CABINET CYCLOPEDIA. " SENZA DUBR10 CHI VOLESSE FARE UNA REPUBBLICA, MO FA- CILITA TEOVEREBBE NEGLI L'OMINI MONTANARI, DOVE KON F ALCUNA CIVILTA, CHE IN QUELLI CHE SONO LSI A VIVERE NELLA CITTA, UOVE LA CIVILTA E CORROTTA ; ED UNO SCULTORK TRARRA PIU FACILMENTE UNA BKLLA STATUA d' UNO MARMO ROZZO, CHE D' UNO MALE ABBGZZATO d'aLTRI." Machiav. Discors. 1. i. c. 1 1 . " HONNEUR AUX NATIONS LIBRES QUI CHERCHENT DANS LE LIEN FEDERATIF NON SEL'LEMENT UNE DEFENSE CONTRE LES AGRESSIONS ETRANGERES, MAIS AUSSI UNE GARANTIE CONTRE LEURS l'ROl'RES PASSIONS, CONTRE L'EGAREMENT DE L' AMBITION, CONTRE L' IVRESSE DU SUCCES ! " SlSMONDI. London : Printed by A. & K. Spottiswoodo, New-Street-Sqiiiire. CABINET CYCLOPEDIA. CONDUCTED BY THE REV. DIONYSIUS LARDNER, LL.D. F.R.S. L.&E. M.R.I. A. F.R.A.& F.L.S. F.Z.S. Hon.F.C.P.S. &c. &c ASSISTED BY EMINENT LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN. jpgtorp* HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND, LONDON: PRINTED FUR LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, U LONGMAN, PATERNOSTER-ROW ; AND JOHN TAYLOR, UPPER COWER STREET. 1832. 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 Midler, with the continuations of Glutz-Blotzheim and Hottinger, down to the Historische ScJiriften of Zschokke, and Meyer's Handbuch. Amongst English writers, bints 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. 4 < \ c i - f~ ' CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE SUBJECTS HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY 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 j~. Invade Gaul, having first burned their Habitations, and even their Corn - - - - j Repulsed by Julius Ca»sar; offer to treat with him; totally defeated, and compelled to Submission . tj Received as Allies of Koine, but curbed by Fortresses and Colonies - . . .7 15. Roman Conquest of Rhaetia - . .7 AD. 69. Helvetic Insurrection under Vitellius ; Conduct of the Twenty-first Legion, surnamed lla/iax - S Aula- Caxina suppresses the Insurrection ; demands the Execution of the Helvetian Leader - :) A 4 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Julia Alpinula, her filial Piety, Fate and Epitaph - 9 Claudius Cossus saves his Fellow-countrymen from Ex- tirpation - - - - 10 Helvetia subject to Rome ; all Nationality extinguished ; Government of Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and the two Antonincs ; Oppressions of their Successors and sub- ordinate Officers of the latter - - - 11 Diffusion of Christianity in Helvetia - - 12 Barbarian Inroads on the Empire ; the Invaders re- ceived as Roman Allies, and their Hostility bought off by Grants of Land - - - - lj 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 - ... - 14 Clovis conquers the Alemanni at Zulpich ; embraces Christianity with all his Franks - - - 1+ Origin of the French and German Languages in Swit- zerland ; characteristic Features of the Eastern and Western Inhabitants - - - - 15 MIXED POPULATION IX THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PARTS OF EUROPE. GRADUAL DEVELOPEMENT OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 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. 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 5J4 — 731, Helvetia under the Frank Kings of the Family of Me- roveus - - - - - 19 613. Union of the whole Prankish Dominions under Clot hair! I. 19 628. 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"K e 751. Decline of the Merovingian Race; its Fall; Pepin; Charlemagne - - ... 21 768. Visits Helvetia ; encourages Education and Agriculture 23 yS7. Partition of the Empire of Charlemagne ; Second or Little Burgundian Kingdom ; simple Mode of admi- 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 19—936. Incursions of the Magyars or Hungarians ; Mode of Defence adopted by Henry the Fowler; Foundation and Fortification of Towns ; Creation of a Class of Burghers - - - - - -a 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. III. STRUGGLE BETWIXT THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER FOR SUPREMACY. CHARACTERS OF HENRY IV. AND OF H1LDE- BRAND, AFTERWARDS POPE GREGORY VII. THE CRUSADES. THE DYNASTY OF Z.EI1INC.F.X IN HELVETIA. Power of the Church ; manifests its Growth in the eleventh Century - - - - - 28 1039. Henry IV. ; Pope Gregory VII. - - - 29 1 :■". Dynasty of Za^ringen in Helvetia - • .34 1095 — 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 Zajringen - - - 39 1114 — 1240. The Freemen of Schwytz afford the first Demonstration of their Existence - - - - .41 CHAP. IV. TIMES OF RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG. Birth of Rudolph of Hapsburg ; his Character and early Conduct ..... £ CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A. D. Page 254—1273. Interregnum in the Empire - - - 43 1250. First League of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden with Zurich - - .... 44 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 OF HELVETIC EMANCIPATION". 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-vogis ; 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 VII. - - - - (30 1315. First Invasion of Switzerland by Leopold, Duke of Austria - - - - Gl Battle of Morgarten - - . -63 Perpetual Confederacy of the Forest Cantons; its Cha- racter of noble Inoffensiveness - - - 64 1318. Six Years' Truce with Austria - - - 65 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A. D Page 1382. Admission of Lucerne to the Confederacy - - 67 150S— 1334. State of Industry, Commerce, and Religion; practical Proofs of Independence in Spiritual Matters - - 68 CHAP. VI. FROM THE REVOLUTION OF ZURICH TO THE LEAGUE WITH APFENZELL. 1350. 1351. 1353. 1356. issy. 1349. 1360. 1370. 1382. issa 1387. 1388. 1401. 1403. 1405. Situation of Zurich ; Character of the Burghers; Form of Government - - - - 69 Rudolph Brun, a skilful popular Leader - - 71 Excites a revolutionary Movement ; elected Burgo- master for Life - - - 73 Frustrates a Conspiracy of the Nobles - - 74 Applies for Aid to the Forest Cantons against Duke Al- bert of Austria - - - 74 The latter besieges Zurich ; is compelled to raise the Siege ... . 75 League of the Eight original Towns and Lands of the Confederacy - - - - 76 Peace of Thorberg. - - - 79 Character of Rudolph Brun ; his Aptitude for the Part of a Demagogue ; his treacherous Compact with Aus- tria; his Government on the whole beneficial - 79 Town of Berne; distinguished for an active and ambi- tious Spirit ; obnoxious to the bordering Nobility - 80 Attacked by the combined Force of the Nobles and the Emperor - - - - 81 Battle of Laupcn ; Berne's Plans of Aggrandisement - 82 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 - - - - 84 Tragical Fate of Frlach - - - 86 The Pfafleubrief, a remarkable Decree for the Control of Ecclesiastical Pretensions; Decline of the Nobility and Clergy - - - - 87 Mode of conducting War by Condottieri ; Arnold of Cer. vola ; Ingelram De Coucy - - 89 Berne and Soleure defeat the Count of Kyburg - -92 Battle of Sempach; Arnold of Winkelfied - - 94 The Bad Peace - - - - 95 Unexpected Austrian Inroad; Battle of Naefels ; singular Celebration of its Anniversary - - - 96 The Mm of Appenzell revolt from the Abbot of St. Gall 99 Are reinforced by the Schwytzers - - -100 Engage an Austrian Army at the Stnss and at the Wolfs- hald - - - - - 101 Xli 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 ceased to assert Predominance in Switzerland - .... 104 CHAP. VII. FROM THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE TO THE BATTLE OF ARBF.DO. 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— HIS. 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 hy him of the Festivities attending the Council of Constance; Appearance of a Swarm of unknown Strangers, after. wards called Zingari, Zigeuner, or Oipsies - 111 The Mazze, a curious popular Ceremony, and Prelude to the Commencement of Hostilities - - 112 1422. Feud of Uri and Unterwalden with Philip Visconti, Duke of Milan ; March of the Swiss on Bellinzona ; Battle of Arbedo - - - - 114 CHAP. VIII. WAR OF THE CONFEDERATES WITH ZURICH. 1436. Inheritance of 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. Xlll A. D. Page Felix Hammerlin, or Malleolus ; his Acquirements deem- ed supernatural ; his Opinions on the Practice of Magic - . ... 12.-, 1460. Instances of popular Superstition ... I2fi 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 \Uu. 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 Sigismund 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 Comines - 143 Siege of Granson ; 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 his 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 - - 148 Attacks Morat by Storm - - - - 141) 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 Battle of Nancy; Death of Charles; itsConsequences; 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 compelled 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. .(ERA OF THE COVENANT OF STANTZ. OBJECTS AND PRO- VISIONS OF THAT INSTRUMENT. GENERAL VIEW 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. Effects of the Burguhdian War in Switzerland ; Swiss Valour becomes a. marketable Commodity ; the sudden Diffusion of Wealth engenders Crime and Immo. rality ; enormous Number of capital Executions - 155 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 Kural Cantons - - - - lot. J417 — 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 ; Use of Tor- ture; cruel Modes of Punishment - . 15!< Frequent Collision of military and civil Powers - 161 Occupations, and free and familiar Intercourse of ail Ranks - . . .162 Festive Scenes at Baden in Aargau - - . ]fi4 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 CNAVOWED AND SECRET OBJECTS. ADHESION TO IT- DECLINED BY THE CONFEDERATES. THE SWABIAN WAR RESULTS FROM THEIR REFUSAL. 1189. Administration, Arrest, and Death of Hans Waldmann at Zurich ; Compromise between the Burghers and Peasantry in that Canton - - 166 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XV A. D. Page 1195. Petticoat League . - - lo7 Diet at Worms - - - - liiS French Intrigues and Influence on the Helvetic Body - 16S Carelessness of the latter with regard to Papal Bulls, and the Person of the Emperor - . Iu9 1499. Altercations with the Imperialists; opprobrious Kick- names showered on >he Swiss - - 170 Commencement of the Swabian War ; Successes of the Swiss and Grisons - - - 171 Emperor Maximilian enters the Engadines; retreats into the Tyrol . - -171 Treaty of Peace .... 17£ 1531 Reception of Basle and SchafTliausen into Alliance with the Confederacy .... 172 CHAP. XII. COMPETITION OF THE GREAT EUROPEAN TOWERS FOB THE ALLIANCE OF THE CONFEDERATES, AKD THE ASSISTANCE OF THEIR TROOPS. SYSTEM OF FOREIGN ENLISTMENTS INTRO- DUCED, AND PLAUSIBLY JUSTIFIED. ITALIAN EXPEDITIONS. PERPETUAL PEACE WITH FRANCE. Corruption of the Helvetic Body - - 174 14:'.'. Louis XII. ; Ludovico Sforza . . - 174 French Occupation of Milan - - - 177 Claims of the Confederates on the Milanese and Bellin- zona - - . . 177 15 Enlistments of Sforza in Switzerland; of Louis - 178 Sforza betrayed by the Swiss, and imprisoned by the French for Life ... 179 15C5. Treaty of the Emperor with the Confederacy ; broken off by French Intrigues - . 1S1 1508. League of Cambray . . 182 1509. Battle of Agnadello; Character of Schinner, bishop of Sion . . . ]8S 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 . . . li'O Swiss Expedition to Dijon; Peace with France; of brief Duration . . . \ifi 1515. Francis I invades Piedmont ; Battle of Marignano ; perpetual Peace betwixt France and Switzerland - 19 i CHRONOLOGICAL, TABLE. CHAP. XIII. FALL OF THE SWISS FROM MILITARY PRE-EMINENCE ASCRIU- ABEE 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 ; CaseofJetzer - £00 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. Embitterment 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 the Burghers - - 217 I "i9. 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 152i 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. XV11 A. D. Page 1509 — 1361. Character, Works, and Influence of Calvin; general Effect of the Reformation in Switzerland - - 223 1579. Council of Trent - - . .229 Boiromean League .... 230 1582. Calendar Controversy - - - 231 CHAP. XV. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE THIRTY YEARs' WAR TO THE PEACE OF WESTl'HALIA. Description of the Orisons; early History; Forms of Go. vernment ; Influence of particular Families - - 234 1525. Spanish and French Parties ... 238 1(320. Popular Tumults, fomented by the Clergy ; Massacre of Protestants in the Valteline - . 239 lii-3. Fruitless Negotiations with Spain and Austria ; Subju- gation of the Orisons by the latter Power - . 241 1(339. Recovery of their Freedom and Independence - - 242 State of Religious Parties in Switzerland - . 243 1629—1(348. Thirty Years' War ; Disunion in the Helvetic Body ; In- roads of foreign Armies ; Intrigues of foreign Am- bassadors - ... 243 1(348. Peace of Westphalia ; tardy Recognition of Swiss Inde- pendence - - . 245 Foreign Relations - - - 24b' Fragmentary State of Knowledge in Switzerland - 247 CHAP. XVI. INSURRECTION OF THE PEASANTRY IX BERNE, LUCERNE, SOLECRE, AND BASLE. 1653. 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 1654. Suppression of the Insurrection . . 251 Foreign Policy of the two religious Parties; extraordi- nary Honours paid by the English Government under Cromwell to the Envoys of the Protestant Cantons ; their successful Intercession for the persecuted Wal- denses . - . 252 CHAP. XVIL RELIGIOUS WAR, AND WAR OF TOGGENBURG. 1656. Religious War; its Origin; mutual Distrust of Pro- testants and Catholics - . . 253 Ill CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A. D. Page Battle of Villmergen - - - 259 1667. Usurpations of the Abbot of St. Gall over the People of Toggenburg - ... 261 1703. Long Altercations of Schwytz, Glarus, and Berne - 262 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 Chenaux - - 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 - - - - 2S2 1762. Burning of Rousseau's " Emilc " 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 Interference of France, Berne, and Savoy; Entrance and Occupation of Geneva by their Troops ; Regle- mentofl782; its Consequences - - - 285 1748. Discontents in Neufchatel ... 286 1768. Death of Gaudot; magnanimous Conduct of Fre- derick II. of Prussia ... - 288 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XIX CHAP. XX. GENERAL VIEW OF THE STATE OF SWITZERLAND SHORTLY BEFORE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. A. D. Page Democratieal Cantons . . . -283 Aristocratical Cantons; Berne; State of the Pays de Valid ; Neglect of Education at Berne ; exteriirr or Shadow State - - . -284 Lucerne ; Helvetic Society . - 286 Aristo-democratical Governments - - - 2S7 Free Bailiwicks - - - - 289 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. First Effects of the French Revolution in Switzerland - 298 1794. Imitation of its Horrors at Geneva - - 301 1790. Policy of the French Directory . . -302 1797. Cisalpine Republic ... . 503 Insurrection of the Peasantry in Basle ; Diffusion of the Spirit of Revolt - - . - 304 Insolence of Commissary Mengaud - - 3(X r > 1798. 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 1798. 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 Tyranny -312 '.1799. Renewal of War between France and Austria; Seat of War transferred to Switzerland ; desolating Inroads of the French, Austrians, and Russians - - 31.5 1801. Mystical and Fanatical Notions propagated at this Crisis 317 1802. Peace of Amiens; Withdrawal of French Troops from Switzerland ; renewed Scene of Confusion ; Inter, ference of Napoleon ; Acquiescence in his offered Mediation . - - - 318 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. CHAP. XXII. FilOM THE ACT OF MEDIATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. A. D. Page 1803. 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 the 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 1S15. 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 1S17. Switzerland a Party to the Holy Alliance; foreign Police ; Surveillance of the Press - - 331 13— 1830. Revival of the Jesuits; Education; Pestalozzi ; Fel- lenberg ; Revolution of 1830 ; Conclusion . - 334 HISTORY SWITZERLAND. CHAPTER I. ANCIENT HELVETIANS. ROMANS 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 GAIT.. REPULSED BY JULIUS CiESAIl. ROMAN CONQUEST OF RHxETIA. HELVETIC INSURRECTION UNDER VITELLIUS. QUELLED BY AULUS CJEC1SA. JULIA ALPINULA. HELVETIA SUBJECT TO ROME. BARBARIAN INROADS ON THE EMPIRE. SETTLEMENTS OF BURG UNDIANS, AI.KMANNt, 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 ' f 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 inhabitants, and by * Mullen 2 HISTORY OF 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 cultivated 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 climate. 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 valleys breathing aromatic scents, and blest with an Italian spring, — and where the temperatures of each zone alternately 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 soil. 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 borders of the Rhine and die Main to those of the lake of Geneva. The toilsome cultivation of these regions, while it left but little 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 c 2 4 HISTORY OF 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 Cimbri 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 liberty 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 the 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, w ith 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 deliberation 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 military 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 power, 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 Julius Caisar, — al- ready no less eminent as a military leader than he became, a few years afterwards, as a statesman. He was, at this ij 3 6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. B. C. 5f. 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 Caesar. 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 JEdui (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 iEdui, 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 till 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, who did not forget in recent defeat his former superiority. No treaty could be brought to a conclusion, and Caesar followed the march of the invaders a fortnight longer. At lengthy 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 Caesar on the vanquished invaders were, to return into their desolated country, and rebuild their wilfully ruined habitations. For their immediate provision, he supplied grain through the Allo- broges (inhabitants of the territory extending from Ge- Caesar, De Bell. Gall. 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 allies of the Roman people. In order, however, to watch and overawe these new allies, a for- tress was built at Xoviodunum (Xyon), near the lake of Geneva. Several other garrisons were stationed through- out the country. The Rhsetians 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 surprise on the neighbouring towns of Italy. Even during Caesar's Gallic proconsulate, there are traces of the Roman arms being turned against the Rhsetians ; 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 Rhsetians 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. c.) 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 casc ; 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 }i 4 8 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. B. C, 2Q. in Caesar's time, having been founded at Noviodunum (Colonia Julia Equestris). Under Augustus, Munatius Plancus founded the Colonia Augusta Ilauracorum ; 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 Pannonian armies, and by ar- resting a centurion with a company of soldiers. Their general, Aulus Caecina, 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 Rhsetia, to fall upon the rear of the * Tacit Hist. xi. 43. A. r>. 6Q. JULIA ALPINULA. 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 Ca?cina ; in rear by the cohorts coming up from Rhirtia, as well as by the disci- plined youth of Rhaetia itself; they suffereda severedefeat. 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 Ciecina. He demanded, first of all, 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. When the ambassadors brought this answer back to Aventicum, through fear of Carina'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 filial 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 life of her father. Csecina ordered his instant execution. Fifteen hundred years since the occurrence, the following sepulchral in- scription was discovered in the ruins of Aventicum : — " Julia Alpin ula h ic jaceo ; infelicis patris infelix proles. Dea Aventice sacerdos, exorare patris necem fion potui : male mori in fatis Mi erat. Vixi annos xxm." (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 VitelliuSj anxious, yet scarce hoping, to avert the last 10 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 69- 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 his 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, anil 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 he 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 Rha?tia. 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 Be/in, 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 prodigality, 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 filial 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 pflligen, to plough), BoUe (bulla, d bud , Furkel [furca, a pitchfork), Sec. 12 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 285. " Woe to the land," exclaims an eloquent Swiss writer*, 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. Milages and towns arose in many places ; and their rise was often favoured by religious foundations. Those of St. Gal], Disentis, Zurich, Lucerne, and Romainmotiers, may be traced to the times of which we have been treating. The bishops, — who, like their clergy, very generally lived in wedlock, — were elected by the latter and by the people, and afterwards confirmed by the king. While 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 monarchs 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 domus) ; 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 68~, is enough to 768. CHARLEMAGNE. 21 show that the royal power had dwindled away to a shadow. Under the vigorous administration of his son, Charles M artel, 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 Mero- 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, Childeric III. was deposed from the throne by the assembly of the people at Soissons, 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 5 22 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 7&S. Pepin, with consent of his nobles, had, in 7^8, 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 Ids 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 Sli. DECLINE OF THE CAULOVIN'GIA.YS. 2.') some stay at Zurich ; and enriched the cathedral church with his donations. We read, moreover, that men from the Tliurgau 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 Vienne, and which maintained itself for more than an age inde- pendent of the sinking Carlovingian dynasty. Many 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 which commonly stood a baronial tower or mansion. Every village had a special jurisdiction, 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, 24 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, which 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 Charlemagne, 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 IIEXRY 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 hy 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 ahsolute harbarians, — 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. ( hi 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 avails 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, arc generally referred to this epoch. To this epoch also belongs 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- 26 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 9^9- ferred on the towns a number of important favours and privileges ; which, in many points, placed the burghers on an equality 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, [)36. 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 alliances. 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, Sec. ; 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 warlike 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. in. DYNASTY OF Z.ERINGEN IN" HELVETIA. 1090—1240. KJWF.R OK THE f neurit. HENRY IV. POPE GREGORY VII. DYNASTY OI' Z.KRINGEN IN HELVETIA. THE CRUSADES niKIIt EFFEI FN. IMPROVED CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. KERCHTHOLD IV. AUGMENTS THE NUMBER OF FORTIFIED TOWNS ENCOURAGES THE liURGHERS BY IMMUNITIES. BERCH- 1 HOI. I) V. LAYS THE FOUNDATION OF BERNE. ERECTS IT INTO A FREE TOWN OI THE EMPIRE. REFUSES THE IM- PERIAL CROWN. EAST OK THE LINE OF Z.F.RINGEN. FREE MEN OF SCHWYTZ AFFORD THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OI THEIR EXISTENCE. Ir 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 anil their subjects. Invariably fixed on one purpose ; apparently quiet, as long as no 28 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1039- 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 l>een 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 all 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 winch the emperors sought papal mediation and arbitrament. 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 103(h the imperial throne was ascended by his 105(5. 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 Home, 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 influence. On the demise of Henry III., in 1 (),)(>, 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. lie 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 bis 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 \'l\. Few cha- racters in history have been eulogised or censured will: more vehemence than that of this prelate. Some have represented him as a monster in human shape, ■ — nay, witli a laughable distortion of his name, as a heJl-Jirand. Others paint him in angel hues, as an honour to human nature. Neither side pays any regard to truth. Horn at Siena or Saone, an Italian town, [lie son of a blacksmith, Hildebrand entered early into the spiritual profession. He showed talents of u high ^rder; was invited to the papal court; and here, by that ascendi u y which belongs to great over common minds, he soon became the soul of all undertakings. He had 30 HISTORY OF 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 church, 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 107 o. 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 anil 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 OF THE KIUPKROR. 31 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, while, on the other hand, the ban of the empire fell on his opponents, confusion reached its highest pitch; and, lx?sules the grand struggle which was soon to begin, a thousand petty i'euds broke out through the whole extent (if 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 Swahla, along with Berchtholtl of Zieringen, duke of < -arinthia. 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, fJregory 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 ■ Mi the emperor himself, the first of secular princes, — a:i enterprise in which success was possible ; the rather 'hat Henry, in the heart of his empire, bad powerful enemies, who would willingly see him humbled, even partly at their own expense. Henry, in whom Gre- gi ry'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 new 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 bat 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 id 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- Csesar. 