extreme was now 
 adopted. Meanwhile, the leading statesmen of Berne 
 had, at length, become convinced that concessions must 
 be made to the people. Fifty-two members were added 
 to the great council from amongst the burghers, citizens 
 of the minor towns, and rural inhabitants. It was 
 resolved to introduce, within a year's time, a new con- 
 stitution ; in which admission to every public function 
 should be open to all, and due proportion should be ob- 
 served in the emoluments of all public services. These re- 
 solutions were laid before the directory, together with a 
 demand for the withdrawal of the French troops. The 
 government also stooped to make a like communication 
 to Mengaud, to acquaint him with the actual political 
 system of Berne, and inform him of the wish of that 
 canton to preserve peace with France. Mengaud made 
 just such an answer as ought to have been expected from 
 him. He demanded a prompt and complete change of 
 the old political system, declared that farther delays 
 could not be suffered by the majesty of the French re- 
 public ; and designated the persevering defenders of the 
 existing order as a handful of inveterate tyrants. 
 
 Disregarding their own positive engagements^ the
 
 1798. ARTFUL PROPOSALS OF BRUNK. 309 
 
 French, on the 8th of February, took possession of the 
 town of Bienne. Yet the confederates still hoped to 
 conciliate France, and were encouraged in this illusion 
 by general Brune, who now commanded the French 
 troops, reinforced by several thousand men, and fixed 
 his head quarters at Payerne. This subtle leader, who, 
 without having performed a lengthened public career, 
 was, to borrow a diplomatic expression, rompu dans 
 les affaires, proposed, with artful blandishments, and 
 with hinted hopes of peaceful adjustment, an armistice of 
 fourteen days ; during which the discipline and enthu- 
 siasm of the Bernese army had time to abate, indecision 
 and distrust to increase, and recruits to join the French 
 army. 
 
 Meanwhile, general Schauenburg had collected a di- 
 vision of troops on the frontiers of Soleure and Berne, 
 equal in strength to that of Brune. The latter an- 
 nounced, on the '26th of February, that he had received 
 full powers to treat from the executive directory. He 
 proposed his ultimatum to the Swiss delegates, that 
 without farther delay they should introduce a pro- 
 visional government, take measures for the establishment 
 of a new constitution, with securities for freedom and 
 equality, liberate all prisoners for political offences, and 
 withdraw their own troops, as Avell as those of the other 
 cantons. On the due fulfilment of these conditions, the 
 French troops should be drawn off likewise ; and should 
 not again enter the Swiss territory, unless the government 
 called for their assistance. 
 
 On the very day when Brune had given his inso- 
 lent idtimatum, Erlach entered the great council at 
 Berne, accompanied by eighty of his officers, who were 
 members, like himself, of that body. In a moment of 
 unusual resolution, he was invested with full powers to 
 commence hostilities on the close of the armistice. 
 However, two days afterwards, the delegates returned 
 from Brune's encampment at Payerne. Erlach and his 
 brothers in arms were no longer present in council ; the 
 rest of that body were paralysed by the imminent and 
 
 X 3
 
 310 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 179^- 
 
 gigantic danger; and the full powers which had just 
 been given the general were taken away. The same 
 evening, Erlach received instructions not to attack the 
 French, which fired his troops with anger and suspicion, 
 and tended to confirm the belief in the treachery of 
 their leaders, already widely prevalent in the army. 
 Brune's ultimatum, in all its principal features, was 
 accepted. The delegates of Zurich, Wyss, and Tschar- 
 ner, sought a conference with him, when he renewed 
 his former offers in cold and peremptory language ; but 
 now added a novel stipulation to them, namely, that, even 
 after the confederate troops were disbanded, his should 
 remain till the new constitution should be e?tabliished. It 
 was affirmed, truly or otherwise, that he gyanted, without 
 difficulty, an extension of the truce for twenty-four hours; 
 notwithstanding which, the delegates, on their return, saw 
 his troops already in motion for the attack. Orders for 
 the commencement of hostilities had also been forwarded 
 from the council of war at Berne to the army, and two 
 hours afterwards, retracted. In obedience to the first of 
 these contradictory instructions, the Bernese colonel Gross 
 had given notice to the French outposts that the truce 
 would come to an end at ten in the evening of the 1st 
 of March ; but when he withdrew his former announce- 
 ment on the arrival of counter-orders, Schauenburg 
 would admit no further parley. He had already at- 
 tacked, without warning, the old castle of Dornach, in 
 the neighbourhood of Basle, which sustained a siege of 
 twenty-four hours. The attack of a Bernese division 
 near Vingels was repulsed with loss, and the French 
 surprised the Bernese posts at Lengnau, which they 
 carried after an obstinate resistance. The town of So- 
 leure capitulated, on Schauenburg's appearance before 
 it. The passage across the Aar now lay open to the 
 French troops. Freyburg was attacked and taken, though 
 a stand was made by the Bernese garrison. 
 
 Erlach was now compelled to withdraw his troops 
 behind the Aar and the Sense ; though it was not 
 without extreme reluctance that the men of Berne
 
 1798. CAPITULATION OF BERNE. 311 
 
 abandoned Morat. On the 3d of March, Brune de- 
 stroyed one of the finest monuments of Swiss courage 
 and union, the Ossuary of Morat ; and the French, 
 among whom were many natives of Burgundy, ho- 
 noured the bones of their ancestors with a grave, after 
 an interval of more than 300 years. Now at length 
 Berne, Soleure, and Freyburg proclaimed a levy en 
 masse of the able-bodied men within their terri- 
 tories. The Bernese army was in a dreadful state of 
 confusion ; particularly that division which stood di- 
 rectly opposed to Brune, in which the distrust and ex- 
 asperation of the soldiers were at their highest pitch. 
 Officers were dismissed by their soldiers, and others put 
 in their place. Colonels Stettler and Ryhiner were 
 bayonetted and shot before the very gates of Berne ; and 
 colonels Crusez and Goumoens fell beneath the sabre- 
 strokes of their own dragoons. Nevertheless, the troops 
 were again assembled under command of Grafenried, 
 who was admirably supported by his officers, and re- 
 pulsed the French in every attempt to charge them at 
 the point of the bayonet. Eighteen cannons were 
 taken from the enemy, and their loss in men besides was 
 very considerable. 
 
 The native troops had now fuUy recovered spirit and 
 confidence; but just as Grafenried prepared to cross 
 the Sense at Neueneck, the decisive intelHgence ar- 
 rived that Berne was in the hands of the enemy ! 
 Early on the 5th, an attack had been made by Schauen- 
 burg on Soleure. His force was far numerically superior 
 to the Bernese ; his horse artillery terrified the native 
 mihtia by its novelty, and his cavalry was nearly eight- 
 fold that of Berne in numbers. At Fraubi-unnen, the 
 French turned the left flank of the Bernese : in the 
 Grauholz and at Breitenfeld their militia under Er- 
 lach offered a brave resistance, armed with scythes and 
 other agricultural implements. Men, women, and even 
 children mixed, and fell in the mortal struggle. On its 
 unsuccessful issue, ensued the capitulation of Berne. 
 
 X 4
 
 312 JIISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1798. 
 
 All was lost: — the armed bands of the peasantry 
 dispersed in every direction with loud accusations 
 of treason against their officers, many of whom were 
 slain by their own men. Amongst these was the general 
 Erlach, an illustrious name in the annals of Berne. That 
 unfortunate commander, and the avoyer Steiger, when 
 the fortune of the day was decided, retreated towards 
 the Oberland, whither they knew that arms and money 
 had already been despatched by the government, and 
 where they still hoped to offer an effective resistance. 
 But Erlach was murdered in the way by the enraged 
 fugitives, who breathed nothing but revenge for their 
 imaginary betrayal, and it was only by chance that 
 Steiger did not meet a similar fate. 
 
 Even public extremity could not restore public spirit. 
 Every little canton treated, armed, and cared, for itself 
 exclusively, totally regardless of the rest. Wherever 
 the authorities had, till then, withheld freedom from 
 their subjects, they no longer delayed to grant it; but 
 bestowed emancipation with so ill a grace, as to indicate 
 how gladly they would have refused it, had they dared. 
 
 France now assumed a tone of direct command, and 
 proclaimed the dissolution of the Helvetic body, and 
 the establishment of a constitution unitaire, embracing 
 the whole of Switzerland under one uniform system of 
 government. This system announced a perfect equal- 
 ity of rights between the inhabitants of the towns and of 
 the villages, assigned the nomination of judges, magis- 
 trates, and legislators, to the people in their primary 
 assemblies, and entrusted to the government the choice 
 of executive functionaries. The founders of this new 
 Helvetic republic next proceeded to the more material 
 objects of their mission. They levied large contributions 
 on the towns, appropriated the treasures amassed at 
 Berne, Zurich, Soleure, and Freyburg, and carried off 
 many members of council and other persons, as hostages 
 for the further payments exacted from those places. 
 
 But the people of Uri, Nidwalden, Schwytz, and 
 G]arusj.were resolved not to deUver up their old inde-
 
 1798. FALL OF THE OLD HELVETIC LEAGUE. 313 
 
 pendence so easily, and organised an heroic, though an 
 useless, resistance under their brave leader Aloys Reding. 
 The most brilliant and the most sanguinary struggle 
 took place at Rothenthurm, in the neighbourhood of the 
 battle-field of Morgarten. These Alpine shepherds 
 combated with a spirit and success which showed them 
 not unworthy of their forefathers. Thrice were the 
 attacks cf regular troops, four times their number, re- 
 pulsed, with serious loss on the side of the enemy. But 
 the vigour of this peasant militia was exhausted by 
 their very successes, and they were, finally, compelled to 
 accept terms from the invaders, and to bow beneath the 
 yoke of the Helvetic republic. Thus ended the old 
 Swiss confederation, after enduring for a term of nearly 
 five centuries. " It fell," says an enlightened native his- 
 torian*, "not exactly for want of strength in the bands 
 which held it together; for, without any stronger bond 
 of union the old confederates won their freedom, crushed 
 or repelled the force of mighty antagonists, and rendered 
 themselves powerful and formidable. The Swiss suc- 
 cumbed in the last unfortunate struggle, because the 
 feeling of duty, the lofty faith in their country and its 
 fortunes, had become chilled in the bosoms of the many, 
 and because the democratical cantons thought of none 
 but themselves." 
 
 While the well-instructed friends of their country 
 regretted the rude violence with which every link in the 
 system of society, from the Alps to the Jura, had been 
 totally torn away from its ancient holdings, they could 
 not fail to perceive the ultimate benefits educible from 
 the general convulsion. The former aggregation of little 
 states had been productive of estrangement and enmity ; 
 the cantons had been proved powerless, even for self- 
 defence ; separately too poor for public enterprises ; 
 collectively incapable of any combined action. But now 
 an opportunity seemed to be given to the Swiss people 
 of becoming one great family, enjoying equal rights. 
 The mass of the people, however, was not penetrated by 
 • Ludwig Meyer.
 
 314 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1798. 
 
 such ideas, and only deplored the breach made in their 
 old habits and usages. They had, indeed, demanded 
 freedom and independence, but not this melting up into 
 an uniform mass. They would have preferred that every 
 petty district, nay, every single valley, should become a 
 free and independent canton, ruling itself in its own 
 assemblies, according to its own pleasure, and only con- 
 nected by federal ties with the rest of the Swiss people. 
 The whole subsequent march of events tended only to 
 increase the desire for a subdivided federative system of 
 this kind, and the aversion for the newly established 
 order. The new general government, called an executive 
 directory, after its prototype at Paris, resided at Aarau 
 without inspiring either respect or confidence, dependent 
 on its sole protectors, the French plenipotentiaries. In 
 the senate and the great council, composed of delegates 
 from all the cantons, the conflicting opinions of parties 
 caused an incessant wordy warfare. Out of doors the 
 same parties abandoned parliamentary weapons, and as- 
 serted their discordant creeds with arms in their hands. 
 New and old laws and regulations were perpetually 
 coming in collision. While the state was often without 
 the most indispensable means for its maintenance, and 
 even for the daily pay of its functionaries, the French 
 plenipotentiaries, leaders, and subalterns, rioted in shame- 
 less superfluities at the cost of the country, and sent to 
 France the surplus of their plunder. 
 
 The discontents of the people were considerably ag- 
 gravated by the murmurs and manceuvi-es of the ci-devant 
 authorities ; of the monks who apprehended the abolition 
 of aU monasteries ; of the priests who had suffered di- 
 minution of their stipends, and of the traders and artisans 
 in the towns who no longer enjoyed the sweets of cor- 
 porations and monopolies. They trusted to the ap- 
 proaching renewal of war between France and Austria, 
 and prepared to support the emperor for the expidsion 
 of the French. When the whole population was sum- 
 moned, in July, 1798, to take the oath of allegiance to 
 the newly formed constitution, disturbances and revolts
 
 1798' INROADS OF FRENCH AND AUSTRIANS. 315 
 
 took place in the Rheinthal, Oberland, Appenzell, and 
 other districts. These were suppressed by military force, 
 the use of which in Nidwalden was accompanied by ex- 
 traordinary circumstances of horror. Here Paul Styger, 
 a capuchin, with others of the clergy, had spirited the 
 people up to a desperate resistance, on the ground that 
 the French constitution was an immediate work of Satan, 
 They armed themselves against the overwhelming force 
 of Schauenburg, against which they made head for three 
 whole days, with a loss to the French of from 3000 to 
 4000 men. The enemy took a merciless revenge for 
 the resistance of this little band of shepherds by the 
 burning of Stans and Stans-stadt, and the massacre of 
 every hving being which they found in these places. 
 The 9th day of September, 1798, witnessed the slaughter 
 of nearly 400 inhabitants of Nidwalden, with every 
 possible circumstance of atrocity. 
 
 War with France was at length renewed by the em- 
 peror of Austria, and a division of his army entered the 
 Grisons. A signal defeat sustained by the French troops 
 near Stockach, in Swabia, the victorious advance of the 
 Austrian army into Switzerland, and the removal of the 
 seat of the Helvetic government from Lucerne to Berne, 
 seemed to inspire the conflicting parties with renewed 
 animation and fury. Swiss fought against Swiss under 
 the banners of France and Austria ; tumults and revolts 
 took place on account of the French conscription or in 
 favour of the Austrian invasion ; battles were fought 
 between foreign armies in the vallies, on the Alps, and 
 on the banks of the lakes ; and horse and man clambered 
 over heights which had formerly been only known to 
 the chamois hunter. The Grisons and the mountainous 
 lands as far as the St. Gothard, were alternately won and 
 lost by French and Germans. The victorious banners 
 of Austria were carried on the left as far as Zurich and 
 the St. Gothard, on the right up to the banks of the 
 Rhine, supported by the Russians under Suwarrow. 
 Switzerland had never sustained such desolating inroad; 
 
 o 
 
 IS
 
 3l6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1801. 
 
 since the times of the Romans, Alemanni, and Bur. 
 gundians. 
 
