Siege of Bremgarten
Overview map of the Old Zurich War
| date | May 30, 1443 to June 3, 1443 |
|---|---|
| place |
Bremgarten , Canton of Aargau , Switzerland 
|
| output | Victory of the Confederates |
| consequences | Surrender of the county of Baden and the free offices |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| unknown | 7,000-12,000 men |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
Etzel · Pfäffikon · Grüningen I · Freienbach · Blickensdorf · Hirzel · Bremgarten · Regensberg · Grüningen II · St. Jakob an der Sihl · Greifensee · St. Jakob an der Birs · Erlenbach I · Koblach · Sargans · Wil · Kirchberg · Wolfhalden · Obertoggenburg · Wigoltingen · Erlenbach II · Männedorf · Wollerau · Ragaz
The siege of Bremgarten was a military conflict that took place from May 30 to June 3, 1443 during the Old Zurich War in what is now the canton of Aargau . The opponents were troops from the city of Bremgarten on the one hand, and troops from the federal towns on the other .
prehistory
From 1374 the Habsburgs Bremgarten had started to build up its own sizable judicial authority by acquiring the lower jurisdiction in the villages east of the city and organizing it from then on as a cellar office . After Aargau was conquered by the Confederates in 1415, Bremgarten had signed a castle law treaty with Zurich , which subsequently took over the high jurisdiction from the Habsburgs , and was therefore on the side of the Zurich and Habsburgs during the Old Zurich War. Shortly before the renewed outbreak of war, Bremgarten renewed its castle rights on May 19, 1443 and thus sided with Zurich in this phase of the war.
After the Battle of the Hirzel , which was devastating for Zurich on May 24, the federal contingents from Lucerne , Uri , Unterwalden and Zug united on the afternoon of May 25 with the troops from Schwyz and Glarus , who were warned to move in after the battle of Freienbach and on the same day set out from there. On May 26th (a Sunday) Horgen was attacked and set on fire, and the church there was also ravaged. Then the united federal army moved to Thalwil , where it set up camp for the night. After this place was also sacked, the Confederates moved on May 27 via Rüschlikon - which also went up in flames - to Kilchberg , where they stayed for three days near Zurich. However, they did not seriously consider besieging the city. Rather, there was probably hope that the people of Zurich would either face a battle or even give in on their own initiative. From Zurich, there were a few minor mounted retirements, but their effect was limited. The people of Zurich did not get involved in a major battle.
The imperial city of Bern had so far been rather hesitant and mediating. In those days she sent the knight Hans von Erlach to Zurich to dissuade the leadership there from the federation with Austria and to submit them to the federal arbitration tribunal. In the meantime, Bern mobilized its troops in Langenthal and warned its ally Solothurn to join in with his troops, probably as a show of force and to give more weight to the demands . On May 27, a Schwyz embassy reached the Bernese gathering in Langenthal to persuade them to enter the war against Zurich. On the same day, Bern decided - allegedly after a fiery speech by the Schwyz envoy Ulrich Lilli - to cancel Zurich and the rule of Austria. The declaration of war on Austria is dated May 27th, that of Zurich on May 28th. Bern's ally Solothurn also declared war on May 28. The two cities then marched their troops in the direction of Lenzburg .
Thereupon the confederates decided before Zurich to take action against the allies of the city in the common lordship , namely in the county of Baden and in the Freiamt ; this was directed in particular against the cities of Bremgarten, Mellingen and Baden, which declared itself neutral . On May 29, they set out on fire, set Kilchberg and the church on fire and, burning and robbing, advanced via Adliswil and the Albis to Freiamt Affoltern , where they set up camp in Lunkhofen , a safe distance from Bremgarten, and waited for the Bernese and Solothurn residents to arrive .
Bremgarten was well prepared for a siege; Zurich had previously supported the city by providing the city gunsmith and other aid measures. Reinforcement by further troops was refrained from on the grounds that the city was adequately equipped for defense. Walls and towers were in a siege state and provided with artillery. The only access in the Au was entrenched and the Reuss was made three fathoms (about five meters) beyond navigable. The Bremgartner Schultheiss was thus confident that he could hold out until relief .
The siege
On May 30, the Confederates appeared in front of Bremgarten and asked the city to hand over and revoke the castle rights with Zurich. Central Switzerland even made Bremgarten the offer to join the Confederation as an equal member. The Bremgartners refused because the majority of them still supported the Habsburgs and were not convinced of the durability of the Confederation. In order to gain time, they asked Zurich whether they would be voluntarily released from the castle rights or whether they could expect relief soon. A hopeful answer came from Margrave Wilhelm von Hachberg as well as from the city of Zurich; the latter even promised relief within a month, so that Bremgarten could not be released from castle rights; rather, they should not hand over their city.
Meanwhile, Bern and Solothurn forced the city of Mellingen to surrender on their march via Lenzburg to Bremgarten. On May 31st, she asked the city of Zurich for immediate help, as otherwise it would have to act accordingly.
