Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/877

* SWITZERLAND. 763 SWITZERLAND. in isolated ])nition>. with local invasion* of northern and southern types. Great confusion is caused hy the eoiilliet between racial characters and environmental inlluenccs. Especially in stature is this true, the Teutonic element bein;; shorter instead of taller. History. In Roman times the country was inhabited by two races — the Helvetii, sup- ])Osed to have been Celts, in the northwest; and the Rha>tii, who were said to be of common stock with the li^truscans, in the southeast. The Helvetii. havinjr migrated into Gaul, were con- quered by Julius Ca'sar in R.c. .58, who forced the remnant of them to return to tlu>ir homes, and before the close of the century the Ivha^tians were subdued by the armies of Au<;ustus. When the German invasions took place, the Alemanni took possession of the country east of the Aar, while the Buraundians settled in Western Switzerland. About the close of the fifth centurv the Alemanni were conquered liy the Franks and tlunr territory became a part of the Frankish dominion. Another Teutonic people, the Ostrojroths, took possession of the part of the country occupied by the Ehsetii, which nearly corresponded to Grisons, but their rule was of short duration. The Bur- gundians embraced Christianity about the end of the fifth century; the Aleuuinni retained their old pagan creed until the seventh century, when the band of Irish monks which had entered Gaul under Saint Columban (q.v.) came among them, converted the people in vigorous fashion, and founded abbeys and churches, which survive to our own time. Switzerland made great progress under the rule of the Franks. After the dis- solution of the great Carolingian realm the bulk of Switzerland was included in tlie Duchy of Alemannia, which became part of the German Kingdom, while the southwestern portion of the country was included in the Ivingdom of Trans- jurane, Burgundy. In 10.3.3-34 this Burgundian portion passed under the rule of the German emperors, so that from this time the whole of Switzerland belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. In the early part of the Jliddle Ages feudalism flourished iij the Swiss higiilands even more than elsewhere. In the twelfth century the dukes of Ziihringen rose to great power in Switzerland. They did much to check civil wars and to pro- mote the prosperity of the towns. In 1178 they founded Fribourg and in l'M Bern. On the ex- tinction of the line of Zahringen (1218) their allodial possessions passed to the counts of Kyburg. while a number of cities were released from feudal overlordship. In the latter part of the thirteentli century the counts of Savoy extended their domination into Western Switzerland. At this time the counts of Hapsburg became a great power in the land, and in 12(54 the house suc- ceeded to the bulk of the possession of the counts of Kyburg. At this time there were a large number of petty sovereignties in Switzerland. Prominent among the ecclesiastical princes were the bishops of Basel and Geneva and the Abbot of Saint Gall. The great towns were united in self- defense, and many of them obtained charters as free Imperial cities. The Hapsburg rule soon became burdensome and tyrannical, and the re- sistance which opened the long struggle that was to end in Swiss independence began in the three Forest Cantons — Uri, Schwj'z, and Unter- walden. Uri received a special charter of lib- Vol. XVIII.— 19. erties from the Emperor Frederick II. in 12.3! and Schwyz in 1240. They had leagued themselves togetlier in behalf of the Emperor somewhat later. Thus they were accustonied to the idea of a nuitual league when after the death of the Emperor Ku>lolph they sought to resist the Hapsburgs, In 1201 they allied themselves into a 'perpetual leagiu>,' which came to be known as the Eidgeno^spiiscliaft. SubsiMjucntly they en- tered into an alliance with Zurich anil the coa- lition of which it was the centre. I'nterwalden received a charter similar to that of its asso- ciates from the Emperor Henry Vll. In 1.31.5 hostilities opened between Frcilcrick of Hapsburg and the Eidgenossen. and the latter won the de- cisive battle of Morgarten (q.v.). To the period preceding this victory belongs the legend of Wil- liam Tell, The Forest Cantons tlien renewed their pact by a fundamental agreement which was for five centuries the basis of the political life of independent Switzerland. Lucerne (13.32), Zurich ( 1.351 ), Glarus and Zig ( 1352) , and Bern (1353) entered the confederation. Fresh wars followed with Austria, whose power in Switzer- land was shattered by the victories of the con- federates in 1380 at Senipach and in 1 388 at Nilfels. In 1415 the people of the cantons be- came the aggressors, invading Aargau and wrest- ing it from .ustria. Half a century later they made themselves masters of Thurgau. Swiss in- depenilcnce clashed with the aml)itions of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, and the invincible prowess of the Swiss mountaineers shone forth when they were assailed by that jMiwcrful monarch. In 1470 they overthrew his armies at Granson and Morat, and it was with the aid of Swiss mercenaries that Rene of Lorraine overwhelmed Charles the Bold at Xancy in 1477. In 1481 the towns of Friliourg and Solothurn were admitted into the confederacy. In 14!>0 the Emperor Max- imilian I. made a final attempt to bring Swit- zerland once more within the bounds of tlie Holy Roman Empire. He sought to draw men and supplies from the inhaljitants for his Turkish war, but in vain. He was defeate<l in six desper- ate engagements. Basel and Schaffhausen (1.501) and Appenzell (1513) were then re- ceived into the confederation, and its true in- dependence began. The abbacy of Saint Gall and the cities of Saint Gall, Miilliausen, and Bienne became associated States with a vote in the Diet. Geneva, Neuchiitel, Valais, and Grisons also be- came associated States, but withoiit a vote. In the early ])art of the sixteenth century the Swiss soldiers, who had become the most famous in- fantry in l''uro])e. played a great. i( not glorious, rol<> as mercenaries in the Italian wars. After fighting successfully on the siile of Milan against the French they sutlcred a terrible defeat at the hands of Francis I. at Melegnano in 1515. In 1510 they concluded the so-called Peri)etual Peace with France, after which they fought on the French side. In the course of these wars a num- ber of Italian towns and districts (in the pres- ent Canton of Ticino) were annexetl to Switzer- land. The Reformation (q.v.), which was inaugurat- ed by Zwingli in 1510. l>rought dissension among the confederates. Zurich in 1.523 adopted Zwing- li's opinions, and was followed by Born and other cantons of the north. The Forest Cantons re- mained attached to the Church of Rome, War