 Many of the old superseded members of tlie govern- 
 ment now looked forward to the speedy restoration of 
 their authority, which they here and there attempted to 
 recover with the assistance of the Austrian bayonets : 
 even the new abbot of St. GaU resumed the exercise of 
 his feudal rights, such as they had existed before the 
 recent emancipation which had been granted to the 
 people. The effects of this iniquitous resumption did 
 not fail soon to be felt by the proud prelate himself; 
 Zurich and SchafFhausen, too, were soon forced to ac- 
 knowledge that the people did not wish to be replaced 
 in its state of subjection. The decisive and brilliant 
 victory of Massena near Zurich, and the destruction of 
 Suwarrow's army, which had marched over the Alps 
 from Italy, restored the Helvetic constitution throughout 
 the whole country. Parties now supplanted and suc- 
 ceeded each other in quick succession, so that none could 
 remain long at the helm or consult for the public benefit. 
 First of all, the legislative councils dissolved the executive 
 directory, and substituted for it an executive committee ; 
 then in its turn, this executive committee dissolved the 
 councils, convoked a new. legislature, and styled itself 
 executive council. Twelve months afterwards a general 
 Helvetic diet was assembled at Berne for the formation 
 of a new and improved constitution : this, like the former 
 deliberative bodies, was arbitrarily deposed from its 
 functions, and a newest-of-all constitution established, 
 in October, 1801. Aloys Reding, the victor of Ro- 
 thenthurm, as the foremost Swiss landamman, was placed 
 at the head of the senate ; but as he neither possessed 
 the confidence of the French rulers, nor that of those 
 who detested all recurrence to the old state of things, a 
 new act of arbitrary power deposed him from the pre- 
 sidency of the council. 
 
 These continual changes of administration were looked 
 upon with absolute indifference by the Swiss people, who 
 only sighed at the total interruption of law and order,
 
 1801. PREVALENCE OF FANATICISM. S17 
 
 the increase of taxes^ and the lawless acts of the French 
 soldiery. The Valais more particularly suffered by the 
 military tyranny to which it was subjected. The object 
 of France was to separate it from Switzerland, in order 
 to keep a route open across the Alps into Italy. 
 
 In the same degree as popular consideration ceased 
 to attend the ever-changing, but equally odious, as- 
 pects of the new government, individual opinions and 
 wild fancies obtained prevalence. IMystical views were 
 propagated in AppenzeU ; and the anabaptists reared 
 their heads once more in Berne and Zurich, The 
 quiet of the former town and its neighbourhood 
 was suddenly disturbed by a swarm of fanatics from 
 Amsoldingen. Two years before, a quack doctor and 
 fanatic, by name Antony Unternerer, had fixed his abode 
 in that village. A certain flow of language, combined 
 with prepossessing manners, and the profuse employ- 
 ment of benedictory formulas in human diseases, as well 
 as in those of cattle, had gained for this fellow the 
 confidence of the multitude. He held meetings in 
 which particular parts of the New Testament were inter- 
 preted in a new and peculiar manner ; and his adhe- 
 rents ceased their attendance on the ordinary divine 
 service. Unternerer addressed a summons in writing 
 to the supreme tribunal of Berne, to appear, with all its 
 prisoners and their keepers, in the cathedral church on 
 the morning of Good Friday, when the Saviour of the 
 world would ascend the pulpit, and hold his judgment. 
 He also summoned all his disciples to meet at Berne on 
 the same day. Many of them had already remained 
 during several days assembled together; and, anticipating 
 the coming judgment, had transferred their worldly 
 possessions to others. Curiosity drew a multitude toge- 
 ther from all quarters. Unternerer himself was an- 
 nounced as Saviour by his adherents ; and seditious 
 projects peeped out under the mantle of fanaticism. 
 However, such a wholesome effect was produced by 
 the arrest of the ringleader, the consignment of his 
 most conspicuous followers to the lunatic hospital, and
 
 318 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1802. 
 
 the billetting of dragoons in the houses of others, that the 
 poor enthusiasts soon came to their senses, lamented the 
 error of their ways, and the transfer of their properties. 
 The peace of Amiens, betwixt France and the other 
 belligerent powers, in consequence of which the French 
 garrisons were drawn home out of Switzerland, af- 
 forded opportunity to the party and provincial spirit 
 to show itself with new vigour. On the 12th of 
 July, Montrichard, the French resident in Switzer- 
 land, communicated in an extra-official note to the 
 Helvetic landamman, Dolder, that he had received 
 commands from the minister of war to hold himself, 
 with the troops under his orders, in readiness for 
 instant return to France. The landamman laid tnis 
 note before the then executive council, who were con- 
 siderably embarrassed by its import, and addressed 
 themselves to Montrichard and to the Swiss ambassador 
 at Paris, to petition for a postponement of the measure. 
 But shortly afterwards, Boizot, secretary of the Helvetic 
 embassy, arrived from Paris with Talleyrand's note, 
 which fixed for the approaching 20th of July the com- 
 plete evacuation of Switzerland. It was now out of the 
 question for the heads of the Helvetic government to 
 oppose themselves to a measure invoked by the wishes 
 of a large majority. Accordingly the executive council 
 did its best to assume an unconstrained and easy attitude; 
 and with all expedition voted its liveliest thanks to the 
 first consul for his purpose of withdrawing his troops 
 from Switzerland, which they hailed as the highest 
 proof of his benevolence and respect for the independ- 
 ence of the Helvetic nation. The reply of the French 
 minister was couched in terms of disinterested delicacy, 
 which almost seemed ironical. He talked of the French 
 troops as the battalions which the first consul had con- 
 sented to leave in Switzerland on the conclusion of peace. 
 He based the proposed measure on the confidence en- 
 tertained by the first consul in the -virtues of the Hel- 
 vetic people, who were now better agreed, as he said, 
 on the principles of political organisation, and in whose
 
 1802. FRENCH TROOPS WITHDRAWN. 319 
 
 attachment the government would find sufficient securi- 
 ties for the maintenance of order and tranquillity. " The 
 Helvetic government could not but regard this resolution 
 as a pledge of the consul's confidence in its friendly in- 
 tentions and policy, and of his disinclination to meddle 
 with the internal affairs of other nations." 
 
 It is impossible to assign with any certainty the mo- 
 tives by Avhich this ambiguous language and conduct 
 were dictated. The first consul may have meant to 
 give a popular example of moderation and respect for 
 the faith of treaties ; or he m.ay have designed a covert 
 chastisement for the feeble attempts at independence 
 made by the Helvetic government, and its refusal of 
 unconditional acquiescence in the projected separation 
 of the Valais ; or he may have wished to extort an 
 express prayer for the stay of his troops, or to revive 
 the struggle of parties, and compel the Helvetic govern- 
 ment to throw itself into the arms of France, and urge 
 him, as though against his will, to assume the part ot 
 arbiter and ruler ; or, finally, perhaps, the best solution 
 of his conduct may be found by supposing the com- 
 bination of all or most of these motives. 
 
 Ccnformably with the system thus enforced upon 
 them, the executive council made known to the Swiss 
 people the departure of the French troops, as a gracious 
 boon, the offer of which they had eagerly accepted. In 
 effect, the removal of these troops was performed with 
 such celerity, that none were left behind but the sick 
 in the hospitals, and a handful of men here and there 
 to guard whatever French property was not of a move- 
 able description. 
 
 The news of the retreat of the French troops, 
 and the ill-concealed uneasiness of the government, 
 flew through the country with wonderful rapidity, and 
 every where roused the concealed but numerous ene- 
 mies of the existing order, who had hitherto lurked 
 inactively, as it were in scattered cantonments. The 
 Valais declared itself independent. Uri, Schwytz 
 and Unterwalden took up arras against the Helvetic
 
 S20 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1803. 
 
 government. The town of Zurich, likewise, threw 
 off allegiance to it ; an example which was speedily 
 followed by SchafFhausen and Basle. A general levy 
 took place in the Aargau against Berne : the helpless 
 Helvetic government fled for refuge to Lausanne, while 
 a diet was held in Schwytz for the restoration of the 
 old league. The feeble body of troops in the pay of 
 the government were driven from the interior of the 
 country, and followed their employers into the Vaud : 
 every where the opposite factions prepared for active 
 hostilities ; the towns planned the destruction of the 
 general government; the peasants armed for their freedom 
 against the pretensions of the towns ; and the Pays de 
 Vaud arrayed itself in defence of Helvetic unity. Blood 
 had already flowed, and civil war appeared inevitable, 
 when Napoleon turned his eyes again upon Switzerland, 
 and commanded peace in a tone which Avas not apt to 
 meet with resistance. 
 
 " Inhabitants of Switzerland !" (such were the terms 
 of a declaration addressed by him through general 
 Rapp to the cantons of the Helvetic republic,) " you 
 have presented, during two years, a melancholy spec- 
 tacle. Sovereign power has alternately been seized by 
 opposite factions, whose transitory and partial sway has 
 only served to illustrate their own incapacity and weak- 
 ness. If you are left to yourselves any longer, you will 
 cut one another to pieces for years, without any prospect 
 of coming to a rational understanding. Your intestine 
 discord never could be terminated without the effective 
 interposition of France. I had resolved not to mix in 
 your affairs ; but I cannot and will not view with indif- 
 ference those calamities to which I now perceive you 
 exposed. I retract my former resolution. I offer myself 
 as your mediator, and will exert my mediation with that 
 energy which becomes the powerful nation in whose 
 name I speak. Five days after reception of the pre- 
 sent declaration, the senate shall assemble at Berne, 
 to nominate three deputies to be sent to Paris, and 
 each canton will also be admitted to send delegates
 
 1803. NOMINATION OF DEPUTIES. 321 
 
 thither. AH citizens who have held pubhc employments 
 during the last three years may also appear at Paris to 
 deliberate by what means may best be effected the re- 
 storation of concord and the reconciliation of parties. 
 Every rational man must perceive that my purposed 
 mediation is a blessing conferred on Switzerland by that 
 Providence, which, amidst so many concurring causes 
 of social dissolution, has always preserved your national 
 existence and independence. It would be painful to 
 think that destiny had singled out this epoch, which 
 has called to life so many new republics, as the hour 
 of destruction to one of the oldest commonwealths in 
 Europe." 
 
 The Helvetic senate instantly repUed to this announce- 
 ment, by declaring that it received, with hvely gratitude, 
 this new proof of the friendly dispositions of the first 
 consul, and would conduct itself in all points in con- 
 formity with his wishes. In a proclamation, addressed 
 to the Helvetic people, after some allusion to the mighty 
 and uphfted arm of the mediator, it recommended union, 
 tranquillity, and calm expectation. The cantonal diets 
 met to elect deputies to Paris. The several communes 
 also were permitted to despatch delegates thither at their 
 own expense. The mandate of Napoleon, and the pre- 
 sence of his soldiers, induced conflicting parties to sus- 
 pend their hostihties, and tacitly, at least, to acquiesce 
 in his mediation, as they could come to no agreement 
 with each other.
 
 S22 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1803. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 FROM THE ACT OF MEDIATION TO THE PRESENT TIMES. 
 
 ACT OF MEDIATION. ITS EFFECTS. — FALL OF NAPOLEON. 
 
 DECLARATION OF NEUTRALITY BY THE SWISS DIET. PRO- 
 CLAMATION OF PRINCE SCHWARTZENBERG. AUSTRIAN INVA- 
 SION. CONGRESS OF VIENNA. — RECOGNITION OF THE XXH 
 
 CANTONS. SWITZERLAND A PARTY TO THE HOLY ALLIANCE. 
 
 FOREIGN POLICE. SURVEILLANCE OF THE PRESS. RE- 
 VIVAL OF THE JESUITS. EDUCATION, ETC. CONCLUSION. 
 
 On the 10th of December, 1803, Swiss delegates were 
 received in the office of foreign affairs at Paris, to hear 
 a note of Bonaparte read, in which he addressed them 
 as president of the French and Cisalpine republics, and 
 laid down the basis of his intended mediation. " A 
 federal constitution," he said, " is a point of prime ne- 
 cessity for you. Nature herself has adapted Switzerland 
 for it. "What you want is an equality of rights among 
 the cantons, a renunciation of all family privileges, and 
 the independent federative organisation of each canton. 
 The central constitution may be easily arranged after- 
 wards. The main points for your people are neutrality, 
 promotion of trade, and frugal administration : this is 
 what I have always said to your delegates when they 
 asked my advice ; but the very men who seemed to be 
 the best aware of its truth, turned out to be the most 
 obstinately wedded to their privileges. They attached 
 themselves, and looked for support, to the enemies of 
 France. The first acts of your insurgents were to appeal 
 to the privileged orders, annihilate equality, and insult 
 the French people. No party shall triumph ; no counter- 
 revolution take place. In case of violation of neutrahty, 
 your government must decide upon making common 
 cause with France." 
 
 On the 12 th, Bonaparte received a select number 
 of the Swiss deputation, to whom he farther addressed 
 himself as follows : — " The only constitution fit for
 
 1 803. ACT OF MEDIATION. 323 
 
 Switzerland, considering its small extent and its poverty, 
 is such a one as shall not involve an oppressive load of 
 taxation. Federalism weakens larger states by spUtting 
 their forces, while it strengthens small ones by leaving 
 a free range to individual energies." He added, with an 
 openness pecuhar to great characters, and unequivocally 
 indicative of good wiU, " When I make any demand of 
 an individual, he does not often dare to refuse it ; but 
 if I am forced to apply myself to a crowd of cantonal 
 governments, each of them may declare itself incom- 
 petent to answer. A diet is called : a few months time 
 is gained ; and the storm blows over." 
 
 Almost every word of the first consul during these 
 negotiations has historical value. Most of his expres- 
 sions wear a character of greatness ; aU of them afford a 
 clue to the system on which he acted. One or two pas- 
 sages, taken at random here and there, will suffice for a 
 specimen. " It is the democratic cantons which distin- 
 guish you, and draw on you the eyes of the world. It 
 is they which do not allow the thought of melting you 
 up with other states to gain any coherence or consistency. 
 The permission to settle wherever they please, in pur- 
 suit of their vocation, must be extended to all natives 
 of Switzerland. The small cantons are said to be averse 
 to this principle ; but who on earth would ever think 
 of troubling them by settling amongst them ? France 
 will re-open a source of profit in favour of these poorer 
 cantons, by taking additional regiments into her pay. 
 France will do this, not because she needs additional 
 troops, but because she feels an interest in attaching these 
 democracies." 
 
