Wars

The legal and political conditions of each district were very dif ferent. (a) In 853 Louis the German granted all his lands in the pagellus Uraniae to the convent of Sts. Felix and Regula in Zurich (the present FraumUnster), and exempted them from all jurisdic tion save that of the king (Reichsfreiheit), so that though locally within the ZUrichgau they were not subject to its count, the king's deputy. The abbey thus became possessed of the greater part of the valley of the Reuss between the present Devil's Bridge and the Lake of Lucerne, for the upper valley (Urseren) belonged at that time to the abbey of Disentis in the Rhine valley, and did not become permanently allied with Uri till 141o. The privileged posi tion of the abbey tenants gradually led the other men of the valley to "commend" themselves to the abbey. The important post of "protector" (advocates or vogt) of the abbey was given to one family after another by the emperor ; but when, in 1218, the office was granted to the Habsburgs, the protests of the abbey tenants led to its withdrawal in 1231, the valley thenceforward depending immediately on the king. (b) In Schwyz (first mentioned in 972) we must distinguish between the districts west and east of Steinen. In the former the land was in the hands of many nobles, amongst whom were the Habsburgs ; in the latter there was, at the foot of the Mythen, a self-governing community of free men ; both, how ever, were politically subject to the king's delegates, the counts of the ZUrichgau, who after '173 were the ever-advancing Habsburgs. But in I240 the free community of Schwyz obtained from the emperor Frederick II. a charter which removed them from the jurisdiction of the counts, placing them in immediate dependence on the king, like the abbey men of Uri. In a few years, however, the Habsburgs contrived to dispense with this charter in practice. (c) In Unterwalden things were very different. The upper valley (Obwalden or Sarnen), like the lower (Nidwalden or Stans), formed part of the Ziirichgau, while in both the soil was owned by many ecclesiastical and lay lords, among them being the Habs burgs and the Alsatian abbey of Murbach. Hence in this district there were privileged tenants, but no free community, and no cen tre of unity, and this explains why Obwalden and Nidwalden won their way upwards so much more slowly than their neighbours in Uri and Schwyz.

The League of 1291.

The Habsburgs had been steadily rising for many years from the position of an unimportant family in the Aargau to that of a powerful clan of large landed proprietors in Swabia and Alsace, and had attained a certain political importance as counts of the ZUrichgau and Aargau. In one or both qualities the cadet or Laufenburg line, to which the family estates in the Forest districts round the Lake of Lucerne had fallen on the divi sion of the inheritance in 1232, seem to have exercised their legal rights in a harsh manner. In i24o the free men of Schwyz obtained protection from the emperor. It was natural that when, after the excommunication and deposition of Frederick II. by Innocent IV. in 1245, the head of the cadet line of Habsburg sided with the pope, some of the men of the Forest districts should rally round the emperor. Schwyz joined Sarnen and Lucerne (though Uri and Obwalden supported the pope) ; and in 1247 the men of Schwyz, Sarnen and Lucerne were threatened by the pope with excommuni cation if they persisted in upholding the emperor and defying their hereditary lords the counts of Habsburg. The rapid decline of Frederick's cause soon enabled the Habsburgs to regain their authority in these districts. These incidents are the only founda

tion in fact of the legendary stories of Habsburg oppression told of and by a later age. After this temporary check the power of the Habsburgs continued to increase rapidly. In 1273 the head of the cadet line sold all his lands and rights in the Forest districts to the head of the elder or Alsatian line, Rudolph, who a few months later was elected emperor. He recognized the privileges of Uri but not those of Schwyz ; and, as he now united in his own person the characters of emperor, count of the ZUrichgau, and landowner in the Forest districts, such a union of offices might be expected to result in a confusion of rights. On April 16, 1291, Rudolph bought from the abbey of Murbach in Alsace (of which he was "advo cate") all its rights over the town of Lucerne and the abbey estates in Unterwalden. It thus seemed probable that the other Forest districts would be shut off from their natural means of com munication with the outer world by way of the lake. Rudolph's death, on July 15 of the same year, cleared the way, and a fortnight later (Aug. ) the Everlasting League was made between the men of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden for the purpose of self-defence against a common foe.

Morgarten and the League of 1315.

In the struggle for the empire, which extended over the years following the conclusion of the League of 1291, we find that the Confederates supported with out exception the anti-Habsburg candidate. On Oct. 16, 1291 Uri and Schwyz allied themselves with Zurich, and joined the general rising in Swabia against Albert, the new head of the house of Habs burg. It soon failed, but hopes revived when in 1292 Adolf of Nassau was chosen emperor. In 1297 he confirmed to the free men of Schwyz their charter of 1240, and, strangely enough, confirmed the same charter to Uri, instead of their own of 1231. It is in his reign that we have the first recorded meeting of the Landsge meinde (or legislative assembly) of Schwyz (1294). But in 1298 Albert of Habsburg himself was elected to the empire. His rule was strict and severe, though not oppressive. He did not indeed confirm the charters of Uri or of Schwyz, but he did not attack the ancient rights of the former, and in the latter he exercised his rights as a landowner and did not abuse his political rights as emperor or as count. In Unterwalden we find that in 1304 the two valleys were joined together under a common administrator (the local deputy of the count)—a great step forward to permanent union. The stories of Albert's tyranny in the Forest districts are not heard of till two centuries later. His successor, Henry of Lux emburg, confirmed, on June 3, 1309, to Uri and Schwyz their char ters of 1297, and, for some unknown reason, confirmed to Unter walden all the liberties granted by his predecessor, though as a matter of fact none had been granted. This charter, and the nomi nation of one royal bailiff to administer the three districts, had the effect of placing them all in an identical political position, and that the most privileged yet given to any of them—the freedom of the free community of Schwyz. A few days later the Confederates made a fresh treaty of alliance with Ziirich; and in 1310 the emperor placed certain other inhabitants of Schwyz on the same privileged footing as the free community. Although Henry granted the request of the Habsburgs for an inquiry into their precise rights in Alsace and in the Forest districts, no steps were taken to carry out this investigation.