Pension (Swiss history)

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Patrician Ulysses von Salis (1594–1674)

In Switzerland, public or secret annual funds paid to official coffers or individuals were referred to as pensions in order to secure the recruitment of federal mercenaries ( Reisläufer ) or to influence political decisions from foreign warlords from the 15th to 18th centuries .

history

Originally, the term pension referred to the priest's right to receive the proceeds of a benefit awarded to him without having to provide anything in return. From the middle of the 15th century, the term was extended to contractually agreed, regular and often confidential payments that priests and lay people received from the prince in addition to their wages.

Rise of the patriciate

In Switzerland, the pensions appeared for the first time in the Burgundian Wars , in connection with alliances against Charles the Bold . The pensions to federal politicians promoted the formation of a wealthy patriciate , whose power was expanded through the distribution of funds received in local patronage systems ( clientelism ). Individual families secured centuries of local supremacy with the military service companies ( Zurlauben in Zug , Reding in Schwyz , Schmid in Uri , Latour , Mont , Planta , Salis in Graubünden ). These were indebted to French, Spanish, Venetian, Savoy and Milan donors and warlords. The competition between pro-French parties and their opponents led to internal political disputes in the Catholic towns ( Bündner turmoil ). In 1777 the French treaty was renewed for the last time. The treaties with the Kingdom of Naples expired on July 15, 1859.

Economical meaning

The foreign pensions were one of the most important sources of income in the Catholic towns from the 16th to the 18th century and at times made up more than half of the state's income. They made it possible for the federal locations to build up financial reserves and, in some cases, to forego the collection of direct taxes. Foreign influence was secured in the reformed towns through the granting of trade privileges and salt concessions .

Combating pensions

From 1470 onwards there were repeated attempts to ban such annual subsidies. The increase in the power of the pensioners was not always accepted and, in the case of the mayor of Zurich, Hans Waldmann, led to his overthrow and execution in 1489. In 1489, the forest man trade formed the subject of a ban on pension payments in the daily statute . This and later attempts like the pension letter of 1503 could not be enforced. The considerable pensions to the rich councilors led to a wave of price increases, the burden of which was borne primarily by the peasants. This was one of the causes of the Swiss Peasant Wars from 1523 to 1526 and 1653. The pensions also played a role in internal conflicts such as the unrest in Bern in 1513 ( Könizer uprising ), in Solothurn and Lucerne (onion war), in Zurich in 1515 ( gingerbread war ) and in the The fall of the Mayor of Basel in 1521 played a central role because the recipients were accused of corruption and treason. The sermons of Huldrych Zwingli , who castigated traveling and pensions as the cause of unfaithfulness and betrayal, the softening of the confederates with new vices, clothing luxury and idleness, led to sharply worded prohibitions being issued in the Reformed towns. With the federal law of July 30th, 1859 (BG 6/312) the active recruitment of mercenaries and the entry of Swiss citizens into foreign services was prohibited.

literature

  • Kurt Messmer, Peter Hoppe: Lucerne patriciate. Social u. economic history studies on the origin and development in the 16th and 17th centuries . With an introduction by Hans Conrad Peyer. Rex-Verlag, Lucerne [u. a.] 1976, ISBN 3-7252-0283-4 ( Lucerne historical publications 5).
  • Rudolf Bolzern: Spain, Milan and the Catholic Confederation. Military, economic and political relations at the time of the envoy Alfonso Casati (1594-1621) . Rex-Verlag, Lucerne [u. a.] 1982, ISBN 3-7252-0420-9 ( Lucerne historical publications 16) (Simultaneously: Basel, Diss., 1981).
  • Urs Kaelin: Salt, pay and pensions. On the influence of France on the political structure of the inner Swiss rural community democracies in the 18th century . In: Der Geschichtsfreund 149, 1996, ISSN  1421-2919 , pp. 105-124.
  • Valentin Groebner : Dangerous gifts. Ritual, Politics and the Language of Corruption in the Confederation in the Late Middle Ages and the Beginning of the Modern Age . UVK Universitätsverlag, Konstanz 2000, ISBN 3-87940-741-X ( Conflicts and Culture - Historical Perspectives 4) (At the same time: Habil.-Schr. Basel, 1998).
  • Hans Braun: Secret pensions and forbidden travel . In: Christian Hesse, Beat Immenhauser, Oliver Landolt, Barbara Studer (eds.): People of history, history of people. Studies in the history of the crusades, social and educational . Festschrift for Rainer Christoph Schwinges on his 60th birthday. Schwabe, Basel 2003, ISBN 3-7965-1974-1 , pp. 25–42.

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