 The Act of Mediation, which resulted from these con- 
 ferences, restored the old federative system ; but not 
 without introducing very considerable improvements. 
 The amnesty announced by it precluded all persecutions, 
 and the new agitations necessarily arising from them. 
 All servitude and all privilege were abolished ; while 
 equality of rights and freedom of industry were esta- 
 bhshed. The mischievous freedom formerly enjoyed 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1803. 
 
 by the several cantons of entering into hostilities or 
 alliances against each other was quite put an end to. In 
 future, they could only use their arms against the com- 
 mon enemy ; and the objects of the whole league could 
 no longer be frustrated by the humours of its inchvidual 
 members. 
 
 The dissolution of the Helvetic general government 
 followed naturally on the completion of the above-men- 
 tioned arrangements; and soon afterwards Napoleon re- 
 called his troops from Switzerland. The people, in 
 almost every part of the country, returned quietly to 
 their usual occupations, and tendered their allegiance to 
 the new order of things. In the canton of Zurich alone, 
 several communes refused the oaths ; complaining of 
 the difficulties newly thrown in the way of the redemp- 
 tion of tithes, ground-rent, and other burdens. They 
 would Hsten to no friendly representations ; but com- 
 mitted acts of violence on unoffending functionaries ; 
 set fire to the castle of Wadenschwyl ; and finally took to 
 arms. The prolonged cUsorders of former years had 
 accustomed them to lawless self-defence ; but the insur- 
 rection was soon suppressed by the aid of the neighbour- 
 ing cantons, combined with the well-affected part of the 
 Zurichers. The ringleader, John James Willi, a shoe- 
 maker in the village of Horgen, and others of his more 
 conspicuous comrades, were punished with death. The 
 less distinguished rioters suffered imprisonment, and 
 forty-two offending communes were visited with a war- 
 tax of above 200,000 florins. It was well that the 
 first flame of revolt was speedily extinguished, before it 
 had time to spread itself through the country. Parties 
 remained every where unreconciled ; and each ima- 
 gined nothing to be required for their predominance 
 but the fall of the new order of things. The friends of 
 Helvetic unity stiU murmured at the cantonal partition 
 of the country. The monasteries murmured as they 
 felt their existence threatened ; and Pankratius, the 
 ci-devant abbot of St. Gall, openly stigmatised the inha- 
 bitants of that district as contumacious vassals of the
 
 1313. FALL OF NAPOLEON. 
 
 o-zo 
 
 empire. IMany of the country people murmured, who 
 ■wished for landsgemeinde, on tlie model of the original 
 cantons. Many patrician and city families murmured 
 that their privileges were swept away, and the peasantry 
 no longer their subjects. The majority of the people, 
 however, wished for nothing but peace and quiet, and 
 decidedly adhered to the existing order of things, and 
 the rights which they had acquired under that order. 
 
 Thus the peace of the country remained for the most 
 part undisturbed ; and a series of comparatively pros- 
 perous years followed. The energies of the Swiss had 
 been awakened by the years of revolution and of civil 
 war, and displayed themselves in a hitherto unprece- 
 dented degree. They no longer stood apart from each 
 other as formerly, like strangers ; but had been made 
 better acquainted by the storms of social colHsion. The 
 concerns of each canton were now interesting to all. 
 Journals and newspapers, which had formerly been 
 suppressed by timid governments, instructed the people 
 in useful knowledge, and drew its attention to pubUc 
 affairs. The Swiss of all cantons formed societies for 
 tlie furtherance of objects of common utility ; for the 
 encouragement of various arts and sciences, and for the 
 maintenance of concord and patriotism. The canal of 
 the Linth formed a lasting monument of this newly re- 
 awakened public spirit. 
 
 Since the people had ceased to be viewed as in a state 
 of perpetual infancy, a new impulse was given to trade 
 and industry, which were now no longer cramped and 
 confined, as formerly, by corporate restrictions and mono- 
 poHes. The participation in public affairs allowed to 
 all free citizens enforced a mild and equitable con- 
 duct on the governments. Schools were increased and 
 improved throughout the country ; the military force 
 was newly organised ; and, on the whole, a greater 
 number of laudable objects were provided for in the 
 space of ten years, than had been thought of in the pre- 
 vious century. 
 
 \VTien the throne of Napoleon sunk under the power 
 Y 3
 
 32t) HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1813. 
 
 of the allieSj the public-spirited part of the Swiss nation 
 fondly imagined that the hour was come in which their 
 country's honour and independence might be established 
 on a firmer footing than ever. To preserve the benefits 
 gained to the land by his act of mediation was the wish 
 of a large majority of the people. If the Swiss had 
 sometimes felt, along with others, the iron arm of that 
 formidable despot, (who had, however, spared them more 
 than any neighbouring population,) yet his gift of a con- 
 stitution had become deservedly dear to them. It had dried 
 up innumerable sources of discord. Under it a feUow- 
 feehng, never before experienced, had been diffused in 
 the same degree as individual pride had been humbled. 
 The cessation of a state of subjection, wherever it had 
 before existed, had decupled the number of confederates, 
 and all restraints on free communication betwixt one 
 canton and another had been removed. 
 
 The cantons sent their contingents for the protection 
 of the frontiers, voted extraordinary imposts for their 
 maintenance, and a diet was assembled at Zurich with 
 unanimous instructions from its constituents. This body 
 declared with one voice its resolution " to observe a 
 conscientious and impartial neutrality with regard to all 
 the high belligerent powers," expressing, at the same time, 
 its full anticipation that " the same would be acknow- 
 ledged upon their part." It addressed itself as follows 
 to the confederates: — " The great and only end of all 
 our endeavours is to maintain this neutrality by every 
 means in our power ; to protect our country's freedom 
 and independence ; to preserve its soil inviolate, and 
 to defend its constitution." The senate of Berne ex- 
 pressed itself as follows : — " Our object is to guard the 
 pacific borders of our country inviolate from the march 
 of foreign armies ; we are unanimously resolved, how- 
 ever, at all events, to maintain tranquillity, order, and 
 security in our canton by aU the means which stand in 
 our power." 
 
 Such was the general sense of the Swiss people. Not 
 such, however, was the sense of the great families in the
 
 1813. AUSTRIAN INVASION. 327 
 
 once dominant towns of the confederation. Many of 
 these wished to see their country invaded by foreign 
 armies, by aid of which they hoped to restore the old 
 league of the thirteen cantons, with all its hated ap- 
 pendages of sovereignty and servitude, which had 
 vanished from the face of the land in 1798. 
 
 The Swiss delegates were received in a friendly man- 
 ner by the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia ; 
 but no direct recognition of their neutrality was vouch- 
 safed to them. The satellites of these monarchs gave 
 them distinctly to understand that Switzerland was re- 
 garded and would be treated as nothing else than as a 
 limb of the French system. A large Austrian force was 
 collected on the frontiers, particularly in the neighbour- 
 hood of Basle ; yet many still believed that a determined 
 vindication of neutrality would not be put down by 
 violence. In the mean time, the Swiss delegates were 
 stopped at Freyburg in Brisgau on their return home- 
 wards from Frankfort, and their letters were intercepted. 
 A general enervation seemed to have spread itself over 
 the conduct of the affairs of the confederation at this 
 crisis. There is no ground for supposing that the men 
 who led their forces, and presided in their governments, 
 acted the part of secret conspirators against the order of 
 things which they professed to defend. But when the 
 overwhelming powers of the allies came pouring in upon 
 them; when these were joined by kings who owed their 
 crowns to Napoleon ; when even the French ambassador 
 dissuaded reinforcement of the frontier cordon ; when, 
 in short, the ancient state of things renewed its sway on 
 every side ; while a decided popular will showed itself 
 nowhere; opposition was in a manner overwhelmed by 
 the force of circumstances. 
 
 A proclamation, couched in terms of mildness and of 
 amity, was issued by prince Schwartzenberg, the Aus- 
 trian commander-in-chief; and at the same time count 
 Capo d'Istria declared on his arrival in Zurich, that 
 " the monarchs could not recognise a neutrality which, 
 in the existing situation of Switzerland, must be nothing 
 
 Y 4
 
 328 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 181.^. 
 
 more than nominal. The armies of the alHed powers 
 hoped to find none but friends there. Their majesties 
 pledged themselves solemnly not to lay down their arms 
 until they should have secured the restoration to Switzer- 
 land of the territories wrested from her by France — (a 
 pledge which we shall presently see was adhered to but 
 indifferently). They disclaimed all wish of meddling 
 with her internal constitution ; but at the same time 
 could not allow her to remain under foreign influence. 
 They would recognise her neutrality from that day forth 
 in which she became free and independent." 
 
 The Austrian army marched over the Rhine on the 
 2 1 St of December, 1813, through the territories of Basle, 
 Aargau, Soleure, and Berne, into France. During the 
 first months of the following year the burdens, and even 
 the dangers of war, were felt very severely in the northern 
 and western parts of Switzerland, particularly in Basle, 
 which received much annoyance from the obstinate de- 
 fence of Huningen, and the hostile disposition of the 
 commander of that place. Geneva, too, while she wel- 
 comed in anticipation the new birth of her ancient inde- 
 pendence, saw herself suddenly surrounded with the 
 actual horrors of warfare, and threatened with a regular 
 siege. T'he continual passage of large bodies of troops 
 brought malignant fevers and maladies in their train, 
 and it became more and more difficult to supply them 
 with provisions. 
 
 On the entrance of the Austrian troops, Berne set 
 the example of abolishing the act of mediation, and re- 
 claimed the restoration of the predominance which she 
 had previously enjoyed in the Helvetic body. The 
 example was followed first by Soleure and Freyburg, and 
 then by Lucerne. In Zurich, too, the diet declared the 
 act of mediation, by virtue of which it was sitting, null 
 and void, and drew up a plan for a new confederation of 
 the nineteen cantons. But this was not enough for some 
 of the men in power at that time, who demanded nothing 
 short of the restoration of the old league of the thirteen 
 cantons, and had already summoned the Pays de Vaud
 
 J 8 14. CABALS AND TUJIULTS. 32y 
 
 and the Aargau to return under the government of Berne. 
 These cantons, however, resolutely rejected the proposal. 
 
 The diet, which was again convoked at Zurich, and 
 consisted of delegates newly elected by all the nineteen 
 cantons, was now the only feeble bond which kept the 
 Helvetic body together. Interested voices were raised 
 on every side for annihilating or mutilating the last 
 constructed cantons, which for sixteen years had enjoyed 
 the boon of freedom and independence. Zug demanded 
 a part of its former subject lands from the Aargau ; Uri 
 the Val Levantina from the canton of Tessin ; Glarus 
 the district of Sargans from the canton of St. Gall ; the 
 prince abbot Pancrace his former domains and sove- 
 reignties in the Thurgau ; Schwytz and Glarus com- 
 bined to demand compensation for their privileges over 
 the districts of Uznach, Gaster, Wesen, and Ersatz ; 
 Unterwalden, Uri, and Schwytz, united in a similar 
 demand for compensation for the sovereign rights which 
 had formerly been possessed by them in Aargau, Thur- 
 gau, St. Gall, and on the Tessin. 
 
 In these cabals and commotions Zurich, Basle, and 
 SchafFhausen displayed the least of prejudice or passion ; 
 while the Aargau and the Vaud showed themselves 
 worthy of their freedom by the spirited resolution of 
 their people. In the lands and towns of Basle, Soleure, 
 and Zurich, it was proposed to espouse the cause and 
 raUy round the standard of the Aargau. Berne, how- 
 ever, avoided open hostiUties, and even offered to recog- 
 nise the independence of the Vaud on certain conditions, 
 which were rejected by the latter. Aargau now made 
 meiiacing demonstrations, and a dangerous ferment 
 showed itself in the Oberland. Here, as in many 
 other places, the jealousy and suspicion of the various 
 parties came into play, in proportion as discussion was 
 broached on the limits to be assigned to the rights of the 
 people and their governments. News were daily received 
 of scattered plots and insurrections, of imprisonments 
 and banishments, in various places. The town of So- 
 leure called for the protection of a Bernese garrison
 
 330 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1814. 
 
 against the threatened attacks of its own people. Swiss 
 troops were precipitately despatched to the banks of the 
 Tessin to prevent the breaking out of civil war ; while 
 other troops were sent into the canton of St. GaU to put 
 an end to a scene of absolute confusion. 
 
 ^Fhile Switzerland was thus given up to a state of such 
 disquietude, that blood had already flowed in more than 
 one district, and the gaols of several towns were filled 
 with prisoners, the plenipotentiaries of the great powers 
 were sitting in congress at Vienna, to establish the peace 
 of Europe on a durable foundation. The allies had 
 already allowed the addition to the Helvetic body of 
 Geneva, as well as of the Valais, and the Prussian prin- 
 cipality of Neufchatel. Swiss delegates made their ap- 
 pearance with equal promptitude in the imperial metro- 
 polis on the Danube, as they had done eleven years 
 before in the capital of France. But the politics of 
 Europe moved no faster at Vienna than those of Swit- 
 zerland did at the diet of Zurich. No settlement of 
 Swiss affairs had been made, when the sudden news of 
 Napoleon's landing from Elba, and his triumphal march 
 through France, awakened European diplomacy once 
 more from its slumbers. The diet called to arms the 
 half contingent of 15,000 men for the defence of the 
 frontiers. Two battalions of the Vaud were detached 
 hastily to Geneva, and the same canton received as friends 
 and comrades the troops of Berne, against which it had 
 taken up arms a month before. The most important 
 elements of discord seemed to have disappeared — the 
 most inveterate enemies to be reconciled. 
 
 On the 20th of March, 1815, the definitive arrai^e- 
 ments of the allied powers were promulgated. The 
 existing nineteen cantons were recognised, and the 
 increase of their number to two-and-twenty confirmed, 
 by the accession of Geneva, Neufchatel, and the Valais. 
 The canton of Vaud received back the Dappenthal, 
 which had been taken from it by France. Bienne and 
 the bishopric of Basle were given to Berne by way of 
 compensation for its former sovereign rights over the
 
 1817' SWITZERLAXD IX THE HOLY ALLIANCE. 331 
 
 Vaud. One moiety of the customs received in the Val 
 Levantina was assigned to Uri ; the prince abbot Pan- 
 crace, and his ci-devant functionaries, were indemnified 
 with 8000 florins yearly. A decision was also given on 
 the indemnification of those Bernese who had possessed 
 jurisdictions in the Pays de Vaud, and on many other 
 points in dispute. The complaints of the Grisons alone 
 were disregarded — Chiavenna, the ValteHne, and Bormio, 
 which had now become the property of Austria, were 
 neither restored, nor any compensation for them given, 
 notwithstanding the clause to the contrary in prince 
 Schwartzenberg's proclamation. 
 
