The Story of Switzerland Part 5

These city foundations form a chief corner-stone in the fabric of Swiss liberties. Attaining political independence, the towns held their own against aggressors. To effect their deliverance from oppression, they united with kindred communities or with powerful princes, and thus began the system of offensive and defensive alliances.

A new enemy arose in the West, and Berchtold V. was defeated by Count Thomas of Savoy (1211), who encroached on Vaud, and seized Moudon. Yet the Zaeringer steadily and successfully strengthened their hold over the country, and obtained the most complete independence. And, indeed, the moment seemed drawing near when Switzerland was to be shaped into a durable monarchical state. However, she was spared that fate--from which no patriotic act of any national hero could probably have rescued her--by a natural, yet providential, event, the extinction of the ducal family. For in 1218 Berchtold V. died, leaving no issue.

This century is eminently an age of religious movements. And, although our s.p.a.ce will not permit us to enter into full details, yet it is impossible to pa.s.s over the great religious revival which centred in the Crusades, that is, so far as that movement touches Switzerland.

On the 10th of December, in the year 1146, a most touching scene might have been witnessed in the minster of Schaffhausen. The Alamannic people were thronging the church to listen to a glowing sermon from a French Cistercian monk, Bernard de Clairvaux. Vividly depicting the distress of the Christians in Palestine, he invited his hearers to join the second crusade. France was ready, he said, but the House of Hohenstaufen was still wavering. His captivating manner, his n.o.ble earnestness, and the elegance and flow of his language--though it was but half understood by the ma.s.ses--stirred the audience to bursts of enthusiasm. "Your land is fertile," were the concluding words of the monk, "and the world is filled with the reputation of your valour. Ye soldiers of Christ, arise!

and hurl down the enemies of the Cross!" Laying his hands on the blind and lame, says the half-legendary story, he restored to them eyesight or the use of limbs, and, strewing crosses amongst the crowds, left the church. The people, in a state of ecstatic fervour, beat their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and, shedding tears, broke into a shout of "Kyrie eleison, the saints are with us!"[22] On the 15th of the same month Bernard preached at Zurich, and on Christmas Day at Speyer, before Conrad III., whom he won for the crusade. His fervent exhortations seem to have found willing ears, too, in the country. Schaffhausen and Einsiedeln took an active share in the work. We hear of almost countless numbers of spiritual and secular princes, n.o.bles, knights, and lesser people who joined in the crusade. The counts of Montfort, Kyburg, Habsburg, Zaeringen, and Neuchatel, and bishops and abbots started for the East. Contemporary writers bewail the loss of so many of the best and bravest of South Germany who died in Palestine. The holy orders of the Knights of St.

John, of the Teutonic order, and the Knights-Templars raised their aristocratic inst.i.tutions in this country; new orders of monastic foundations sprang up, which we cannot here dwell upon. Amongst these new orders were that of Mendicant Friars, though it is worthy of note that these played no such part in Switzerland as they did in England.

Yet the Burgundian or western portion of the country plunged more deeply into the movement than did the eastern part. German enthusiasm was but slowly won by French religious ecstasy, which had to a great extent started the Crusades. Still the age was filled with religious and romantic frenzy. Not the mere practical aims of conquest or gain it was that stirred men's minds, but the mystical elements of the movement, and the grand, novel, and indeed fabulous sights that were to be witnessed; and the old love of wandering and adventure revived, and drove men to the East. By a happy coincidence the effect of Bernard's sermons was lessened to some extent in this country by the previous teachings of another enthusiast of a far different stamp. The intrepid Italian reformer, Arnold of Brescia, had for some time preached at Zurich and Constance, sowing the seeds of heresy. Boldly attacking the abuses of the Church, and advocating the return to the simplicity of the apostolic teaching, he invited people to no longer lavish wealth on Church inst.i.tutions. Arnold fell a victim to his advanced religious and political views, but his teachings took hold of the people of the Alpine districts. To his influence may safely be attributed the staunch resistance to Papal aggressiveness shown in the thirteenth century by the people of Zurich and of the Forest Cantons.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] See Nibelungen.

[22] Prof. Bachtold, "Sermon Literature in Switzerland."

