Federal letter of 1291
The so-called federal letter of 1291 is the best known of several federal letters and is considered in traditional and popular historiography as the founding document of the Swiss Confederation .
It is dated to the beginning of August 1291. The then federation was established by the local leadership elite in the valley communities of Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden (or Nidwalden, since the text mentions the "lower valley"), which means that these are commonly referred to as the first three or the original cantons the later Confederation apply. It has been preserved and is exhibited in the Federal Letter Museum in the Schwyz municipality . The Federal Letter is available as a parchment sheet in the format 320 × 200 mm and comprises 17 lines in Latin and two connected seals . The Schwyz seal was lost between 1330 and 1920.
text
Translated into German, the text reads:
«In God's name, amen. Public prestige and wellbeing require that peace orders be given permanent validity. - That is why all the people of the Uri valley, the whole of the Schwyz valley and the community of the people of the lower valley of Unterwalden have with regard to the deceit of the times for their better protection and preservation support, advice and promotion with body and property within their valleys and outside to the fullest extent promised against all and everyone who inflicts violence or injustice on their body or property on them or someone from them. - And in any case, each congregation has sworn to the other support at its own expense for the defense and retaliation of malicious attack and injustice in the renewal of the old, affirmed covenant, - but in such a way that everyone should serve his master appropriately according to his class . - We have also unanimously praised and stipulated that we should definitely not accept any judge in the valleys who somehow acquired the office for money or monetary value or who is not our inhabitant or farmer. - If a dispute arises among the confederates, the most insightful among them should mediate and the part that rejects the verdict should be confronted by the others. - Above all, it is determined that whoever kills another maliciously, without guilt, if he cannot prove his innocence, should therefore lose his life and, if he has escaped, must never return. Anyone who takes him in and protects him must be expelled from the country until the Confederates call him back. - If someone damages a confederate by fire, he may never be respected as a farmer, and whoever cherishes and protects him in the valleys is liable to pay compensation to the injured party. - Anyone who robbed one of the confederates or harms them in any way, their property in the valleys should be liable for the compensation. - Nobody should seize anyone other than a recognized debtor or surety, and even then only with the permission of his judge. For the rest, everyone should obey his judge and, where necessary, designate the judge in the valley before whom he has to answer. - If someone does not obey the court and a confederate is harmed as a result, then all the others have to urge him to give satisfaction. - If war or discord arises between the confederates and if one part wants to evade the verdict or the compensation, the confederates are obliged to protect the other. - These orders should, God willing, be permanent. As a document of this, at the request of the aforementioned, this document was made and confirmed with the seals of the three aforementioned municipalities and valleys. Done in the year of the Lord 1291 at the beginning of the month of August. "
The Latin original is:
«In nomine domini amen. Honestati consulitur et utilitati publice providetur, dum pacta quietis et pacis statu debito solidantur. Noverint igitur universi, quod homines vallis Uranie universitasque vallis de Switz ac communitas hominum Intramontanorum Vallis Inferioris maliciam temporis attendentes, ut se et sua magis defendere valeant et in statu debito melius conservare, fide bona promiserunt invicem sibi assistil favore auxilio, person cons et rebus, infra valles et extra, toto posse, toto nisu contra omnes ac singulos, qui eis vel alicui de ipsis aliquam intulerint violenciam, molestiam aut iniuriam in personis et rebus malum quodlibet machinando. Ac in omnem eventum quelibet universitas promisit alteri accurrere, cum necesse fuerit, ad succurrendum et in expensis propriis, prout opus fuerit, contra impetus malignorum resistere, iniurias vindicare, prestito super hiis corporaliter iuramento absque dolo servandis antiquam confederationis present. Ita tamen, quod quilibet homo iuxta sui nominis conditionem domino suo convenienter subesse teneatur et servire. Communi etiam consilio et favore unanimi promisimus, statuimus ac ordinavimus, ut in vallibus prenotatis nullum iudicem, qui ipsum officium aliquo precio vel peccunia aliqualiter comparaverit vel qui noster incola vel conprovincialis nonam fuerit, aliquatenus accipiamus. Si vero dissensio suborta fuerit inter aliquos conspiratos, prudenciores de conspiratis accedere debent ad sopiendam discordiam inter partes, prout ipsis videbitur expedire, et que pars illam respueret ordinationem, alii contrarii deberent fore conspirati. Super omnia autem inter ipsos extitit statutum, ut, qui alium fraudulenter et sine culpa trucidaverit, si