 The cantons now remodelled their respective consti- 
 tutions in the midst of agitations of all kinds. Those 
 in which the supreme power is assigned to the lands- 
 gcmeinde for the most part removed the restrictions on 
 the popular prerogative, which had been introduced by 
 the act of mediation, and approximated anew to pure 
 democracy. In the city cantons, the capitals recovered, 
 though in various modifications and proportions, a pre- 
 ponderance in the system of representation. Even in 
 these privileged places, however, many friends of the 
 public weal remained true to the conviction tried and 
 proved by past experience (and about to receive after no 
 long period additional confirmation from the march of 
 events), that participation of the lesser towns and rural 
 districts in public functions was a requisite condi- 
 tion for the permanence of tranquillity ; and that the 
 members introduced from these remoter parts of the 
 country would form \igorous roots of the slender stem of 
 authority, and fix them wide and deep in a republican 
 soil. 
 
 From 1815 till 1830 no political movements of any 
 extent or importance disturbed the outward semblance 
 of repose in the Helvetic body. In 1817, the con- 
 federates were led by the invitation of the emperor 
 Alexander into a signal deviation from the policy of 
 their forefathers. They entered into a close alliance 
 with Austria, Russia, and Prussia ; and allowed them-
 
 332 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ISl?. 
 
 selves to be mixed up with the system of tlie great 
 powers, by giving their adhesion to the Holy Alliance, 
 unmindful of the lessons left by the Swiss of old times, 
 whom the whole force of the empire could not frighten 
 into the petticoat league. But the new alliance held 
 itself destined to higher ends than that of Swabia, 
 although in both perhaps the high contracting parties 
 went to work with equal singleness of purpose. The 
 holy alliance aimed at nothing less than the attainment 
 of the loftiest ends of the purest cosmopolitism ! — the 
 realisation of that perpetual peace which had hitherto 
 been regarded as a fugitive thought of Henry IV., or 
 as a philanthropic vision of the abbe St. Pierre. 
 
 On the conclusion of the war of liberation from ' 
 Napoleon, an opinion which the allied powers had en- 
 couraged by their promises became prevalent through 
 great part of Germany — that the eflPorts of the people 
 should be requited by the grant of representative con- 
 stitutions. The realisation of this object was pursued 
 by open and secret means, which soon aroused attention 
 and mistrust on the part of the governments. Investi- 
 gations were set on foot, which were followed up by 
 penal inflictions ; and many of the accused parties 
 made their escape into Switzerland. A similar course 
 was taken by some Italians, on the suppression of the 
 Piedmontese revolts, and the abortive revolution of 
 Naples. Natives of France, moreover, who had given 
 offence to their government, either by repubhcan 
 principles, or by adherence to the cause of Napoleon, 
 in like manner sought a place of refuge in Switzerland. 
 These occurrences did not fail to give umbrage to se- 
 veral cabinets, which was increased by the friendly 
 ■welcome and assistance afforded to the fugitives from 
 Greece. It never seemed to occur to foreign potentates, 
 what a blessing in the vicissitudes of European affairs 
 were the existence of a land to which pohtical victims 
 of all parties might resort as an inviolable sanctuary. 
 
 The year 1823, which, it will be remembered, was 
 that of the French invasion of Spain under Louis XVIII.
 
 1823. FOREiGN POLICE. THE PRESS. 333 
 
 seemed an epoch of especially unfriendly dispositions in 
 more than one European court against Switzerland. 
 There were personages who would willingly have used 
 these dispositions to effect some limitation of Helvetic 
 independence ; but their influence was either insufficient 
 for that purpose in the cabinets to which they belonged, 
 or Europe seemed as yet not ripe for success in such an 
 experiment. Meanwhile the remonstrances and demands 
 of continental powers afforded matter of anxious con- 
 sultation to the Helvetic diet ; and their usual subjects 
 of discussion were increased by two new topics, — foreign 
 police, and surveillance of the press.* 
 
 It was resolved that both these points touched the 
 prerogatives of the separate cantons, and therefore did 
 not admit of decision at any general diet. An invi- 
 tation was accordingly issued to the governments of all 
 the cantons, exhorting them to adopt vigorous measures, 
 in order that nothing might find its way into news- 
 papers and journals inconsistent with proper respect to 
 friendly governments. With regard to foreign police 
 it was proposed to take measures for preventing the 
 entrance or residence of such strangers as had left their 
 country on account of crimes, or efforts at disturbance 
 of the public repose ; and for providing that no fo- 
 reigners should be admitted except such as could show 
 certificates or passports from their respective govern- 
 ments. 
 
 In many of the cantons these demands were met by 
 a ready alacrity, not only to urge their execution in their 
 full extent, but even to improve on them by subjecting 
 discussion of domestic as well as of foreign affairs to 
 strict surveillance. On the other hand, in more en- 
 lightened parts of the confederacy, it was thought that 
 public discussion and the old right of sanctuary should 
 be guarded from every species of encroachment. The 
 diets continued to busy themselves with deliberations 
 on both subjects. Returning tranquillity diminished 
 the uneasiness of the cabinets ; and, by consequence, 
 * See the Appendix.
 
 334> HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1823. 
 
 their inquisitive and minute attention to Switzerland. 
 Individuals lost the importance which had formerly 
 been ascribed to them, and the sojourn of strangers in 
 Switzerland again became freer. The press occasioned 
 more prolonged discussions at the diets and in several 
 of the councils ; but in the midst of these it obtained 
 more and more freedom, and in some districts shook 
 off all its former restrictions. 
 
 During these years an interest in church affairs dif- 
 fused itself amongst laymen, as well as amongst theo- 
 logians by profession. In the educated classes religious 
 indifferentism became less frequent ; while the genuine 
 spirit of tolerance made progress. This tendency, like 
 every other widely extended mental movement, had its 
 questionable as well as its pleasing :ft5atures. Shocking 
 ebullitions of fanaticism are reported to have taken place 
 in Zurich, Berne, and other cantons. A footing was 
 gained in Freyburg and the Valais by the revived order 
 of Jesuits ; and the friends of human improvement 
 could not regard, without anxiety, their influence in 
 ecclesiastical matters, and in education. 
 
 In the latter department much has been done in every 
 part of Switzerland, though much still remains to be 
 desired. Those restrictions of the chairs in universities 
 and academies to the natives of particular localities, 
 which formed so complete a counterpart to the old cor- 
 poration privileges, have come to an end in almost all 
 the principal towns of Switzerland; where foreigners, or 
 Swiss of other cantons, hold a distinguished place at the 
 head of learned establishments. Many branches of 
 knowledge, once neglected, have been diffused and per- 
 fected. The name of Pestalozzi has obtained deserved 
 celebrity throughout all Europe, and even beyond its 
 Umits, as well on account of the practical improvements 
 which he made in particular parts of elementary instruc- 
 tion, as of the impulse which he gave to the cause of 
 general education. The culture of the mind and the soil 
 are both indebted to Fellenberg, whose agricultural es- 
 tablishments, besides their direct utility, have been above
 
 1830. EDUCATION, ETC. CONCLUSION. 335 
 
 all efficacious, by attracting the attention of the educated 
 classes, and giving a scientific direction to husbandry, 
 which is equally distinct from that of mere routine as 
 of mere theory. The removal of former restrictions has 
 encouraged the progress of industry, and the spirit of 
 invention and enterprise. 
 
 Such was the course of affairs up to the memorable 
 year 1830, when the mere vibration of those mighty 
 explosions, which shook the social atmosphere from Paris 
 to Warsaw, brought the popular masses in Switzerland 
 down on her half-renewed aristocracies, like the ava- 
 lanche, which the slightest sound precipitates on her 
 valleys. The constitutional changes introduced in the 
 cantons have not yet acquired sufficient consistence to 
 come within the province of history ; nor is a Swiss re- 
 volution now an event of European interest.* The fate 
 of empires no longer waits the arbitrement of Alpine 
 shepherds ; and the masses of modern warfare laugh to 
 scorn individual heroism. But the triumphs of peace 
 are yet reserved for Switzerland : her standard shows 
 the trois couleurs of education, economy, industry ; 
 
 " AND OP THAT EMPIRE THERE SHALL BE NO END." 
 
 * See the Appendix.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Page 46. 
 
 Ihe dignity of history, it is hoped, will not be offended by 
 the insertion here of a ballad, entitled " The Count of Haps- 
 burg," translated from the German of Schiller, as it affords, a 
 pleasing version of the legendary ornaments witli which popu- 
 lar tradition loved to grace the rise of its hero. Tschudi, who 
 has furnished the foundation for it, further relates, that the 
 priest, to whom this incident with Rudolpli occurred, after- 
 wards became chaplain to the archbishop of Mentz ; and, at the 
 first imperial election which followed the interregnum, contri- 
 buted not a little to turn that prelate's thoughts on the count 
 of Hapsburg : — 
 
 *Twas at his crowning festival, 
 
 Rob'd in imperial state, 
 In Aix-la-Chapelle's ancient hall 
 
 The good king Rudolph sate. 
 His viands bore the Palatine, 
 Bohemia serv'd the sparkling wine, 
 
 And all th' Elective Seven * 
 Lowly the lord of earth surround, 
 As the glorious sun is girt around 
 
 With his starry choir of heaven. 
 
 Crowds from the high balcony gaze 
 
 In joy tumultuous pressing, 
 And mix with the mounting hymns of praise 
 
 Full many a murmur'd blessing : 
 For ended at last are the crownless years, 
 With their harvest of ruin, of blood and tears, 
 
 * The sevpn princes who exercised the right of giving, or sellfnp, the 
 empire, were the archbisho|)s of Mentz, Trier, aud Cologne, the elector 
 palatine, Bratidenburg, Bohemia, and .Saxony. 
 
 Z
 
 338 APPENDIX. 
 
 Earth owns a judge once more. 
 Ended at last is the reign of steel ; 
 No more the feeble dread to fetl 
 
 The gauntlet-grasp of power. 
 
 And the Kaiser uplifts his goblet bright, 
 
 As he speaks with blithesome voice : — 
 ♦' Fair is the feast, and proud the sight ; 
 
 Mine heart might well rejoice: 
 Yet miss I the minstrel, the bringer of pleasure. 
 The soother of hearts with his magic measure, 
 
 The teacher of lore divine. 
 So I have held in my youthful prime, 
 And the lessons I learn'd in my knightly time 
 
 As Kaiser shall still be mine." 
 
 In long-flowing robe, through the courtly crew. 
 
 The Minstrel's form appears ; 
 His locks are bleach'd with a silver hue, 
 
 With the fulness of wasting years. 
 " Sweet melody sleeps in the golden strings ; 
 The minstrel of love and its guerdon sings. 
 
 He sings of the Highest, the Best, 
 Of all ye can covet with heart or eye ; 
 But say what may sort with the majesty 
 
 Of my Kaiser's crowning feast." 
 
 " I rule not the singer," was Rudolph's word, 
 
 " Nor recks he of earthly power ; 
 He stands in the right of a greater Lord, 
 
 And obeys the inspiring hour. 
 As the storm-wind sweeps through the midnight air. 
 One knows not from whence it is borne, or where; 
 
 As the springs from a soundless deep ; 
 So the minstrel's song from his bosom swells. 
 Our feelings to wake, where in inmost cells 
 
 Of the heart they strangely sleep."
 
 APPENDIX. 339 
 
 Sudden and strong the Minstrel plays, 
 
 And rapidly flows his strain : — 
 " A valiant knight to the chamois chase 
 
 Rode forth across the plain, 
 Him follow'd his squire with his hunting-gear ; 
 When a tinkling sound accosts his ear 
 
 On a meadow's gentle marge : 
 'Twas the sacring bell that moved before, 
 And a priest, who the Saviour's body bore, 
 
 Came next with his hallow'd charge. 
 
 And the Count to earth has bow'd him low. 
 
 His head all humbly bare. 
 The faith of a Christian man to show 
 
 In him our sins who bare. 
 But a brooklet brawl'd o'er the meadow-side, 
 High swell'd by the Giessbach's rushing tide, 
 
 The wanderer's path it stay'd ; 
 And softly he laid the host adown. 
 And swiftly he doff 'd his sandal-shoon, 
 
 The brawling brook to wade. 
 
 " Now whither away ? " the Count began, 
 
 And he cast a wondering glance. 
 " Sir knight, 1 haste to a dying man. 
 
 For heavenly food who pants : 
 And here, as I sought my wonted way, 
 The stepping-stones all have been torn away 
 
 By the Giessbach's whirling force. 
 Thus, lest a soul salvation miss. 
 The brook with naked foot, I wis. 
 
 Behoves me now to cross." 
 
 But the Count set him up on his knightly steed. 
 
 And reach'd him the bridle gay, 
 That he fail not to solace a sinner's need, 
 
 Nor the holy rite delay. 
 Himself rode forth on the horse of his squire, 
 
 To share in the chase at his heart's desire. 
 z 2
 
 340 APPENDIX. 
 
 The other his way pursued, 
 And thankfully came with morning red, 
 And humbly back by the bridle led 
 
 To the knight his courser good. 
 
 " Now saints forfend," said that noble knight, 
 " I should e'er bestride him more, 
 In reckless chase, or heady fight, 
 
 My Saviour's self that bore ! 
 Mayst thou not make the good steed thine own, 
 I freely devote him to God alone ; 
 
 I give it to Him who gives 
 To man, his bond-slave, breath and blood, 
 And earthly honour, and earthly good ; 
 
 In whom he moves and lives." 
 
 " O, then, high Heaven, whose watchful ear 
 
 Inclines to the poor man's vow, 
 To thee give honour above and here, 
 
 As Him thou hast honour'd now ! 
 Thou noble count, whose knightly brand 
 Widely hath waved in Switzerland, 
 
 Seven daughters fair are thine : 
 Eac'a shall enrich thine ancient stem 
 V/ith the dower of a kingly diadem. 
 
 Sent down to the latest line." 
 
 The brow of the Kaiser is bent in thought, 
 
 As he dream'd of distant years, 
 Till the eye of that aged bard he caught. 
 
 And the sense of his song appears. 
 He recalls the face, so long unseen, 
 And veils his tears with his mantle sheen : 
 'Tis the priest himself is here ! 
 All eyes are turn'd on their silent lord. 
 All know the knight of the Giessbach's ford. 
 
 And the hand of Heaven revere.
 
 APPENDIX. 341 
 
 Page 56. 
 
