Page:The Rise of the Swiss Republic (1892).djvu/94

86 States and the Counts of Habsburg, the former alert to defend their liberties, the latter to extend their stewardship into unquestioned dominion.

Since his accession to the throne Rudolf had extended his power in all directions. By reconciling himself to the church in an interview with Pope Gregory X., in the cathedral of Lausanne, he saved himself from an attack from the south. In 1278 he pacified the eastern boundaries of his realm by conquering his great rival, Ottocar, King of Bohemia, at the same time giving the lands thus obtained, Austria, Styria and Corinthia to his sons as imperial fiefs. In this manner the title of Duke of Austria became associated with the name of Habsburg.

Amongst his other exploits was a siege of the flourishing city of Bern, which had refused to pay imperial taxes. The citizens defended themselves bravely for almost a year, until the king’s younger son, Rudolf, succeeded in enticing a large detachment into an ambush at the Schlosshalden. After this defeat Bern was obliged to yield to the sovereign’s demands. In Alamannia he displayed the greatest ingenuity in finding pretexts for usurping lands and titles. He wrested an estate from the Abbot of St. Gallen, absorbed the possessions of the house of Rapperswil, acquired the office of Mayor over ecclesiastical property in Glarus for his sons, and just before his death took advantage of the financial straits, into which the Abbey of Murbach in Elsass had fallen, to purchase its scattered estates, which were situated partly in Luzern and in the Forest States. Nor did the stewardship (Kastvogtei) of the monastery of Einsiedeln and Pfäffers escape him.

Nothing can give one so good an idea of the extent of the family power of Habsburg on all sides of Uri, Schwiz and Unterwalden, as the roll of the estates, the so-called Urbarbuch, in which were recorded the lists of properties and offices with the revenues appertaining to them. An examination of this terrier, which was begun by Rudolf and finished by his son Albrecht, shows conclusively that the Forest States were sur-