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 all 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. DEATn OP GREGORY. 33 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, " Petra dedit 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 1 106, 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. Phifeoffmcnt of secular possessions, with the sceptre, was recognised as belonging to the emperor. But the conflict between spiritual and secular supremacy was not to lie 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 Rerchthold of Rheinfelden, contested, in a long war, the possession of his father's domain, with its new owner. Rerchthold died in the year HKJO, by which event the rights of the <'ount of Rheinfelden were transmitted to his brother-in- law Herchthold II. of Za-ringen. The nobles in I'lm 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 Rerchthold well knew that the land was tired out i) 34 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 10,97- by protracted vexations, and lie 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 10Q7, 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 Zirringen 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 mere im- portance ; on the whole, the accession of the dynasty of Zjeringen seemed to announce an era of more general well-being. While such were the mutual relations between < ler- 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- TIIE crusades. 3;> sacrcdness 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 cAer Palestine, the Christian pilgrims met with mild treatment. 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 tlie year 10{K), the first crusading army set out, composed of numerous volunteers, in great part from France. In 1099j> they made themselves masters of Jerusalem and the neighbouring country. At different times, after shorter or longer intervals, 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 established 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 Hast, 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 West in its own hands. Incalculable profits besides resulted to the clergy from the accom- j> 2 36 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 1 00. 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 resulted 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 mere 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 their 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 Za;ringen, besides that they possessed over l]j L 2. INCREASE OF TOWNS. 37 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 English may be rendered warden, or patron. The ecclesiastical establishments, 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 to 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 1.32, Berchthold IV. stood at the head of the house of Za?ringen. 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 * I'hiita, vr.i. i. p. ;;_■. 58 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 Z;e- ringen governed on a plan grounded upon, or rather prescribed by, the circumstances of the times. They found their power menaced by the nobility, and were therefore obliged to seek its humiliation. All the nobles of Burgundy revolted from the government of Berch- thold V., so that lie 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 11,01. BUILDING OF BERNE. 3,9 of liis enemies, and such that the foundation of a town upon it should cause no apprehensions to his adherents. A little 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 afterwards 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 Ins 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 Muhlerers. 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- thold, partly moved by hatred to the house of Ilohen- ,, 1 40 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1191 staufen, which at that time sat upon the throne, and partly by respect to that of Zaeringen. A succession of five 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 thenceforwards with the imperial house of Hohenstaufen. Twenty years longer he administered his domains with uninterrupted prosperity and glory. He surpassed all the princes of the 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 SCHWVTZ. 41 Under the dynasty of Zsringen, in the midst of so raanv bishops, counts, and burgher-corporations, the name of the free men of Schwytz was, for the first time, heard in a dispute about their boundaries with Einsied- len. These people had long lived 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, hills, 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. KIRTH OF RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG. HIS EARLY CONDUCT AND CHARACTER. INTERREGNUM IN THE EMPIRE FIRST LEAGUE OF URI,SCHWYTZ, AND UXTERWALDEN WITH ZURICH. RUDOLPH SUPPORTS THE TOWNS, AND EMPLOYS THEIR ARMS AGAINST THE NOBLES. ACCEPTS THE VOGT-SHIP 01 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 Zseringen 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 brilliant 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, qualified, 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. TIIK INTERREGNUM. 43 anxieties. Rudolph remained tranquil and cheerful. His manners had the unconstrained simplicity and openness which characterise a truly 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 hy his uncle on the mother's side, and excommunicated more than once hy 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 Muller, 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. 4-1 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 ratber 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, Schwy tz, 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 military 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 1210, 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 fidelity. 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. Rut 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 12;>7, 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 bad 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 1 26*6 to 1 268 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 Eerchthold 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, net 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 l l 28>). CHANGE IX RUDOLPHS CHARACTER. I" 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 0:1 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 dignity 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 from 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. lint 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 Sivabia and of Austria. lie next turned his views upon Helvetia, and commenced hostile measures against Heme and Savoy. Rudolph had conceived the idea of restoring the old kingdom of Burgundy, for the benefit of his favourite son Ilartmaim: this involved him in warfare with the house of Savoy, whose possessions 48 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 12SS. were 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 tbe early death of Hartmann, who was drowned in the Rhine. Not more fortunate in its issue was the feud of Ru- dolph with Berne, which he besieged with 15,000 men in 1288. He was soon, however, obliged to draw oft' 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 J" 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 suhjected to multiplied oppressions. In- numerable castles of barons, counts, and other nobles, were spread over the whole face of the country. With 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 i~ l ji. STATE OF THE EMPIRE. -±J 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 main- powerful men did the same. Similar sources of revenue ivere 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 which 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 relieving 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 i entury, drove a regular trade of robbery in the neigh- bourhood of their strong-holds. They imposed contri- butions on their neighbours, waylaid passing tradesmen ?ak\ 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 ; hut out of them a new class of peasantry gradually formed itself; and those who had bought them- ach - wholly free came at length to be ranked in the •ante line with the previously existing class of freemen. i leavy oppression, however, weighed on the great body i>; bond-men. They were hound to an infinite number of -'•r\ ices : chained to the glebe which they cultivated ; were not even allowed to marry without leave from their lords; and the childn n belonged to whatever master the parents had belonged to. On the death of a serf, a portion more 50 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 2£)1 . or less of his effects, such as his hest 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 public 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 produce 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 effect 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 multiplied, 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 VIII., the contemporary of Albert of Hapsburg. This prelate had explicitly advanced the doctrine, that all secular power was only held by princes in trust from the pope, and remained at his discretion and disposal. It was precisely this excess of oppi-ession 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. tjl HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1291. CHAP. V. E.V.X OP HELVETIC EMANCIPATION*. 1308—1334. ALBERT OF HAPSBURO. AIMS AT ERECTING A DUKEDOM IN HELVETIA. TYRANNY OF CF.SSLF.Il AND BERENGER. OATH OF RUTH. WILLIAM TELL. DEATH OF GESSLEK. CAP- TURE OF ROTZBERG AND SARN'EN. LEAGUE OF THE THREE FOREST CANTONS. DEATH OF ALBERT OF HAPSBURG. CRUEL REVENGE FOR HIS MURDER. RECOGNITION OF SWISS FREEDOM. ' — INVASION OF SWITZERLAND BY DUKE LEOPOLD. BATTLE OF 5IORGARTEN. PERPETUAL CONFEDERACY CF 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 llapsburg, 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 discsteem 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 ]-2>j8. ALBERTS 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 Mentz ; 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 fortune 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 oi bailiffs), in order to be relieved from the administration of Albert's officers, whom he had set over them, con- trary to established rights and usages. Albert complied witli 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, 54 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1298. 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, which 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 prisons. 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 Werner Stauffacher, a freeman entitled to bear arms, at Steinen, in the district of Schwytz, " that he, a 1 "07- OATH OF RCTLI. 55 vile peasant, should have built himself a new house, without asking permission of his liege lords." This man, who had the fortune to possess a wife of good under- standing, communieated by her advice with other men of like dispositions, who felt with pain equal to his own the daily aggravated oppressions borne by their countrv- men, as well as the affronts offered personally to them- selves. He selected for his first confidants, Walter Fiirst of Uri, and the deeply aggrieved Arnold of the Melehthal. 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. When 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 llutli, a meadow slope under the Seelisberg by the hike 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 (1 1th November), 1307, Walter Fiirst, Werner Stauffacher, and Arnold of the Melehthal, 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, despoiling 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 light them on their enterprise, the three leaders raised their k 4 56 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1307 hands with their comrades, and swore a league by that God who fashioned all men for equal freedom. The men of Schwytz and Uri wished to proceed to the imme- diate execution of their project ; but those of Unter- walden, 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. Whispers 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 1 should not have missed my mark a second time ! " Transported with rage not unmixed with terror, Gessler exclaimed, " Tell ! 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- * Sec the Appendix. 130S. WILLIAM TEI.L. 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 cf the conspirators, who kept quiet. These occurrences marked the close of 1307. ()!i new year's eve, 1308, the conspirators obtained possession of the castle of llotzberg 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 jiike-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 tints 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 limits. The triumphant people now demolished s.everal other fortresses, amongst tiie rest, the unhappy Gessier'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 /;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 Rutli. 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 Fuxstenstein. 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, 130S, 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. DEATH OF ALBERT. f><) was separated from the rest of his suite for a moment, duke John, barjn 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 foods 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- (JO HISTOUY OF SWITZERLAND. 13'JJ. 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 the-outlawry 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 131,3. LEOPOLD INVADES SWITZERLAND. 01 forest cantons, Avho 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 ahout 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- tcctoral rights of kast-vogt* over Einsiedlen, used tills dis. p ite 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 senter.ee. On the other hand, duke Leonold 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 und t his feet, and carried with him waggons full of cordage wherewith to hind or hang up their ringleaders. lie 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 advan.ee from Zug under Leopold himself; count. Otho of Strasburg, with 1000 men, were to march over the Briinig ; 1000 Lucerners to cross the lake and fall in with the other forces at Stanzstadt in IJnter- walden. The main army arrived at Zug in two di- visions. Heavy-armed cavalry, then the pride and strength of armies, led tiie van in large troops, without sufficient discrimination of the mode of warfare de- manded by the nature of the country. The flower of tl) 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 * lor an explanation of tins title, turn to the foregoing chapter. 6'2 HISTORY OF 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 military 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 Hunenburg, 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 glittered 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 exiles, 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 vet 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 file-. 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 Schwvtzers 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 6i HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1315. in saving the duke's person from the horrors of the right 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 Biirgenstadt. These were met by the victorious men of L nterwalden, reinforced by 1 00 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 13th 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 cf the confederacy ; but * J. von Mailer. l.'JIS. Sir.GE OF SOLKVRK. 05 before the cl> i f the sixteenth century, a Frenchman found occasion to write — " Laxata sunt vtvicti if/hi-* /'ea". on equitable tetms, was concluded between Austria and the cenfederat: s, which was afterwards pro- longed to six years. By the terms oi this armistice the freedom of the confederates received fresh confirmation : on the ether 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 ens of offence kept up the old grudge on both sides. The dukes, after the ill success of their arms against the confederates, turned the::? next against the other idhcreiits of Louis. Duke Leopold laid siege, with a tr; p.g body of men, for ten weeks, to the town of So- leure, which espoused the Bavarian interest. With the aid of the Bernese, however, the town was so well de- fended, that lie sought in vein to force it to capitulate, and equally in vain endeavoured to terrify its com- mandant, count Hugo of Lucheck, 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 (viurse 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 66 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1318 in danger from the force of the stream, which heavy rains had swelled to an unusual height. In this emergency, Leopold had it loaded with stones, and posted a body of troops upon it ; hut 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 them selves, and not only rescued their foes from death, hut 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 Austria. 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 wa;; 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 1 328, they knew, as they had known before, how to reduce to nothing the force of that so much threaded 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 1332. ARMISTICE WITH AUSTRIA. 67 any power against the people, but only against princes whom lie robbed of the people's fidelity. The cantons were in such high esteem with the emperor, on account of their unvarying attachment, that in 131 6, 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 teen 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 ccins, and augmented imposts. An opinion had, however, gained ascendency, that even the power of princes had its limits, 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 arniLstice at length took place, by the emperor's me- diation_, between Austria and the forest cantons, by the 6S HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. [332. 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. (rail possessed linen and silk manufactures ; the pasture lands produced hides, wool, cheese, and butter : in Berne and Freyburg, cloth-making and dyeing establishments nourished ; the western districts traded in iron, horses, hawks, and horned cattle ; Geneva in southern fruits and :■ pices. The trade in gold was prohibited, and that of silver restricted. Religion still appeared in all its primitive simplicity. Wealthy knights stiil 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 violations of the rules of their order, in spite of frequent attempts at reformation of their discipline. Accordingly, no fault was found with, the conduct of the forest cantons, who, when under excommunication, as we have seer., in I 328 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 hi;:: 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 fci eighteen years there was no divine service in Zurich, 1332. STATE OF SWITZERLAND. 6[) except such as was rendered by the bare-footed 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 urea: changes which we shall pre- sently see effected in its polity. CHAP. VI. KKO.1I THE REVOI.l'TIO.N OF ZURICH TO THE LEAGUE WITH A P PEN Z ELL. 1335— 1412. SITUATION OF ZURICH. CHARACTER OF THE BURGHERS. — i IIRM OF GOVERNMENT. RUDOLPH liKUN. EXCITES A REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT. ELECTED BURGOMASTER FOR LIFE. DEFEATS A CONSPIRACY OF THE NOBLES. APPLIES lull AID TO THE FOREST CANTONS AGAINST DUKE ALBERT OF AUSTRIA. THE LATTER BESIEGES ZURICH. IS COMPELLED TO HAISE THE SIEGE. LEAGUE OF THE TIGHT ORIGINAL TOWNS .W> LANDS OF THE CONFEDERACY. PEACE OF THOR- BERG. CHARACTER OF RUDOLPH ERUN. ■ HIS TREACHEROUS COMPACT WITH AUSTRIA. BERN!:. DISTINGUISHED FOIL v SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE. OBNOXIOUS 7(1 TIfl BORDERING NO- BILITY. ATTA( KIT) BY THE COMBINED FORCE OF THE NOULES AND THE EMPEROR. BATTLE OF LAUPEN. BERNe'.S PLAN'S OI AGGRANDISEMENT. ROGER MANESSe's WISE ADMINISTRA- TION OI ZURICH. DE< FINE 01 THE NOBILITY AND CLERGY. — ' BERNE AND SOLEURE DEFEAT THE COUNT OF KYBURG. D! XI LEOPOLD OF AUSTRIA ENTERS SWITZERLAND. RATTLE Or SEMPACH. ARNOLD OF V.T NKELP.IED. THE RAD PEACE - . UNEXIT I : ; I) INROAD OF THE AUSTRIAN'S. HAITI E OF NAJ ! F.l — D!.\< RIP'ITON OF RH.ETIA. THE MEN OF APPENZL'LL REVOLT FROM THE ABBOT OI ST. GALL. ARE REINFORCED PI Till s< 11 WV'IZERS. ENGAGE AN AUSTRIAN ARMY AT THE . AGAIN A'l THE WOI.I SHAI.D. — DEFEATED AT RRE- Gl.VZ. RECEI\Ell AS ALLIES OF 'THE CONFEDERACY. RE- NEW .!. Ol THE TWENTY YEAKs' TRU( 1: WITH AUSTRIA. On tlie pleasant site of the old Helvetian Thuricum stood the town of Zurich, long renowned for industry, 70 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1335. intelligence, wealth not too unequally distributed, 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 nourishing 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 public 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 knights 1335. ItVDOLPH BRl'N. 71 and twenty-four burghers, who exercised those powers by rotation, a third part of them holding office during four months, wielding, 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 families, 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- affected burghers. This was Rudolph Rrun, 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 tcnour 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 wealth r 4 72 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1533. 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 Brim's representations that their rulers disregarded their duty, and were reducing the town, originally free, beneath the yoke of an intolerable tvranny ; 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 Bran 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 new 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 c\ itting office, whale 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 sun- ported in the council by Rudolph Brim, 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 i. >.,... RKVOLt'TION" OF ZL'UlCii. t 'o 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 promulgated 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. , in fear for their personal safety, precipitately fled from the city. A popular assembly was held in the church of the Franciscans, in winch it was resolved to bring to account all the members of the late government, to reform the constiution. and to place provisional reignty in the hands of Rudolph Brun and his friends. By the new constitution, framed under their auspices, all handicraftsmen were classed under thirteen guilds, tlie foreman of each of which should sit in council. One moiety of this body was henceforth to he 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; whi! reservation of the rights of the empire, and the sanction of the emperor, prevented the accession cf 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 ( mi i ' ce find themselves without friends at home — without allies abroad; — and still more rarely are they capable of renouncing their hereditary prc- •■ v. ith a good grace. The ancient lords of council ir adherents cotdd net forget their former func- tions and dignities. They entere 1 into a secret league :it of Rappersweil, the barons of i'onstet- ten. Mazingen, and ethers; and the night of the U 1-th y, I. ".00, was fixed for a g'-in ral massacre of tiii <;i snocratic party. Some of the conspirators had re- :retlv : others ' ' ' ac aired am 1 74- HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1350. abused the public confidence in their peaceable intentions, and numerous auxiliaries 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 Itappersweil ; 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, Sehwytz, Unterwalden, and Lucerne, which had long regarded Zurich as their principal mart and bulwark, accepted her proposals with alacrity ; and, on the Walpargis night of the year 13.51, closed with her a perpetual league of reciprocal aid against all enemies, reserving only the rights of earlier allies of the emperor and the holy Roman empire. Albert now began to press the Zurichers 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 obligation 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. s;ege of zuricii. ?o might overawe Schwytz and Uri, and deter their popu- lation from assisting the Zuriehers. 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 thegarrison 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 the castle of 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 Ins birds, replied, " 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 7G HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1353. tasked the whole strength of his hereditary domains and allies. The elector of Brandenburg, with many othe: secular princes, five bishops, six and twenty counts, the towns 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, sour, 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 die 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 net 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, receiv : new member into the body of their original confede acy. In this league, the three forest cantons alone, ITi, Schwytz, and Unterwaldtn, properly speaking, formed the eld and genuine Switzerland. They alone, who had admitted all the others into their everlasting league, were in alliance with all of them; — with Lucerne, when- they had aided to emancipate herself from Austria; with Berne, whom they had voluntarily assisted in emergency ; with Zurich, whose cause, when forsaken by ail ctl e:i , 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 ,,. . LEAGUE OF Till: EIGHT CAN'TOXS. bond of union existed between Glarus and Lucerne ; no immedi; Lie bad been formed between Zurich. Berne, and Lucerne: the Bernese were under no cbi: with regard to Zug and Glarus. The forest ca . tons remained the pivot — the keystone — cf the who!, confederacy, — the remaining five being leagued wit; 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, wiiile, in t>, every canton retained its independence liberty of constituting at pleasure its own inter- i! , istration, laws, and institutions. It was only ■■■■ of time that reciprocal engagements be- tw: :!,;"■ cantons were agreed to, which, m ! . manner, reserved to each contracting party imlimite* powers iii 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 sou!, the spirit of freedom and self- sac: ibce, had departed from the frame of the cenfederae — until ! umy desired to retain freedom only {'or their— -. ;■• >ng with absolute domination over their sub- : wiiile others could not resolve to raise their arm for the defence of their confederates in extremity, s<> ha:, as ihey entertained th.e delusive hope of remaining u:: 'istu:': ed amidst the ruin of their breth.ren. After Litis pacification, the (lithe of Austria endea- voured to compel the people of Zug to renounce their ti m with the Swiss league. But they answered, -.: the treaty of peace had maintained that league in- '• i date ; 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 c mmon liege lord; and a diet at "Worms condemned the >wis.- league, on the alleged ground that members of the empire could not bind themselves together without the concurrence of their bead. Weapons more effectual than sophistry were marshalled to support this decision. Summonses were sent to all the feudatories of Austria 78 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 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. 