Adrian von Bubenberg was a Bernese knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

, general

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 and mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 (Schultheiss) of Bern in 1468-1469, 1473-1474 and 1477-1479. In Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, he is remembered as the hero of the Battle of Murten.

Adrian von Bubenberg was born as the son of Heinrich IV. von Bubenberg, Schultheiss of Bern and lord of Spiez

Spiez

Spiez is a city in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-Geography:Spiez has an area of . Of this area, 38.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29.1% is forested...

, whom he succeeded in 1465. He was knighted in 1466 during a pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 to Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulchre

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....

.

In April 1476 he was appointed commander of Murten

Murten

Murten is a municipality in the See district of the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland.It is located on the southern shores of Lake Morat. Morat is situated between Bern and Lausanne and is the capital of the Lake District of the canton of Fribourg....

. There, he resisted a twelve-day siege by the troops of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, until he was relieved by Swiss forces - and Charles decisively beaten - on June 22.

Numerous times before and after the Burgundy wars, he led Bernese negotiations with other cantons

Cantons of Switzerland

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of the old Swiss Confederacy

Old Swiss Confederacy

The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

 and foreign powers including Savoy

Savoy

Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....

, Burgundy

Duchy of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

.

Von Bubenberg was buried in the choir of the Berner Münster, the Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 of Bern. Ever having been short of funds in spite of being the head of Berne's preeminent noble house, von Bubenberg was posthumously banned

Ban (law)

A ban is, generally, any decree that prohibits something.Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act and others see it as maintaining the "status quo"...

 for his debts in 1481, but the government resisted Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...

's demand that he be exhumed and dishonourably buried because of this.

After his death, numerous literary and historical works, including Diebold Schilling the Elder

Diebold Schilling the Elder

Diebold Schilling the Elder was the author of several of the Swiss illustrated chronicles, the "Berner Schilling of 1483, the "Spiezer Schilling" , and the "Zürcher Schilling" of 1484....

's illustrated chronicles

Swiss illustrated chronicles

Several illustrated chronicles were created in the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were luxurious illuminated manuscripts produced for the urban elite of Bern and Lucerne, and their copious detailed illustrations allow a unique insight into the politics and daily life of...

, have portrayed Adrian von Bubenberg as the ideal selfless knight

Knightly Virtues

Knightly Virtues were part of a medieval chivalric code of honor. The virtues were a set of 'standards' that Knights of the High Middle Ages tried to adhere to in their daily living and interactions with others. Today, this term still carries similar meanings.Some organizations attempt to continue...

 and patriotic statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

.

In 1897, Bern honoured the man who was instrumental in saving Switzerland from defeat with a bronze statue on Bubenberg Square in the centre of town. On the pedestal, two of his quotes are engraved:

So lange in uns eine Ader lebt, gibt keiner nach

"As long as a drop of blood is in our veins, no one yields"

Mein Leib und Gut ist euer eigen bis in den Tod

"My life and fortune are yours unto death"

Literature

• Rudolf von Tavel, Ring i der Chetti (1931), a historical novel, ISBN 3-305-00113-5

External links