Eternal direction

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The Eternal Direction was a peace and alliance treaty that the eight towns of the Old Confederation signed with Duke Sigismund of Tyrol in 1474 . With this treaty, the military conflict between the House of Habsburg and the Swiss , which had been going on since 1291, was ended for the time being.

Both parties had the French King Louis XI as mediator . elected. The negotiations took place in Constance with the mediation of Bishop Hermann III. from Breitenlandenberg . A first version of the agreement was completed on March 30, 1474, but it was not until the beginning of 1475 before Louis XI. was able to ratify the final version of the treaty.

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The eight federal towns and Sigismund initially agreed to end the war. Both parties guaranteed each other the territorial possessions as presented in 1474. In addition, there were accompanying measures to regulate mutual relations: The cities of Basel and Constance as well as the two bishops residing there were chosen as arbitrators for possible future conflicts . The confederates promised the duke assistance, but only against pay; the same was promised by Sigismund. The confederates also undertook to return all archival material relating to the earlier Austrian possessions in Switzerland to the House of Habsburg. The four Habsburg cities on the Upper Rhine ( Rheinfelden , Säckingen , Laufenburg and Waldshut ) were supposed to swear the treaty and allow the Confederates to march through in the event of war. All past disputes and unresolved conflicts have been declared null and void. The agreement should apply indefinitely to the eight places and the duke and his heirs. Sigismund objected to this article for a long time, but Ludwig XI. finally decided in favor of the Confederates. The treaty was supposed to be revived every ten years.

Aftermath

The treaty was only referred to as the Eternal Direction in retrospect , although the Habsburg-federal conflict was just not successfully resolved forever. Nevertheless, the agreement was a significant step towards the settlement of the old hostilities, even if a member of the federal confederation - Unterwalden - never ratified the agreement.

The Eternal Direction met with criticism not only in the federal towns, but also among the Habsburgs. Emperor Friedrich III. refused to recognize the text as binding for the entire Habsburg dynasty.

It took several attempts before the Habsburg-federal relations could be steered into stable and peaceful channels at the beginning of the 16th century. → inheritance (Switzerland)

literature

  • Wilhelm Baum : Niklaus von Flüe and Sigmund the coin empire of Austria. On the history of overcoming the “hereditary enmity” between Austria and the Swiss confederates. In: Journal for Swiss Church History. Vol. 81, 1987, pp. 5-29, ( digitized version ).

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