After Bremgarten had refused entry to the Swiss, the Schwyz Landammann Ital Reding the Elder and the Lucerne captain Petermann von Lütishofen on behalf of Lucerne, Schwyz, Glarus, Uri, Unterwalden and Zug officially declared war on Bremgarten on June 1st. The Confederates started the siege in front of the Upper Gate , and the Confederates immediately began to bombard the city from the east side with the help of the Lucerne's large rifles. Towards the evening of that day, the people of Bern and Solothurn, who in the meantime had moved the city of Mellingen to surrender on their way from Langenthal via Lenzburg, appeared on the western bank of the Reuss in Bremgarten, whereupon the city was continuously fired at by the Bernese guns from this side. Bremgarten held out for another two days, but the mayor finally had to enter into negotiations due to the massive damage to the masonry. In this phase, due to the previous course of the war and the entry into the war of Bern and Solothurn, an embassy from the city of Baden also reached the Confederates to offer the surrender of their city and the handover of the keys. Ital Reding the Younger was sent to Baden to receive the homage.
Bremgarten's official surrender finally took place on June 3rd. The handover should take place on the condition that Bremgarten should remain with the previous legal relationships and agreements with the confederates. Bremgarten had to keep the city open to the Confederates. The placement of a federal garrison, on the other hand, was dispensed with. The noble residents fled to Zurich, and the Zurich gunsmith fell into the hands of the Confederates, so that Margrave Wilhelm von Hachberg felt compelled to request the gunsmith from Freiburg im Breisgau as a replacement.
consequences
The Swiss army moved to Baden on the same day to receive homage from this city and to have the entire county, including Klingnau and Kaiserstuhl, swear an oath of allegiance. On June 4, Zurich - much too late - offered the city of Baden 200 soldiers in writing to support them and denied rumors that the Margrave of Hachberg had fled Zurich. On the same day, after having deployed a garrison in Baden, the federal army crossed the Limmat to continue the campaign against the territory of the city of Zurich and to proceed as the next target against the rule and town of Regensberg .
After the first federal campaign of 1443 after the second siege of Grüningen was ended on June 18 and their contingents returned home, Bremgarten was to be taken in a coup on the night of June 23 to 24, as one in the City still knew numerous supporters of the Zurich side. The people of Zurich marched off at four in the afternoon and reached Bremgarten as night fell. Ladders had already been set up and the storm was about to begin when the Zurichers realized that the Bremgartens were ready for a determined defense. Apparently the city had been warned beforehand, so the plan was abandoned and the troops returned to Zurich. Therefore the plan failed due to betrayal, although the city gates of Zurich had previously been locked so that no warning could get out. Military secrecy - along with general discipline - was difficult to maintain in Zurich, as it was hardly possible to prevent members of the Federal Party from making contact with the enemy. In connection with this failure, Marshal Thuringia II. Von Hallwyl is said to have annoyed the people around Zurich: “Ir hand ain hüpsch guot rathus, but it has mudslides; what you say in it you can even hear it. " On July 1, von Hallwyl Bremgarten warned that the city should not accept federal occupation, as Zurich was expected to attract such large numbers that further support for the confederates could only be to their detriment.
On July 2nd, the situation in the common lordship in what is now the Canton of Aargau was reorganized; the sovereign rights of the confederates were made clear in a more stringent form. Bremgarten's castle rights with Zurich were annulled, the obligations in Bremgarten and Mellingen vis-à-vis Zurich were transferred to Bern and Zurich was excluded from co-rulership in the County of Baden (where Uri was accepted instead of Zurich) and in Freiamt. The city of Baden was instructed to keep the city open to the Confederates at all times, but Baden was able to remain neutral in the current war.
On July 6th, an Austrian raid into the county of Baden followed, which was carried out with 500 mounted and 600 soldiers. Four farmers were killed and 13 villages went up in flames. On July 15, another attempt by the Zurich to occupy Bremgarten failed. As a result, the city now received a federal garrison; also provided Mellingen and Baden with crews. Several sympathizers of the opposing side fled Bremgarten and their wives and children were forwarded to them.
In March 1445 another unsuccessful move by the people of Zurich against Bremgarten followed. Then were Göslikon and low- and Oberwil set on fire and killed some village guards.
In September 1445 the well-known feud entrepreneur Hans von Rechberg tried again unsuccessfully to occupy Bremgarten; Rechberg was in a failed attack on Brugg on 9/10. October wounded. On October 26th of this year, the people of Zurich again sent troops to lure the occupation out and kill some men in the process, but again it was not possible to take over the city.
With the unfavorable outcome of the conflict for Zurich and the Habsburgs, the supremacy of the Confederates in the common lordships in Aargau continued. The rights and freedoms established in 1415 were confirmed by the eight places in 1450 and in 1474 Duke Sigmund waived all claims in the Eternal Direction and in 1511 Emperor Maximilian I in the inheritance .
See also
Web links
- Anton Wohler: Bremgarten (AG). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Martin Illi: Old Zurich War. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klingenberg Chronicle (around 1460)
- ↑ Johannes Wieland: History of the war events in Helvetia and Rhaetia, Volume 1 1827, pp. 165–166
- ↑ Alois Niederstätter : The Old Zurich War 1995, pp. 211–212, 223–224
- ↑ Thomas Fassbind: History of the Canton Schwyz, Volume 2 1833, pp. 306–308, 313, 317, 364
- ^ Josef Anton Henne : New Swiss Chronicle for the People 1833, p. 226
- ↑ Hans Fründ : Chronicle of the Old Zurich War from 1447.
- ↑ Aegidius Tschudi : Chronicon Helveticum Part 2: Anno 1415-1470 Basel 1736, p. 376
- ↑ Benz, Bremgarter Chronik, pp. 67–69