IX.

THE HOUSES OF KYBURG, SAVOY, AND HABSBURG.

(1218-1273.)

We are nearing the period of their history most dear to the Swiss, the period when the Eidgenossenschaft is forming, but before reaching it we have still to make our way as best we can through a short era of chaotic feudalism and political confusion generally, preceding the great struggle for Swiss independence. On the extinction of the House of Zaeringen Switzerland fell a prey to the designs of va.s.sal princes who had started into eminence on her soil, and now contended for supremacy over her. The realm of the Zaeringen sovereigns fell to pieces, the Swiss portions with Freiburg, Burgdorf, Thun, going to a native prince, Ulrich, Count of Kyburg, brother-in-law of Berchtold V.; the Swabian portions to a German relative. Thus Switzerland was cut off from Swabia.

The crown lands he had held in Swiss Burgundy, and likewise the royal prerogative, fell to the empire, and the Vice-regency, being vested by Frederick II. in his younger son, Henry, became gradually nominal and at length died out. In this way all va.s.sal princes in the west, and all the territorial lordships and free cities, such as Bern, Solothurn, Morat, Laupen, Gumminen, which were built on crown lands, and had been subjected to the Zaerings, were now held directly from the emperor.

Zurich was likewise restored to the empire. By this time most of these places had become virtually independent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHaTEAU DE VUFFLENS, VAUD. (_Fourteenth Century._)]

Switzerland reflects most faithfully the feudal and political condition of the empire at large. It was torn into an almost countless number of spiritual and secular territorial sovereignties. Taking advantage of the state of distraction prevailing throughout the realm, Church prelates, religious foundations, the greater and lesser n.o.bles, and even the thriving burgesses of great city commonwealths, all strove to erect their lands into petty independent dominions. The bishops a.s.sumed temporal power in their own dioceses; the religious-houses, owing to their "rich immunities," enjoyed almost perfect freedom. The peasantry had dwindled into small bodies of men, and in the place of the Frankish county-officers (counts) a martial n.o.bility had sprung up, and, grasping the public functions and dignities, had turned these offices into freeholds independent of the sovereign. Henceforward they a.s.sumed the names of the feudal manors they held, and began to raise _chateaux-forts_ on commanding or picturesque spots. As many as two hundred territorial rulers held their feudal sway in Switzerland. To give even the names of these would be not only useless but absurd, yet they had their share in the political development of the country.

In the Low Valais the counts of Savoy had obtained a footing, and were moreover advancing into Vaud. Vaud was at that time governed by a host of more or less important n.o.bles, such as the barons of Grandson, Cossonay, Blonay, &c., and was contended for by the bishops of Lausanne and Geneva, and the counts of the latter town, whilst the counts of Greyerz governed in the districts of the Saane, and those of Neuchatel in the lake districts of the Jura. Little Burgundy, with Solothurn as capital, fell to the counts of Buchegg. One of the wealthiest and most ancient of the native families was that of Lenzburg, whose counts held sway in Aargau, Zurichgau, and the Forest Cantons, and were governors of famous religious-houses. One of the counts of Lenzburg, Ulrich IX., was an intimate friend and a minister of Frederick Barbarossa, and on the extinction of the rule of these counts, their heritage fell to the Habsburgs, and gave that family a great lift in the early days of their rise. In the east we meet with the famous House of Kyburg, to which belonged young Werner, the friend of Ernest II. of Swabia. Their ancestral manor house near Winterthur is still in good condition. They had numerous va.s.sals and followers. In Zurichgau the barons of Regensberg and others, and the counts of Rapperswyl were hara.s.sing the people. The most powerful n.o.bles in the east were the abbots of St.

Gall, who governed part of St. Gall and Appenzell, and the counts of Toggenburg, and in Chur-Rhaetia and the Rhine districts the counts of Montfort and Werdenberg. This sufficiently shows how feudalism had grown apace in Switzerland, and what a hard struggle the people had to hold their own against the impositions of princes and n.o.bles. How feudalism had arisen has been already shown in the previous chapter.

To find some explanation of this rapid growth and the distracted state that followed in its train we must turn for a moment to the empire.

