Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/439

 CHAPTER XXVI THE PROTESTANT REVOLT IN SWITZERLAND AND ENGLAND I. ZWINGLI AND CALVIN 541. Origin of the Swiss Confederation. For at least a cen- tury after Luther's death the great issue between Catholics and Protestants dominates the history of all the countries with which we have to do, except Italy and Spain, where Protestantism never took permanent root. In Switzerland, England, France, and Hol- land the revolt against the medieval Church produced discord, wars, and profound changes, which must be understood in order to follow the later development of these countries. We turn first to Switzerland, lying in the midst of the great chain of the Alps which extends from the Mediterranean to Vienna. During the Middle Ages the region destined to be in- cluded in the Swiss Confederation formed a part of the Holy Roman Empire and was scarcely distinguishable from the rest of southern Germany. As early as the thirteenth century the three "forest" cantons on the shores of the winding Lake of Lucern formed a union to protect their liberties against the encroachments of their neighbors the Hapsburgs. It was about this tiny nucleus that Switzerland gradually consolidated. Lucern and the free towns of Zurich and Bern soon joined the Swiss league. By brave fighting, the Swiss were able to frustrate the renewed efforts of the Hapsburgs to subjugate them. Various districts in the neighborhood joined the Swiss union in succession, and even the region lying on the Italian slopes of the Alps was brought under its control. Gradually the bonds between the members of the Swiss union and the Empire were 319