Wars

The war in the west was begun by Berne and her allies by ma rauding expeditions across the Jura, in which Hericourt (Nov. and Blamont (Aug. were taken. Meanwhile Yolande, the duchess of Savoy, had, through fear of her brother Louis XI. and hatred of Berne finally joined Charles and Milan (Jan. 1475), the immediate result of which was the capture, by the Bernese and friends, of several places in Vaud, notably Grandson and Echallens, both held of Savoy by a member of the house of Chalon, princes of Orange (April as well as of Orbe and Jougne, held by the same, but under the count of Burgundy. In the summer Berne seized on the Savoyard district of Aigle. Soon after (Oct.–Nov. 1475) the same energetic policy won for her the Savoyard towns of Morat, Avenches, Estavayer and Yver don; while (Sept.) the Upper Valais, which had conquered all Lower or Savoyard Valais, entered into alliance with Berne for the purpose of opposing Savoy by preventing the arrival of Milanese troops. Alarmed at their success, the emperor and Louis deserted (June–Sept.) the Confederates, who thus, by the influence of Louis and Bernese ambition, saw themselves led on and then abandoned to the wrath of Charles, and very likely to lose their new conquests. They had entered on the war as "helpers" of the emperor, and now became principals in the war against Charles, who hastened across the Jura (Feb. 1476) to the aid of his ally Yolande. On Feb. 21 Charles laid siege to the castle of Grand son, and after a week's siege the garrison of Bernese and Fribour gers was forced to surrender, while, by way of retaliation for the massacre of the garrison of Estavayer in 1475, of the 412 men two only were spared in order to act as executioners of their comrades. This hideous news met a large body of the Confeder ates gathered together in great haste to relieve the garrison. and going to their rendezvous at Neuchatel, where both the count and town had become allies of Berne in 1406. An advance body of Bernese, Fribourgers and Schwyzers, in order to avoid the castle of Vauxmarcas (seized by Charles), on the shore of the Lake of Neuchatel, and on the direct road from Neuchatel to Grandson, climbed over a wooded spur to the north, and attacked (March 2) the Burgundian outposts. Charles drew back his force in order to bring down the Swiss to the more level ground where his cav alry could act, but his rear misinterpreted the order, and when the main Swiss force appeared over the spur the Burgundian army was seized with a panic and fled in disorder. The Swiss had gained a glorious victory, and regained their conquest of Grandson, besides capturing very rich spoil in Charles's camp, parts of which are preserved to the present day in various Swiss armouries. Such was the famous battle of Grandson. Charles at once retired to Lausanne, and set about reorganizing his army. He resolved to advance on Berne by way of Morat (or Murton), and laid siege to it on June 9. The Confederates had now put away all jealousy of Berne, and collected a large army. The decisive battle took place on the afternoon of June 22. After facing each other many hours in the driving rain, a body of Swiss, by outflanking Charles's van, stormed his palisaded camp, and the Burgundians were soon hope lessly beaten, the losses on both sides (a contrast to Grandson) being exceedingly heavy. Vaud was reoccupied by the Swiss (Sa voy having overrun it on Charles's advance) ; but Louis now stepped in and procured the restoration of that region to Savoy, save Grandson, Morat, Orbe and Echallens, which were to be held by the Bernese jointly with the Fribourgers, Aigle by Berne alone —Savoy at the same time renouncing all its claims over Fribourg. Thus French-speaking districts first became permanently con nected with the Confederation, hitherto purely German, and the war had been one for the maintenance of recent conquests, rather than purely in defence of Swiss freedom. Charles tried in vain to raise a third army; Rene recovered Lorraine, and on Jan. 5, 1477, under the walls of Nancy, Charles's wide-reaching plans were ended by his defeat and death, many Swiss being with Rene's troops. The wish of the Bernese to overrun Franche-Comte was opposed by the older members of the Confederation, and finally, in 1479, Louis, by very large payments, secured the abandonment of all claims on that province, which was annexed to France.

Internal Disputes in the League.