Owing no doubt to the loftiness of the imperial dignity--for the emperors were indisputably the greatest of the civilized monarchs--the va.s.sal princes rose to far greater independence in the empire than in other countries. Yet the possession of the imperial crown was in the end the weakening of royalty. Henry III. had raised the empire to its pinnacle of greatness, and the imperial dignity increased the prestige of the German name, and surrounded the German monarch with a halo of glory and even reverence. But the engagements abroad, the campaigns in Italy, the struggles with the Pontiffs, and the close attention required to be paid to Italian affairs, kept the emperors away from duties and cares nearer home. The Italian claims and t.i.tles, in fact, proved in the long run injurious to German interests. Frederick I., Barbarossa, had indeed, by his just and powerful rule, forced his insubordinate va.s.sals into submission, but it was far different with his grandson, the brilliant Frederick II. (1215-50). Born in Italy and brought up to love the land of his birth, Naples and Sicily, more than his fatherland, Frederick II. was more Southerner than Teuton. He gave Southern Italy a model administration, but allowed Germany to be weakened by a divided internal government. And though we cannot but admire the unflinching spirit with which this "wonder of the world" carried on his unequal struggle with the Papacy, yet it is clear that the conflict which sealed the doom of his own family was equally ruinous to the empire.[23]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRONZE FIGURES FROM THE MAXIMILIAN MONUMENT AT INNSBRUCK.]

During the interregnum (1254-73) Germany was without an actual ruler, although two foreign princes had been elected as its sovereigns. One of these never even showed his face in Germany, and the other, Richard of Cornwall, could not make sure his ascendency in the country, notwithstanding all the money he lavished in the attempt. This was the unhappy time of the _Faustrecht_--the name indicates its character--when the right of the strong hand (fist) alone was of avail. The empire lost its prestige, and it slowly dissolved into a loose confederacy of some five thousand larger or smaller states and fragments of states, each struggling for independence.

Most eminent amongst the crowd of n.o.bles on Swiss soil aiming at their personal exaltation were the counts of the great Houses of Kyburg, Savoy, and Habsburg. Taking advantage of the general state of misgovernment or want of government, they systematically planned the aggrandis.e.m.e.nt of their own families, whether by conquest, purchase, or unjust encroachment. Yet there was opposition from the city burgesses, who, seeing their liberties in danger, felt the love of freedom roused in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

The powerful Kyburger, the mightiest Swiss n.o.bles, were the first to threaten the liberties of the people. Count Ulrich was reckoned one of the wealthiest princes throughout Swabia. By clever policy he had arranged the union of his son Hartmann (the elder) with Margaretha of Savoy. Ulrich's daughter, too, was married to Albrecht of Habsburg, and became the mother of Rudolf, the German king. He upheld the cause of Frederick II., and his elder son, Werner, went with him on his crusade where he was carried off by the plague, leaving one son, Hartmann the Younger. Their territories, after they had inherited the Zaeringen estates, reached from Lake Constance to Swiss Burgundy. Both the elder and the younger Hartmann encroached without scruple on the crown lands adjoining their estates, whilst Frederick II. was engaged in his struggle with the Church. In this emergency Bern and Murten, whose independence was at stake, followed suit, and resorted to means which would be a precedent in the future struggles for Swiss freedom. They joined in an offensive and defensive union with the Kyburg city, Freiburg, with Lucerne and the Bishop of Sion (1243). Bern had always adhered closely to the Hohenstaufen, and when Hartmann ventured on an open attack in 1255, that city applied to the empire for help. Unable to obtain support, however, both Bern and Murten placed themselves under the patronage of Count Peter of Savoy, who was already at variance with Kyburg, and a peace was arranged.