'I he 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 tiie spectacle of their steadiness and union, induced the emperor, after a siepe 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 lorce 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 well 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 Uem 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 f 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 13.3(7. CHARACTER OP RUDOLPH BUI X. 79 demanded the submission of Zug and Glarus, which was refused until the duke should 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 therefore 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 Brim, to whom the foregoing transactions owed their original impulse, was versed in all the wiles of a party leader. lie knew how to attract the crowd by every art of persuasion, and while his power was small, and the issue of his plans remained doubtful, to avoid the least appearance of violence. Intrepid, when tlie victory depended on words — inflexible, as long a.s he had nothing to be afraid of — lie 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 quality which he wanted as a magistrate, was the strength of mind to act with uprightness. Notwithstanding all his failings, he [X ■ ->•-: d 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 his administration. liut on examining his character, as it developed itself from viiii- to year in the elevated position where be fixed himself for life, it exhibits a less favourable aspect; at the point of time especially, when, after having procured for Ids 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 the transaction. Yet it cannot be denied runs undertakings gave a firmer seat to internal freedom in Switzerland, as we shall presently see ex- ternal peri's combated by the energies of Reding and of jrlrlach. 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 ;iiid importance, and its numerous territorial acquisitions and purchases, aroused the jealous pride of the counts and barons in its neighbourhood. Berne had long been distinguished by an r.eiive 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 en leaving no debt unpaid, whether of hostility or frier.d- ':'.. , they pursued progressive aggrandisement on the ruin, of their enemies, or by reconciling and receiving them into the privileges of citizenship. This system ■reared a numerous body of out-burghers, the protection .' ■-, .: in v Ived the town in everlasting lends, which might some' hues be considered unavoidable, but were often waged from carer love of glory, or as offering an occasion of s ;grandisement. Agriculture end 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 Or NOBLES AGAINST BERNE. 81 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 their whole force for its destruction with 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 1 500 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. Mean- * Fcrrt'.s iiT.vis :irm;;ti. 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 allies 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 20th of June, 1339, under the command of Rudolph of Erlach. 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 LACPEN. 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 soul of a great leader, whose presence of mind is not to be 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 anus, 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 cf 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, 84< HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 133^. 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 readied 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- i ewed 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 Thucydides) 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 them, and numberless innocent persons were consigned, 134-9- GREAT PLAGUE. 85 by heated fanaticism, to a dreadful deatli by fire, and their children were baptized over the corpses of their parents, according to the religion of their murderers. These atrocities were in all probability 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 was found that the plague was nowise diminished by massacring the .lews, 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 vagabonds, 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 stili, however, resorted to by various tempers to snatch the full enjoyment of that life which they were so soon to lose, at the expense of every possible violation of the laws of morality. Only a few lived 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 violence seemed at length to be ex- hausted. Rudolph of Krlach, the hero of Laupen, had on the close of the war withdrawn bine elf from the staire of SO HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1360. 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 discipline, 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 Heme 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 life ; 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 winch was to hinder the abuse of clerical influence, to abolish the im- punity enjoyed by ecclesiastics, even in cases of enor- G 1 88 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 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, Neufcliatel, 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 burdens. >me, it often happened that military service was refused. Other disadvantages, more- 136'5. ARNOLD OF CKRVOLA. 8f) 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 impediments 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 warlike 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 hue of march ; and offering their mercenary services, for one or more campaigns, to towns and princes. When dismissed bv 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 bv 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 tlie 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 tiiese 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 ( 1 366) 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 liis 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 1386. IXGELRAM DE COUCY. [)1 called the Englanders, and sometim :s, on account of their strangely fashioned hats, the G tiff leys, 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 afforded 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 tin- higher Alps towards the Aargau), assisted, however, by straggling bands from Lucerne and Unter- walden. As the conquering men of Kntlibueh were riding home on English horses, exultingly displaying the 92 HJSTOItY OF SWITZERLAND. 1382. arms and ornaments of the vanquished, the haron Peter of Dorrenberg, as they passed his castle, cried out, — '■ 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 powerful 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 lie had claims, as either subject or mortgaged to him : he charged Lucerne with breaking into his castle of llothen- 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. Q3 federates, lie had violated several points in the late pacification, and had done injury to the trade of theeon- federates, by the erection of a bridge at Rapperswcil, as well as bv the exaction of new toils and dues at that place and at Ilothenburg. 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 s leu ; n oath, by God's assistance, to dissever "' 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 reached the confederacy from 1 67 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 tin 1 aid of her confederates at Laupen, on pretence of an eleven years' truce with Leopold : cf 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 l6()0 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 fjth 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 sine and easy victory. Cords. as on a former occasion, were pre; ared \o hang the ex- pected captives. A certain bare cf Ilasenburg, 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 charged manfully notwithstanding their rude accoutre- ments, in reliance on their God, and in the cause of their country. Their leaders fought in front of the 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 fell 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 slaughter 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 (iundoldingen, a man in high esteem among Ids countrymen, and deeply imbued witli 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 Pence, on account of the nu- merous acts of ill faith 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 people. 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 96 HISTORY OF 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, hut 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 Bidden, 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 were forced, after a stout resistance. While the enemy, confiding in their far superior numbers, and des- pising the insignificant bands of Glarus, dispersed in every direction in quest of plunder, Bidden collected his handful of men on the mountain ridges near lluti. 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 afew Schwytzers and ether 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 might, in course of time, find means to ap- 1S8S. 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 hostilities 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, andUnterwalden, 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, ccc. 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 98 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 3Q1. only been based upon arts of intrigue and coercion. Its members were displaced, and, in part, banisbed ; 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 1412, 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. Rhaetia 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, Rhsetia 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 had a century elapsed since tlie confederates had achieved their freedom, when the Rhsetians, 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 llhaetian territory, where an insulated group of mountains, like a I -tO 1 . REVOLT OF APPEXZELL. 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 Wirtembe'rg. 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 137ft with the dignity of abbot in the monastery of St. Gall, 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 Ids 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 with the town of St. Gall, which hud 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 ihe 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 ii 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, 1103, the well-appointed enemy, 5000 strong, while attempting to penetrate towards Speicher, received, in the hollow road before Vdgeliseck, 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 cf its leaders and many of its citizens. Nevertheless, the men of St. Gall and Appenzell renewed their league in 1 404, 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 be 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 l-i05. ENGAGEMENT AT TI1K STOSS. 101 comrade to the Appenzellers. 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, lie 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 rain 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 lied down hill precipitately, pursued by the men of Appenzell; whose wives and daughters, 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 inarch was assailed by the burghers of St. Gall, divided into several small detachments, from which considerable loss was sustained by the ducal force at ilauptlisberg. 102 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1408. The duke was sorely stung by this disgraceful reverse; but still more so by the news of the disastrous rout at the Sto^s. lie 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- pulation 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. 14-12. 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 hy alliances with powerful lords in their neighbourhood ; but still, more hy 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. Moreover, 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 u 4- 101 HISTORY 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 OF AR15EDO. 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 OF 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 domains 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 will 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 the 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 public 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. A\ r e shall presently see Zurich, in 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 tile sway of pure or impure impulses. The affairs of the church about this time arrested the 10G 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 deviation* 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 AViclifte, in the latter half of the fourteenth century, strove against a whole host of clerical abuses, combated the frauds of the mendicant 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 141 4, at which the desired reformation was to be carried into effect 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 his 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 Erederick 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 die 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 OP SWITZERLAND. 1415. forest cantons, as also Zurich, Zug, Lucerne, and Glarns, 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 oilier 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 unfortunate 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 BAILIWICKS. 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 humiliation, ami 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 indignation, 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 those 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 Glarns 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 FrascatL 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 power, 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 1-11 S. CARDINAL POGGIO. GIPSIES. Ill very existence of which lie 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, duke Michael of Egypt : his followers were known by the name of Cingari or Zinguri (in Ger- man, Zigeuner, gipsies). So little was known of oriental languages in those times, that these adventurers could tell 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 » Muller, in. 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 Tirnur. 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 1-111, the confederates surprised and tock possession of the valleys of Ossola, the baron Guiscard of Karon, 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- sliip had already expired for some time. The forest cantons now applied 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, all 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 which was fixed a human countenance rudely carved in wood, and wearing the expression of grief. Below this, 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 well 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 master 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 well-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 families in the Yalais). 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 Kschenthal and the V'al Levantina. These conquests drew on them the se- verest check they had hitherto met with. Philip Maria 114 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 Levantina 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, ."000 strong, took the field, without waiting for the rest, and readied 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, which had 1422. BATTLE OF ARBEBO. 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. INHERITANCE OF FREDERICK COUNT OF TOGGENBURG. DIS- PUTES OF SCHWYTZ AND CLARIS 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 HAMMERLIN OR MALLEOLUS. INSTANCES OF POPU- LAR SUPERSTITION. The 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- i 2 116 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 14,36. 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 dappui 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 1405, 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 v.-eight. 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- 1436. INHERITANCE OF TOGGENBERG. 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 agreed 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, 1436", 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 some of them were burghers, proceeded to enforce their claims. Schwytz exacted oaths of allegiance in Tuggen and the Upper March. Zuricli 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 (":•:- nach. Similar results took place at Gaster and Winded;, whose inhabitants wished to he 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 .lost Tschudi ; but the latter were discreet enough to keep their personal enmities subor- 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 had 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 AVerdenberg-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. WAR 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 1-1-10, 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, iS: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 L'ri 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 name of war at length burst forth in the fifth year since the origin of civil dissen- i 1 120 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1440. sion. A sudden panic struck the troops of Zurich, who fled 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 andGlarus 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 Buhenberg. Whatever had been lost by Zurich across the lake of Wallenstadt was to remain in the possession of 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 141:2. LKAGUK OF ZURICH WITH AUSTRIA. 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 ail 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 ; hut 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 appear at an- another, to account for her league with Austria. A numerous division of her troops had already adopted the ivd 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 ~>(H)(\ men over the Albis towards Zug, burned Blick- enstorf. and retreated over the i.iil again with at least equal rapidity, when the banners of Lucerne, Uri, and Cnterwalden, unexpectedly came in sight. 122 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1443. All the confederates now united their forces against Zurich ; and 5000 or O'OOO troops marched over the Albis, 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 manoeuvre of the enemy, tbey 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. Allien 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 Wildhans 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 14T4. 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. Hut 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, 1 ()'()() men were sent by the Swiss to strengthen the place. This little baud surprised a far superior force of the enemy on the banks of the Birs, and their fortunate rashness was crowned with success and booty. Spurred by this earnest 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 ; 7"" behind garden walls, near St. Jacob, against the constantly renewed attacks of the thoroughly disciplined 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 OF SWITZERLAND. 1444. VII., representing two prisoners bound back to back, with the legend Hdvetiorum contumacia et temeritas ferro frenata mccccxliv. The dauphin afterwards showed that he knew better how to estimate the advan- tages derivable to -lis 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 with the garrisons which they had to maintain at Baden, Bremgarten, Mellingen, Griiningen, Pfeffikon, &e. 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 establishment of tranquillity, oblivion of the past, and the division of the points in dispute. The league of Zurich with Austria was de- 14-60. POPULAR 1GN0RANCK. 125 clared 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 cobwebs of the brain which were accredited as sciences, as little 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 highest 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 Greek. This Greek is the mother of 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 with facility, translate a little, retain 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 15asle made some at- tempts to revive it. Felix Ilammerlin, who bore the punning surname of Mulleo/un, 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. 145Q 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 example, 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 w r ave 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, w T hen 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, w T ere no whit more enlightened 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. POPULAR 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 bv God s judgments on earth. Anna Yiigtli of Bischoffzell 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 2-kh of May, 1447- She soon, however, shrunk from her own device, and cast the host behind a hedge privily. Whereupon it 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 built in memory of the circumstance, where the host did itself credit by working many signs and wonders. We scarcely need to add, that Anna Vogtli 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 14-60, 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 discipline 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 (Si years, a priest confessed the theft on his death-bed. Kleven o'clock one Sunday night, owing to the neg- ligence of the monks of Kinsiedlen, three strangers made away with certain relics from that monastery. The sacri- legious plunderers, seized with horror, let their spoil drop 128 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 4-60. 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 lest 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 he 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. ]29 chap. ix. FROM THE FinST ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE TO THE HEATH OF CHARLES THE BOLD OF BURGUNDY. U53—1477. FIRST ALLIANCE OK SWITZERLAND WITH TRANCE. LOUIS XI. CHARLES DUKE OF BURGUNDY. 1 1 IS CHARACTER. TAKES POSSESSION OF ALSACE. APPOINTS PETER VON IIAGF.NBACH GOVERNOR. CONDUCT OF THE LATTER. COMPLAINED OF BY THE SWISS. OFFENSIVE AND 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. RATTLE 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, bad 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, "he 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 1 15m the young burghers of Zurich were invited to a feast at Strasburg. They set out from Zurich in the 130 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1453. morning, 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 1-1-67, 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 be re- sorted to the arts of intrigue and bribery, in order to employ the confederates in a more effective manner for Ids own ends. In the year 14-Gj, 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, 1*67- LOUIS XI. CHARLES THK COLD. 131 whose life should he devoted to the functions of his office. The main object which he steadily placed and kept before his eyes was the foundation cf unlimited 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 [iretagne. To the attainment of this object Louis pro- ceeded without scruple by direct or indirect paths. lie 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 appeared 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 lie 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 i" ace nor war could be said to exist, but abundance of faithlessness, changeableness, and irritation, ('mining at last carried off the victory, bought at the charge of ( thers; and Louis attained his ends by perseverance and caution, and by the skilful use cf 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 bv industry, commerce, and navi- gation ; the accumulated treasures of bis ancestors, the attachment of his subjects, and the excellence of his troops, seemed to secure him superiority over any rival; and Ids position at the head of all the malccontents in 132 HISTORY OF 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 the 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, winch 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 14-73. CHARLES ACCEPTS ALSACE. 133 how useful Switzerland might he to him, to wish for its destruction, had he possessed the power to effect it. For these reasons lie 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 Iwrdering on Switzerland, under condition of protecting them against the Swiss confederacy. Sigismund ad- dressed himself next, as some affirm, 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, which cost him nothing. Jf 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 (diaries 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 liurgundy at his mercy. With Charles of liurgundy, Sigismund' s advisers had no trouble in inducing him to accept a mortgage of the counties of 1'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 ids unconnected domains. 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 hands 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 powerful populations. The confederates regarded these transactions, wdiich were 1473. PETER VOX HAGENBACH. 13 J 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 cf 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 all hope of Swiss assistance in exe- cuting his projects against France. Charles, who 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 Ileudorf, 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 hist 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 t 136 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1473. 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 d- 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. '1 lie 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 1474% CHARLES OFFENDS THE SWISS. 137 Charles would accept no pecuniary equivalent for domains which he now viewed as his own absolute property. Sigis- inund, therefore, made overtures of alliance to the Swiss. Shortly after these transactions Charles entered Alsace with ;">000 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 iii 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 Ids mischievous proceedings. On the 10th of January, 1 \~ I. 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 IJurgundy. 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 them to annihilate a power which alone balanced that of France. But their measures were much more the 138 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 14J4. 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. Their efforts seemed to meet with success. But the em- peror and the French king, convinced that a check must lie given to Burgundy for the sake of their own safety, and that the confederates were the instruments best adapt- ed for that purpose, plied them with such active intrigues, that hostile steps were soon taken. The alliance which, 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 1-I7L TRIAL AM) DOOM OF HAGENBACH. 1 of) well pleased to find the former disposed to take his part against Burgundy, fie 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 Ilagenbach was informed of these transactions, lie 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, Ilagenbach aimed at securing the fortified town of Brei- saeh, 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 disaffected 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 difficulty from the fury of the people. Ilagenbach 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. Ilagenbach, in the mean time, lavished promise- 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, 140 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1474. coarsely clad, and indifferently mounted. " Those must be the Swiss I" he exclaimed : " God help me; for they have much to bring against me !" His gloomy antici- pations did not deceive him. He was doomed to death ; 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 life rather than his 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 were 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 alliance with France was con- cluded at Berne in the name of all the confederates. The Swiss engaged to supply the king with 6000 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 JJth of October, an embassy from the emperor summoned the confederates to attack 1 \~±. BERXE DECLARES WAR WITH BURGUXDY. Ml the duke of Burgundy, with the promise, that while thev advanced on the south-east of his territories, the emperor would assail them on the side of the Nether- lands. The confederates hastened to Lucerne to com- plete their deliberations ; 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 he 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; thev 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 l>ut 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 con". derates, amounting in all to a force of about 18,000 men, appeared before Hericourt, a strong-hold of Diehold of Xeufchatel in the Franche Conite. It was in vain that a strong body of Burgun- diaiis, under the command of Jacob de Ilomont, count de \ aud, made an effort to effect a diversion. On the l.'Jth of November he was routed by the avoyer of Sehar- nachthal and Felix Keller of Zurich. Hericourt was sum ndererl, 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 OK SWITZERLAND. 