Old Swiss Confederacy Canton of Bern

1 old swiss confederacy

1.1 14th century
1.2 15th century
1.3 acquired districts

old swiss confederacy

the swiss confederacy before battle of sempach (1387)



the swiss confederacy in 1416



the swiss confederacy in 18th century



the districts of bernese aargau before creation of canton of aargau



districts of canton of bern in 18th century

bern joined old swiss confederation in 1353.

14th century

in 1310 emperor henry vii pledged laupen castle, laupen , surrounding lands collateral loan. in 1324, bern acquired pledged castle , lands. when emperor unable repay loan, laupen became first bailiwick of bern.

in 1322, brothers eberhard ii of neu-kyburg , hartmann ii of neu-kyburg started fighting each other on inherit family s lands around thun. fighting led fratricide @ thun castle eberhard killed brother hartmann. avoid punishment habsburg overlords, eberhard fled bern. in following year, sold town of thun, castle , land surrounding thun bern. bern granted land eberhard fief. bern s support of eberhard, resulting expansion oberland , alliance forest cantons brought city conflict habsburgs during 14th century. gümmenenkrieg in 1333 between bern , fribourg on rights , influence in sense/singine area ended without resolving anything.

in 1334, bern fought barons of weissenburg , occupied wimmis , unspunnen in oberland. bern s victory allowed them bring oberhasli region, capital of meiringen , weissenburg under control. bern s continued expansion @ expense of feudal lords in surrounding lands. in 1339 habsburgs, kyburgs , fribourg, marched against bern 17,000 men , besieged border town of laupen. raise siege, bern raised force of 6,000, consisting of bernese, supported forest cantons, , other allies (simmental, weissenbur , oberhasli). allied bernese forces victorious @ battle of laupen , bern drew closer swiss forest cantons. entered permanent or eternal alliance uri, schwyz , unterwalden in 1353. date considered date of bern s entrance swiss confederation, alliance indirectly tied bern zürich , lucerne.

in 1358 cash-strapped count peter ii of aarberg pawned county of aarberg bern. however, in 1367 sold it, without repaying bern, cousin rudolf iv of nidau. after rudolf s death (1375) bern acquired clear right aarberg lands other heirs.

throughout 14th century, bern entered alliances , treaties many of neighbors, including members of swiss confederation. bern entered series of agreements biel/bienne, led conflict biel s ruler, jean de vienne, prince-bishop of basel, in 1367–68. bishop marched south , destroyed biel along number of towns in southern jura mountains. during gugler war in 1375, there several battles between bernese troops , english mercenaries under enguerrand de coucy.

by 1370s, kyburgs (which still held thun fief bern) in debt bern. on 11 november 1382, rudolf ii of neu-kyburg made unsuccessful raid on solothurn. ensuing conflict old swiss confederacy (known burgdorferkrieg or kyburgerkrieg) allowed bern move against habsburgs in aargau. after bernese laid siege burgdorf, neu-kyburg forced concede unfavourable peace. bern bought thun , burgdorf, important cities of neu-kyburg, , remaining towns passed bern , solothurn 1408. last of neu-kyburgs, berchtold, died destitute in bern in 1417.

in 1386, austrians under leopold of habsburg invaded eastern switzerland. when besieged city of sempach, troops zürich, lucerne , forest cantons marched out , defeated austrians @ battle of sempach. while bern not involved @ sempach took advantage of austrian weakness march oberland in 1386, followed seeland (the region south of jura mountains containing morat (murten), neuchâtel , bienne (biel) lakes) in 1388 , aargau in 1389. in peace agreement of 1389 bern got unterseen , upper simme valley (simmental) habsburgs. in same year, fribourg accepted berns acquisition of iselgaus, i.e. area between lake biel , seeland. on next several decades bern continued expand detriment of habsburgs , fribourg. acquired following towns: 1391 simmenegg, 1399 signau, 1400 frutigen, 1407 wangen, 1408 trachselwald , huttwil, 1412 oltigen , in 1413 (together solothurn) bipp , bechburg.