Peter of Savoy, "the second Charlemagne" as he was styled, was a most remarkable man, and a striking figure amongst the Savoy princes. Being the fourth of seven brothers he had been placed in the Church by his father, Count Thomas. However, on the death of the father Peter doffed his priestly robes, married the heiress of Faucigny, and added that province and Chablais to his territories, and set up as guardian of his brothers. Like his father he had constantly his mind on Vaud, and the daily feuds amongst its leaderless swarm of n.o.bles facilitated the conquest. Castles were erected to further his object; and Chillon, which to-day gives us an excellent idea of what a fine feudal castle was in mediaeval days, became his princely residence, having indeed been, to a great extent, built by him. Invited to the Court of England by his niece Eleanor, he spent the greater part of his life abroad, gathering in the service of Henry III. men and money. These he used to achieve the acquisition of Vaud, to which he every now and then returned to overthrow his enemies. In England he occupied a high position in the Council, was knighted, and had t.i.tles and honours lavished on him; the palace of the Savoy in the Strand bears witness to his magnificence.

Many of the n.o.bles in his train, such as De la Porte, Grandson, Flechere, married Englishwomen, and hence arose the family names of Porter, Grandison, Fletcher. Possessing an iron will, and thoroughly versed in diplomacy, Peter of Savoy finally annexed Vaud, partly by conquest and partly by agreement. In truth, the whole n.o.bility lay at his feet ready to do him homage and acknowledge him as lord paramount.

The German government sanctioned his protectorate of Bern and Morat, and Richard of Cornwall his conquests in the Bernese Highlands. Thus West Switzerland became the portion of a Savoy prince, and in the place of the ancient kingdom of Upper Burgundy arose a feudal sovereignty.

However, order, discipline, and wise organization were the fruits of Peter's rule. And his generous nature, his chivalrous spirit, and his love of justice and good government, won for him the affection of his people, and the t.i.tle of Le Pet.i.t, or Le Second, Charlemagne.

Presently the Kyburg domains in Eastern Switzerland devolved on him, the male line having died out in 1264--the elder Hartmann leaving no children, and the younger but one daughter, Anna, a minor. But when Peter attempted to take possession of the inheritance in the name of his sister, Margaretha of Savoy, he found himself in conflict with a rival claimant of superior strength, Rudolf, of Habsburg. This prince confiscated the whole of the lands of Hartmann the Elder, regardless of the claims of the widow, Margaretha. There was no mistaking the meaning of this, and war broke out between Savoy and Habsburg. Rudolf invited the whole of the n.o.bles of the west to rise against Count Peter. He was engaged in East Switzerland when the Burgundian lords proceeded to besiege Chillon, in 1266. Peter himself was at war in the Valais. He suddenly returned, and at dead of night fell upon the enemy. He found them asleep, and some eighty n.o.bles, barons, counts, seigneurs, and followers fell into his hands. These he conducted into the castle of Chillon, but instead of treating them as prisoners, entertained them at a banquet. Thus Peter became once more master of the west. Bern by a "writ of submission" regained from the House of Savoy the freedom it had forfeited on a previous occasion.[24] Rudolf signed a peace at Morat, and obtained the Kyburg heritage with the exception of the lands settled on the Dowager Countess. On the death of the "Conqueror of Vaud," which occurred soon after, the sovereignty pa.s.sed to his brother Philip, a man of far inferior stamp. French Switzerland, save Geneva, gradually became a loose confederation of petty states, and their languishing political life led to their gradual amalgamation with the Eastern Republics.

The most dangerous champion enters the lists when the great Habsburg prince seizes on the reins of government in Switzerland. In its early stages the rule of the Habsburger is closely linked with, and is indeed the incitement to, the national movement or rising, if such a word may be applied in the case of a people just forming. The famous Habsburg family was of right n.o.ble and ancient lineage. Whether they sprang from Swiss soil (Aargau), or had their origin in Alsacia, is not quite settled. As a matter of fact, they were a Swabian family who possessed vast estates in both those countries. Their estates, ("Eigen," allods or freeholds) with Windisch, Brugg Nurri, lay at the junction of the Aare and Reuss, in Aargau. Originally they dwelt in the castle of Altenburg, near Brugg, and subsequently in their manor of Habsburg, on the Wulpelsberg,[25] a little hill overlooking the ancient Vindonissa.

Numerous other castles they held as time went on.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD HABSBURG CASTLE (CANTON AARGAU).]