deprehensus fuerit, vitam ammittat, nisi suam de dicto maleficio valeat ostendere innocenciam, suis nefandis culpis exigentibus, et debet forsan discesserit, Receptatores et defensores prefati malefactoris a vallibus segregandi sunt, donec a coniuratis provide revocentur. Si quis vero quemquam de conspiratis die seu nocte silentio fraudulenter per incendium vastaverit, is numquam haberi debet pro conprovinciali. Et si quis dictum malefactorem fovet et defendit infra valles, satisfactionem prestare debet dampnificato. Ad hec si quis de coniuratis alium rebus spoliaverit vel dampnificaverit qualitercumque, si res nocentis infra valles possunt reperiri, servari debent ad procurandam secundum iusticiam lesis satisfactionem. Insuper nullus capere debet pignus alterius, nisi sit manifest debitor vel fideiussor, et hoc tantum fieri debet de licencia sui iudicis speciali. Preter hec quilibet obedire debet suo iudici et ipsum, si necesse fuerit, iudicem ostendere infra [valles], sub quo parere potius debeat iuri. Et si quis iudicio rebellis exstiterit ac de ipsius pertinatia quis de conspiratis dampnif [i] catus fuerit, predictum contumacem ad prestandam satisfactionem iurati conpellere tenentur universi. Si vero guerra vel discordia inter aliquos de conspiratis suborta fuerit, si pars una litigantium iusticie vel satisfactionis non curat recipere complementum, reliquam defendere tenentur coniurati. Suprascriptis statutis pro communi utilitate salubriter ordinatis concedente domino in perpetuum duraturis. In cuius facti evidentiam presens instrumentum ad peti [ci] onem predictorum confectum sigillorum prefatarum trium universitatum et vallium est munimine roboratum. Actum anno domini m ° cc ° Lxxxx ° primo incipiente mense Augusto. »
Participation and purpose
Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden are mentioned in the text, but not Obwalden . The document is, however, with the seal of sub Walden provided, which was true for both Nidwalden and for Obwalden. It could be that Obwalden later joined this union. However, the Latin name for Nidwalden is also uncertain, and it could also refer to the Urserental . An addition to the seal (probably in the context of the Battle of Morgarten in 1315) would not be unusual.
In principle, the Federal Letter is a legal document which, after the death of German King Rudolf I († July 15, 1291), placed legal security in the foreground, confirmed the existing conditions through the local nobility and was intended to ensure peace in the country. Only two out of seven paragraphs are relevant for assistance in the event of war, the majority of the text deals with questions of criminal and civil law. In particular, it is stated that only men from within the own ranks can be considered as judges, so that a legal dispute should not be brought before a foreign prince.
Dating and historical significance
The founding of a defense alliance is not recorded in the Federal Letter, nor is it to be understood as a rebellion against Habsburg . However, it is said that Rudolf used unpopular bailiffs in the area of the Old Confederation , for example with Ulrich von Ramschwag in St. Gallen. The latter was chased away immediately after Rudolf's death, and the Prince Abbot Wilhelm von Montfort certified certain rights to his citizens in a similar form on July 31st. Clearly, in the Federal Letter of 1291 reference is made to an earlier agreement, the text of which, however, has not been preserved and which in any case did not necessarily exist as a document. Thus, the Federal Letter is probably to be understood from the time of political uncertainty, from which the old Confederation ultimately emerged . However, their establishment was a lengthy political process in which a large number or a “network” of similar federal treaties took part. The Federal Letter must therefore be seen in the context of numerous other land peaces of that time, which ultimately led to the old order of the Eight Old Places in the second half of the 14th century .
The certificate does not have an exact date. It was written “at the beginning of August” in 1291. From 1966 onwards, critical historiography indicated that the Federal Letter was almost certainly a forgery, as it was common in the Middle Ages , from around 1400.
Dating the parchment used by the 14 C method (1992) refuted this view; The parchment used was most likely obtained around 1280 with an 85% confidence interval between 1252 and 1312.
Nevertheless, the possibility is still being considered that the Federal Letter could be (slightly) backdated; At a time when a handshake was much more important, documents were only created when necessary, and backdating was a matter of course. So took Roger Sablonier (2008) the opinion of the Federal Charter could be dated to the year 1309 and in the context of Erbstreits the rule Rapperswil between Habsburg and Werner Homberg stand. In 1309 King Heinrich VII confirmed the imperial immediacy of Uri and Schwyz and now also included Unterwalden in it. In more recent research, the privilege granted in 1309 is viewed as an important step towards the formation of an alliance later, while Sablonier, among others, regards the importance of the Federal Letter as being overestimated. In addition, Sablonier suggested that the communitas hominum Intramontanorum Vallis Inferioris did not mean Nidwalden, but the Urserental .