1475. many of the confederates on account of the precipitate declaration of war 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 XI. 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 Gth 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 allies who forsook die 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' trace 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 conciliatory 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- * Miiller, iv, 7-'"), &e. I-i7C CAMP OP CHARLES. 143 sancon in mid. winter, in order to chastise the eon- federates, above all, the Bernese, for their audacity. Flames and other incendiary devices on his banners gave a sufficiently graphic announcement of his intentions. At Besancon lie was joined by his corps of artillery, and by reinforcements from Italy and Burgundy, which brought his force up to about ()'0,000 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 like .1 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 ivas regularly laid out in wide streets. The richest and the most diversified articles of convenience and of orna- ment wore displayed in tents and booths. But for the sullen roar of artillery, the scene would have appeared .1 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 p-avilie.il Charles might gaze with gratified pride upon the glittering lines beneath him, little imagining lh .' he looked on all his glories for the last time. Oil tiio l.'ith of February Charles laid siege to Gran- ays Philip do Cominp:-, " venoit le due ,<:<■ picil t-t (If chcval, ri'-paiHlaiit la tc-rreur r.a i toil-lit rin<|iiaiiti- millf, voire plus, ri-i; ration* <-t autres en^ins lie nouvelli- it- tout n-lui.-aiits il'or.et grainle banik' lit ;'r;:ii!l ch-vall mlt fen ■• inn rh.'e," - li'arme • nlirabli rdiam . i ' i on ;-, ft lii tr.'es, 1 olltrellll IfSlifjO 141 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1476. son, a little town on the lake of Neufchatel. He attacked the place in his usual manner, hy 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 hy 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, ( harles 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. 1-176. BATTLE OF GRANSON. 145 On the very day -when these proceedings took place, the main body of the Swiss army, 20,000 strong, was drawn together near Neufchatel. The news of the mas- sacre filled them with deep rage and thirst for venge- ance, while the duke gave himself up to idle dreams of renown and conquest. When 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 left, 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 hardly 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 bim to remain a quiet spectator of the action. They had calculated rightly, for Charles, 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 3d of March, the vanguard of the Swiss, the men of Schwytz and Thun, accompanied by nu- merous volunteers, advanced from Neufchatel. Jt 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. 1 476. vanced. The Swiss sent back to hasten the march 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 spears 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 fall of their leader. At this moment, a new and fearful sound arose from the heights in the rear of tha 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 rallied, took to 1476. EXULTATIOX OF LOUIS. 147 flight, some towards Granson, some into the woods and fields, some over the Arnou or the mountains, and others again in boats across the lake. The unfortunate prince, with only five companions, directed his flight through the nearest pass of the Jura.* When the spoil of the duke's camp came to be shared among the cantons, it was found to contain 120 pieces of ordnance, 600 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 1492, on the public account, for oOOO 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 the;rs, without having cost him any thing more than money and dupli- * " A bien dire la veriti'," says Cominps, "jo croy que jamais depuis il n'eut I'enU-ndernent ti bon <;u'il avi.it tu auparavant cette bataillc."' — Liv. v. th. ;j. L 2 148 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1467- 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 enlisted, 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-appeared 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, projects of aggrandisement on her part ; expressed dissatisfaction 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 despatched to Freyburg, who, supported by the citizens, engaged several divisions of the Bur- gundian army with vigour and success. 1476. BATTLE OP MORAT. 149 Berne detached 1500 men to garrison Morat on the lake of that name, under command of the ex-avoyer Adrian cf Buhenberg, 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 fcho 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. Wherever 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 ether 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 150 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1476*. country to join them. A Swiss council of war in those times was not wont to deliberate whether or no an attack should he made, but what was the most effectual mode of making it. Hans of Hallwyl led the van and the right wing ; Waldmann, jointly with AVllhelm 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. When 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 Wiflisburg, 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 liurgundia?, Exercitus, Muratum obsidens, Hoc sui monumentum reliquit. M.CCCC.LXXVII. 1177- BATTLE OF NANCY. 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, offered 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 Berne i 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 which 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 Rent-, 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 Rem' : he was surrounded, 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 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1477- retained his entire confidence ; and, under this man's guidance, Charles blindly 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 which 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 Mary 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 Besancon' 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 effectually, by sending mule loads of gold to glut the avarice of his Swiss allies. CHAP. X. .ERA OF THE COVENANT OF STANTZ. 1477—1481. EFFECTS OF THF. BCRGUXDIAN WAR OX SWITZERLAND. IN- CREASE OK CRIME. FECI) OF URI WITH MILAN. BATTLE OF GIORNICO. CLAIMS OF SOLEL'RE 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 with it, that mighty power was bro- ken, in the presence of which the greatest kings had trembled. Hut 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 J 54 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1477- 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 chambers, 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 14-80, 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. M7S. 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 ()()() men from Uri, Lucerne, Schwy tz, 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 cavalry 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 ; 1 5,000 of whom fled panic-struck from 6*00 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 the 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. Tims 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 Entlibuch, and the lords of council at Lucerne. He and his kinsman, the ex-landamman Heinrich, burgher of Obwalden, 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 Soleure 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- sorbed in prayer and in holy contemplation. lie 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. lie had formerly served his country in the war of the Thurgau, witli a high reputation for courage and hu- manity. When this venerable man was made acquainted with tin. discord which prevailed among the confederates, he instantly left tin- hermitage for Stantz, and entered the hall where the diet was assembled. All rose from their seat- to greet so unexpected an apparition. The solitary addressed the assembly with the dignity of a messenger from heaven, and admonished them to maintain peace and concord, in the name of that God who had inven 158 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1481. so many victories to themselves, and to their fathers before them. " You have become strong, he said, by the force 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 theii father-land ! " " It is seldom," says an intelligent Swiss historian *, " that truth comes oft* 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 confederation was that of a family, in which all possessed an equality of rights. Places of honour were given hut 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 public 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 little council, the great one was convoked, which consisted of numer- ous popular delegates. In cases of dispute about the tneum 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. Tlie 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, robberv. and theft, were punished capitally : lesser offences with banishment, branding, slitting of ears, Sec. For security against attacks, whether from within or without, the several cantons joined themselves in a 160 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 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, w T ere the only records of this league since the period of its first formation. Tbe 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 little 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 ant! 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 1-181. MILITARY AND CIVIL POWERS. l6l at the expense of their communes. The principal weapons were spears, halberds, arquebuses, and cross- tows. 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 white 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 Vernier (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 civil 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 manoeuvres 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 spearmen; in front or in Hank arquebusiers ; in the centre were the M l6'2 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1481. banner and standard bearers. (It may here 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 high 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 insecurity of the roads created serious impediments to the transport of com- modities through Switzerland from Venice and elsewhere. Though no description of privilege was acknowledge!!, 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 1481. NOBLES AXD BURGHERS. l6o 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 eera 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 lit! accustomed himself in the course of his campaigns : hrance of past jollities, and disgust at present pri- vations rendered his heart of easy access to temptation. 31 2 164 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 appe- 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 afforded no security ; even love and friendship yielded to the universal panic, and the sick 1481. THE PLAGUE. 165 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 humility. Yet scarcely had the scourge ceased to be felt, when the old 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 immoral 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. CHAR XI. LEAGUE OF ST. GEORGE AND SWABIAN WAR. 148.9—1501. ADMINISTRATION", 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 TAPAL 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 ENGADINF.S. RETREATS INTO THE TYROL. TREATY OF PEACE. RECEPTION OF BASLE AND S HAFFHAUSEN INTO ALLIANCE WITH THE CONFEDERACY. Tin: transient restoration of concord could not restore the primitive moral habits of the people. Rapacity and ostentation flourished in the towns, corruption in all seats of civic authority, immorality and idleness in the 166 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1489- people. Young 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 VTaldmann the burgomaster, because he sought to impose bounds on their arrogance, inflamed the town and country people against him by their discourses. Hans VTaldmann 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 Milan 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 walls 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 VTaldmann, who thought fit to regard the honour of the town as being compromised by such a declaration, 148<). DEATH OF WALDAIANN. l()7 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 (ith 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 he 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, 14S9, 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 league of St. Oeorge, otherwise called the Swabian, and derisively, the Petticoat League, from a sort of kilt at that time worn by the nobles, which, at a later period, came into general use amongst the people, and was called ajupe, or .li 4 168 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAXD. HQ5. 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 Ithenish circles, acceded, partly of free will, partly on compulsion. Its ostensible object was to put an end to die 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 cf profit!" The grand diet of 149-3, 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 6(300 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 w T ere 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 tent- 1495. PETTICOAT LEAGUE. lC^ 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 confederate?, 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. Tit? 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- chancellor 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 HISTORY OP SWITZERLAND. 1499- 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 marchins; from Constance had succeeded 1499- SWABIAX 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, 1 1,00',) strong- Heinrich 'W'olleb 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 Orisons 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- pletcly 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, lie 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 * Ulutz Iilotzlieim. 172 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 4Q9- 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. " Thus 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 andSchaffhausen 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. \~o 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 reception 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 SchafFhausen had been leagued with the confederacy more closely even than Basle since 145-1, 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 Yalais and the Grisons were also allied with the con- federacy; and the free towns of St. Gall, Miihlhausen, and Ilothweil in Swabia, were joined with it in a league of mutual defence. 1 74 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 499- CHAP. XII. ITALIAN EXPEDITIONS. 1499—1522. CORRUPTION" Or THE HELVETIC BODY. LOUIS XII. LUDO"-:. SFORZA. FRENCH OCCUPATION OF MILAN. CLAIMS OF THK CONFEDERATES ON' THE MILANESE AND liELLINZON A. ENLIST- MENTS OF SFORZA IN SWITZERLAND. OF LOUIS. SFORZA BETRAYED BY THE SWISS. IMPRISONED BY THE FRENCH FOR LIFE. TREATY OF THE EMPEROR WITH THK CONFEDERACY. FRUSTRATED BY FRENCH INTRIGUES. — LEAGUE OF CAMIiKAY. BATTLE OF AGNADELLO. CHARACTER OF SCHINNER BISHOP OF SION. ALLIANCE AGAINST THE POPE BETWEEN" THE FRENCH KING AND THK EMPEROR. HOLY LEAGUE AGAINST FRANCE. GASTON" DE FOIX. FRENCH EXPELLED FROM ITALY BY THK POPE, SWISS, AND VENETIANS. DUCHY OI MILAN RECONQUERED BY THE FRENCH • — WHO ARK 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 mest deplorable and disgraceful of her history. Neither honourable connections with foreign powers, nor salutary arrangements in the interior, will henceforth yield the 1499- CORRUPTION OP 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 fetched 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, princes, 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 decorationr,. 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 tin 1 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 pre- mising moneys, and misleading simple people who had heretofore known little of such dealings. Moreover, the confederates were divided amongsl themselves, —- some b< ing for the papacv, some for France, and some 176 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1499- 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 cf extreme danger, and compelled him to take every means for procuring the aid of Switzerland, which seemed to afford his only hope cf 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 Sismondi, Ri'p. Ital. vol. xiii. c 09. 1409- LOUIS XII. LVDOVICO SFORZA. 177 from 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 li[)6, 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 lie enter the lists, with any 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, who was detested by Ids subjects, found 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, 1 4<)9, the French were in possession of the whole duchy excepting the Valteline. The confederates, on receiving the intelligence of these events from Lou:.- X! I., 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 ill 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 lost 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, ami for the first time, Siviss 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 fall back upon Milan, where men and money, provisions, fortifications, in a word, all the requisites for withstanding the French, lay at his disposal. In the mean time, a diet at Lucerne decided that the Swiss engaged on both sides should ne ordered home, and resolved, besides, to offer 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 i secret understanding. Many deserted from the duke : a few, perhaps, prompted by indisposition to fight against their countrymen, but most from a more tender .■are 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. lie 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 x 2 180 HISTORY OF 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 disguise. 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 solicited 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, des Hep. Italiennes, torn. xiii. p. £4. 1505. MAXIMILIAN TREATS WITH THE SWISS. 1S1 had many friends in Switzerland, whom he partly owed to political considerations, and partly to the slights and affrcnts of France. In 1501 the rival potentates took the field against each other ; and hoth 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 ami 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. Vet he did not despair of ultimate success in bis designs. He convoked a solemn diet at Constance in 1507, at which delegates from Swit- 182 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1507- zerland attended, and were received with high honours and rich presents. They acceded to die 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 he 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 Raden, 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- Louis, acted the same part at Lucerne as he had done at Zurich and Raden. 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 discussion 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 Lmgm ofCambray of 1508, planned by pope Julius II.., 1509- BATTLE OP AGNADELLO. 18S 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 ; hut as soon as the tempt- ing dollars tinkled, the drums beat, and the flags waved, — all was forgotten, — and numerous bands 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 eflect- ing between the two republics a useful and sincere alliance. Already, on the 1 1th May, the French, sup- ported by ()0()0 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 Ins 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 Sion, entered Switzerland with a good •tore of gold and absolutions ; and on the 13th March, 1 ~> 10, a league "for the defence of the church " was closed betwixt the pope and the cantons ; the confederates en- gaging to supply O'OOO 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 1 84 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1500. expected on the whole political system of the confe- derates, and became thenceforwards 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 himself obtained the episcopal office, and with it a sphere commensurate to his activity and ambition. From thenceforward his hand might be traced in all 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 bis 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 1509- ALLIANCE AGAINST THE POPE. 185 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 1 -If)f), came to a conclusion, without either of the contracting parties showing any desire to renew it. France stood on the most amicable 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 little 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 Home 186 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1512. would, in all probability, have fallen into the hands cf 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 showed 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 FKO.M 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 unwillingly, war was at length decided on by the diet. In May, 1512, a force of 20,000 confederates as- sembled at C'oire, under the command of Ulrich von Hohen Sax, the experienced leader of Zurich. The (iriso.is, 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 force-- of the French, which besides were daily weak- em : by the emperors recall of the Landskneclits, aban- doned even fortified towns without attempting serious resistance. On the approach of the confederates to Milan. th< fathers of the I'isan church assemhly, 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 Pavia the French army vainly attempted some defence. From thence it fled in disorder over the mountains. The 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 any 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 Church," 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 indifferent to any of the allied powers — least of all, 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 SFOKZA. 189 the pope, as coinciding with his plan for purging Italy entirely from foreigners. It also pleased the con- federates, 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 so.' 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 Maximilian, 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. Hut 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 pasties of Lugano and Locarno evacuated, and solemn 190 HISTORY OF 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 w r as 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 Avithin the range of the French artillery, even in his own palace. His position was by no means enviable, though 4000 confederates had already joined him, and more numerous forces were expected. He found him- self betrayed by one of his generals ; his city of Milan 1513. FRENCH DEFEATED AT XOVARA. 191 opened its gates to the French; and the rest of the country soon followed the example set hy the capital. Kovara and Como 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 fidelity 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 Xovara were con- stantly kept open in defiance. On the second clay, when the garrison was 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 No vara, hut 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 dissuaded the confederates from attacking them until their whole number should have come up ; but they nevertheless resolved to engage. Before daybreak on the 13th of June, the Swiss army, JJOOO 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 192 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1513. knives and daggers. The French cavalry had long kept off attacks in flank, 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 with S000 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 in 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 Tremcuille could hardly gather f)000 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 with 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 Milan, 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 Milan 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 pretensions 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. Hut the youthful monarch was not to lie diverted from his purpose ; and the delegates of his uncle the duke of Savoy employed every possible means, at suc- o 1£H 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 6000 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 TJri, Schwytz, and Glarus, were engaged in negotiation with French envoys; and though the proposals of the latter 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, and 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 mClee, 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 them 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 Ixittle 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 defeat, 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. JF.UA OF THE REFORMATION. 1519—1531. GENERAL RESULTS OF THE ITALIAN EXPEDITIONS. CORRUPTIONS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. CASE OF JETZER. LEOX. 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 EADEN. — CAUSE OF REFORM ESPOUSED BY BERNE. THOMAS MURNER. ANA- BAPTIST EXCESSES. IMBITTERMENT OF RELIGIOUS PARTIES CHRISTIAN LEAGUE. — ATTACK ON CAPPEL. DEATH OK 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 198 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1500. nation by slaughter, or dried up by contagious disorders. All these too perceptible and prevalent evils must have tended, in no small degree, to prepare the minds of many for those 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. When 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 IMPOSTURES. 199 vrere 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 bv 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 withdrawn 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- sions. Ignorance and dissoluteness prevailed among the tower elerev : 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 relies, was productive of innumerable decep- tions Four Dominican monks were burnt at Berne in o % 200 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1506. 