Rudolf der Alte (the Old) is the first of the ancestors of whom we know much. He accompanied Frederick II. on his campaigns, and that great emperor stood G.o.dfather to his son Rudolf, who was later on to wear his royal crown. On his death the dynasty split into two branches, Habsburg-Austria (senior), and Habsburg-Laufenburg Aargau (junior), the heads being respectively Albrecht the Wise and Rudolf the Silent, his sons. Each of these branches followed its own separate policy, the junior holding to the Papacy. Albrecht cleverly contrived to marry Heilwig of Kyburg, hoping thus to inherit the estates of her childless brother, Hartmann the elder. He died, it was rumoured, whilst engaged in one of the crusades, and his estates pa.s.sed to his sons, of whom, however, but one survived, our Rudolf of Habsburg. This man within the s.p.a.ce of thirty years made his family one of the mightiest in the empire. Rudolf inherited from his father the family estate on the Aare, with Habsburg Castle. Besides this, he succeeded to various t.i.tles and lands, to the lordship of several towns in the Aargau, to the prefecture (_Vogtei_) over the religious-houses of Sackingen and Muri, to the landgraviate of Alsacia, and so forth.

Though but one-and-twenty when his father died, Rudolf at once displayed great energy, as well as firmness and caution. In the struggle with the Papacy he held to the Staufen. It mattered little to him that his estates were under an interdict, and himself excommunicated. He held faithfully to the ill.u.s.trious dynasty, and accompanied its last representative, Conradin, across the Alps, to Verona, in 1267. On the death of Conradin on the scaffold at Naples, and the consequent extinction of the Staufen line, Rudolf veered gradually round to the side of the Pope.

Rudolf was highly popular with the peasantry, winning their hearts by his affability, simple habits, and kindly good-nature. His tall and slender person, thin face, and aquiline nose, were striking features, and not easily forgotten when once seen. He had been known to mend with his own hands, after a campaign, the old grey coat he usually wore, and this was but a typical act of his. And the proud opposition he offered to a plundering n.o.bility quite won for him the confidence of the people.

The great cities stood on good terms with him, and sought his friendship and aid. Thus did the Alsacian towns seek his help against the bishops of Strasburg; Zurich against the barons of Regensberg and Toggenburg. On many an occasion did he render remarkable service in this way, of which one instance must suffice. The barons of Regensberg had a castle on the Uto, a mountain towering above Zurich, and from thence often sent men to waylay and rob the citizens who chanced to pa.s.s that way. Rudolf hit on a crafty device. Riding up the Uetliberg with thirty men of Zurich, he placed behind each man a companion, and so came to the gate of the castle. The garrison despising a band apparently so small, rushed out of the gates upon them. But great was their terror when suddenly the men riding behind appeared in sight, and, taking to flight, they left the castle at the mercy of the strange attacking party. The place was levelled with the ground. Rudolf was asked by a body of free men of Uri to be their umpire in a dispute, and he actually sat in judgment on the matter, under the linden at Altorf, a fact which bears witness to his popularity amongst the people. Yet, with many amiable qualities, Rudolf was covetous, ambitious, and violent. Bent on raising his family to greatness, he reveals a most mercenary spirit, and shows himself unscrupulous in the pursuit of gain. It has been shown above, how he had seized the Kyburg lands; he also made himself guardian of Anna of Kyburg, and when she came of age, united her to his cousin, Eberhard of Habsburg. Thus was founded the new House of Kyburg-Burgdorf. He obtained from them Anna's heritage in the Aargau, besides Zug, Art, Willisan, Sempach, &c., as well as lands in the Forest Cantons. He was one of those chieftains who profited immensely by the distraction during the interregnum.

Whilst engaged in storming Basel, whose bishop had encroached on the Alsacian territories, the news was brought to Rudolf (October 1, 1273) that he had been elected King of Germany, at Frankfort, and, raising the siege, he at once proceeded to his coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle.

