Battle of the Etzel
Overview map of the Old Zurich War
| date | May 5, 1439 |
|---|---|
| place | Mount Etzel in the canton of Schwyz |
| output | Schwyzer victory |
| consequences | Armistice of May 13, 1439 |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 1000 men | unknown |
| losses | |
|
11 dead |
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 battle on the Etzel was the first military conflict in the Old Zurich War . It was by no means decisive for the war, but it marked the turning point for a new phase of open hostility.
prehistory
The first three years of the Old Zurich War were characterized by hectic diplomatic activities regarding the distribution of the inheritance of the last Toggenburg Count Friedrich VII, who died on April 30, 1436. Zurich and Schwyz in particular fought over control of the trade routes to the Bündner passes, Schwyz the Prevailed; however, there had not yet been any fighting. However, on April 29, 1437, the city of Zurich came into a state of war with Duke Friedrich IV of Austria due to a castle law with the country people of the County of Sargans and the subsequent destruction of the castles Nidberg and Freudenberg . Schwyz and in his entourage Glarus then occupied the Sarganserland and reinstated Count Heinrich II von Werdenberg-Sargans , whom they had previously included in their land rights , back into his rule.
On October 29, 1438, the so-called "Berner Spruch" was passed on a daily statute, which contained an extension of the armistice in the two and a half years of crisis between Zurich and Schwyz as well as the lifting of the trade restrictions by Zurich that had been in effect since October 20. The Zurich residents' complaints regarding the timber export ban by Schwyz and the cooperation between the latter and the Habsburg Frederick IV in the division of the Toggenburg inheritance were not addressed, which led the Zurich residents to reject the verdict on January 3, 1439 for formal reasons and theirs to strengthen military position vis-à-vis the main opponent Schwyz. On February 3, renewed Rudolf von Sax , the abbot of Einsiedeln , be closed for life Burgrecht with Zurich and promised the Limmat City , her festivals Pfäffikon to keep open.
course
After the armistice expired on May 3, 1439, 4,000 men moved up the lake to Pfäffikon on the same day under Mayor Rudolf Stüssi . That same evening Schwyz occupied the Etzel , while the Glarus people occupied the entrances to the March and the Glarus valley themselves. The country people of the Toggenburg and Gaster / Windegg lords and the Uznach county also occupied their borders with the Zurich area. The town of Wil as well as Petermann and Hildebrand von Raron , the heirs of the ancestral lands of the Toggenburgers and Uznachs, since 1437 in the Landrecht with Schwyz, turned in the north against the Zurich county Kyburg since 1424 . At the same time, the five uninvolved federal towns of Bern , Lucerne , Uri , Unterwalden and Zug received support from both sides.
On May 4th, messengers from Uri and Unterwalden arrived at Ital Reding , Landammann and Commander-in-Chief of Schwyz, to inform him that the troops of both places were in the vicinity, but asked him not to carry out an attack in order to ensure peace still to be received. A courier from Lucerne came to the ambassadors who supported this proposal and had a letter with him that promised the prospect of reconciliation.
From Pfäffikon, 3,000 men moved up the sea towards March , while 1,000 men under Ulrich von Lommis remained at the foot of the Etzel to watch the enemy and prevent him from moving. Ital Reding reacted to this with a warning to the Glarus and Märchlers and ordered his main forces to remain calm in order to keep Lommis in the dark about his own troop strength. On the night of May 4th and 5th, the people of Schwyz received Zurich's letter of rejection, but the troops on both sides initially remained calm.
While Reding was still negotiating with the messengers from the three as yet uninvolved places, shots could suddenly be heard. Around 100 young Zurichers from the lake area who were supposed to spy on the area and were too careless got caught unnoticed between a Swiss outpost, which was immediately fired at. After losing 11 men, the Zurich scouting party withdrew. Reding, who originally wanted to wait with an attack at the request of the ambassadors, responded to the shots by moving all his main force in the direction of the enemy. Lommis, in the dark about the strength of the enemy, withdrew with his troops. The ambassadors from the three places deplored the outbreak of hostilities and advised Reding against pursuing Lommis' troops.
The main Zurich power under Stüssi, which was moving in the direction of the March, found its borders well occupied, so that he decided to refrain from an attack and also to withdraw with his troops. Heavy rains made further military ventures impossible.
consequences
The news of the fighting was followed by diplomatic activities. Little by little messengers arrived at the scene. At the mediation of the cities of Basel , Strasbourg , Constance , Schaffhausen , Überlingen , Rheinfelden , Ravensburg , St. Gallen and the messengers from Bern, Lucerne, Solothurn , Zug , Uri, Unterwalden, Appenzell and Baden , ten days later, on May 13th , signed an armistice until April 3, 1440. As a condition, the people of Zurich had to allow the Schwyzers and Glarnern as well as those with the two places in the land law to free trade in their territory. The export bans on both sides, however, were maintained. This and many other unanswered questions did not mean that a quick agreement could be expected, so that the war spread and finally broke out from 1443.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alois Niederstätter : The Old Zurich War (1995)
- ↑ Joseph Thomas Fassbind: History of the Canton of Schwyz, Volume 2 (1833)
- ↑ J. Conrad Vögelin: History of the Swiss Confederation, Volume 1 (1820)
- ↑ Gerold Ludwig Meyer Von Knonau : The Canton of Schwyz historically, geographically, statistically portrayed , Volume 5, Huber, St. Gallen & Bern, 1835, pages 23 ff. ( Full text online )