1509j 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 moral 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 Johann 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 lit 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-brother, 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 began 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 Bolshorst, 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 Virgin, 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 unlucky tailor's bed in the character of the Virgin, 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 cowosives on four other parts of his person. When he awoke, the monks took advantage of his amazement to expatiate on the miracle which 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 Erlach, and of several of 1506. CASE OK JETZER. 203 the principal members of council. Jetzer declared in their presence that the mother of God wept because of the rum 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 Horrible 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 Home, whence they hoped to procure a sentence in their favour. Hut 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 204- HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1509- the Godhead, 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 When Bernard Sampson made his appearance in Schwytz,his first opponent wasUlrich Zwingli, the parish priest of Einsiedlen. This extraordinary man was horn at "Wildhausen, in Toggenburg, a. d. 148 i : lie 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. AVhile thousands around him were not in the smallest degree sensible of the prevalence and ex- tent of corruption, Zwingli 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 Bremgarten, Bullinger, dis- tinguished himself so much in opposition to the seller of indulgences, that the latter launched the ban of tlie 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 Wiirtemburg. 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 many members of the diet, that he had better not pursue lus mission in Switzerland. Zwingli preached to crowded congregations 206 IIISTORY 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 arid 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 effects which any radical change must have on their own interests. * Courtisaneric was the name applied to one of the most impudent abuses of the catholic church. Italian priests, and other vagabonds, made their appearance in Switzerland, furnished with papal titles of succession to such benefices, (named or unnamed) as should he 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 offices which they had earned by the labour of years, but it often happened that more than one of these Utters patent wire given for a single place or benefice, whereby disorders, quarrels, 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 tiie 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 2Qth 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 episcopal 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 enjoined 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 Mas first pronounced against images and image-worship, and next for abolition of the mass. These decisions were commu- nicated to the IJasle university, thebishops of Constance, Basle, 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, amongstwhich 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 all 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. Thomas 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 doctrines of the reform- ation, 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 pained preponderating influence in the council, reform either made rapid progress or suffered retardations. At Schaff- hausen, St. Gall, Muhlhauscn, Basle, in the Orisons, and the Thurgau, ir received alternate checks and en- couragements. Constance decreed that teaching should he 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 ail; wed 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 tiie 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 <>f the first Christian societies with that of modern em- pires and communities, they sought to level all the existing forms of ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction. Some refused the payment of tithes, others complained (•'' 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 cond time on their followers, they acquired the name 1 f icih'rtuiifi'r (anabaptists). In many places they not eniv withdn w themselves from divine service, and taught their doctrines in forests and retired places, but threw offali ;;!'<■ .ianee to the temporal government: Zurich, Soleure, Appenzell, the district of St. Gall, and the 210 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1524 bishopric of Basle, were especially infested by them. Without reflecting that no new idea ever warms the human heart without 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, Amberg, 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 Ilottinger, and others had over- thrown a crucifix even before the disputation, and the subsequent prohibition of idolatry. After an imprison- ment of several months, Ilottinger 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 leaclii: Zurich back from her errors into the bosom of the 1524. LEVIES OF FRANCIS I. 211 catholic church, and of arresting the inarch 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. I n 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 : ()000 Swiss, and 4000 men from the Orisons and the Yalais, 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 slighted 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. 6*000 troops from the Gri- sons were compelled to retreat by the skilful movements of their antagonist, John of Medicis, and a new Swiss reinforcement of ()'()()() or 8000 men, after affording many [.•root's 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 inarched 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 \\, 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 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 Gth or 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 l6*th of May, 152(); 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 oi' 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, Basic, 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 the men of Thun ; and Berne discovered her strength in the adherence of her faithful people. New disturbances next broke out in the Oberland, where the men of Hash carried the restoration of the mass by a majority of forty voices. Cri and Cnterwalden 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 (irindelwald, and as far as Untcrsee ; and many districts refused to contribute their aid 214 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1529. against the insurgents. Moreover, 800 Unterwaldners marched over the Briinig, 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, ami 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 \ ">:■,]. 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 C'appel, where the defeat of Zurich was aggravated by the death of T'lrich Zwingli. The enemy found him lying on his back severely wounded ; and, not knowing bis 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, llejecting 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 Unterwaluen. Thus," says Bullinger 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 1 216' HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. B. C. 5f. chap. xiv. from Tin: alliance of iserne and freyburg with GENEVA TO THE BORROMEAN LEAGUE. 1526— 1586. TOWN OF GENEVA. ITS EARLY HISTORY. OPPRESSED BY THr DUKE OF SAVOY. MAMELUKES. CRUELTIES EXERCISED ON THE BURGHERS WHO COURT THE ALLIANCE OF FREYBURG. DUKE CHARLES ENTERS THE TOWN. EXECUTION OF BEtt- THELIER. ALLIANCE OF BERNE AND FREYBURG WITH GE- NEVA. IMPOTENT RESENTMENT OF THE DUKE. SrOON LEAGUE. TREATY OF ST. JULIAN. Z : :AL OF FAREL AND OTHERS. ABOLITION OF CATHOLICISM. EQUIVOCAL DE- PORTMENT OF DUKE CHARLES. CONQUEST Or THE VAUD BV BERNE. CO-BURGHERSHIP BETWIXT BERNE AND GENEVA. CALVIN. SERVETUS. 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- PIKES 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 burghers 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 1.1 If) the municipality of Geneva resolved to form an alliance witli 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 Berthelier'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 will 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 FREYBVRG. 2 If) 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 Berne 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 tlie 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 Yaud, which lay so well within tlie 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 und. 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 tlie 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- bility. 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 this 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 /"ague 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 ease 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 Ids 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. 1536". ABOLITION OF catholics:.!. L 2til The bishop excommunicated the town ; die 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 Fared, subsequently a colleague of Calvin, to do away with the mass. The expulsion cf the bishop, by winch his intrigues were rendered harm- less, was the most important step towards the attainment of freedom, and the reception of the reformed creed was the best means of retaining it ; as the constant friendship of so powerful a neighbour as Berne was thus secured, bv the double bond of policy and community of sentiment. In defiance of the treaty of St. Julian, the Savoyard nobilitv 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, it', indeed, he did net secretly encourage them. Ti ; - |i;ivocal 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 ! 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 ids anger by the expulsion of their bishop, and the curtailment of his own duca! rights, and had given him a plausible pretext for evading the performance of Ids engagements. lie was himself, besides, threatened v. ith an attack on the side of France, and certainly had !• it the power, if he had even had the will, to keep within bounds th" turbulence of his subjects. These exti imating circumstances were utterly overlooked, and ; re ;arded hut the outrages which had taken > iacv : for Berne had resolved to turn the duke's em. mrrassinents to ear own advantage. All negotiations were fruitless ; and Berne held a high and threatening 222 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 153b". language, demanding that the channels of trade should lie 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 fully 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, 15.3(7, 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 winch the emperor might so easily mix, to the detriment of the whole league. Berne acquiesced witli 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 hail 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 1536. calvi.v. 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 1530", 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 horn at Xoyon in Picanly, on the 10th of July, 1.50.0. 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 Novon, avows himself indebted to the family of that prelate for early instruction and liberal education. When hardly twelve years old, lie 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 lie received the rirst germs of the new religious doctrines, which had already begun 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 Hourges. In this he made rapid progress; and instructed himself at the same time in Greek under Melehior Vol- iii ar, 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 ;ij> his benefices. In the same year he pub- lished a Latin commentary on the two books of Seneca, I)r ('limn utiil, 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 221 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 hetook himself to l)u 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, Institntio Christianee Religionis ; the intention of which was to clear his slandered brethren from the charges brought against them, from political motives, of beinj> 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- ableness, 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 die above-mentioned work, which was addressed Ad Cfiristianiftsimum Itegem 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, lie could not remain in safety, and took his way to Basle through Geneva, where the reformed doc- trines had now been established for some years, and where Farel was engaged in preaching them. Calvin united with this man ; and soon received a commission from 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 all 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 town within three days, and took their departure accordingly in April, 1.338. Thence they proceeded to Berne, frcm 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 hecaine considerable by the influx of refugees from France. It was here that he published iiis work on the Lord's Supper, in which he set himself its well to controvert Luther's opinion, who interpreted that sacrament in the literal sense, as that of Zwingli, who understood it figuratively. It was not till a later period that he declared himself, without reservation^ in favour 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 magis- 226 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 53S. tracy of that town to restore their pastor to his flock. On his return, he laid hefore 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 hodies 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 lie had later espoused. His influence procured the exile of Eolsec, 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 15 tO. EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION. 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 1 have to wage with my temper ; over this devouring beast 1 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 his 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 1. iv • raised him to the head of a distinct religious party, l>ut for his bold rejection of outward ceremonial. It was tins 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 tile reformation made themselves manifest in all the relations of private and public life. General attention was directed to the internal wants ;nid 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 22S HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 5 10. 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 prodigality, gambling, and usury ; and rigid limits were set to public 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 unlimited 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 evangelical 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, Miihl- 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 (1566) Geneva also issued a confession, composed by Farel. Finally, on the 1st of March, 1566, the so called Helvetic confession was promulgated at Zurich. which was also received by the reformed churches in 1545. COUNCIL OF TRENT. i229 Scotland, Holland, and Hungary. Thus 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 Home, 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. Tope 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. Many 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 en the rights of secular rulers. 230 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 5~ Q. 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 cf 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- blishment 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 Vercelli, a protege of the cardinal Horromeo, brought about, in 1 57.9) a league between the bishop of Basle and the seven catholic cantons. This may be regarded as a sort of 15S2. CALENDAR CONTROVERSY. 231 catholic counterpart to the Christian league of Berne and Zurich, mentioned in a former chapter. The contracting parties promised each other aid in the affairs of religion, Cv'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 thosewho had apostatised. In 1586, the so-called Borromean, or gulden league, was sworn by the seven catholic cantons, the provisions of which were similar to those of the foregoing one, with the addition of the following clause : — That, in ease 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 protectant 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 365 days, introduced an inter- calary year of 366, 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 15S2. The catholic 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 (iregorian calendar, hut 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 a I- 2.32 HISTORV OP SWITZERLAND. l602. Thurgau. The two religious parties had now not only different feast days, hut 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, hy which the regu- lation of the calendar was committed to each canton within the hounds 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, 1602, 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 thirteen 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. " Vons avez fait 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 1 6*02. 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 BKOINN'IN'G OF THE THIRTY YEARS* WAR TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. 1620—1648. DESCRIPTION OF THE GRISONS. EARLY HISTORY. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. INFLUENCE OF PARTICULAR FAMILIES. SPANISH AND FRENCH PARTIES. POPULAR TUMULTS MASSACRE IN THE VALTELINE. FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH SPAIN AND AUSTRIA. SUBJECTION OF THE GRISONS 1!Y 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 s\\ ISS INDEPENDENCE. FOREIGN RELATIONS. FRAGMENTARY STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN SWITZERLAND. ,c 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 sera of the reformation elevates the mind by the spectacle of the triumph of en- lightenment over darkness ; but later times show little else than discord and degeneracy. The history of the Swi^-. from the foundation of their freedom to the over- * J. Conrad V<>elin. 234 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 progressive 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 Rhaetia 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 high above their region in the sunlight. Lower down, DESCRIPTION OF THE GR1SONS. XliO the Alpine meadows, spotted with flocks and shepherds' huts, repose in primitive stillness and simplicity. No suspicion penetrates these pastoral solitudes of the pro- gress of human intellect, or the arts of modern luxury. Lower still, lie 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 civilisation in these highlands are as various as the features of their scenery. There are few countries of Europe in winch circumstances have coincided to produce such a motley mixture of manners and of usages : the very form of the vallies, by which one set of inhabitants is divided from tlie rest as though in separate apartments, conduces not a little to the same effect. Local and communal rights oppose impediments to the settlement of strangers, and the natives themselves are counted strangers in every valley hut 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 climate, were not enough to stamp the traits of separate populations on the different inhabitants of these highland glens, that effect would he produced by their diversities 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 Ilhaetus, whose name 236 IlISTOIiV OF SWITZERLAND. became transferred to the people. Even at the present day there are traces to be found which confirm the au- thenticity of this legend. Above all, the old Italian language is traceable up to our own times under the title of the Romanisch or llomaunsch. This dialect is un- questionably an offspring of the Roman language, not of the days of Augustus, but of earlier 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 approaching to the Latin or modern Italian. This seems to have l)een 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, unknown in any other 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 with 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. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. )i'i i Thus arose the Iihsctian league, a federative system without precedent or parallel in the history of the civil- ised world. Kach individual member of it was a little lord in his own commune. He gave his voice on all public occasions ; was capable of every public function ; provided sparingly for the maintenance of his clergy and his schoolmasters, and generally not at all for that of the civil authorities. Every little knot of families 1 a hamlet ; every hamlet might be regarded as a small independent state, with its peculiar jurisdictions, rights, and privileges ; each, had its own local adminis- the presidence of a magistrate called Cn"i-/. 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 nmman, who presided over the council and courts of justice, conducted the general government in the name of the commune, and represented his little republic in the il diets of the league, after his commune had sup- i:im with the necessary instructions. A circle of neighbouring communes, without prejudict ':.; their separate rights, formed a higher and more cx- : :\ jurisdiction. A landamman, who in some pla.ces Lore t] .■ title of l'odesta, and in others that of Land-vogt, !d the executive power with the concurrence of a e . .p.cil. Each of these districts formed a republic or;' ally ; : '. • . . Vnt with any of the Swiss cantons, with thi- differ •:.; . that i; constituted, along with other dis- trict- of like extent, a le'iguc empowered to negotiate with foreigners. Rlnctia was divided into three such le, •■;• -■ in the fifteenth century, and from thence was 1 it- title of the Three League*, distinguished as t!i • /.• iif/itr i,ft!if Ten Jurisdictions-, that of God's House., i. T.iiiijuc. Each of these was connected wit!; :'. rest by special treaties. Each had its own genera: ;.>.- ,'inblv, and all were represented in a grand assembly or diet. This only took place once a year, excepti:i' r in extraordinary cases. In the interim a 238 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. l620. 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 moulding the Rhsetians into a number oi petty populations, which had neither climate, language usages, laws, nor feelings in common. That no repul- sive element might be w r anting 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 Yalteline, 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, notwithstanding the nominal sovereignty and self- government of the people, practically directed public affairs by their personal influence. Of the two most influential families, Flanta and Salis, the former beaded the Spanish, the latter the French party. Each side 1()-2Q. MASSACRE IN THE VALTKLIXE. 2.^J 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 ajid 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 ill 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 Valteline, and for separating that dis- trict from the (Jrisons. 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 Ifjth of .July, 1 ()20, these bands, led by Rudolf and I'ompey Planta, fell by surprise on the un- fortunate district. Alarums sounded from all sides, and a massacre of many hundred protestants ensued, marked 21<0 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 620. 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 of 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 climbed 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 zealfcts seized with blood-dripping hands the reins of government, and de- clared the independence of the Yalteline.* It was the Austrian and Spanish policy rather to prompt than repress these horrors, with the view of taking advantage of the general confusion to possess themselves of the Yalteline, — perhaps of the whole of the Grisons. Negotiations were opened with these courts, in the vain hope of inducing them to pan with the pests and passes which they occupied in the Yalteline. 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 Borrnio and the Yalteline, to conquer the land on their own account, but effected nothing by their enterprise, excepting that they exas- * For a full description of those scenes see Fox's Book of Martyrs. 1623. SUBJECTION TO AUSTRIA. 241 perated the archduke of Austria, who, exclaiming, '•' If vou 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- risdictions, 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- ancv so completely in that country. He closed an al- liance, accordingly, in l('r2'3, 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 jurisdiction in the treaty of peace dictated by France, and shortly afterwards ac- ceded toon 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 Lombard y, while the rest remained to overawe the Grisons. The Ten Jurisdictions, along with the lower Fngadine, 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 cm- [>eror at (herasco, by the terms of which the latter en- gaged to withdraw liis troops from the Grisons. So soon 212 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ^6'J[). as the Austrian garrisons were drawn off and their works demolished, 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 l6'39, at Milan, in virtue of which the sovereignty of the Grison league was fully re-established in Bormio, Chiavenna, and the Yalteline, 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 hardly 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 Rhsetia. Though the treaties and campaigns of the Grisons had supplied the Swiss 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 catholic would 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 sent soldiers to l6'S9- STATE OF RELIGIOUS 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 protcstants, 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 catholic 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 Muhlhausen and Basle restitution of all the property of his monastery, which he had lost long ago. The abbot of St. Gall reclaimed larger jurisdictions 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 244> HISTORY OK SWITZERLAND. lC3f). 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 peri! 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 were 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 immediately 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 1018. 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 ; whde the panic-struck government of Schaff'hausen only exchanged epistolary vollies with the imperial marshals. Nevertheless, the troops of Austria made repeated in- cursions on the territory of Basle, and scoffed 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, cither in an imperative style, or by means of secret intrigue and insidious counsel: and, even in minute ;tnd 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 countv of Baden. The land was rendered quite unsafe, until rigour was used against them. At Bremgarten, 230' 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- it .'> 246 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. l6'4S. neral peace of Westphalia, after a thirty years' war, between the principal European powers. This treatv, which restored the tranquillity of Europe, concerned itself besides with the relations of the Helvetic body. That body, which 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, individual 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 enlistments in foreign services. About this time nearly 25,000 Swiss were in the pay of foreigners. The distresses 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 l6i8. PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. 247 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 limited 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 obliged 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. 