 A STORT very similar to the Swiss legend of Tell is related 
 in the Danish annals by Saxo Grammaticus ; in which Harold 
 king of Denmark supplies the place of the land-vogt Gessler, 
 Toko that of William Tell ; and this event, which is said to 
 have happened in 965, is attended also with nearly the same 
 incidents as those recorded in the Swiss accounts. It is far 
 fiom being a necessary consequence (as is very justly observed 
 in Coxe's Travels), that because the authenticity of the story 
 concerning tlie apple is liable to some doubts, therefore the 
 whole tradition relating to Tell is fabulous. Neither is it a 
 proof against the reality of a fact, that it is not mentioned by 
 contemporary historians. The general history of William Tell 
 is repeatedly celebrated in old German songs, so remarkable 
 for their ancient dialect and simplicity, as almost to raise the 
 deeds they celebrate above all reasonable suspicion : to this may 
 be added the constant tradition of the country, together with two 
 chapels erected some centuries ago in memory of his exploits. 
 The following is the passage from Saxo Grammaticus : — 
 
 " Nee silentio implicandum quod sequitur. Toko quidam 
 aliquandiu, regis (i. e. Haraldi Blaatandj stipendia meritus 
 officiis quibus comrnilitones superabat complures virtutum 
 suarum hostes effecerat. Hie forte sermone inter convivas 
 temulentius habito tarn copioso se sagittandi usu callere jacti- 
 tabat, ut pomum quantumcunque exiguum baculo e distantia 
 superpositum prima spiculi directione feriret. Quae vox pri- 
 mum obtrectantium auribus excepta regis etiam auditum at- 
 tigit. Sed mox principis improbitas patris fiduciam ad filii 
 periculum transtulit, dulcissimum \itse ejus pignus baculi loco 
 statui imperans. Cui nisi promissionis auctor primo sagittee 
 conatu pomum impositum excussisset, proprio capite inanls 
 jactantise pcenas lueret. Urgebat imperium regis militem 
 majora promissis edere, alienaj obtrectationis insidiis parum 
 sobria; vocis jactuin carpentibus. 
 
 " Exhibitum Toko adolescentem attentius monuit, ut asquis 
 auribus, capiteque indefluxo quam patientissime strepitum 
 jaculi venientis exciperet, ne hx'vi corporis niotu efficacissimss 
 
 z 3 '
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 artis experientiam frustraretur. Praaterea demendse formidinis 
 consilium circumspiciens, vultum ejus, ne viso telo terreretur, 
 avertit. Tribus deinde sagittis pharetri expositis prima quam 
 nervo inseruit proposito oljstaculo incidit. 
 
 " Interrogatus autem a rege Toko cur plura pharetrae spicula 
 detraxisset, cum fortunam arcus semel duntaxat experimento 
 prosequi debuisset. ' Ut in te,' inquit, * primi errorem reli- 
 quorum acumine vindicarem, ne mea forte innocentia poenam 
 tui impunitatem experiretur violentia.' Quo tarn libero dicto 
 et sibi fortitudinis titulum deberi docuit, et regis imperium 
 poena dignum ostendit." 
 
 Page 282. 
 
 The following passage, on the R^glement of 1782, is 
 translated from " Meiners' Briefe iiber die Schiveitz," an in- 
 teresting series of letters on Switzerland, published shortly 
 before the French revolution : — 
 
 " Even if the edict of 1782 had produced much greater 
 advantages than it actually did produce, yet still we cannot 
 blame the representative party for regarding it as the off- 
 spring and the instrument of despotism : it was not left to 
 the free choice of the citizens whether they would or would not 
 accept a legislation which was to bind themselves and their 
 posterity for ever, but the ambassadors of the guaranteeing 
 powers excluded, as a preliminary step, from the conseil g^n^ral, 
 to which the edict was to be submitted, all those who had 
 taken up arms on the 8th of April, or in the sequel ; and thus, 
 in that general assembly in which the new edict was confirmed 
 hardly a third of the burghers were present who had the right 
 of voting on the validity or invalidity of new laws. In the 
 edict itself the most important rights were withdrawn from the 
 people, or, at all events, subjected to restriction. What, 
 however, gave the burghers greater pain than all these losses 
 was their total disarming, the abolition of the circles of the 
 burgher militia, and all the civic exercises which had hitherto 
 been the most joyous popular festivals. Finally, in order to 
 enchain the mind as well as the body, all speaking and writing 
 Sn public affairs was forbidden, and a garrison of 1000 men
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 343 
 
 was introduced, which, instead of being billeted on the burghers, 
 was to live in separate barracks, as in fortresses. All the useful 
 rights of the burghers were extended to the natives, and the 
 senate was allowed the freedom of giving strangers, under the 
 name of domicili^s, allowance to settle for a year in Geneva, 
 and to carry on mechanical trades, and other private vocations." 
 
 Page 284. 
 
 General view of the Thirteen Cantons, Subject Bailiwicks, 
 and Confederated States, as they existed from the Peace of 
 Aarau up to the French Revolution. 
 
 I. The Cantons. 
 
 Square 
 Miles. 
 
 I'opula- 
 tion. 
 
 Contin- 
 gent of 
 Troops. 
 
 Form 
 of Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Religion. 
 
 Lan^a^e. 
 
 1. Zurich 
 
 2. Berne 
 
 3. Lucerne 
 
 4. Uri . - 
 
 5. Schwytz 
 
 6. Unter. 7 
 walden J 
 
 7. Zug . . 
 
 8. Glarus - 
 
 9. Basle - . 
 
 10. Freyburg 
 
 11. Soleure- 
 
 12. Schaff- I 
 
 hausen '_ ' 
 
 13. A|)penzc'll 
 
 676 
 3,840 
 S44 
 MO 
 326 
 179 
 102 
 336 
 160 
 467 
 288 
 128 
 
 2r,c 
 
 175,000 
 374,000 
 100,000 
 26,000 
 23,000 
 23,500 
 20,000 
 16,000 
 40,000 
 73,000 
 45,000 
 30,000 
 Sl,00f 
 
 1,400 [ 
 
 2,000 
 
 1,200 
 400 
 600 
 400 
 400 
 400 
 400 
 800 
 600 
 4flo[ 
 600 
 
 Aristo-de- ) 
 
 mocratic 5 
 
 Aristocratic 
 
 Aristocratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Aristo-de-7 
 mocratic J 
 
 Aristocratic 
 
 Aristocratic 
 
 Aristo-de- 
 mocratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Protestant 
 
 Protestant 
 Catholic 
 Catholic 
 Catholic 
 Catholic 
 Catholic 
 Mixed 
 
 Protestant 
 Catholic 
 Catholic 
 
 Protestant 
 Mixed 
 
 Cierman 
 
 " German & 
 Frtiuh 
 
 German 
 
 ; German ^ 
 , Italian 
 
 German 
 Gern;an 
 German 
 
 Gcriiiaii 
 
 Gcmiaii 
 
 f Gcrm.Tn & 
 I I-reiicli 
 
 German 
 German 
 German 
 
 Totals. . 1 7,852 
 
 996,5001 9,6(Jt 
 
 1 
 
 The greatest part of the materials for compiling these tables have been 
 collected from Durand's Statistiijiie Kli'mcntaire de la Suisse. The mca. 
 sures of extent which, in (breign authors, are generally given m German 
 miles, 15 to a degree, are here reduced to geographical miles, 00 to a de. 
 gree.— V. Planta, Hist. Switz. iil 117. 
 
 7. 4>
 
 54t 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 II. The Subject Bailiwicks. 
 
 
 Square 
 Miles. 
 
 Popula- 
 tion. 
 
 Contin- 
 
 eeiil of Sovereigns. 
 Troops. ! 
 
 Religion. 
 
 Languafie. 
 
 I. Thurgau 
 
 266 
 
 60,000 
 
 500 \ 
 
 vin. Old 
 
 ("antons 
 
 ] Mixed 
 
 German 
 
 2. Rheinthal 
 
 84 
 
 13,000 
 
 200 [ 
 
 Ditto with 
 Appeiizel 
 
 1 Mixed 
 
 German 
 
 X Sargans . 
 4. Gaster 
 
 148 
 
 12,000 
 
 300 [ 
 
 VI 11. Old 
 
 Cantons 
 
 ] Mixed 
 
 German 
 
 5. Uznach 
 
 6. Gainbs 
 
 >149 
 
 9000 
 
 
 Schwytz am 
 Glarus 
 
 j Catholic 
 
 German 
 
 7. Rappers- 
 wyl . . 
 
 i « 
 
 .';ooo 
 
 
 Zurich and 
 
 Rerne 
 Zurich, 
 
 j Catholic 
 > 
 
 German 
 
 8. Baden - 
 
 138 
 
 24,000 
 
 200 j 
 
 Herno.and 
 Glarus 
 
 ^ Mixed 
 
 German 
 
 9. Upper free 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 VI 11. Old 
 
 [.Catholic 
 
 
 Bailiwicks 
 
 
 
 
 t';intons. 
 
 
 10. Lower 
 
 • 85 
 
 20,000 
 
 300 J. 
 
 Zurich, 
 
 German 
 
 free Baili- 
 
 
 
 j 
 
 Berne,and 
 
 
 
 wicks - . 
 
 
 
 L 
 
 Glarus 
 
 
 11. Bremgar- 
 
 ■J 
 
 
 f 
 
 Zurich, 
 
 -) 
 
 
 12. Mellin- 
 
 S"- 
 
 5,000 
 
 - ] 
 
 Beriie,and 
 
 y Catholic 
 
 German 
 
 gen . . 
 
 J 
 
 
 c 
 
 Glarus 
 
 5 
 
 
 IS.Schwartz- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 'German 
 
 enberg . 
 
 
 
 
 
 ("Catholic 
 
 (jcrman He 
 
 14. Morkt - 
 1.1. Granson 
 
 •150 
 
 40,0:0 
 
 _ i 
 c 
 
 Berne and 
 Freyburg 
 
 \ Protestant 
 i Protestant 
 
 J French 
 1 German (S: 
 
 16. Orbe and 
 
 
 
 
 
 C Mixed 
 
 French 
 
 Echallens . 
 17. Bellin- ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .French 
 
 zona - . 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 Uri, 
 
 1 
 
 (•CathoUc 
 
 
 18. Riviera, 
 or Polese 
 
 -110 
 
 33,000 
 
 — • 
 
 Schwytz, 
 andUnter- 
 
 Italian 
 
 IJ. Val di 
 
 
 
 
 walden 
 
 J 
 
 
 Blenzo - . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Lugano 
 
 205 
 
 53,000 
 
 400-1 
 200 I 
 
 All the can. 
 
 
 
 21. Locarno 
 
 263 
 
 30,000 
 
 "1 
 
 
 22. Val Mag- 
 gia - . 
 
 23. Men. 
 
 |l58 
 
 67 
 
 24,000 
 
 100 1> 
 
 tons, ex. 
 cept A p. 
 
 !> Catholic 
 
 Italian 
 
 
 
 penzell 
 
 J 
 
 
 drisio - 
 
 16,000 
 
 looj 
 
 
 
 
 Totals - - 1 1831 
 
 344,000 2400 
 
 

 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 345 
 
 III. Confederated States. 
 
 I. Associates. 
 
 Abbov of St. 
 
 Gall 
 I. Alte Land- 
 
 schaft - . 
 b. Tdckenburg 
 1. ritv of St. 
 
 Gall . . 
 ?. Town and 
 
 territory of 
 
 Bieniie 
 k Miihlliausen 
 
 II. -Allies. 
 
 1. Grison 1 
 leagues J 
 
 'heir sub-T 
 jeit pro- C 
 viiices 3 
 
 i. The Valais 
 
 1. Neufchatel 
 and Valen- 
 gin . 
 
 i Geneva 
 
 >. Part of the 
 bishopric of 
 Basle allied 
 to the can- 
 tons 
 
 III. SOVE- 
 
 REKJNTIKS 
 INDER TOE 
 PHUTf'.CTIO.V 
 OP THE Ko- 
 
 resiCan- 
 
 TO.NS. 
 
 1. Abbey of 
 Engelberg . 
 -'. Gersau 
 
 Totals . . 
 
 Totals in the J 
 whole con- \ 
 federation j 
 
 Square 
 Miles. 
 
 12+ 
 188 
 
 144 
 
 (Contir- 
 Population. gent of 
 Troop-s 
 
 2,304 
 960 
 
 1,280 
 
 l» 
 
 -J 
 
 I 
 
 240 
 88 
 
 106 
 
 ? 28 
 
 45,000 
 
 46,000 
 
 8,300 
 
 5,500 
 8,000 
 
 150,000 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 40,500 
 34,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 4,.5nO 
 1,000 
 
 5,462 566,800 
 
 15,145,! 1,907,300 
 
 ■1000 
 2f)0 
 
 200 
 
 Form of (Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 1,400 
 
 13,400 
 
 r Monarchic 
 < limited mo- 
 t narchy 
 f Aristo-de- 
 i mocratic 
 
 f Mono-aris- 
 t tocratic 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Reiijrion. il-anpia^e. 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Monarchical 
 
 rSix dixaine? 
 ) democratic 
 p One dixaine 
 C aristocratic 
 
 no- aris- 
 tocratic 
 
 f Aristo-de- 
 i mocratic 
 
 f Mono-aris. 
 t tocratic 
 
 ? Catholic 
 J Mixed 
 I Protestant 
 
 i Protestant 
 Protestant 
 
 German 
 German 
 German 
 
 German 
 German 
 
 C .Mnnc 
 i toe 
 
 Monarchical 
 Democratic 
 
 Mixed -j 
 Catholic 
 
 ■Catholic -3 
 
 ? Protest- . 
 j ant ■ 
 
 t Protestant 
 
 ■ Protestant 
 
 Catholic 
 Catholic 
 
 German 
 and Ro- 
 maunsch 
 
 Italian 
 
 French 
 and 
 German 
 
 French 
 and 
 German 
 
 French 
 
 French 
 
 German 
 German
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Page 295. 
 
 M. Thiers, in his History of the French Revolution, has 
 criticised the opinion which prevailed in 1799, and which at- 
 tached extreme importance to the occupation of Switzerland in 
 warlike operations on a grand scale : — 
 
 " On pensait alors," he says, "que la clef de laplaine ^taitdans 
 les montagnes. La Suisse, pla9^e au milieu de la ligne im- 
 mense sur laquelle on allait combattre, paroissait la clef de tout 
 le Continent. La France, qui occupait la Suisse, semblait 
 avoir un avantage d^cisif. II semblait qu'en ayant les sources 
 du Rhin, du Danube, du P6, elle en commandat tout le cours. 
 C'^tait Ik une erreur : on congoit que deux arm&s qui ap- 
 puient irmn^diatement une aile a des montagnes, comme ies 
 Autrichiens et les Fran^ais, quand ils se battaient aux environs 
 de Verone, ou aux environs de Rastadt, tiennent 4 la possession 
 de ces montagnes, parceque celle des deux qui en est maitresse 
 pent d^border I'ennemi par les hauteurs. Mais quand on se 
 bat a cinquante ou cent lieues des montagnes, elles cessent 
 d'avoir la m^me influence. Tandis qu'on s'^puiserait pour la 
 possession du St. Gothard, les armies qui seraient sur le Rhin, 
 ou sur le Bas P6 auraient le temps de decider du sort de 
 r Europe. INIais on concluait du petit au grand ; de ce que les 
 hauteurs sont importantes sur un champ de bataille de quelques 
 lieues, on en concluait que la puissance maitresse des Alpes, 
 devait I'etre du Continent. La Suisse n'a qu'un avantage r^el ; 
 c'est d'ouvrir des d^bouch^s directs k la France sur I'Autriche, 
 et a I'Autriche sur la France. On con9oit d^slors que pour le 
 repos des deux puissances et de I'Europe, la cloture de ces 
 debouches soit un bienfait. Plus on pent empecher les points 
 de contact et les moyens d'invasion, mieux on fait ; surtout 
 entre deux ^tats qui ne peuvent se heurter sans que le Continent 
 en soit ^branle. C'est en ce sens que la neutrality int^resse 
 toute I'Europe, et qu'on a toujours bien fait d'en faire un 
 principe de suret6 g^n^rale."
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 Page 333. 
 