Modern meaning
The federal letter of 1291 is mentioned for the first time in the inventory of the Schwyz archive of the land clerk Franz Anton Frischberg in 1724. In 1760 the Basel lawyer and historian Johann Heinrich Gleser published it and at the same time proved its authenticity. Shortly before, in 1758, a German translation of the Federal Letter, which is said to have been made around 1400, was discovered in the Nidwalden State Archives in Stans .
But it wasn't until the late 19th century, especially on the 600th anniversary in 1891, that this federal letter was given the attention it enjoys today. Previously, the Union of Brunnen , which was concluded on December 9, 1315 after the Battle of Morgarten , was usually seen as the founding of Switzerland . Due to the fact that the document was dated “beginning of August”, August 1st was selected as the Swiss federal holiday .
The idea of a federal letter archive in Schwyz to house the federal letter goes back to 1891, but its realization was delayed until the 1930s. In 1933, 43 designs were submitted to an architecture competition, which Joseph Beeler from Zurich won. The jury particularly emphasized the successful opening of the building through the vestibule and arcades as well as the simplicity and appropriateness of the architectural means used. The construction of the archive building between 1934 and 1936 fell at a time of internal unrest ( front movement , global economic crisis ) and external threats.
In the summer of 2006, a loan of the federal letter to the Sister Republics exhibition in the Museum of Constitutional History at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia (USA) caused a stir among some right-wing groups. Three SVP - National Councils wanted to buy the "identity-letter", just to prevent the loan. The canton declined the offer; If the document were to be bought, it would hardly correspond to its meaning.
literature
- Roger Sablonier : Founding time without confederates. Politics and society in Central Switzerland around 1300. here + now, Verlag für Kultur und Geschichte, Baden 2008, ISBN 978-3-03919-085-0 .
- Roger Sablonier: The Federal Letter of 1291. A forgery? Perspectives of an unfamiliar discussion. In: Josef Wiget (Ed.): The emergence of Switzerland. From the Federal Letter 1291 to the national historical culture of the 20th century . Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz, Schwyz 1999, ISBN 3-9520447-7-6 , pp. 127–146.
- Pascal Ladner : Critical remarks on the federal letter of 1291. In: Josef Wiget (Hrsg.): The emergence of Switzerland. From the Federal Letter 1291 to the national historical culture of the 20th century . Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz, Schwyz 1999, ISBN 3-9520447-7-6 , pp. 103–119.
- Willy Woelfli, Georges Bonani: Dating the Federal Letter with the help of the radiocarbon method. In: Mitteilungen des Historisches Verein des Kantons Schwyz 84, 1992 , ZDB -ID 563907-4 , pp. 27–31. on-line
- Anton Castell: The Federal Letters to Schwyz, popular representation of the most important documents of the early federal period . Benziger, Einsiedeln 1936, DNB 572,827,695 .
Web links
- Bernhard Stettler: Federal letters. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- https://www.bundesbrief.ch/ Federal Letter Museum in Schwyz
Individual evidence
- ↑ 14 C-dating of the Federal Letter. ( Memento from July 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics, Paul Scherrer Institute of the ETH Zurich (PDF; 474 kB). R. Sablonier, “The Federal Letter of 1291: a forgery? : Perspectives of an Unfamiliar Discussion ”, communications of the historical association of the Canton Schwyz 85 (1993).
- ↑ Roger Sablonier: Founding time without confederates. Politics and society in Central Switzerland around 1300. Baden 2008, p. 116 ff.
- ↑ Roger Sablonier: Founding time without confederates. Politics and society in Central Switzerland around 1300. Baden 2008, p. 163 ff.
- ↑ Roger Sablonier: Founding time without confederates. Politics and society in Central Switzerland around 1300. Baden 2008, p. 172 ff.
- ↑ Simon Koller, Andreas Meyerhans : The Nidwalden tradition of the federal letter of 1291 . In: Communications from the historical association of the Canton of Schwyz , 94 (2002), doi : 10.5169 / seals-168914 .
- ^ Judith Stamm: The national holiday. ( Memento from November 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) History seminar of the University of Zurich, podium from April 2, 2008
- ↑ SCHWYZ. Report of the jury on the result of the competition for a federal letter archive in Schwyz. In: The work. Issue 11/1933, p. XVIII.
- ↑ Competition for the Federal Letter Archive in Schwyz. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung. Issue 12/1934, p. 22 ff.
- ↑ The Federal Letter is back. On nachrichten.ch, July 3, 2006