1 653— 1656. ISSLTUIECTJON OF THE PEASANTRY IN BERNE, LUCERNE, SOI.EL'RE, 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- viewed 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 still subject to feudal burdens. When these rt 1. 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, liable to taxes and imposts without their own consent being asked, and loaded with laws and duties without their wishes being consulted. Hut they felt still more vexation on being forced to yield, in all points, to proud land-vogts, and rapacious men in office ; when 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 1653. CAUSES OF DISCONTENT. 24-9 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 will, to keep in check the malversations of the official 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 like manner. r pon 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 Dulliker came to Entlibuch, 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. 1 100 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 effect 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. When 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 preparations. 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 written 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, Ave will not march against our brothers ; for we have as many rights to reclaim, and wrongs to complain of, as they!" 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 l()53. SOFT AND HARD ONES. 251 Berne at length acceded. Before they had come to any understanding, the forces of Schaffhausen had entered the Bernese territory at Bragg, those of Basle and Mul- 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. Many 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-bearer (tale-bearer). The heads of others were held close to grind-stones, which were then set in motion, so that hair and scalp came off together; in order, as it was said, to harden (hem. 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 abolished ; 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. l653. 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, who 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 intelligent men ; and they were very soon found to be divided among themselves, and prepared for every species of extravagance. 1653. LEVIES AGAINST THE IXSIRGENTS. 2~>S 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 Yaud, — which, by its language, bad 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 catholic can- tons came about 5000, led by the colonel Zueyer ; the rest of the confederates, to the number of 10,000, were commanded by the Zurich field-marshal Wertmuller. 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 buighers, Schybi, L'lli 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 bis camp at Ostermundigen, a league from Berne, where his troops robbed and plundered all around them, Leuen- bergrr once more wrote to Berne to propose a peaceable settlement of the contest. The council at Berne, to avoid the sbeddinir of blood, actually sent ambassadors 2,>1 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. \6C)3. to the insurgents ; and offered a large subsidy of 1 5,000/. 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 way 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 all 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 imprisoned. 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 Ulli (ialli was hanged. At Basle, seven old men, with snow-white 1()54. INSURRECTION SUPPRESSED. 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, .10,000 ; and others in proportion : and the emperor Ferdinand 111. 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 ]()5± ; 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 woidd 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 witli foreign powers, must yield to the more comprehensive bond of the con- federacy. Many popular leaders feared the loss <>f 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 religious parties took directions diametrically opposite. The 256 HISTORY OF 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 1()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 following year, the catholic cantons renewed their league with the bishop of Basle. The contractin»: 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. l6jG. protestants and catholics. 257 CHAP. XVII. RELIGIOUS WAR AND WAR OF TOGGENBURG. 1606— 1718. RELIGIOUS WAR. RATTLE Of VILLMERGEX. THE PLAGUE. USURPATIONS OE THE ABBOT OF ST. CALL OVER THE PEOPLE OF TOGGEXBURG. CONDUCT OF SCHWVTZ AND CLARIS Ol BERNE. MAR OF TOGGENBURG. FLIGHT OF ABBOT LEODEGAR. TOGGENBURCEKS AIM AT INDEPENDENCE WHICH Is REFUSED THEM. SURPRISAL OE THE BERNESE TROOPS BY ACKERMANN OE U NTERWA I.DEN. SECOND ACTION AT VILL- MEKCEN. PEACE OF AARAU. HOSTILE INTERFERENCE OF THE POPE AND HIS NUNCIO. REPRISALS OF THE HELVETIC BODY. Scarcely was the foregoing insurrection well 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 extinguishing 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 baili- 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 believe any thing but evil of the rest. The catholics would not believe that Berne and Zurich built fortifi- cations, and entered into alliances with Holland and v.itn England, i'or 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 cf close amitv with the urt of Spain. It haj>] < , (I that six families of Arth, in the canton of Schwytz, v. ere obliged to fly for holding the evange- 258 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1656. 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 seme of them to the torture, and con- demned others to death. Zurich noAv took up arms, as all admonition and mediation from the neutral cantons at diets had been iseless. With equal celerity, Schwytz and the catholic cantons were in the 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 Brerngarten, Mellingen, and Baden, and the Brunigberg, on the side of Berne. The Bernese sent detachments to the defence of Frey- burg, Soleure, and Unterwalden, 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 witli 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 l6o6. BATTLE OP VILLMEUGKN. 259 to them, as some young gentlemen of Berne had ridden out to reconnoitre and assured that ail 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 was 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 awn discontented peasantry, it was the interest of all aides 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 own pleasure. The catholics might have taken even greater advan- s 2 260 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND 1664. 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 liipperswyl. From thence a woman pursued them with curses and horrible cries to Wigoldingen, 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 all 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 bad been unhealthy, and warm 1067- DISPUTES IN TOGGENBURG. 261 during almost the whole winter. Venomous worms and caterpillars covered 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 %sed without scruple to extirpate, little 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. No 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 privileges, which, far from having 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 146'9, the abbot also esta- blished 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- s 3 262 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. lt)54. perial majesty; and thus he made his double character stand him in good stead. He now began to speak of the freedom of Toggenburg in ambiguous terms, and went so far as to call tlie 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 1654, en- tirely into the abbot's hands. Now he domineered at pleasure, 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 Hummel wald ; 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. Glarus took 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 TOGGEXBLRG. 263 help them to assert their rights." This incensed the abbot, who appealed to all the cantons in behalf of his con- federate rights. Now came diet upon diet, from year to year. Many were well inclined towards the Toggen- burgers, on account of their reformed 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 Toggenburgers 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 which the purport was that the emperor would settle the affair, as the county of Toggenburg had indubitably, from time immemorial, been a fief of the empire ; but Zurich and Berne replied, that Toggenburg lay within the Swiss frontier, and that tlie 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 dispute 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 Toggenburgers refused obedience, and drove away his functionaries ; whereupon the abbot posted troops on all the bridges, roads, and passes in the district of St. Gall. Bailiff Duller, 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 1. 26 i 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 3000 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. Now 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 10,000 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 Wiirelingen : 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 applied to the town of St. Gall and to the territory of Appenzell and Glarus for assistance ; but they promised him nothing further than their neutrality. The emperor, on the other hand, 1712. FLIGHT OF ABBOT LEOOF.GAR. 265 summoned the circle of Swabia, as far as Presburg, in Hungary, to the assistance of the abbot. Meanwhile, the brave llabholz 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 the people, although they offered him large sums of money to do so. Meanwhile infinite wrath and discord prevailed in tlie catholic cantons. Some were for peace, others for war. The French and Austrian ambassadors promised assist- ance ; the pope sent money; Freyburg and Soleuxe espoused their cause with the Valais, and the whole catholic portion of the 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 did take up arms in support of Zurich and Berne. Thus, at this time, nearly 1,50,000 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, where 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 Hutten and Bellenschanz, towards the Lake of Zurich. There, however, they came upon Hans Wert- miiller, 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 with 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 Meiengri'm. 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 A A RAT. 26"J The Toggen burgers 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 town 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. (Jail 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 17 IS, 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 268 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 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 Caracciolli 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. POREIGN RELATIONS AND POLICY OF THE HELVETIC BODY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. JESUIT MISSIONS. CONDUCT OF DU LUC THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR. CASE OP THOMAS MASSNER OF COIRE. CONSPIRACY 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. RELATION'S 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 delicate 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 all 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 token; rf 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 like maimer, he holds it indispensable that the friends of France should, at any expense, be promoted to the first ( fficial 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 stej> 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 he 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 l'Ecluse. The indignant father meditated active re- prisals, and succeeded in obtaining possession of the per- son of the French agent at Coire himself, Merveilleux. 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, lie 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, Ids house rased to the ground, and a monu- ment of his ignominy erected on its site. Many of his partisans were involved in his fall. A thousand ducats 1714. CASK OF MASSXER. 271 were promised for him, if delivered alive into the hands erf justice ; and five hundred ducats for his dead body. The outlaw lived for some time under the safeguard of the emperor; but his services fell insensibly into oblivion 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. lie lost his life in his flight by the oversetting of his carriage. The conclusion of peace between France anil Austria, in 1714, 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 in 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 tlie 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 witli ludicrous gestures; and their preachments were heard kneeling by the multitude. At'ter the close of their discourses, they frequently stripped off tin ir upper garments, and with blunt knives, which they kept stuck in their girdles, cut their bare backs, in sucli a manner that many sympathetic souls melted 272 niSTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1702. into tears. All these exhibitions were performed in an open place, as no church could contain such an assem- blage. Their followers, especially those of the clerical order, appeared barefoot, with ropes about their necks, crowns of thorns upon their heads, some attired in black, others in red or white and blue linen, others again with their faces covered in coarse sacks which hung to the ground. Nocturnal processions also were held, in which the penitents carried lanterns on poles, and heavy crosses, and flogged themselves with scourges armed with points , The preachers declared absolutions and benedictions in- effectual with regard to those who did not follow their discipline in all points. A large fire kept up beside the station of the missionaries was fed, by the devotion of their contrite hearers, with packs of cards, seductive books, French head-dresses adorned with lace and ri- bands, &c. &c. A little brook was blessed by these ad- venturers, that its waters might cure fever and flux, which happened to be prevalent : for the same purpose, consecrated tickets were distributed in the cathedral. One, whose wife and children were sick, was commanded bv these Jesuits, in order to effect their cure, to spend twelve days and nights in a wood, without any other aliment than herbs and roots. On returning half alive to his home, he found his family cured — by death. The ]>eople were persuaded, that those who contrived to get nearest these missionaries during their processions ob- tained immediate entrance to heaven, without passing through purgatory : accordingly, as every one was de- termined to be nearest, it came to voies defait; and tu- mults took place which could hardly be stilled by the influence of the spiritual mountebanks. On their de- parture, many followed them for eight or nine leagues in sacks, in order to earn the absolution, promised to extend to their posterity for twenty years after their death. These holy doings lasted till the bishop of Como came to take the waters at St. Moritz. This bishop, a convivial and card-loving prelate, dispensed the contrite sinners from their penitential practices, by virtue of his 1705. JESUIT MISSIONS. 273 spiritual authority and example ; loose living became more universal than ever. " They imagined," observes Hottinger, " that they had fully atoned for their former sins, and lost no time in beginning a new score." The farce was renewed in 1 705. Two Jesuit mis- sionaries came into the democratical cantons from Italy; they preached repentance and remission of sins every- where in the open air. Innumerable multitudes gathered around them. A mob of all ranks followed them about from place to place ; and those of their hearers who set up for extraordinary devotion appeared in black gar- ments, with robes and chains round their neck and loins : but the most devout of all enacted the scenes of the crucifixion. They went about barefoot, wearing crowns of thorns on their heads, and dragging heavy crosses, and allowed themselves to be struck, thrust about, and scourged by persons paid for it, misinterpreting, in a childish manner, the words of Jesus Christ, — -" If any one will come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me." The missionaries left Switzerland loaded with wealth ; and even flattered the pope with the agree- able anticipation that the protestant part of Switzerland might be led back to the lap of the church. The outward peace enjoyed by the confederacy dur- ing the eighteenth century (the last of its existence in ns primitive form) was contrasted by incessant inward disturbances. The first of these which claims our at- tention is the conspiracy of Henzi at Berne. Here, as i:i 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 immemorial the powers of government had been held by the avoyer and council. For the protection of the burghers against the encroachments of the council, and of that body against the influence of the multitude, an assembly of 200 of the most respectable burghers was formed, the niein- h ■•■•••■. of which were annually elected. The most im- portant act.:, which imposed duties on every burgher, not cr.ly for himself but for his posterity, were often 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 public functions ; but it was rarely indeed, and generally bv means of intermarriages, that a new family raised itself to the 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 1710 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 llenzi, 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, 17-4-9- CONSPIRACY OF HENZI. 2~ 5 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 procuring 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, 17^9, was fixed for the execution of the plans of the conspirators ; but many of their own 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 onlv man of ability and public 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 2~6 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 likewise of the town burghers, from all participation in public affairs; and, in 1684, admission into the number of these secret families was rendered wholly impossible. From thenceforwards, constantlv 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 Ilaccaud, and an advocate of Gruyeres, of the name of Castellaz, 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 toll 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, am! the latter town detached a part of its guard without delay. Three hundred dragoons inarched 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 FREYBVRG. l 277 malecontents 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 Hosier, himself one of the popular party. The two re- maining heads of the insurgents got clear oil': Chenaux "s corpse was delivered to the public executioner, and his head fixed on a spear above the Romont gate. Sentence of deatii was passed on Castellaz and Raccaud, the two fugitives. Several others were visited with less degrees f 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 heaving, the loss cf Chenaux began to be appreciated. Multitudes assembled cound 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 fooling 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. '['fry were the last sad consolation of the people, — the List substitute for hopes that wore already given up. In the disunited and feeble state of the Swiss con- federation, it could not be matter of much surprise that foreign rs began to treat it with very little respect. Instead of intruruc an i corruption beintr now wind 2?8 HISTORY OF 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 tho 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, \~i>\, 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 with 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 1777; a new alliance of the whole Helvetic body with the crown of France was solemnly concluded at Soleure. But the confirmation of those commercial privileges, which the confederates had looked for from this alliance, were postponed by one of its clauses, which set for til, " that both contracting parties, animated by perfect reciprocal confidence, had been unwilling to delay, by farther discussions, the conclusion of the present alliance." 1707- " PATRICIANS" OF GENEVA. 279 CHAP. XIX. DISTURBANCES AT GENEVA, AND IN NEUFCIIATEL. 1707—1789- AKROGANCK OF "TATRICIAKs" AT GENEVA. POPULAR EBULLI- TION AGAINST THEM IN 1707. RENEWED IN 1714. AGAIN IN 17:34. DEFENSIVE MEASURES OF THE COUNCIL BAFFLED BY THE POPULACE. EDICT OF 1~!?8. BURNING OF THE HOOKS OF ROUSSEAU. ■ REPRESENTATIVE AND NEGA- TIVE PARTIES. ARMED INTERVENTION OF FRANCE, ZURICH, AND BERNE. INTRIGUES OF Till: FRENCH. OF THE NEGA- TIVES, REVOLT OF THE REPRESENTATIVES, WHO ERECT A NEW CONSTITUTION. FRESH INTERFERENCE OF FRANCE, BERNE, AND SAVOY. ENTRANCE AND OCCUPATION OF GENEVA liY THEIR TROOPS. REGLFMEN'T OF 1782. ITS CONSKQUENCES. DISCONTENTS IN NF.UFCHATEL. 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 hard-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 their fc!low_citizens, even in their places of habitation, by settling in the upper part of the town, near the council- house, while the other burghers inhabited the lower town. 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 Iii'ghtres du 280 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 7^7- Conseil de la Republique de Geneve contain the following sentence, dated 1 (>'()", on occasion of calumnious reports upon a member of some privileged family: — " Lesquels bruits tendent a le privcr de I'honueur uuquel il estimait etre en droit de pretendre par son aye, se-< 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, 16*97, " d'empecher que Von donne aussi facilement le titre 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 oreat 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 lie 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 1734. POPULAR EBULLITIONS. 281 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 effigy was suspended from the gallows. His person, however, enjoyed impunity till 17-14, 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 o! ! 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 1 734, a bod\ of SOO bunrhers 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 preparation s for .' fence : 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, an.'! the garrison kept in readiness to act on the first sigi al. All this apparatus was regarded with 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, poin d (ield-pieces on the road by winch the troops "rem Berne were expected, and tumultuously demanded the convocation of the burgher assembly, the sovereign au- thority of Geneva. The council contrived to win over the members of this body so far that they voted una- !y the completion of the fortifications and the lane ■ of th tax f< r ten years. The declaration of an amin > \ ;. and improvement of the criminal and judicial administration termed the rest of their business. The 28- HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1737- burghers laid down their arms and returned to their or- dinary vocations ; so that an embassy which arrived from Zuricli and Berne found Geneva in a state of ap- parent tranquillity. Permanent ill will was fostered only against the syndic Trembley, commander of the garrison and conductor of the defensive preparations of the council. AFhatever this person had done by the in- structions of the 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. Xo 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 17^8 framed a constitution which set limits to the assumptions of the council and the prin- cipal families, and was gratefully and all 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. BURKING OF ROUSSKAU S " EMILK," 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 reading- 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, winch 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 winch 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, 1768, 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 public 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. Tlie 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. Kut 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 democratica! system on its frontiers, and soon proceeded to open ■ 7--- i;ij,i.i:.vi:xt — its consequences. 285 force in support of its secret policy. The first act of ion wa« to garrison Versoix j a measure which cave 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 would mix no mere in the affairs of Ge- neva — the government was overthrown — and a new c institution 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 c ereion of the town. Berne, too, joined this league in !7> s ~\ that the destiny of Geneva, that -point d'uppvi of her own dominion, might not be trusted altogether ro the caprice of foreign powers. On the appearance of the allied troops before the gates of Geneva, the bur :hers, 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 was 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 . after the principal heads of the representative party had taken to flight. Mortal dread accompanied .he victorious troops as they entered Geneva. Many had reason to tremble for their lives, their liberty, and !;,--.'■ -i,:i;s. Xo nunhhments, however, were inflicted, < xcepting only the banishment of the principal popular leaders; but the rights of the burghers were almost en- tirely annihilated by the arbitrary arrangements of the vi , :-; the government was invested by them with ohoo -t unlimited power, and proceeded under their - to prohibit all secret societies, military exer- ■ ■i cs, hooks and pamphlets on recent events, and to re- ii .'on • V ■■ garrison bv l L 200 men under foreign leaders. Thus tii'- town was reduced to utter subjection, and de- p.'ipuhr.i'd by exile and emigration. From thencefor- ward , commerce and enterprise fell into decav : and 286 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1782. 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. Hut 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 eera of the second Burgundian monarchy, came, in \~0~ , 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 a!i 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 Berlin ; and their example was soon after- wards followed throughout the principality. * See the Appendix. 17('S. XL MILTS IN NEUFCHATEL. 28* 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, 1 7' >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 ; ami the advocate-general, Oaudot, 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. Oaudot, 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, Oaudot 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 bv missiles being thrown down upon them. A carriage, escorted by servants in the roval 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 inch 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 mere generosity than would have been shown by any cantonal government ; and his 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 ruling class in misnamed republics is corrupted so far as to speculate en 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 public 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. DKMOCRATICAL CANTON'S. 28^ CHAP. XX. GENERA], VIEW OF THE STATE OF SWITZERLAND SHORTLY BEFORE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Tiik 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 control. 