 The following were the definitive measures adopted with 
 respect to foreigners : — 
 
 " Art. 1. No foreigner shall fix his legal residence in any 
 canton, unless he have previously obtained permission. 
 
 " 2. Every foreigner is obliged to give notice to the police, 
 within twenty-four hours after his arrival in the canton. 
 
 " 3. Foreigners who after their arrival in the canton shall 
 desire to remain more than three weeks, shall apply to the 
 director-general of police, at the Alien-office. 
 
 " 4. Foreigners who shall reside in the canton without 
 being authorised shall be sentenced to pay a fine of 500 florins, 
 and to two months' imprisonment. 
 
 " 5. Keepers of furnished hotels, innkeepers, and house- 
 holders, who shall have lodged foreigners without permission, 
 shall be liable to a fine of 1000 florins, and to three months, 
 imprisonment ; in case of a repetition of the offence, the penalty 
 shall be doubled." 
 
 The decree on the printing of political writings comprises 
 the following articles : — 
 
 " Art. 1. No person shall sell, or cause to be printed, without 
 the previous licence of the council of state, works relative to 
 foreign policy. 
 
 " 2. This licence shall not be given, till the IMS. has been 
 examined, to see if it contains any thing repreliensible. In 
 both cases, it must be signed by the author and the printer, 
 and deposited in the chancery. 
 
 " 3. The author, printer, or bookseller, who shall transgress 
 this order shall be brought before the tribunal, where they 
 may be condemned to a fine of 1000 florins, and a year's im- 
 prisonment. The penalty may be increased, according to the 
 contents of the writing, as the seriousness of tlie circum- 
 stances may require."
 
 34S APPENDIX. 
 
 Page 335. 
 
 It has not entered into our plan to particularise every petty 
 rising which has recently taken place in the towns or rural 
 districts of Switzerland, and the recital of which would not even 
 possess the sanguinary interest which distinguishes the peasant 
 insurrection of the seventeenth century. It may, however, 
 conduce to the purposes of historical instruction, to mark the 
 leading points of view in one or two of those districts, the for- 
 tunes of which have chiefly claimed our attention in the past, 
 and in whicli the continuance, or interruption, of former modes 
 of being forms the most interesting, as well as instructive, 
 feature in the present. 
 
 Geneva, during nearly the whole course of the eighteenth 
 century, has been already described as labouring under inces- 
 sant agitation ; occasioned by the arrogance of a class of 
 monied oligarchs, confronted with the growing force of an 
 active and turbulent commonalty ; and terminated only to- 
 wards the close of that century in the agonies of social disso- 
 lution. All the evils exhibited on more conspicuous theatres, 
 arising from an obstinate monopoly of political power, broke 
 forth within the narrow bounds of this Lilliputian common- 
 wealth, with all the aggravations of those evils which are wont 
 to result from hostile and external interference. Hence the 
 insulting reglement of 1782, when the grasping spirit of native 
 aristocracy was encouraged in its all engrossing claims by 
 foreign bayonets. Hence also the reign of terror in 1794, 
 when French support, which had previously been given to the 
 oligarchs, was transferred to the scale of the democratic party. 
 It is some consolation to those who would fain believe in the 
 progress of their species, that the crash of those enormous for- 
 tunes which, previously to the first revolution, were chiefly 
 invested in French public securities, and the fall of that 
 ' patrician ' dynasty, solely maintained by French influence, 
 have been attended by the total disappearance of their conco- 
 mitant ostentation and assumption ; while the terrible expe- 
 rience of all parties has effectually softened their irrational 
 embitterment. In the recent revolutionary changes which
 
 APPENDIX. 3^9 
 
 have occurred in Switzerland, Geneva has been amongst tlie 
 places wholly exempt from disturbance. The constituted 
 authorities there wisely took the initiative of such constitutional 
 changes as the temper of the times required, by voluntarily 
 conceding an extension of the elective franchise, and an 
 abridgment of the tenure of public offices. 
 
 The comparison of Geneva with Berne affords a striking 
 instance of the difference between overweening oligarchy and 
 pure aristocracy. In the former state, what was more revolt- 
 ing than any practical grievance was aristocratic morgue, 
 combined with purse-proud ostentation. In the latter, that 
 systematic repression of popular developement, inherent in the 
 nature of aristocracy, was accompanied at least with mucli of 
 the dignified and paternal aspect with which philosophical 
 minds have often invested that austere domination. Of such 
 a government Montesquieu might truly have called moderation 
 the soul — such might have found an approver in Dion, an 
 eulogist in Plato. In Berne, at least equally with Venice, 
 economy, prudence, and self-dependence held paramount 
 sway ; pauperism, and consequent vice, were extirpated with 
 unwearied care ; and the popular respect was secured by for- 
 beai'ing to swell the public burthens. In Berne alone could 
 a law have been regarded as truly aristocratic *, which enforced 
 equal division of the paternal estate amongst the children. 
 
 Not unrewarded by long esteem and permanence was the 
 upright aristocracy of Berne ; and truly has it been stated by 
 an eminent burgher of that canton t> viith regard to its first 
 overthrow in 1798, that the revolution did not find developement 
 from within. " Without the aggression of hostile armies," 
 (we still translate from the same authority), " the sound block 
 of the old building would long have remained standing, and 
 would have kept its decayed outworks standing along with it. 
 It is true that fermentation pervaded the Vaud, as well as 
 several districts in the interior ; but matters would not have 
 gone so far without French intervention. The German sub- 
 jects of Berne, unmoved by the insinuations of French emis- 
 
 • " Ein wahrhaftig aristokratisches Gesetz." — Mci'nfrs, Briefe Uber die 
 Sehiueitx. ler Thoi). 
 f Sec Schlosser's Archiv fur Geschichte und Litteratur, 2er Band, p. 5'Zi.
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 saries, fought resolutely, not to say furiously. They deemed 
 themselves inTincible, as of old, confiding in the protection of 
 God and their own personal strength, unfortunately of too 
 little account in modem warfare. Incendiary suggestions 
 found no entrance, so long as their authors stuck to preaching 
 freedom and equalitj- ; but so soon as it occurred to them to 
 ascribe the errors of government, and such military evolutions 
 as to common men were inexplicable, to a secret understand- 
 ing of their rulers and oflBcers with the French, the popular 
 rage instantly took a new direction against their leaders, as 
 supposed secret adherents of the new-fangled notions of free- 
 dom ; and horrible scenes ensued, which hastened the hour of 
 dissolution."
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Aarau, the peace of, 267. 
 
 Ackermann, of Unterwalden, 
 marches with 5000 men against 
 the Bernese, and surprises their 
 troops, 266. 
 
 Adolphus, count of Nassau, elect- 
 ed emperor, his character and 
 death, 53. 
 
 Agnadello, the battle of, 182. 
 
 Agnes, queen of Hungary, 60. 
 
 Albert of Hapsburg, 49. ' His cha- 
 racter ; seizes on the imperial in- 
 signia, 52. Aims at erecting a 
 new dukedom in Helvetia, 53. 
 Forbids his subjects on the fron- 
 tiers all intercourse with theforest 
 cantons, 58. Death of, 59. 
 
 Altjert, duke of Austria, demands 
 from the Zurichers satisfaction 
 for the burning of Rappersweil, 
 74. Besieges Zurich, 75. En- 
 deavours to compel the people of 
 Zug to renounce their connection 
 with the Swiss league, 77. Con. 
 eludes a treaty with the confe- 
 derates, commonly known bv 
 the name of the Peace of Xhor- 
 berg, 79. 
 
 Albigenses, 106. 
 
 Alemanni, the, 13. 
 
 Amberg, the Swiss land.vogt, 210. 
 
 Amiens, the peace of, 318. 
 
 Anabaptists, the, 209. Excesses of, 
 213. 
 
 Angoulfme, duke d', 152. • 
 
 Appenzell, revolt of, 99. Independ. 
 ence of, 103. 
 
 Arbedo, the battle of, 114. 
 
 Arnold of Cervola, 89. 
 
 Arnold of Winkelried, a knight of 
 Unterwalden, kiUed in the battle 
 of Sempach, 94. 
 
 Arnold, of Brescia, 199. 
 
 Augusta Rauracorum, the colony 
 founded by Munatius Planeus, S. 
 
 Austria forms an alliance with 
 Zurich, 97. Vanquished by the 
 genius of Bonaparte ; concludes 
 a peace, 303. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baden, a disputation held at, 212. 
 The catholic majority of the 
 meeting declare themselves to 
 have triumphed in the contro- 
 versy ; and prohibit the works 
 of Luther and Zwingli, 213. 
 
 Bailii of Dijon, the French agent 
 in Switzerland ; his threats to 
 the Bernese, 168. Levies a force 
 of 24,000 Swiss, 179. 
 
 Barras, the French director, 306. 
 
 Basle, the bishop of, 46. 
 
 Basle, the university of, founded 
 in 1460, 125. 
 
 Beaume, Peter de la, 219. 
 
 Berchthold of Rheinfelden ; death 
 of, 33. 
 
 Berchthold II., duke of Zaringen, 
 S3. Appears in the presence of 
 the emperor at the diet of 
 Mentz, in 1097 ; surrenders the 
 ducal office and dignity into the 
 hands of Frederick of Hohen. 
 staufen, 34. 
 
 Berchthold I v., duke of Zaeringen, 
 37. 
 
 Berchthold V., duke of Zjeringen, 
 38. Laysthefoundationof Berne; 
 places it as a free town of the 
 empire under the immediate pro. 
 tection of the emperor, 39. Be. 
 fuses the imperial crown ; re- 
 ceives compensation from Philip, 
 son of the late emperor: hig 
 death, 4<J. 
 
 Berchthold, abbot of St. Gall, 46. 
 
 Berenger of Landenberg, his 
 cruelty and tyranny, 54. 
 
 Berne erected into a free town of 
 the empire by Berchthold V. duke 
 of Zaringen, 39. Becomes ob. 
 noxious to the bordering nobility, 
 81. Renews her league with the 
 forest cantons, S4. Her plans of 
 aggrandisement, 86. Empowered 
 by the confederates to close a 
 treaty with France, in which they 
 engage to give no aid to the duke 
 of Burgundy, 135. Declares war 
 with Burgundy, 141. Tlie cause
 
 352 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 of reform espoused by, 213. The 
 povernment of, makes an effort 
 to improve its currency by ex- 
 cluding the small coins of other 
 cantons from its territory, an i 
 lowering the nominal value of 
 its own batzen, '24y. Invests con- 
 siderable sums in foreign seen, 
 rities, particularly in the English 
 funds, Syj. Capitulation of, ,jll. 
 A new constitution established 
 at, 316. 
 
 Berthelier, Philip, a Genevese exile, 
 gains over the government of 
 Freyhurg, i!17. Execution of, 218. 
 
 Bodmer, general, marches at the 
 head of iJOUO men to the aid of 
 the Toggenburgers, 264. 
 
 Boizet, secretary of the Helvetic 
 embassy, 318. 
 
 Bolsec, an ex-Carmelite, exiled by 
 the influence of Calvin for daring 
 to attack the doctrine of predes- 
 tination, 2'_'6. 
 
 Boniface VI II., pope, 51. 
 
 Bonnivard, prior, capture and im- 
 prisonment of, 219. 
 
 Bonnivet, general, 211. 
 
 Borromeo, Charles, elevated at the 
 age of three and twenty to the 
 bishopric of Milan and dignity 
 of cardinal ; forms an establish- 
 ment, at Lucerne, for Jesuits, 
 230. 
 
 Boso, count, of Vienne, founder of 
 the Second or Little I3urgundian 
 kingdom, 23. 
 
 Brandenburg, the elector of, 76 110. 
 
 Brun, Rudolph, 71. Elected bur- 
 gomaster for life, 73. Applies 
 for aid to the forest cantons 
 against duke Albert of Austria ; 
 burns the town of Rappersweil, 
 74. His character, 79. 
 
 Brune, general, proposes his inso- 
 lent ultimatum to the Swiss de- 
 legates, 309. Ts accepted, 310. 
 Destroys one of the finest monu. 
 ments of Swiss courage and union, 
 the ossuary of Moral, 311. 
 
 Bucer, 22;"). 
 
 Burgundians; they fix their resi- 
 dence on both sides of the Jura, 
 on the lake of Geneva ; adopt 
 Christianity on their reception as 
 Roman' allies, 13. 
 
 Csecina, Aulus, 8. 
 Cafsar, Julius, defeats the Helve- 
 tians, 6. 
 Calixtus 11., pope, 33. 
 Calvin, John, the second great re- 
 
 former of the sixteenth century, 
 born at Noyon in Picardy ; early 
 education of; publishes a Latin 
 commentary on the two books 
 of S.3neca, 223 Forced to fly 
 from Paris ; repairs to the court 
 of Margaret, queen of Navarre; 
 publishes his work on Christian 
 doctrine " Institutio Christianaa 
 Keligionis," 224. Receives a com. 
 mission from the government of 
 Geneva as teacher of theology ; 
 publishes his work on the Lord's 
 Supper, 225. Inflexibly enforces 
 the rigorous maintenance of or- 
 thodoxy, 226 His character, 227. 
 
 Cambray, the league of, 182. 
 
 Canipo-Basso, a Neapolitan fa- 
 vourite of Charles, duke of Bur. 
 gundy, 151. 
 
 Campo-Formio, the treaty of, 302. 
 
 Carlovingian dynasty, the, found- 
 ed by Pepin, received its name 
 from his son Charles, 21. 
 
 Charlemagne crowned at Rome 
 as emperor by the pope, in the 
 year 800 ; introduces the culture 
 of the vine into Helvetia, 22. 
 death of, 23. 
 
 Charles Martel, 21. 
 
