Battle of Sins
| date | July 20, 1712 |
|---|---|
| place | Sins |
| output | Central Swiss victory |
| consequences | five days later decisive victory for the Bernese at Villmergen |
| Peace treaty | August 11, 1712 (Fourth Land Peace) |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Troop strength | |
| about 600 | approx. 5,000 |
| losses | |
|
about 100 |
about 400 |
The Battle of Sins was a military conflict between the Reformed and Catholic towns of the Confederation during the Second Villmerger War . It took place on July 20, 1712 in Sins , in the southern part of the Free Offices (in today's Canton of Aargau ).
prehistory
After the battle of Fischbach on May 26th, troops from Reformed Bern occupied the free offices. After the capitulation of the city of Baden on July 1st, peace negotiations began in Aarau . The main part of the troops camped in Muri , a 100-strong vanguard took up positions in Sins and guarded the western bridgehead of the Reuss bridge Sins-Hünenberg . Around 150 soldiers from the Catholic train secured the eastern bridgehead.
Although Lucerne and Uri accepted the peace terms on July 18, the negotiations failed. Encouraged by the papal nuncio , the rural parishes of Schwyz , Zug and Unterwalden decided to again raise their arms against the reformed places. Unrest also forced the governments of Lucerne and Uri to take this step. Meanwhile, the Bernese strengthened on 15./16. July their presence in Sins to 1'000 men and two cannons.
course
Around 5,000 people from Central Switzerland crossed the bridge in Gisikon and Dietwil in Lucerne on the evening of July 19, just before Sins. In the early morning of July 20th, they took the bridge south of the village. Some of the surprised Bernese contingent fled along the Reuss in the direction of Mühlau . The remaining Bernese, around 600 men, withdrew behind the surrounding wall of the somewhat elevated church district. Because of their superior firearms, the outnumbered Bernese were able to inflict huge losses on the attacking central Swiss.
In the end, however, the attackers managed to blow up the wall gate and penetrate to the parish church of the Birth of Mary . Quite a few defenders escaped on the less crowded north side of the wall, while others holed up in the church. There was even fighting in the church. Some Bernese who fled into the church tower were fumigated and threw themselves to their death.
The loss-making victory ultimately turned out to be insignificant for Central Switzerland. Five days later they were defeated by the Bernese in the decisive Second Battle of Villmergen . The Peace of Aarau , concluded on August 11, ended the war and the political supremacy of Catholics in the Confederation.
Web links
- Anne-Marie Dubler : The Second Villmerger War of 1712: Why the Freiämter refused this war. (PDF; 210 kB) Municipality of Sins, accessed on October 21, 2012 .
- Franz Xaver Rohner: Battle of Sins / July 20, 1712. (PDF; 986 kB) Parish Sins, accessed on October 21, 2012 .