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. Judicial proceedings were, in the lu'ghest decree, 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 offices, 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- 2Q0 HiSTORY OF SWITZERLAND. nominious traffic went to the public treasury. Was it to be wondered 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 tbose 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 Schwytz in 175S. Elsewhere, however, similar in- fluences produced worse effects. In Glarus, so late as 1780, an unfortunate servant girl was executed as a witch, on the charge of having lamed the leg of a child 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 French revolution a territory containing more than 400,000 inhabitants. This considerable tract of land was admi- nistered by 250 ruling families, of which, 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 OE VAl'i). BERNE. ^91 an equality with them. The sovereign power resided in '-299 persons, of whom the great council was com- posed. A little council or senate of five-and-twenty formed the executive. The rural districts and the Pays de Yaud were governed by land-vogts or bailiff's. It was chiefly there that discontent prevailed against the Bernese government. The nobles of the Pays de Yaud were rendered wholly 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 offspring, poverty, neglected culture, mental and moral abortion. A sin- gular attempt at revolt was made in 1723 by major Daniel Abraham Pavel, a well-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 Yaud from Berne. He assembled the regiment of militia which he commanded, under the pretext of a review, and with these troops, who were altogether ignorant of his real design, and un- provided with 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. Havel offered his 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 till a force was under arms sufficient to crush him. Meanwhile his troop- had discovered the real object of their commander. and shrunk from him in surprise and consternation. lie himself was arrested, cruelly tortured for the discovery of accomplices, of whom he had none, and lastly beheaded. A certain contempt of scholastic acquirements seemed the prevailing tone at Berne; and school education na- turally came to deserve the low esteem which it met with. Accordingly those patrician youths who did not serve in the army remained for the most part undu- 292 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. ployed until they obtained places under government. The establishment of what was called the exterior state afforded but a superficial substitute for mere 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. AVithout any sufficient evidence, some would refer to the a?ra of the Burgundian war the origin of this institution, which received the sanction of government in l6'S7, and for which a council- house, far more splendid than that which belonged to the actual government, was built in 172,9. The seal of this exterior state bore an ape astride en a lobster, and looking at himself in a mirror. These and similar traits of humour seem to owe their descent to an sera exceed- ingly remote from the measured formality 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 mars 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' clays and holidays was abolished, as being dedicated to dissoluteness more than devotion ; LL'CERNE HELVETIC SOCIETY. 2QS while, on the other hand, we are horror-struck by the burning of a so-called heretic. In 17^7, 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 ami recommended it to others as the sole true basis of religion. His wife, Ins 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 pamphlets in l~69, on the question, " whether removal or restriction of the mo- nastic orders might not be found beneficial to the catholic 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 Schhiznacht, 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 decline of the confe- deration. At its commencement it consisted of no more than nine members, but added to its numbers with astonishing rapidity. The society was soon viewed with an evil eye by the cantonal governments, which dreaded all independence of ft "!i:>'/ and action in the 29-i 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 ; while 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 public affairs. 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 liable on the whole to fewer complaints than in many other European countries. The pay of public servants, FREE BAILIWICKS. 2.95 with few exceptions, was extremely moderate. Men who had devoted their whole lives to public affairs, and who had rilled 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 English 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 different was the condition of the free 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. Kvcn farther than in the German domains of Switzerland were abuses of this kind carried in the Italian bailiwicks, 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 i; 4 2Q6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. their guilds received progressive extensions. Proposi- tions were made which would hardly have heen 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 widely. 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 LITERATURE. WAR. DECAY OK PREJUDICE. '2Q7 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 Ilaller, 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 l>e lost for future generations, whatever alloy of paradox or perverse misapplication they might suffer from himself or his followers. The merits of the Bernouillis, Eiders, Lamberts, Saiissures, Bonnets, Tis- sots. Zimmerrnanns, 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 miiitia, the slower manoeuvres of regular tn ps 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 prejudices vanished, or at all events were mitigated, and even if the reccgniticn of principles "2[)8 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. SIRST EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION - IN" SWITZERLAND. IMITATION OF ITS HORRORS AT GENEVA. POLICY OF THE FRENCH DIRECTORY. CISALPINE REPUBLIC. INSURRECTION 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 ERI.ACH. 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, 17S9. 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 now ideas gained the greatest currency, anil 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 bis 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 now modes of thinking, and the comparisons which 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 300 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 780. 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 habitans 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. Kerne, however, could not resolve, on the instant, to trive the name of confederates to these newly re-established authorities ; and what had been done had 17[H'- REIGN OF TERROR AT GENEVA. ,"01 no effect in mitigating the violence of these 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 natter 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 public were answered by supplies mere 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 it: July. l~[)i, occupied all the posts in warlike array ; and filled the prisons of the town, and oven the corn-magazine, with 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 00,0 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 en the plea tint this had only been done to prevent worse atrocities. .More executions followed, which included several per- sons who had actively promoted revolution. Numbers •r les relations politiques outre la republiijuc Franr;aise ct 10 corps IIclvt'ti<|UL>. 1793. f Ri'veillez-votis, Suisacs, le danger approchc. SOS HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1798. constitutions, or force on them a new species of freedom. The numerous friends of things as thai/ 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 BRUNE. 30J French, on the 8th of February, took possession of the town of Bienne. Yet the confederates at.l hoped to ^Uiate France, and were encouraged in t us .husion bv general Brune, who now commanded the trench ZL, reinforced by several thousand men and fixed Shead quarters at Fayerne. This subtle leader, who, without bavins performed a lengthened pubhc career was to borrow a diplomatic expression rompu dans iT'aWre; proposed, with artful blandishments, and w th hinted hopes of peaceful adjustment an armistice of fourteen days ; during which the discipline and enthu- Lsm of the Bernese army had time to abate, indecision anTdistrust to increase, and recruits to join the trench """MeanwhUe, general Schauenburg had collected a di- vision of troops on the frontiers of Soleure and Berne, n a in trench to that of Brune. The latter an- nounced, on the 26th of February, that he had received Zl powers to treat from the executive directory. He proposed his ultimatum to the Swiss de egates, that without farther delay they should introduce a pro- visional government, take measures for the ^tabhshmen () f a new constitution, with securities for freedom ana eoualitv liberate all prisoners for political offences, and whluhaw their own troops, as well as those of the other cantons. On the due fulfilment of these conditions, the French troops should be drawn off likewise ; and should no t aeain enter the Swiss territory, unless the government called for their assistance. _ On the very day when Brune had given his inso- lent ultimatum, Erlach entered the great canned a, Berne, accompanied by eighty of his officers, who we e members, like himself, of that body. In a moment oi unusual resolution, he was invested wnh full powers to commence hostilities on the close ol the armistice flowever, two days afterwards, the delegate, returned from Brum's encampment at Pay-erne, Lrlach and is brothers in arms were no longer present in council ; the rest of that body were paralysed by the immment and 310 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1798. gigantic danger ; and the full powers which had just heen 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 established. It was affirmed, truly or otherwise, that he gianted, without difficulty, an ex ten si on \>f the truce for twenty-four hours; notwithstanding wdiich, 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- uoured the bones of their ancestors with a grave alter an interval of more than 300 years. Now a 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 Ryhincr 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 Grafenned, 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 fully recovered spirit and confidence; but just as Grafenried prepared to cross the Sense at Neueneck, the decisive intelligence 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 I the Bernese; his horse artillery terrified the native militia by its novelty, and his cavalry was nearly ^eight- f'old that of Berne in numbers. At Fraubrunnen, he Freneh turned the .left flank of the Bernese : m the Grauhob and at Breitenfeld their militia under Er- lach offered a brave resistance, armed with scythes and oth er 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 OL<* HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 119S. 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 slam by their own men. Amongst these was the general iJ-rlach, 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 enra-ed fugitives, who breathed nothing but revenge for their imaginary betrayal, and it was only by chance that bteiger 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 if 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 Glarus^ were resolved not to deliver up their old imu- 1798. FALL OF THE OLD HELVETIC LEAGUE. o'13 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 Itothenthurm, in the neighbourhood of the battle-field of Morgarten. These Alpine shepherds combated with a spirit and success which show r ed them not unworthy of their forefathers. Thrice were the attacks of 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 die 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 lie given to the Swiss people of becoming one great family, enjoying equal rights. The mass of the people, however, was not penetrated by * Ludwii: M'jyw. 514 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 79& 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 tliis 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 manoeuvres of the ci-devant authorities ; of the monks who apprehended the abolition of all 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 expulsion 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 179^. INROADS OF FREXCH AND AUSTRIAN'S. "15 took place in the Rheinthal, Oberland, Appenzell, and other districts. These were suppressed by military force, the use of which in Xidwalden 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 living being which they found in these places. The f)th day of September, 1 798, 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 nevi r sustained such desolating inroads 3\6 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1801. since the times of the Romans, Alemanni, and Bur. gundians. Many of the old superseded members of the 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. Gall 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 Schaff hausen, 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, 1S01. PREVALENCE OF FANATICISM. 317 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. Mystical views were propagated in Appenzell ; 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. lie 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 pidpit, 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 ins 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 CP 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 which 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 may 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 Yalais ; 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 of 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. Conformably 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. Hew 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 wire in scattered cantonments. The Valais declared itself independent. I'ri, Sehwytz and L'nterwalden took up arms against the Helvetic 320 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1803. government. The town cf 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 Yaud : 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 Yaud 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 was 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. All citizens who have held puhlic 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 lias called to life so many new republics, as the hour of destruction to one of the oldest commonwealths in Europe." The Helvetic senate instantly replied to this announce- ment, by declaring that it received, with lively 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 uplifted 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 despatcli delegates thither at their own expense. The mandate of Napoleon, and the pre- sence of his soldiers, induced conflicting parties to sus- pend their hostilities, and tacitly, at least, to acquiesce in Ins mediation, as they could come to no agreement with each other. 322 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 XXII 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 lie 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 neutrality, your government must decide upon making common cause with France." On the 12th, Bonaparte received a select number of the Swiss deputation, to whom he farther addressed himself as follows : — " The only constitution fit for 1S0.3. 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 splitting their forces, while it strengthens small ones by leaving a free range to individual energies." He added, with an openness peculiar to great characters, and unequivocally indicative of good will, " 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 cf greatness ; all of them afford a clue to the system on winch he acted. One cr 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- blished. The mischievous freedom formerly enjoyed 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 individual 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 listen 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 disorders 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 Ilorgen, 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 still 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 181.°). FALL OF NAPOLEON'. 325 empire. Many of the country people murmured, who wished for londsgemeindc, on the 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 collision. 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 public affairs. The Swiss of all cantons formed societies for the 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- polies. 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 ill the space of ten years, than had been thought of in the pre- vious century. When the throne of Napoleon sunk under the power 326 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1813. of the allies, 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 fellow- feeling, 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 all 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 181. 'J. 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 tilings 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 (! Istria declared on his arrival in Zurich, that " the monarchs could not recognise a neutrality which, in the existing situation of Switzerland, must he nothing v !• 328 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1813. more than nominal. The armies of the allied 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 coidd 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 21st 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. The 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 1814. CABALS AND TUMULTS. 32$ 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 tlte 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 rally round the standard of the Aargau. Berne, how- ewer, avoided open hostilities, and even offered to recog- nise the independence of the Yaud on certain conditions, which were rejected by the latter. Aargau now made menacing 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 ."SO 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. Gall to put an end to a scene of absolute confusion. While 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 20tli of March, 1815, the definitive arrange- 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- SWITZERLAND IN TIIK HOLY ALLIANCE. 331 Vaud. One moiety of the customs received in the Val Levantina was assigned to Uri ; the prince abbot Pan- crace, and Ins 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 Yaud, and on many other points in dispute. The complaints of the Grisons alone were disregarded — Chiavenna, the Valteline, and Bormio, winch had now become the property of Austria, were neither restored, nor any compensation for them given, notwithstanding the clause to the contrary in prince iSclnvartzenberg'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, gemeinde 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 vigorous roots of the slender stem of authority, and fix them wide and deep in a republican soil. From 1815 till 1S30 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. 1817- selves to be mixed up with the system of the 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 efforts 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 cf Naples. Natives of France, moreover, who had given offence to their government, either by republican 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 political victims of all parties might resort as an inviolable sanctuary. The year 18'23, 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 jjoltce, 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 lie 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, * Sec the Appendix. 331 HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. 1 S23. their inquisitive and minute attention to Switzerland. Individuals lost the importance which had formerly heen 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 features. 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 ail 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 limits, 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 , I'.TC. 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 tru'is couloirs of education, economy, industry : " AMI OF THAI E.MPIBE THERE SHALL HE NJ END." APPENDIX. Page -16. The 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 with 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 witli Rudolph 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, Uob'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, Anil 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: in)- ended at last are the crownless years, With their harvest of ruin, of blood and tears, * [he -mi, i.riincs who pxcrcisi-il the right of giving, or selling, the empire, were the arrhliir-hops of Mentz, Trier, and Colo-tie, the elector palatini , iirandei'hurg, Bohemia, and Saxony. 338 APPENDIX. Earth owns a judge once more. Ended at last is the reign of steel ; No more the feeble dread to feel The gauntlet-grasp of power. And the Kaiser uplifts his goblet bright, As lie 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." 1 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. 33Q Sudden and strong the Minstrel plays, And rapidly Hows his strain : — A valiant knight to the chamois chase Ltode forth across the plain, Him follow'd his squire with his hunting-gear; When a tinkling sound accosts his car On a meadow's gentle marge : 'Twas the sacring hell 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 lie doff'd his sandal-shoon, The brawling brook to wade. Now whither away ? " the Count began, And he cast a wondering glance. Sir knight, I haste to a dying man, For heavenly foot! who pants: And here, as I sought my wonted way. The stepping-stones all have been torn away By the Giessbach's whirling force. Tims, 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, N'or the holy rite' delay. Himself rode forth on the horse of his s ( j U ire, To '•■ -e 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, 3Iy 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 : Each shall enrich thine ancient stem With tiie 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. 341 Page 56. A story 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 from being a necessary consequence (as is very justly observed in Coxe's Travels), that because the authenticity of the story concerning the 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 : — " Xec silentio implicandum quod sequitur. Toko quidam aliquandiu, regis (i. e. Haraldi Hlaatand stipendia meritus officiis quibus commilitones superabat complures virtutum suarum hostes effecerat. I lie 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. Qua' vox pri- inura obtrectantium auribus excepta regis etiam auditum at- tigit. Sed mox principis improbitas patris fiduciam ad filii periculum transtulit, dulcissimum vita; ejus pignus baculi loco statui imperans. Cui nisi promissionis auctor primo sagittie conatu pomum impositum excussisset, proprio capite inanis jactantia; pumas lueret. Urgebat imperium regis militem majora promissis edere, aliena; obtrectationis insidiis parum sobria; voeis jactum carpentibus. " Kxhibitum Toko adolescentem attentius motmit, ut ;equis auribus, eapiteque indellexo quam patientissime strepitum jaculi venientis exciperet, ne laevi corporis mutu efficacissima- 342 APPENDIX. artis experientiam frustraretur. Pra'terea demendae formidinis consilium circumspiciens, vultum ejus, ne viso telo terreretur, avertit. Tribus deinde sagittis pharetra expositis prima quam nervo inseruit proposito obstaculo incidit. " Interrogatus autem arege Toko cur plura pharetra 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, ct regis imperium poena dignum ostendit."' Page 2S2. The following passage, on the Reglement of 1782, is translated from " Meiners' Brief e iiber die SchweUz," 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 general, 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 on public affairs was forbidden, and a garrison of 1000 men APPENDIX. 34:3 w as introduced, which, instead of being billeted on the burghers, was to live in separate barracks, as in fortresses. All the usefirf rights of the burghers were extended to the natives, and the senate was allowed the freedom of giving strangers, under the name of domicile's, allowance to settle for a year in Geneva, and to carry on mechanical trades, and other private vocations." Pace 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. The greatest ,,. lr t of the material for compiling these tables have been collected from Durand's Stati.-tique Henuiitaire de la Suisse. The mea- sures of extent which, in foreign authors, are generally given in German miles, l.'i t'i a degree, are here reduced to geographical miles, (it) to a de- gree. —V. 1'lanta, Hist. Swiu. iii. 117. Z 1. 344. II. The Subject Bailiwicks. i >qn.:iv Miles. Popula- Conti gem t '■ Sot * Religion. Language. jl. Thurgau 266 60,000 500 ( VIII. Old ? Cantons j Mixed German | 2. F.heinthal 84 13,000 200 C Ditto with 1 Appenzell | Mixed German 5. Sargans - 4. Gaster 5. Uznach 6. Gambs 14S ili9 12,000 9000 300 ) VIII. Old I 1 Cantons f Sch uvtz and I ; Glarus I Mixed j Catholic German 1 German 1". Rappers- I wyl - } > 5000 - C Zurich and I Berne ] Catholic German 1 f" Zurich, IS. Baden - 1 138 24,000 200 < Berne, and J- Mixed German C Glarus [9. Upper free "| ("VIII. Old "1 Bailiwicks I Cantons, 10. Lower f 85 20,000 300 1 1 Zurich, ^Catholic Germaj) free Baili- Berne,and [ wicks - . J L Glarus J 11, Bremgar- ten 12. Mellin- gen 1 {" Zurich, ) V- j 5,000 — i Berne,and Glarus C Catholic German 13. Schwartz- "I ("German enberg - ! j {"Catholic 1 German .S: 14. Morat -L.,, 15. Granson 1 ] 1M 40,0.0 - C Berne and t Freyburg ) Protestant ) Protestant J French j German & lti. Orbeand 1 C Mixed J French Echallens \J t. French 17. Bellin- h zona - -| j f Uri, 1 18. Riviera, or Polese kio 33,000 - Schwytz, andUnter- i»Catholic Italian U. Val di L waldcn J Blcnzo J 20. Lugano 21. Locarno 205 263 53,000 30,000 4001 200 j All the can- ~[ :;:;:? ip: li**** 22. Val Mag- J" 24,000 100 j. Italian gia - 23. Men- drisio - 16,1 m lOOj penzell J Totals - - 1831 344,000 2400 345 III. Confederated States. 1. Associates. Abbev of St. Gall. a. Altc Land, sell a ft - - b. Tockenburgi 2. C'itv of St. Gali - - . Town and territory of Bienne' - 4. Muhlhausei II. Allies. 1. Grison ) leagues \ Their sub- } ject pro-C vinces 3 2. TheValais 3. N'eufchatel and Valen- gin - I. Geneva . . Part of the bishopric of Basle allied to the can- tons IH. Sow:. KI.ION I [| S or 'I HI III. mi i Can- tons. 1. Abbev of En^clbe'rg - 2. (ier an - Totals - - Total, iti the > I,..!,. , f 45,000 46,000 8,300 5,500 8,000 2,304 150,000 960 100,000 1,280 100,000 240 40,500 88] 34,000 ion 1 24,000 ~) f Monarchic .1(00 S limited mo. 3 I C narchy oqq' S Aristo.de- 1 1 mocratic oqq f Mono-aris- l tocratic Democratic Democratic Monarchical rSix dixaines ) democratic j One dixaine C. aristocratic -{ Mono-aris- tocratic Aristo-de- mocratic f Mono-; t tocra Monarchical Democratic Cede 1,400 15,145 1,007,300 15,400 Religion, i I.an^uagi [ Catholic I Mixed German German ■ Protestant German Protestant German I Protestant German f" German < [and Ho- (. maunsch lM'h Italian / r French > Catholic -s j and \ C German > t> . if French Protest- S al)d * a,lt I German ; Protestant French J Protestant French Catholic Catholic German German 346 APPENDIX. Pa M. Thiers, in liis 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 la plaine ttait dans les montagnes. La Suisse, placed au milieu de la ligne im- mense sur laquelle onallait combattre, paroissait la clef de tout le Continent. La France, ijiti occupait la Suisse, semblait avoir un avantage decisif. II semblait qu'en ayant les sources du Iihjn, du Danube, du Po, clle en commandat tout le cours. C'e'tait la une erreur: on concoit que deux armees qui ap- puient imm^diatement une aile a des montagnes, coivm.c les Autrichiens et les Francais, quand ils se battaient aux environs de Verone, ou aux environs de Rastadt, tiennent a la possession de ces montagnes, parccque celle des deux qui en t>: r.iaitresse peut dt'border l'ennemi par les hauteurs. Mais quand on se bat a cinquante ou cent lieues des montagnes, elles cessent d'avoir la mfme influence. Tandis qu'on s'epuiserait pour la possession du St. Gothard, les armees qui seraient surle Rhin, ou sur le Pas P6 auraient le temps de decider du sort de l'Europe. IMais on concluait du petit au grand; de ce que les hauteurs sont importantes sur un champ de bataillede quelques lieues, on en concluait que la puissance maitressc des Aloes, devait l'etre du Continent. La Suisse n'a qu'un avantage reel; e'est d'ouvrir des debouches directs a la France sur I'Autnehe, eta l'Autriche sur la France. On concoit deslors que pour le repos des deux puissances et de l'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 ; surtoul entredeux <'tats qui ne peuvent se heurter sans que le Continent. en soit ebranle. C'tst en ce sens que la neutralite interesse toute l'Europe, et qu'on a toujours bien 1'ait d'en faire un principe de surete generale." APPENDIX. 