 Charles IV., 78. 
 
 Charles the Bold, duke of Burgun. 
 dy, 130. His person and character, 
 132. Enters Alsace at the head 
 of 5000 horse, 137. Completes the 
 conquest of Lorraine, 142. De- 
 scription of his camp, 143. Lays 
 siege to Branson, 144. Flight of, 
 
 147. Re-appears in the Valais, 
 
 148. Prepares to besiege Nancy, 
 151. Death of, 152. 
 
 Charles 111., duke of Savoy, 217. 
 Enters the town of Geneva, and 
 disarms the burghers, 218. 
 
 Chenaux, Peter Nicholas, of La 
 TdurdeTreme, 276, Death of,277. 
 
 Childeric 111., deposed by the as. 
 sembly at Soissons, 21. 
 
 Cingari, or Zingari (in German 
 Zigeuner, gipsies), their supposed 
 origin. 111. 
 
 Cisalpine republic, 303. 
 
 Claudius Cossus, the spokesman of 
 the Helvetians, throws himself at 
 the feet of the emperor Vitellius 
 to supplicate his mercy for his 
 country, 10. 
 
 Clement III., pope, 33. 
 
 Clothair II., 19. 
 
 Clovis engages in hostilities against 
 the Alemanni, and defeats them, 
 14. 
 
 Conrad, emperor, 28. 
 
 Cop, Michael, rector of the univer- 
 sity of Paris, 224.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 353 
 
 Coucy, Ingelram de, count of Sois- 
 sons, 90. 
 
 Crusaders, the first army of, set out 
 in the year 1096, 35. 
 
 Crusez, colonel, 311. 
 
 Cuno, ofStaufen, invested, in 1379, 
 with the dignity of abbot of St. 
 Gall, 99. His tyrannical and op- 
 pressive conduct, lUO. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dagobert, son and successor of 
 
 Clothair, 19. 
 Davel, major Daniel Abraham, a 
 decided political and religious 
 enthusiast, assembles the regi. 
 ment of militia which he com- 
 manded, surprises the town of 
 Lausanne, 291. Offers his aid 
 for the restoration of independ. 
 ence to the assembled town coun- 
 cil ; deserted by his troops ; ar. 
 rest of; cruelly tortured ; and, 
 lastly, beheaded, 291. 
 Derseliau, von, the royal commis- 
 sary, 287. 
 Diebold of Neufchatel, 141. 
 Diviko, general, defeats the Ro. 
 mans on the lake of Geneva, i. 
 Commissioned to treat with Caesar 
 on the part of the Helvetians, 6. 
 Dornach, the castle of, sustains a 
 
 siege of twenty-four hours, 310. 
 Ducrest, a Genevese burgher and 
 noble, opposes himself to the 
 building of new fortifications. 
 A penal sentence passed against 
 him ; takes refuge under a fo- 
 reign jurisdiction ; sets at defi- 
 ance the council of Geneva ; his 
 offensive writings ; condemned 
 to perpetual imprisonment in the 
 castle of Aargau, where he died. 
 2S1. 
 Dulliker, the avoyer, comes to 
 Entlibuch accompanied by secular 
 and spiritual dignitaries, to re- 
 monstrate with the elders of the 
 communes j their reception, 249. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eck, doctor, of Ingolstadt, 212. 
 
 Edward 111. of England, 90, 
 
 Einsiedlen, the abiiot of, maintains 
 in opposition to .Schwytz a right 
 of taxing the forest lands, 24.'3, 
 
 Elizabeth, widow of the emperor 
 Albert, compromises with the 
 bishop of Basle; issues warnings 
 to the towns and villages not to 
 harbour or conceal the mur. 
 derers, 59. 
 
 Elizabeth, countess, wife of count 
 Frederick of loggenUurg, 117. 
 
 Erasmus, his Latin version of the 
 New Testament, with notes; his 
 writings disseminated ; visits the 
 university of Basle, 206. 
 
 Erlach, Rudolph of, a leader of the 
 troops of Berne, 83. Saves his 
 country, and lavs down his au. 
 thority; withdraws himself from 
 public life ; lives to an advanced 
 age; his death, 86. 
 
 Erlach, general, marches from 
 Berne to Langenthal ; engages in 
 conflict with the insurgents, 254. 
 Obtains a military command of 
 theVaud ; enters the great council 
 of Berne, accompanied by eighty 
 of his ofticers, invested with full 
 powers to commence hostilities, 
 309. Receives instructions not 
 to attack the French ; withdraws 
 his troops behind the Aar, 103. 
 Retreats towards the Oberland ; 
 his murder, 312. 
 
 Escalade, the, of Geneva, 233. 
 
 Faber, episcopal vicar at Constance, 
 210. 
 
 Farel, a colleague of Calvin, 221. 
 Engaged in preaching the re. 
 formed doctrines in Geneva, 225. 
 
 Ferdinand 1 1 1., emperor, proclaims 
 a sentence of outlawry against 
 the fugitive insurgents through- 
 out the whole Roman empire, 
 255. 
 
 Foix, Gaston de, duke of Nemours, 
 general of Louis Xll., forces the 
 combined papal and Spanish army 
 to raise the siege of Bologna; is 
 killed in the battle of Ravenna. 
 186. 
 
 Francis I., proposes terms of alliance 
 with the Swiss, 193. Closes a 
 treaty with them called the Per- 
 petual Peace, 196. Defeat of, by 
 Charles v.; taken prisoner; joined 
 by 8000 Swiss recruits on his 
 return from Spanish captivity. 
 212. 
 
 Franks, their power established in 
 Gaul, 14. Their kings the ex- 
 clusive rulers of Helvetia, 16. 
 
 Frederick ofHohenstaufen, obtains 
 the dukedom of Swabia; renews 
 the war with Berchthold II., 33. 
 Frederick, duke of Austria, heads 
 the forces in the engagement of 
 the Stoss ; retreats to the Tyrol, 
 102. Concludes a truce with 
 Switzerland, 104. Abets pope 
 
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 INDEX. 
 
 355 
 
 luminous writer, passes for a ma- 
 gician with the multitude : che- 
 rishes many superstitious fancies, 
 12a 
 Hangest, Claude d', abbot of St 
 
 Elov, at N'oTon, -ISo. 
 Helvetia, barbarian inroads on, 12. 
 The recover>- of, under the Frank 
 kings; improved cultivation of; 
 influence of the clergy, 20. The 
 cultivation of the vine introduced 
 into, 22. Beneficial effects of the 
 crusades ; improvements in agri- 
 culture, ofi. A review of the 
 principal points of political, social, 
 and military developement, i.iP. 
 Helvetians, invade Gaul, 5. Defeat 
 of, bv Julius C^sar; become 
 allies ' of Rome, a Degraded 
 into a union with the province 
 of Gaul ; becomes subject to 
 Rome, 10. Their deities : ad. 
 mitted to the rights of Roman 
 citizenship, 11. 
 Helvetic body, their relation with 
 France. 2o9. The dissolution of; 
 the establishment of a constitu- 
 tion unitaire, 312. 
 Helvetic society, viewed with an 
 evil eye by the cantonal govern- 
 ment ; its aim, 2y3. 
 Henrv I., sumamed the Fowler; 
 his mode of defence against the 
 Hungarians ; modem civilisation 
 asTibed to him, 25. 
 Henry 111., son of the emperor 
 Conrad, ascends the imperial 
 throne ; his death, S9. 
 Henrs- IV.. succeeds his father 
 Heiiry 1 1 1, to the imperial throne; 
 opposes his whole power to the 
 papal ordinances of Hildebrand ; 
 excommunication of, 31. De- 
 poses the pope ; takes refuge in 
 Italy with his wife and children ; 
 retiirns to Germany; begins a 
 war of extermination, 32. His 
 death, 33. 
 Henrv V., 33. 
 
 Henry VIL, pronounces the ban of 
 the empire against the murderers 
 of Albert, 39. Recognises the 
 freedom of the forest cantons ; 
 sets out on an Italian expedition; 
 his death. 6a 
 Henry of Halden, an aged and 
 
 zealous friend of freedom, 54. 
 Henzi, Samuel, bani.-hment of; 
 returns ; heads a band of male- 
 contents ; taken and beheaded, 
 275. 
 Holy league, 192. 
 
 Hottingcr, Nicholas, a shoemaker, 
 illegally condemned to death, 
 210. 
 
 A 
 
 Hugo, count of Bucheck, 55. 
 
 Huss, John, of Bohemia, con- 
 demned to the stake by the 
 council of Constance, 107. 
 
 Isabella, daughter of Edward 111. 
 of England, marriage of, with 
 Ingelram de Coucy, count 01 
 Soissons and earl of Bedford, 
 90. 
 
 Istria, Capo d', count, his declara. 
 tion to the Zurichers, 328. 
 
 IttiUi-en, the monastery of, plun. 
 dered and burned, 210. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jesuits, establishment of, at Lu- 
 cerne, i30. The order of, re- 
 vived in Freyburg and the \alais, 
 
 oSi. 
 
 Jetzer, a tailor, of Beme, his cre- 
 dulity imposed upon by the Do- 
 minican friars, 20i 
 
 John, duke, son of duke Rudolph, 
 a.<isassinates his uncle, the em- 
 j>eror, 59. 
 
 John XXIL, pope, appears before 
 the council of Constance; his 
 flight, l('7. Brought prisoner to 
 Constance ; the council declares 
 him worthy of the stake ; his de- 
 position ; in custody for several 
 years ; goes to Florence ; dit^ 
 cardinal bishop of Frescati, 
 110. 
 
 John, cardinal of Medici, succeeds 
 to the papal chair by the name of 
 po[)e Lea X., 190. ' Extends the 
 sale of indulgences, 2l>i. 
 
 John of Diesbach, 212. 
 
 Julia Alpinula, only daughter of 
 Julius Alpinus, endeavours to 
 save her father's life, 9. 
 
 Julius .Alpinus, the execution of, P. 
 
 Julius II., pope, plans the league 
 of Camhray ; his hatred of the 
 French ; makes overtures to 
 Venice, 18i Convokes an oppo- 
 sition council at Rome: thunders 
 his anathemas on the council of 
 Pisa, 185. Engages Spain, Eng. 
 land, and Venice in the holy 
 league against France, Ibo. His 
 death, 190. 
 
 Laupen, battle of, 8.3L 
 Tausanne, the synod of, S25 
 
 A 2
 
 356 
 
 lNi)t-;... 
 
 Lavater, 297. 
 
 Leiitzburg, the county of, a levfe 
 en masse proclaimed throughout, 
 251. 
 
 Leopold, duke, invades Switzer- 
 land, 61, 
 
 Leopold III., duke of Austria, 
 marches into Aargau, 9.3. tails 
 in the battle of Scmpach, !H. 
 
 Leopold IV., surnamed the Proud, 
 95. 
 
 Lorraine, the conquest of, by 
 Charles, duke of Burgundy, H2. 
 
 Louis, duke of Bavaria, 60. 
 
 Louis XL, his character, 1)1. Closes 
 a nine years' truce with Charles, 
 duke of Burgundy, 147. En- 
 deavours to gain the i>rinccss 
 Mary, daughter of the duke of 
 Burgundy, for his son, 152. 
 
 Louis XII., king of France, levies 
 troops in Switzerland, to assist 
 him in the conquest of Genoa, 
 181. Convenes a council of the 
 church at Pisa, 185. His death, 
 19.">. 
 
 Louis XV 111. invades Spain, 332. 
 
 Luc, count du, the French ambas- 
 sador ; his treatment of Massuer 
 and his son, 270. 
 
 Lucerne, admitted into the confe- 
 deracy, 67. Lowers the value of 
 its batzen, 249. 
 
 Leuenberger, Nicholas, elected to 
 preside over the league of the 
 four cantons of Lucerne, Berne, 
 Basle, and Soleure, 2.')2. Chief 
 of the leagued burghers, 253. 
 Betrayed by his comrades; im. 
 prisoned at Berne, and beheaded, 
 254. 
 
 Luther, 206. 
 
 Luthold of Regensberg, 45. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magyars (or Hungarians), their 
 
 incursions into Switzerland, 25. 
 Mamelukes, 217. 
 Manesse, Roger, burgomaster of 
 
 Zurich, his wise and moderate 
 
 administration, 86. 
 Margaret, queen of Navarre, sister 
 
 of Francis, 224. 
 Marignano, the battle of, 195. 
 Martin V, 110. 
 Mary, princess, daughter of the 
 
 duke of Burgundy, a marriage 
 
 treaty closed for her with the 
 
 duke Maximilian of Austria, 
 
 152. 
 Massena, the victory of, and the 
 
 destruction of Suwarrow's army, 
 
 S1& 
 
 Massner, Thomas, of Coire, the 
 head of the Austrian party, be. 
 comes obnoxious to France ; his 
 son kidnapped by the French 
 agent at Coire ; takes prisoner 
 thedukeof Vendftme ; his flight ; 
 his property confiscated, 27U. A 
 thousand ducats otiered for him ; 
 lost his life by the oversetting of 
 a carriage, 271. 
 
 Massner, young, liberated, 271. 
 
 Maximilian, the archduke, a mar- 
 riage treaty entered into by the 
 states of the Netherlands with 
 princess Mary; concludes a 
 treaty of peace with Louis XT., 
 153. Marches in person at the 
 head of 15,000 men to attempt 
 the sulijection of the Grisons, 
 171. Concludes a peace and con- 
 firms the confederates in the pos. 
 session of their ancient rights 
 and conquests, 172. Treats wiih 
 the Swiss, 181. Aliandons the 
 Roman expedition, 182. 
 
 Maximilian, son of Ludovico Morn, 
 invested with the duchy of Milan, 
 189. Betrayed by one of his ^e. 
 nerals ; shuts himself up in No. 
 vara ; blockaded there by the 
 French, 191. 
 
 Mazarin, the French minister, 2ifi. 
 
 Mazze, the, 113. 
 
 Menard, general, 307. 
 
 Mengaud, demands the dismissal 
 of the English ambassador, 305. 
 Threatens the diet ot the conle. 
 deration with the entrance of the 
 French troops ; his reception at 
 Zurich and Berne, 306. Ac. 
 quainted with the political .sys- 
 tem of Berne ; his reply, 308. 
 
 Merovingian race, decline and fall 
 of the, 20. 
 
 Merseburg, the battle of, 33. 
 
 Milan, a college established at, by 
 Charles Borromeo, 230. 
 
 Montrichard, the French resident 
 in Switzerland, 318. 
 
 Morat, the battle of, 1.50. The 
 ossuary of, destroyed, 311. 
 
 Morgarten, the battle of, 63. 
 
 Munatius Plancus, 8. 
 
 Murner, Thomas, a friar of Lu- 
 cerne, a vehement opponent of 
 the Reformation, 213. 
 
