Battle of the Schosshalde
Map of the current quarters of Bern. The battle took place in the eastern Bern district of Schosshalde
| date | April 27, 1289 |
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| place | Bern in the Canton of Bern , Switzerland |
| output | Austrian victory |
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The battle of the Schosshalde was a military conflict between Habsburg and Bern . It took place on April 27, 1289 at the Schosshalde between Bern and Ostermundigen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland .
prehistory
In 1255 Bern came under the protection of the Counts of Savoy . Bern had refused Habsburg the imperial tax and joined the Burgundian League with Savoy, which opposed the expansion of the Habsburg house power. In 1287 the House of Burgundy decided to wage war against King Rudolf von Habsburg. Although Bern was a royal city at that time, Rudolf regarded the city as a Burgundian outpost because of its alliance with Savoy. He attacked Burgundy before and besieged Bern twice the following year, without success; the city was able to hold its own in both sieges and an open battle against the Habsburgs.
course
In April 1289 Rudolf's son, Duke Rudolf of Swabia (according to Tschudi , it was Albrecht , not Rudolf), moved to Bern unnoticed. With 300 riders he lay in an ambush on the Schosshalde in front of the gates east of Bern, while a patrol group lured the citizens of Bern out of the safe protection of the Aare by looting the vine growers. With this ruse he wanted to defeat the Bernese.
Carelessly, the Bernese stormed up the Muristalden on April 27th. Suddenly they saw themselves surrounded by the Austrian horsemen and were overwhelmed at the gates of the city. Those who were caught by the Habsburgs were captured and those who fled were killed. However, the Count of Homberg from the Frohburg-Homberg family , Ludwig I the Brave, who fought on the Habsburg side out of friendship, fell in this fight, which caused his cousin Duke Rudolf to be deeply bitter.
consequences
In May of the same year difficult peace negotiations followed by Schultheiss Ulrich von Bubenberg and King Rudolf I von Habsburg in Baden . Although Bern was again forced to obey the Empire and had to pay new taxes and a high fine, the city remained free of the Empire and was not subjected to Habsburg.
However, the outcome of the conflict turned into an internal crisis. There was controversy over the guilt of the defeat as well as a power struggle between the nobility and citizens of the city, which was promoted by the emerging class of merchants and artisans. This constitutional crisis concerned the basic definition of citizens and the privileges associated with that status. After April 1294, under the pretext that Jews had murdered a boy, part of the Jewish population of Bern was whacked and the remainder expelled from the city. The boy was later venerated as a martyr under the name Rudolf von Bern . A constitutional amendment that went bloodlessly defused the situation by expanding the political leadership. The opposition of the craftsmen and traders ensured a say in the newly elected Bern Council. In retrospect, this political upheaval had a rather strengthening effect, since a few years later Bern's territorial formation began, which was unusual at that time, as well as the growth of the later so-called Burgundian Confederation .
Bernese coat of arms
The chronicler Konrad Justinger saw the battle at the Schosshalde as the cause of the change in the original Bernese coat of arms (a bear on a silver background). Walo von Gruyères (legendary) is said to have saved the city banner captured by the enemy. The banner was then changed. The current coat of arms has been documented since the 14th century. The oldest representation is a sign from the 14th century.
See also
literature
- Rudolf Emanuel Stierlin ; Sigmund Wagner: The battle in the Schosshalde, in 1289 . Bern 1817.
Web links
- Urs Martin Zahnd: Bern (Canton) - 2.2 Local Movement and Territorial Formation in the Late Middle Ages. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aegidius Tschudi: Chronicon Helveticum , Volume I, pp. 197-198
- ^ Bernisches Historisches Museum .