347 Page 8:33. The following were the definitive measures adopted with re>peet to foreigners : — " Art. 1. No foreigner shall fix his legal residence in any canton, unless he have previously obtained permission. " ■_'. Every foreigner is obliged to give notice to the police, within twenty-four hours after his arrival in the canton. •• :;. 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 e\IS. has been examined, to see if it contains any thing reprehensible. In both case:,, it must be signed by the author and the printer, and deposited in the chancery. " :). 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 100O florins, and a year's im- prisonment. The penalty may be increased, according to the contents of the writing, as the seriousness of the circum- stances may require." 348 APPENDIX. Page 1335. 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 which 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 onlv 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 1791, 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 iirst 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. 349 have occurred in Switzerland, Geneva has been amongst the 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 much 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- bearing 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 anil permanence was the upright aristocracy of Berne ; and truly has it been stated by an eminent burgher of that canton f, with regard to its first overthrow in 179S, that the revolution did not find developement from within. li 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 "one s(j far without French intervention. The German sub- jects of Berne, unmoved by the insinuations of French emis- etz." — Meiners, Bricfc Uher die aid Littcratur, 2cr Band, p. 324, * " Km »-a hrli . ftig ar i.-tokrati-'lii- eror, his character and death, .".J. Agnadelln, 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 t'ron- tiersall intercourse with the forest cantons, 58. Death of, 59. Albert, 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, commonlv known bv the name ol the Peace of Thor- berg, 7!'. Albig'enses, 116'. Alemanni, the, I.;. Amberg, the Swiss laml.vogt, 210. Amiens, the peace of, 318. Anabaptists, the, -••:>. Excesses of, ji ;. Angoult'me, duke d', 152. App rizell, revolt of, 99. Independ- i '. of, ," i. Ail. do, the battle of, 114. Arnold ol I ervola, 89. Arnold of Winkclriecl, a knight of L'nterwalden, killed in the battle of Seinpach, 94. Arnold, of lirescia, 199. Augu>ta Ilaurueorum, the colony founded by Munatius Plaiicus, 8. Austria forms an alliance with Zurich, 97. Vanquished by the genius of Bonaparte; concludes a peace, 30J. 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. Bailli of Dijon, the French agent m Switzerland ; his threats to the Bernese, 168. Levies a force of J4,Olio Swiss 17P. Barras, the French director, 306. Basle, the bishop of, 46. Basle, the university of, founded in 1460, 125. Beaume, I'eter de la, 219. Berchthold of Kheinfelden ; death of, 33. Berchthold II., duke of Zaringen, 33. 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 IV., duke of Za?ringeti, Berchthold V., duke of Za?ringen, 38. Lays the foundation of Berne; places it as a free town of the empire under the immediate pro- tection of the emperor, 39. Ke- fuses the imperial crown ; re- ceives compensation from Philip, son of the late emperor ; his death, 40. Berchthold, abbot of St. Gall, *1. Berctiger 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, HI. Renews her league with the forest cantons, S4. Her plans of aggrandisement, 86. Fmpowered bv 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. The cause 352 of reform espoused by, 213. The government of, makes an effort to improve its currency by ex- cluding the small coins of other cantons from its territory, and lowering the nominal value of its own batzen, 249. Invests con- siderable sums in foreign secu- rities, particularly in the English funds, 295. Capitulation of, 311. A new constitution established at, 316. Berthelier, Philip.aGenevese exile, gains over the government of Freyburg, 217. Execution of, 218. Bodmer, general, marches at the head of 3000 men to the aid of the Toggenburgers, 264. Boizct, 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, 226. 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 Burgundian kingdom, 23. Brandenburg, the elector of, 76. 110. lirun, 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. Is accepted, 310. Destroys one of the tinest monu- ments of Swiss courage and union, the ossuary of Morat, 311. Bucer, 225. 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. Ca>cina, Aulus, 8. Cesar, Julius, defeats the Helve- tians, 0. Calixtus II., 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 Seneca, 223 Forced to fly from Paris ; repairs to the court of Margaret, queen of Navarre; publishes his work on Christian doctrine " Institutio ( hristianaa Religionis," 224. Receives a com- mission from the government of Geneva as teacher of theology ; publishes Ids work on the Lord's Supper, 225. Inflexibly enforces the rigorous maintenance of or- thodoxy, 226 His character, 227. Cambray, the league of, 1S2. Campo-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, 13o. 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 Granson, 144. Flight of, 147. Re-appears in the Valais, IK 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 TourdeTreme, 276, Death of, 277. Childeric HI., deposed by the as- sembly at Soissous, 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, lb. Clement 1 1 1., 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. OOi Coucv, Ingelram de, count of Sois. son's, 90. Crusaders, the first army of, set out in the Year 1096, 35. ' Crusez, colonel, 311. Cuno, of .Staufen, invested, in 1370, with the dignitv of abbot of St. Gall, 99. His tyrannical and op- pressive conduct, 100. D. Dagobert, son and successor of Clothair, ly. Dave!, major Daniel Abraham, a decided political and religious enthusiast, assembles the regi- ment of militia which lie com. rnanded, surprises the town of Lausanne, 291. Oilers his aid for the rest; ration of independ- ence to the assembled town coun- cil ; deserted by his troops; ar- rest of; cruelly tortured; and, lastly, beheaded, 291. Derschau, von, the royal commis- sarv, 2S7. Diebold of Neufchatol, 141. Diviko, general, defeats the Ro- mans on the lake of Geneva, 4. Commissioned to treat witlH'aesar on the part of the Helvetians, 6. Dornach, the castle of, sustains a siege of twenty-four hours, .,10. 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, 2X1. Dulliker, the avoycr, comes to Entlibuch accompanied by secular and spiritual dignitaries, to re- monstrate with the elders of the communes ; their reception, 219. E. Eck, doctor, of Ingnl-tadt, 212. Edward III. of England, !■() Einsiedlen, the an. ml of, maintains in opposition to Sehwvtz .a right of taxing the forest lands, 21:;. Elizabeth, widow of the emperor Albert, compromises with the bishop of lia-lo; i-H.s warnings to the towm harbour or derers, .'>'. >. ,d Hi Elizabeth, countess, wife of count Frederick of Toggenburg, 117. Erasmus, his Latin version of the New Testament, with notes; his writings disseminated ; visits the university of Basle, 2nd. Erlach, Rudolph of, a leader of the troops of Berne, 83. Saves his country, and lays down his au- thority; withdraws himself from public life; lives to an advanced age; his death, h(>. Erlach, general, marches from Berne to Langenthal ; engages in conflict with the insurgents', 254. Obtains a military command of thcVaud ; enters the great council of Berne, accompanied by eighty of his officers, invested with full powers to commence hostilities, 309. Receives instructions not to attack the French ; withdraws his troops behind the Aar, 103. lietreats towards the Oberland ; his murder, 312. Escalade, the, of Geneva, 233. F. Faber, episcopal vicar at Constance, 210. Parol, 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, l'oix, Gaston de, duke of Nemours, genera! of Louis XII., forces the combined papal and Spanish army to raise the siege of Bologna; is killed in the battle of Ravenna, 1X6. Francis 1 , proposes terms of alliance with the Swiss, If..-;. Closes a treatv with them called the Per- petual i'eace, I9n. Defeat of, bv CharlcsV.; taken prisoner; joined by XtXXJ Swiss recruits on his return from Spanish captivity, 212. Franks, their newer established in Gaul, 1 1 'I heir kings the ex- clusive ruler- of Helvetia, hi. Frederick ol Ilohenstaufen, obtains the dukedom of Swabia ; renews the war with Bcrchthold II., 33. Frederick, duke ol Austria, heads the forces in the engagement of tie' Sto-s; retreats to the Tyrol, 102. Concludes a truce with Switzerland, K;4. Abets pope John XXIT. : is outlawed, 107. Takes refuge at Frevburg; revolt of his vassals, 1<;8.' Repairs to Constance; tenders his submission to the emperor; obtains his par- don ; hisdomains surrendered into the hand- of the emperor; his lands restored to him, I 1 :'. Frederick, count of Toggenburg, accepts tlie co-burgheiship of Zurich; obtains the freedom of Schwytz, !1 3. His death, 117. Frederick, emperor, concludes a dishonourable peace with the duke of Burgundy, 112. Frederick II., king of Prussia; his magnanimity, Si'is. Freyburg, an insurrection at, 275. G. Galba, emperor, his murder, S. Gallo-Celtic, the inhabitants of Switzerland ally themselves with the C'imbri and Teutones, 4. Gaudot, the advocate general, se- cedes to tlie royal side: becomes an object of popular indignation ; becomes procurator general; his residence attacked by a mob ; is shot, -.vs. Gaul invaded by the Helvetians, 5. Geneva, the original foundation of, unknown ; its situation, 21a The burghers of, refuse the yoke of Savoy, -.17. Swears a icague with Kerne for mutual aid, 219. The town of, closely block- aded ; excommunicated; expels the bishop, 221. Closes a per- petual league with Berne, L'- '. A consistory permanently esta- blished at, -. i Influence of the clergv; a confe- ;ion issued, enm- poseci by Farel, 22d. Popular discontents in, 2M. The govern- ment of, overthrown, and a new constitution e.-tabiishi 1, Closes a league with I ranee and Savoy ; the allied troops ; ■ before tiie g: tos of; ri gk-ment of 17.S2, LN5. Kfiects of, -I'd. The n ign of terror, 30 1. Genevans labour to consolidate their freedom ; they drive the adherents of Savoy out of the town, ■_ IP. German tribes, earlv institutions of; !:iw- of; rides of' evidence , trial hi, ordeal ; trial by single combat, ferred n'o'tliem 'bv' Ileurv the 1 i ..: r, . :. Germany, sU.tc of the empire, I'd. Poetry becomes a favourite occu, pationin; schools established in, 30. Gessler, Hermann, builds a fortress winch hi' calls L'ri's Restraint ; tyranny of, 5i. Shot by William Tell in the pass near Kussnacht, Giornico, the battle of, 155. Goths, Id. Grafenried, 311. Granson, the battle of, H.7. The town and castle of, retaken by the Swiss, : 17. Gregorian calendar, 231. Gregory VI I., pope or Hildehran'. , his parentage; a review of his character; sends forth a triple prohibition to the clergy, on the several points of celibacy, simony, and investiture, 31. Excom- municates Henry IV.; frees ali the impi red vassals from th< ir oath of allegiance, 31. Banish- ment of; dies in exile at Salerno, A. I). l(j e, :. Grisons, descrintion of the; earlv history of, J>5. Dire re it sp iken in ; 1 . merit, 237. i 't to Austria; form a treaty of a perpetual peace with Spain ; recover their free- dom and independence, 211. Gross, colonel, the Bernese, 310. Gruet, Jacob, condemned to the block for his writings, 226. Gruyo.res, the counts of; cede their extensive domains to Berne and Freyburg, 222. H. Hagenbach, Peter von. a tried ser- vant of (diaries duke of Bur- gundv, obtains the government of Alsace and other lands, 131. His tyrannical conduct obtains for hue the app dlatiou of the '• Scour:: ■ of l.o !.' 1 .",. His immoralities, extortions, and judicial ue, rd"r- ; increases the tolls; supports by his influence every em nn of Switzerland, 136. enters Iin i'-ach on Good Friday, at the h ad of some Lombards ; disturbs divine service ; commits various act? of violence; taken pri- soner, in the name of duke Sigis. miiiid of Austria, 1 J:'. Brought to trial : his execution, 110. Haller, Albert von, 'J.'~. ; lerlin, Felix, -iirnamed Mal- leoli-, . c non of Z irieh, a very 1 ... u and sensible man, a vo- j55 luminous writer, passes for a ma- gician with the multitiulo ; cue- rishes manv superstitious fancies, 1 2». Hangcst, Claude d', abbot of St. Eloy, .it Noyon, -- .;. Helvetia, barbarian inroads on, 12. l'hc recovery of, under the Frank kings; improved cultivation of; influence of the clergy, 2ti. The cultivation of the vine introduced into, 2.'. Honeficia] etf. cts of the crusades : im]irovements in agri- culture, •■>). A review of the principal pointsof political, social, and militarv developement, 159. Helvetians invade Gaul, 5. Defeat of, by Julius Casar ; become allies of Koine, ti. 1); graded into a union with the province of Gaul ; becomes subject to Home. Id. Their deities; ad- mitted to the rights of Komr.ii citizenship, 1 i. Helvetic bo.iv, their relation with TraiH';'. 2uP. The dissolution of; the e.-t iblishment of a constitu- tion unitaire, 01-. Helvetic society, viewed with an evil eye by the call tonal govern- ment ; it- aim, ■_: ■ ',. Henry I. surnamed the Fowler; his mode of defence against tiie Hungari ms ; modern civilisation as -ribi d t(j him, J5. Henrv III., sun of the emperor Conrad, a-cends the imperial tin e; hi- d ath, .'-. Henrv IV.. succeeds his father Henry III. tothohnnorial throne; o: ;i i es his whole power to the ) apa . f Hil ■■ a -i ; cxooui c.uniiMtion of, :',',. I),-, po-o.i the pope; t ikes refuge in Italv with hi- wiu-ai d chil.in u ; return- to Germany ; begins a war of extermination, ;>-'. Hi, death. .>.,. lb uri V . :. Henrj VII., pronounces the ban of the emnire against the murderers of Albert, all Recognises the in-! it.i-,1 of the fori -t cantons ; sets out mi an Italian expedition; i aged and 111- ([1 Henr\ a I! Mi n, an Hon/,, ' haiii-h: retur , 1 1 . a hand 1 out ■ i and , Holv'lc lln-t.n las. a -1 210. Hugo, count of Hut-hock, 65. Huss, .fain, in' Bohemia, con- demned to the stake by the council of Constance, 107. I. Isabella, daughter of Edward 111. of England, marriage of, with Ingelram de Coucv, count of Soissons and earl 'of Bedford, Istria, Capo d', count, bis declara- tion to the Zurichers, ,528. Ittingen, the monastery of, plun- dered and burned, 21u. Jesuits, establishment of, at Lu- cerne, '.-; i. The order of, re- vived in FrevburgandtheValais, ;;;-t. Jetzer, a tailor, of Berne, bis cre- dulity imposed upon by the Do- minican friars, 202. John, duke, sou of duke Rudolph, assassinates his uncle, the em- peror, 59. John XXII., pope, appears before the council of Constance ; his flight, 10". Brought prisoner to t nn.-tance ; the council declares him worthy of the stake ; his de- position ; in custody for several years; goes to Florence; dies cardinal bishop of Trescati, 110. John, cardinal of Medici, succeeds to the papal chair by the name of pope Leo. X ., IPO. Extends the sale of indulgences, 204. John of Diesbach, 212. Julia Alpinula, only daughter of Julius Alpinus, endeavours to save her father's life, p. Julius Alpinus, the execution of, 9. Julius II., pope, plans the league of Cambray ; his hatred of the French ; makes overtures to \ cilice, i ■ .. ( '(invokes an oppo- sition council at Koine; thunders his anathemas on the council of I'isi, r- ,. Engages Spain, Eng- land, and Venice ill the holy league against France, ISC. His death, 190. E'l.ip, ' synod of, 225, 60 6 Lavater, 29" Lentzburg, the county of, a 1ev ( 'o on masse proclaimed throughout, 251. Leopold, duke, invades Switzer- land, til, Leopold III., duke of Austria, inarches into Aargau, P3. Falls ill the battle of .Sempacl), i ! 4. Leopold IV.,surnamed the Proud, 95. Lorraine, the conquest of, by C harles, duke of Burgundy, Hi.'. Louis, (hike of Bavaria, i>0. Louis XI., his character, 1 .1. Closes a nine years' truce with Charles, duke of Burgundy, 147. En- deavours to gain the princess Mary, daughter of the duke of Burgundy, for his son, 152. Louis XII.", king of 1'rance, levies troops in Switzerland, to assist him in the conquest of Genoa, 181. Convenes a council of the church at Pisa, 185. His death, 193. Louis XVI II. invades Spain, ,352. Luc, count du, the French ambas- sador; his treatment of Masiiicr and his son, 270. Lucerne, admitted into the confe- deracy, 67. Lowers the value of its batzen, 249. Leuonberger, Nicholas, elected to preside over the league of the four cantons of Lucerne, Berne, Basle, and Soieure, 252. Chief of the leagued burghers, 253. Betrayed by his comrades ; im- prisoned at Berne, and beheaded, 254. Luther, 206. Lutliold of Rcgensberg, 45. M. Magyars 'or Hungarians 1 , their incursions into Switzerland, 25. Mamelukes 217. Mauesse, Koger, burgomaster of Zurich, his wise and moderate administration, Sli. Margaret, queen of Navarre, sister of Franc is. 224. Marignano, the battle of, 195. Martin V , 1 lit. Mary, princess, daughter of the duke of Burgundv, a marriage treaty closed for "her with the duke Maximilian of Austria, 152. Massena, the victory of, and the destruction of Suwarrow's arinv, Slti. Massner, Thomas, of Coire, the head of the Austrian party, he. comes obnoxious to France; ti is son kidnapped by the French agent at Loire; take- prisoner thedukeof Vendome ; his flight ; his property confiscated, 270. A thousand ducats offered for him ; lost his lite by the oversetting of a carriage, 271. Massner, young, liberated, 271. Maximilian, the archduke, a mar, rtage treatv entered into bv the states of the Netherlands "with princess Mary; concludes a treaty of peace with Louis XI., 153. Marches in person at the head of 15,000 men to attempt the subjection of the Gri'sons, 171. Concludes a peace and con- firms the confederates in thepos, session of their ancient rights and conquests, 172. Treats with the Swiss, 181. Abandons the Roman expedition, 182. Maximilian, son ot I.uoovieo Moro, invested with theduchv of Milan, 1M). Betrayed by one" of his ge- nerals ; shuts himself up in No- va ra ; blockaded there by the French, 191. Mazarin, the French minister, 2;ti. Mazze, the, 111. Menard, general, 5'>7. Mengaud, demands the dismissal of the English ambassador, 305. Threatens the diet oi the confe- deration with the entrance of the French troops ; his reception at Zurich and Berne, ..id. Ac- quainted with the political sys- tem of Berne; his reply, .,(;S. Merovingian race, decline and fall of the, 20. Mer.-eburg. the battle of, .;. Milan, a college established at, by- Charles Borromeo, iiO. Montrichard, the French resident in Switzerland, 31S. Morat, the battle of, 150. The ossuary of, destroved, .,11. Morgarten, the battle of, (j3. Munatius I'lancus, S. Murner, Thomas, a friar of Lu- cerne, a vehement opponent of the Reformation, 213. N. Naefels, the battle of, 97. Nancy, the battle of, 15b. Napoleon Bonaparte constructs the Cisalpine republic, 05. Con. riocates all property belonging to 557 the Orisons, 304. His declara- tion to the inhabitants of Switz- erland, &0. His conference with the Swiss delegates ; his act of mediation, 323. iieralls his troops out of Switzerland, 3'J4. His fall, 32& 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, bv the men of Hash, 213. Ochs, the delegate of Iiasle at Paris, sketches an Helvetic constitution on the model of the French re- public, 3"4. Planta, Rudolph, falls on theValte- line ; massacre of several hun- dred protestants, 240. Poggio, cardinal, 111. Printing, the invention of, 199. Pucci, the legate, demands the de- struction of all the Lutheran writings, 200. R. Rabholz, a leader of the Toggen- burg partv against the abbot of St. Gall, 2d4. Raccaud, John Peter, 273. Rapp, general, addresses a declara- tion from Napoleon to the cantons of the Helvetic republic, 320. Raron, baron Guiscard of, captain- general of the Valais, and co- burgher of lierne ; the popular resentment against him, 112. Ravenna, the battle of, lSii. Reding, Aloys, the Swiss landam- man, placed at the head of the senate; his deposition, 31b. Reformation, effect of the, 227. Renata, duchess, daughter of Lotus XII. of France, and wife of Her- cule d'Este, 225. Rene, count of Lorraine, 157. Rhatia the conquest, of, by the (tomans, 7. R Indian league, the, 237. Rhyner, colonel, shot before the gates of lierne, 311. Richard, duke of Cornwall, buys the imperial crown of the arch- bishops of Cologne and Mentz,44. Roequebertin, the French ambassa- dor at Zurich, IS2. Romans conquer Klurtia, 7. Rome distracted by the contending claims of three popes, 29. Romont, Jacob de, count de Vaud, 141. Ronchant, a ISurgundian, 144. Rothenthum, the battle- of, 313. Rousseau, the works of, burned ; sentenced by the parliament of Paris to imprisonment ; his flight, Itud .'if, duke of Swahia, revolts from the emperor, 31. Mortally wound, d in the battle of Morse- lling, 33. Rudolf, count of Hapsburg; his birth, 42. Character and early con- duet of, S3. Accepts the vogtship i I the forest lands; conciliates the abbot of St. Call ; elected em- peror, 4b. A change takes place sr>s in his character, 47. Common. -is hostilities against Kerne and Sa. voy; iiis death, 48. Rudolph Brun, 71. Rudulph of Werdenbcrg, 101. Kuti, the monastery of, pulled down bv the (>easantrv, 51. Rut'li, the oath of, 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, 23. St. Gall, Leodegar, abbot of, 2R1. 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 Aarau ; passes the remainder of his life in exile, 267. St. Gall, Joseph, abbot of, 267. St. Julian, an armistice concluded at, 220. Salis, the head of the French party in the Orisons, 238. Samson Bernard, 205. Savoy, the dukes of, 217. Savov, the territory of, entered by 6000 Swiss, 21S. Saxonsbrought intosubjection; em- brace the Christian religion, 22. Schaff'hausen makes itself mas- ter of Rappersweil, 74. Leagues with the confederacy, 173. in- vades the Bernese territory at Brugg, 251. Schauenburg, general, SOP. Be. siege, the castle of Dornach, Sib. Schwend, Conrad, burgomaster of Zurich, 169. Schiuner, 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, 1X1. Made cardinal, K5, presents the Swiss ambassadors with two sumptuous presents from the pope, IS". Schmidli, Jacob, of theSulzig, sen- tenced to be strangled, and then burned with his books and writ- ings; his family banished, 2|'3. Schwartzenberg, prince, the Aus- trian coininaniior-in-chict'; his proclamation, 327. Scliwytz, 41. Sempach, the battle of, 04. Sequani, 6. Servttus, Michael, suffers at the stake, 296. Sforz.i, I.udovico, surnamed Moro, or tile Moor, duke of Milan, de- tected and abandonee! by his .sub- jects, places himself under the protection of the emperor Maxi. inilian,177.Keconquers his duchy, 17S. Shut up in Novara ; <:e- serted by his ollicers ; betrayed by the Swiss, 179. Languishes out his life in a French dungeon, ISO. Sigismund, liuke 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 Bcromnunster, 138. Soleure, tiie siege of, G~>. Magnani- mous conduct of the besieged burghers, Uu. Capitulation of the town, 311). Spain invaded by the French under Louis XV 111.; 332. Spi 11 '.ague, 220. Stantz, the covenant of, 159. Stein, Jacob von, '.00. Stephen 111., pope, 21. Stetler, colonel, shot before the gat.s 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, lib. His arrogant treat- ment of the people of L'znach ; his projects of aggrandisement, 1 17. Kilters into an alliance of- fensive and defensive, with Aus- tria, 121. His death, 122. Suwarrow, the 11 ussian general, 315. Swabian war, lb.'. Switzerland, its boundaries, climate, 2. Aspect of tlie country ; an- cient inhabitants, 3. The growth of towns in, 27. Invaded bv Leopold; visited by a great plague, M. Decline of Austrian power and influence in, OS. Po- pular superstitions in, 127. As- trology, and faith in supernatural signs, retain their hold univer- sally, -17. Ill ligious war 111, 250. contagion- sickness in, '-6". Ha- tred of innovation, i.90. Sci- ences and arts diffused through- out, 207. The effects of the French revolution 111, 209. In- roads of file lunch and Aus- trians, 31:5. Twenty-two cantons recognised in, S3 ). ISecomes a party to the holy alliance, U.ji». foreign police ajid surveillance of the press become new topics of discussion, 3.JJ. progress ui edu- cation in, 3 'i. Tallevrand, SIR. Tell, William, oo. Shoots Gessler, Tcutones, 1 ric, kin- of the Ostro ;oths, 15. T! ■ r!) r/. the peace of, 79. Three leagues, '-37. Tigurini, i. Toggenburgers profess the reformed faith . i , I'niclaim war on the • of Saint Hail, 264. I 'Ian a new constitution, which tiiey i : ire the diet of Aarau, Trembley, the syndic, commander of the garrison, and conductor of the d "tensive preparations of the com; •;! of Geneva, 2S2. Treinouille, la, the French general, 1.'-. Trent, the council of, opened; its decree.-, vj,>. Turm in. . • fUri, betrays Sforza Ludovieo of Milan; his L'X' cution, ISO. U. ririch, duke of Wirtcmburg, 1H2. I uteri: rer, Anton v, a ijuai" ic- tor and fanatic, addre.-se,. a sum- mons in writing to the em- inent of Heme; his arre-t, 3,7. 1'ri clo-i-s a league v.ith bchwytz and Liiterwalden, 41. \ ine, massacre of the i rotest- ant- in the, marked with cir. oi' exquisite atrocity, Van'u'als, ] 1. \ :. : . cowjue.-t of, by the Hi r- \ '',,:.■,".!„] ,le, gr:„ I prior of manci.l nuiii ex. 359 Vergennes, the French minister, tlie 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, l'liilip Maria, duke of Milan, 114. Vitellius, S. Yolmar, Mclchior, a German, 223. W. Waldcnses, 106. Intercessions made in behalf of, at thecourt of Turin, Waldmann, Hans, the sonofapea- sant of Zug, burgomaster; dc- capitated, lo7. Wehrli, Marcus, a zealous foe of the new doctrines, beheaded, 214. Weiss, Rudolf, military commander of the Vaud, 307. Dismissed from the command, 308. Werner, archbishop of Mentz, 46. Wesen surprised by a treacherous junction of the burghers with the Austrians, . Worms, the, diet of; condemns the Swiss league, 77. Another diet at, 167. Wyttenbach, Thomas, 20S. Z.eringen, the dukes of, possess the delegated prerogatives over the empire, 7. Zieglor, bi.-hop, 211. Zoiing.-n, the confederate, council of war -its at. 'Jo I, Zuri •!>. -dilation of, character of the burgher.- : government of, 70- ( 'i • .irac\ o! tbenoi les/, |. Siege of, ",'. Forms an alliance with Au-tri i, lis. forms an alliance with the countess Kli -abeth, 117. the I a".'iie of Austria declared null and void, 12k An anecdote I- of, I :o. The Re- form. hi, m cumiuenc..'d at, 2UK. A ]()'() diet held at ; their declaration, o-7. Zug and Lucerne stamp a small cross on the new coinage of Zu- rich, m. Zwingli, Lilrich, birth of; distin- guished in boyhood by his ardour for knowledge; placed as a preacher in the cathedral at Wir- temburg, •Jiu. Diffuses his doc- trine in small pamphlets, 207. His death, and manner of, 215. <~' London : Printed by A. .V 11. Spottiswoodc Neu-Street-Sijuare. L 006 179 636 3 LIBRA RY FACILITY A A 000131729 6