 N. 
 
 Naefels, the battle of, 97. 
 Nancy, the battle of, 156. 
 Napoleon Bonaparte constructs 
 
 the Cisalpine republic, 303. Con. 
 
 Ikcates all property belonging to
 
 INPEX. 
 
 357 
 
 the Grisons, 304. His declara- 
 tion to the inhabitants of Switz- 
 erland, 3-20. His conference with 
 the Swiss delegates ; his act of 
 mediation, 323. Recalls histroops 
 out of Switzerland, 324. His 
 fall, .326. Returns from Elba, 
 330. 
 
 Nicolas of the Flue, a hermit, ap- 
 pears at the diet of Stantz ; his 
 address, 158. 
 
 Novara, the siege of, 191. 
 
 Noviodunum, an equestrian colony 
 founded at, 8. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oberland, restoration of the mass 
 in, by the men of Hasli, 213. 
 
 Ochs, the delegate of Basle at Paris, 
 sketches an Helvetic constitution 
 on the model of the French re- 
 public, 306. 
 
 (Ecolampadius, 212. 
 
 Oeschli, a preacher, put to the 
 rack ; set at liberty, 210. 
 
 Olivetan, Peter Robert, 22.3. 
 
 Orgetorix, an Helvetian leader, 5. 
 
 Ossola, the valleys of, taken pos- 
 session of by the confederates, 
 112. 
 
 Ostrogoths, 15. 
 
 Otho the Great, 24. 
 
 Otho of Granson, bishop of Basle, 
 58. 
 
 Pancratius, the ci-devant ablx)t of 
 St. Gall, 324. 
 
 Paul III., pope, 229. 
 
 Pavia, the siege of, 212. 
 
 Pays de Vaud, a singular attempt 
 at revolt, made in 1723, 2'il. 
 
 Pepin the Little founds the new 
 Carlovingian dynasty, 21. Di- 
 vides his kingdom between his 
 sons, 22. 
 
 Pergola, Agnolo della, general of 
 Philip Maria Visconti, takes pos- 
 session of Val Levantina, 114. 
 
 Pestalozzi, 334. 
 
 Peter of Amiens, 35. 
 
 Peter of Halden, arrest of; con- 
 demned to decapitation, I'Al 
 
 Pfaft'eiibrief, a set of regulations so 
 called, 87. 
 
 Philip, surnamed the Good, duke of 
 Burgundy; his death, 130. 
 
 Philomardo, bishop nf Veroli, IS7. 
 
 Pierre Louis, the French ambassa- 
 dor at Lui-erne, 188. 
 
 Pignerol, a treaty of toleration 
 closed at, 256. 
 
 Pisa, the council of, 18.5. 
 
 Plague, the, 16+. 
 
 Planta, Rudolph, falls on theValte- 
 line ; massacre of several hun- 
 dred protestants, 240. 
 
 Poggio, cardinal. 111. 
 
 Printing, the invention of, 199. 
 
 Pucci, the legrtte, demands the de. 
 struction of all the Lutheran 
 writings, 2u6. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rabholz, a leader of the Toggen- 
 burg partv against the abbot of 
 St. Gall, 264. 
 
 Raccaud, John Peter, 276. 
 
 Rapp, general, addresses a declara. 
 tion from Napoleon to the canton* 
 of the Helvetic republic, 320. 
 
 Raron, baron Guiscard of, captain, 
 general of the Valais, and co. 
 burgher of Berne ; the popular 
 resentment against him, 112. 
 
 Ravenna, the battle of, 186. 
 
 Reding, Aloys, the Swiss landam. 
 man, placed at the head of the 
 senate; his deposition, 316. 
 
 Reformation, effect of the, 227. 
 
 Rdnata, duchess, daughter of Louis 
 XI 1. of France, and wife of Her- 
 cule d'Este, 225. 
 
 Rt5ne, count of Lorraine, 157. 
 
 Rh^tia the conquest, of, by the 
 Romans, 7. 
 
 RhsEtian league, the, 237. 
 
 Rhyner, colonel, shot before the 
 gates of Berne, 311. 
 
 Richard, duke of Cornwall, buys 
 the imperial crown of the arch- 
 bishops of Cologne and Mentz, 44. 
 
 Rocquebertin, the French ambassa- 
 dor at Zurich, 182. 
 
 Romans conquer Rhastia, 7. 
 
 Rome distracted by the contending 
 claims of three popes, 29. 
 
 Romont, Jacob de, count de Vaud, 
 141. 
 
 Itonchant, a Burgundian, 144. 
 
 Rothenthum, the battle of, 313. 
 
 Rousseau, the works of, burned ; 
 sentenced by the parliament of 
 Paris to imprisonment ; his flight, 
 28,-!. 
 
 Rudolf, duke of Swabia, revolts 
 from the emperor, 31. Mortally 
 wounded in the battle of Merse- 
 burg, 33. 
 
 Rudolf, count of Hapsburg; his 
 birth, 42. Character and early con. 
 duct of, 83. Accepts the vogtship 
 rftlie forest lands; conciliates the 
 abbot of St. Ciall ; elected em- 
 peror, 46. A change takes place
 
 358 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 in his character, 47. Commences 
 hostilities against Berne and Sa- 
 voy ; his death, 48. 
 
 Rudolph Brun, 71. 
 
 Kudulph of Werdenberg, 101. 
 
 Kuti, the monastery of, pulled down 
 by the peasantry, 51. 
 
 Rut'li, the oath ofj 56. 
 
 St. Jacob, the battle of, 123. 
 
 St. George, league of, called the 
 Swabian, and, derisively, the Pet- 
 ticoat league, 167. 
 
 St. Gall, the monastery of, 2.3. 
 
 St. Gall, Leodegar, abbot of, 261. 
 His arbitrary conduct, 265. His 
 cloisters and castles ravaged and 
 besieged by the troops of Zurich, 
 
 264. Takes refuge at Augsburg, 
 
 265. Refuses to accept the peace 
 of .\arau ; passes the remainder 
 of his life in exile, 267. 
 
 St. Gall, Joseph, abbot of, 267. 
 
 St. Julian, an armistice concluded 
 at, 2-'0. 
 
 Sails, the head of the French party 
 in the Grisons, 238. 
 
 Samson Bernard, 205. 
 
 Savoy, the dukes of, 217. 
 
 Savoy, the territory of, entered by 
 6000 Swiss, 218. 
 
 Saxons brought into subjection ; em- 
 brace the Christian religion, 22. 
 
 Schaft'hausen makes itself mas- 
 ter of Rappersweil, 74. Leagues 
 with the confederacy, 173. In- 
 vades the Bernese territory at 
 Brugg, 251. 
 
 Schauenburg, general, 309. Be. 
 sieges the castle of Dornach, 310. 
 
 Sell wend, Conrad, burgomaster of 
 Zurich, 169. 
 
 Schinner, Matthew, bishop of Sion, 
 enters Switzerland with a store of 
 gold and absolutions, 182. Closes 
 a league between the pope and 
 the cantons " for the defence of 
 the church ; " parentage and 
 character of; his rise in the 
 church, 184. Made cardinal, 185. 
 presents the Swiss ambassadors 
 with two sumptuous presents 
 from the pope, 187. 
 
 Schraidli, Jacob, of the Sul2ig, sen- 
 tenced to be strangled, and then 
 burned with his books and writ- 
 ings; his family banished, 293. 
 
 Schwartzenberg, prince, the Aus. 
 trian commander-in-chief; his 
 proclamation, 327. 
 
 Schwytz, 41. 
 
 Sempach, the battle of, 94. 
 
 Sequani, 6. 
 
 Servetus, Michael, suffers at the 
 stake, 296. 
 
 Sforza, I.udovico, surnamed Moro, 
 or the Moor, duke of Milan, de. 
 tested and abandoned by his sub. 
 jects, places himself under the 
 protection_ of the emperor Maxi. 
 milian,17/. Reconquers his duchy, 
 178. Shut up in Novara ; de- 
 serted by his officers ; betrayed by 
 the Swiss, 179. Languishes out 
 his life in a French dungeon, 180. 
 
 Sigismund, duke of Austria, makes 
 overtures of alliance to the Swiss, 
 137. Demands the release of his 
 lands from Charles the Bold, 
 duke of Burgundy ; enters Switz- 
 erland in person ; his reception, 
 139. 
 
 Sillinen, Joseph von, provost of 
 Beronmunster, 138. 
 
 Soleure, the siege of, 65. Magnani- 
 mous conduct of the besieged 
 burghers, 66. Capitulation of the 
 town, 310. 
 
 Spain invaded by the French under 
 Louis XVlll., 332. 
 
 Spoon league, 220. 
 
 Stantz, the covenant of, 159. 
 
 Stein, Jacob von, 250. 
 
 Stephen III., pope, 21. 
 
 Stetler, colonel, shot before the 
 gates of Berne, 311. 
 
 Stoss, an engagement takes place 
 at, between the Austrians and 
 Appenzellers, 101. 
 
 Strasburg, a French church esta. 
 blished at, by Calvin, 225. 
 
 Stussi, Rudolf, burgomaster of 
 Zurich, 116. His arrogant treat, 
 ment of the people of Uznach ; 
 his projects of aggrandisement, 
 117. Enters into an alliance of. 
 fensive and defensive, with Aus. 
 tria, 121. His death, 122. 
 
 Suwarrow, the Russian general, 315. 
 
 Swabian war, 169. 
 
 Switzerland, its boundaries, climate, 
 2. Aspect of the country; an- 
 cient inhabitants, 3. The growth 
 of towns in, 27. Invaded by 
 Leopold ; visited by a great 
 plague, 84. Decline of Austrian 
 power and influence in, 98. Po. 
 pular superstitions in, 127. As. 
 trology, and faith in supernatural 
 signs, retain their hold univer. 
 sally, 247. Religious war in, 259. 
 contagious sickness in, 260. Ha 
 tred of innovation, 290. Sci. 
 ences and arts difi'used through- 
 out, 297. The effects of the 
 French revolution in, 299. In- 
 roads of the French and Aug-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 S59 
 
 trians, 315. Twenty.two cantons 
 recognised in, S30. Becomes a 
 party to the holy alliaTice, 332. 
 Foreign pohce and surveillance 
 of the press become new topics of 
 discussion, 333. Progress of edu- 
 cation in, 3j4. 
 
 Talleyrand, 318. 
 
 Tell, WiUiam, 56. Shoots Gessler, 
 
 57. 
 Teutones, 4. 
 Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 
 
 15. 
 Thorberg, the peace of, 79. 
 Three leagues, '237. 
 Tigurini, 4. 
 Toggenburgers profess the reformed 
 
 faith 263. Proclaim war on the 
 
 abbot of Saint Ciall, i'(i4. Plan a 
 
 new constitution, which they 
 
 bring before the diet of Aarau, 
 
 265. 
 Trembley, the syndic, commander 
 
 of the garrison, and conductor of 
 
 the defensive preparations of the 
 
 council of Geneva, 28i 
 Tremouille, la, the French general, 
 
 192. 
 Trent, the council of, opened ; its 
 
 decrees, 229. 
 Turman, Rudolph, ofUri, betrays 
 
 Sforza Ludovico of Milan; h.s 
 
 execution, 180. 
 
 U. 
 
 Ulrich, duke of Wirtemburg, 192. 
 
 Unternerer, Antony, a quack doc- 
 tor and fanatic, addresses a sum- 
 mons in writing to the govern- 
 ment of Berne; his arrest, 317. 
 
 Uri closes a league with bchwytz 
 and Unterwalden, 4i. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valteline, massacre of the protest- 
 ants in the, marked with cir- 
 cumstances of exquisite atrocity, 
 239. 
 
 Vandals, 13. 
 
 Vaud, the conquest of, by the Ber- 
 nese, 222. 
 
 Vendome, duke de, grand prior of 
 France, taken prisoner by Mass. 
 ner, and delivercc' up to the 
 Austrians, 270. 
 
 Vercelli, the bishop of, the first per- 
 manent nuncio, 230. 
 
 Vergennes, the French minister, 
 the enemy of Genevan independ- 
 ence ; his death, 286. 
 
 Vienna, the congress of, 330. 
 
 Villmergen, the battle of, 259. A 
 second action takes place in, be- 
 tween Swiss and Swiss, 266. 
 
 Visconti, Philip Maria, duke of 
 Milan, 114. 
 
 Vitellius, 8. 
 
 Volmar, Melchior, a German, 223. 
 
 W. 
 
 Waldenses, 106. Tntercessionsmade 
 
 in behalf of, at the court ofTurin, 
 
 2;")6. 
 Walilmann, Hans, the son of a pea- 
 sant of Zu^% burgomaster ; de. 
 
 capitated, 167. 
 Wehrli, Marcus, a zealous foe of 
 
 the new doctrines, beheaded, 214. 
 Weiss, Rudolf, military commander 
 
 of the Vaud, .'307- Dismissed from 
 
 the command, SOH. 
 Werner, archbishop of Mentz, 46. 
 Wesen surprised by a treacherous 
 
 junction of the burghers with the 
 
 Austrians, 96. 
 Westphalia, the peace of, 246. 
 Wickham, the English ambassador, 
 
 306. 
 W'ckliffe, translates the Holy 
 
 Scriptures into the mother tongue, 
 
 107. 
 Willi, John James, the shoemaker 
 
 of Horgen, the ringleader of an 
 
 insurrection in Zurich, put to 
 
 death, 324. 
 Wallhauson, a solemn league sworn 
 
 at, by the peasantry, 2."A). 
 Worms, the, diet of; condemns the 
 
 Swiss league, 77- Another diet 
 
 at, 167. 
 Wyttenbach, Thomas, 208. 
 
 Z. 
 
 ZJeringen, the dukes of, possess 
 the delegated prerogatives over 
 the empire, 37. 
 
 Ziegler, bishop, 211. 
 
 Zohngen, the confederate, council 
 of war sits at, 254. 
 
 Zurich, situation of, character of 
 the burghers ; government of, 70. 
 Conspiracy of the nobles, 74. Siege 
 of, 75. Forms an alliance with 
 Austria, 98. Forms an alliance 
 with the countess Eli.Tabeth, 117. 
 the league of Austria declared 
 null ind void, 124. An anecdote 
 of the joL.:l. of, 130. The Re- 
 formation commenced at, 208. A
 
 360 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 diet held at : their declaration, 
 
 Zug and Lucerne stamp a small 
 cross on the new coinage of Zu- 
 rich, i.'l+. 
 
 Zwingli, Ulrich, birth of; distin- 
 
 guished in boyhood by his ardour 
 for knowledge; placed as a 
 preacher in the cathedral at Wir- 
 temburg, 205. Diffuses his doc. 
 trine in small pamphlets, 207. 
 His death, and manner of, 215, 
 
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