These glorious victories really laid the foundation of Swiss nationality; but soon after them the jealousy between the civic and rural elements which had always hindered common action nearly broke up the Confedera tion. The circumstances of its origin were long reflected in the constitution. Apart from certain military and police regulations,

common action was limited to the meeting of two envoys from each member of the Confederation and one from each of the "socii" in the Diet, the powers of which included foreign relations, war and peace, and common arrangements as to police, pestilence, customs duties, coinage, etc. The decisions of the majority did not bind the minority save in the case of the affairs of the bailiwicks ruled in common. Thus everything depended on common agree ment and good will. But disputes as to the divisions of the lands conquered in the Burgundian War, and the proposal to admit into the League the towns of Fribourg and Soleure, which had rendered such good help in the war, caused the two parties to form sep arate unions, for by the latter proposal the number of towns would have been made the same as that of the "Lander," which these did not at all approve. At the Diet of Stans (Dec. 1481), when it seemed probable that the failure of all attempts to come to an understanding would result in the disruption of the League, the mediation of Nicholas von der Fliie (or Bruder Klaus), a holy hermit of Sachseln in Obwalden, succeeded in bringing both sides to reason, and the "compact of Stans" was agreed on. By this the promise of mutual aid and assistance was renewed, especially when one member attacked another, and stress was laid on the duty of the several Governments to maintain the peace, and not to help the subjects of any other member in case of a rising. The treasure and movables captured in the war were to be equally divided amongst the combatants, but the territories and towns amongst the members of the League. As a practical proof of the recon ciliation, on the same day the towns of Fribourg and Soleure were received as full members of the Confederation.

Practical Freedom from the Empire.

The early history of each member of the Confederation, and of the Confederation it self, shows that they always professed to belong to the empire, trying to become immediately dependent on the emperor in order to prevent oppression by middle lords, and to enjoy practical liberty. The empire itself had now become very much of a shadow; cities and princes were gradually asserting their own in dependence, sometimes breaking away from it altogether. Now, by the time of the Burgundian War, the Confederation stood in a position analogous to that of a powerful free imperial city. As long as the emperor's nominal rights were not enforced, all went well; but, when Maximilian, in his attempt to reorganize the em pire, erected in 1495 at Worms an imperial chamber which had jurisdiction in all disputes between members of the empire, the Confederates were very unwilling to obey it—partly because they could maintain peace at home by their own authority, and partly because it interfered with their practical independence. Again, their refusal to join the "Swabian League," formed in 1488 by the lords and cities of South Germany to keep the public peace, gave further offence, as well as their fresh alliances with France. Hence a struggle was inevitable, and the occasion by reason of which it broke out was the seizure by the Tirolese authorities in 1499 of the Miinsterthal, which belonged to the "Gotteshausbund," one of three leagues which had gradually arisen in Raetia. These were the "Gotteshausbund" in 1367 (taking in all the dependents of the cathedral church at Chur living in the Oberhalbstein and Enga dine) ; the "Ober" or "Grauer Bund" in 1395 and 1424 (taking in the abbey of Disentis and many counts and lords in the Vorder Rhein valley) ; and the "League of the Ten Jurisdictions" (Zehn gerichtenbund), which arose in the Prattigau and Davos valley (1436) on the death of Count Frederick of Toggenburg, but which, owing to certain Austrian claims in it, was not quite so free as its neighbours. In 1497 the Ober Bund, in 1498 the Got teshausbund, made a treaty of alliance with the Swiss Confedera tion, the Ten Jurisdictions being unable to do more than show sympathy, owing to Austrian claims, which were not bought up till 1649 and 1652. Hence this attack on the Munsterthal was an attack on an "associate" member of the Swiss Confederation, Max imilian being supported by the Swabian League ; but its real his torical importance is the influence it had on the relations of the Swiss to the empire. The struggle lasted several months, but both sides being exhausted, peace was made at Basle on Sept. 22, 1499. By this the matters in dispute were referred to arbitration, and the emperor annulled all the decisions of the imperial chamber against the Confederation ; but nothing was laid down as to its future relations with the empire.