15th century

by 1400, bern controlled entire bernese oberland. under control, 5 valleys of oberland enjoyed extensive rights , far-reaching autonomy in bäuerten (farming cooperative municipalities) , talverbänden (rural alpine communities). however, throughout late middle ages, oberland, whole or in part, revolted several times against bernese authority. evil league (böser bund) in 1445 fought against bernese military service , taxes following old zürich war, in 1528 oberland rose in resistance protestant reformation , in 1641 thun revolted.

in bernese oberland during 13th , beginning of 14th century interlaken monastery grew become largest landholder in region. monastery controlled towns of grindlewald, lauterbrunnen , numerous farms along lake brienz. however, in 1350 period of crises , conflicts led decline in number of monks , nuns , increasing debt. in 1348, people of grindelwald , wilderswil joined mutual defense league unterwalden. bern responded military expedition bernese oberland, ended in defeat unterwalden , allies. 1472, bern patron of monastery. during protestant reformation, monastery secularized in 1528. canons received financial settlement , properties managed bernese bailiff. tenants of monastery had expected abolition of owed debts, responded rioting, suppressed bern.

map of modern canton of vaud, annexed bern 1536 until 1798

the lands around northern shore of lake geneva , between lake neuchâtel next area bern expanded. region had been part of carolingian empire. then, in 1032 zähringens of germany defeated burgundians, replaced counts of savoy in 1218. under counts of savoy area given political unity, , established barony of vaud. however, power of savoys declined @ beginning of 15th century land occupied troops bern. 1536 area annexed. reformation started co-workers of john calvin, including viret, engaged in famous debate @ cathedral of lausanne; decisively implemented when bern put full force behind it. vaud french-speaking region in german-speaking canton, caused several uprisings.

both château-d Œx , saanen part of county of gruyère. both districts had quite bit of independence , entered treaties against , best interests of counts. in 1340 saanen valley concluded peace treaty simmental, provided arbitration in disputes. entered treaty in 1393 valais. in 1401, count rudolph of gruyère entered treaty bern included saanen. 2 years later saanen , château-d Œx negotiated own alliances bern. due bernese alliance, saanen sent troops, under own banner, support bernese invasions of aargau in 1415 , valais in 1418. military losses , taxes following old zürich war led saanen support evil league (böser bund) in 1445 against bern.

siege , execution of garrison @ grandson

in 1475, during burgundian wars, mountain regions of saanen , pays-d enhaut, allied bern, attacked , burned tower of aigle castle. gave aigle town , surrounding district bern in exchange not having pay one-third of income bern. in treaty of fribourg 1476, fribourg received rights on aigle district, gave bern in 1483. bern rebuilt aigle castle in 1489 , made seat of bailiwick of aigle. in 1475, confederation attacked , captured grandson castle. in next year, charles bold retook castle , executed bernese garrison. in 1476, @ battle of grandson, charles forces retreated , bernese retook grandson. after charles defeat @ battle of murten, grandson became shared territory between bern , fribourg. each city appointed vogt five-year periods. aigle , grandson first french speaking regions in canton of bern.

during burgundian war in 1475, saanen, troops château-d Œx , simmental captured savoy district of aigle bern. saanen , surrounding district enjoyed great deal of independence during 16th century. however, in 1555 last count of gruyère lost both districts bern when county went bankrupt. bern took on entire saanen valley in following year , introduced protestant reformation. incorporated pays-d enhaut château-d Œx new bernese district of saanen.

acquired districts

the area of canton of bern consists of lands acquired city of bern between 14th , 16th century during original swiss confederacy period, both conquest , purchase.

acquired districts, dates of acquisition, include:

laupen (1324)
oberhasli (1334)
aarberg (1375)
thun , burgdorf (1384)
unterseen , upper simme valley (1386)
frutigen , other towns in bernese oberland (1400)
aargau (1415)
lower simme valley (1439–1449)
aigle , grandson (1475)
interlaken, grindelwald, lauterbrunnen , brienz (1528, suppression of augustinian canons @ interlaken monastery)
vaud (1536)
saanen or gessenay (1555)
the pays d en-haut including château-d Œx (1555)
köniz (1729).




^ laupen in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ von kyburg in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ oman, charles (1991) [1924]. history of art of war in middle ages vol.2. london: greenhill. pp. 241–5. isbn 1-85367-105-3. 
^ aarberg (herrschaft, amtsbezirk) in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ burgdorferkrieg in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ cite error: named reference hds invoked never defined (see page).
^ böser bund in berner oberland in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ bernese oberland in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ interlaken monastery , district in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ saanen district in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ château-d oex in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ aigle in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.
^ grandson district in german, french , italian in online historical dictionary of switzerland.