Rudolf's influence greatly altered the policy of Germany. He made his peace with Gregory X. at Lausanne in 1275, and entered into a close alliance with him. Thus an end was put to the unfortunate quarrels with the Papal power, and the German king was set at liberty to follow his own ambitions, aims, and plans. He resigned all claim to Italy, and so far also to the imperial dignity, which had once been of such splendour, and had indeed been almost equivalent to the government of the whole world. Sober, cautious, and matter-of-fact as he was, Rudolf cared not for merely ideal greatness, and devoted himself to following more practical aims. The empire had been impoverished by the late crisis, and by the different calamities which had befallen it; and the German princes had risen to positions of defiant independence. Seeing beforehand that the authority of the crown must be founded on the wealth and hereditary possessions of the sovereign, Rudolf made the aggrandis.e.m.e.nt of his family the chief object of his career. Fortune's favourite he seemed indeed to be, and gained a great victory over his opponent to the throne, Ottokar of Bohemia (1278), and secured from him the Duchy of Austria, with Steyermark. This he vested as a new possession in his own family.

Notwithstanding the extension of his power eastward, he likewise continued his aggressive policy in Switzerland. He forced from Philip of Savoy the cession of Payerne, Murten, &c., and waged war with Bern, which held to Savoy, refusing to pay the royal taxes (1279). Making ample use of his exalted position and unlimited power, he lost no opportunity of buying up princes and religious-houses in pecuniary difficulties. He compelled the Abbots of St. Gall, Alrich of Guttingen, and William of Montfort, to cede to him lands and farms, forcing on them as steward a worthless fellow who was a devoted adherent of the Habsburgs. When the male line of Rapperswyl died out, the fiefs which should have pa.s.sed to the Abbey of St. Gall, he gave to his own sons.

And, taking advantage of the pecuniary straits of the monastery of Nurbach, he obtained by one means or another Lucerne, which belonged to the abbey, as well as numerous farms reaching into the Forest Cantons.

The stewardship of Einsiedeln and Pfaffers likewise fell to his share.

Many more instances might be given to show how Rudolf's clever and unscrupulous scheming extended his power all over the midlands and the eastern districts, and how grievously his heavy hand was felt throughout the country. Yet the famous Habsburgs, able, warlike, and energetic as they were, met with one obstacle to their progress which they were unable to remove, and against which all their plans came to nought---the love of freedom innate in the Swiss peoples.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] For more complete account of the Hohenstaufen see Freeman's "Holy Roman Empire," Frederick I., II.

[24] The story runs that Peter allowed the town to ask a favour in return for past services, and the witty men of Bern at once begged for the rest.i.tution of their lost liberty. Henceforth Peter was regarded as the benefactor and second founder of the city.

[25] Tradition says that one of their ancestors, Radbot, hunting in the Aargau, lost his favourite hawk, and found it sitting on the ridge of the Wulpelsberg. Being delighted with the view, Radbot built a castle there, and called it _Hawk Castle_, Habichtsburg, or Habsburg.

X.

THE CONFEDERATION, OR EIDGENOSSENSCHAFT.

(1231-1291.)

In the present chapter we have to attempt the task of separating truth from fiction, at all times, perhaps, a difficult, and often an impossible, undertaking, in matters of history. This chapter indeed splits itself naturally into _Wahrheit_ and _Dichtung_. Fortunately the stories of Tell and the three Eidgenossen are everywhere well known, and will need but little description at our hands.

A lake of exquisite beauty extends between the Forest Cantons, and, so to speak, links them together, the whole forming a singularly picturesque stretch of country. Separated from the sister cantons and from the outside world, each of these little states formed a world of its own. The lake was the common outlet, and the rallying-point for the peoples of the secluded valleys. The various armlets into which it branches, like the districts which lie about them, have each their peculiar charm. Of these cantons Unterwalden has a pastoral character, and attracts attention by its beautiful verdure--velvety slopes, green meads, cl.u.s.ters of nut-trees in the lower parts, orchards of fruit trees, the country dotted everywhere with sunburnt huts, forming a _tout ensemble_ truly idyllic. Schwyz is a canton of similar natural appearance, with green pastures and somewhat gentler slopes, but broad terraces with their red cottages line the valley. Above the chief town of the same name, which nestles at the head of the dale it commands, shining, dazzlingly white with its snug whitewashed houses, rise to the sky the torn but imposing pyramids of the two Myten. Uri is _par excellence_ the highland district amongst the three little states.

Towering mountains and inaccessible rocks hem in a strip of water, and give that wondrous hue which makes the charm of Uri lake.