Arnold von Winkelried or Arnold Winkelried is a legendary hero of Swiss

Old Swiss Confederacy

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

 history.

According to 16th century Swiss historiography

Historiography of Switzerland

The historiography of Switzerland is the study of the history of Switzerland. Up until the late twentieth century, it was largely shaped by the centuries-old traditional account of the founding of the Old Swiss Confederacy through the Federal Charter of 1291 as a defensive alliance of small...

, Winkelried's sacrifice brought about the victory of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Old Swiss Confederacy

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

 in the Battle of Sempach

Battle of Sempach

An armistice was agreed upon on 12 October, followed by a peace agreement valid for one year, beginning on 14 January 1387.The battle was a severe blow to Austrian interests in the region, and allowed for the further growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy....

 (1386) against the army of the Habsburg Duke Leopold III of Austria.

The legend

According to legend, the Swiss initially could not break the close ranks of the Habsburg pikemen. Winkelried cried: "I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen and confederates, my wife and children..." He then threw himself upon the Austrian pikes, taking some of them down with his body. This broke up the Austrian front, and made an opening through which the Swiss could attack.

As phrased in the Halbsuterlied printed in the 1530s by Aegidius Tschudi

Aegidius Tschudi

Aegidius Tschudi was an eminent member of the Tschudi family, of Glarus, Switzerland....

 and Wernher Steiner

Wernher Steiner

Wernher Steiner was a chronicler of Zug. His writings are among the important sources for Swiss history during the first half of the 16th century.As a military chaplain he witnessed the Battle of Marignano in 1515...

:

Des adels her was veste, ir ordnung dik und breit, Das verdross die frommen gäste, ein Winkelriet der seit wend Irs gniesen lon, min fromme kind und frowen, so will ich ein frevel bston.	The host of the nobles was solid, their order both thick and wide This frustrated the pious host; one Winkelried said: "If you will aliment my pious wife and children, I will do a daring deed."
Trüwen lieben eydgnossen, min leben verlur ich mit, sie hand ir ordnung bschlossen, wir mogänds in brechen nit. ich will ein inbruch han, des wellend ir min geschlechte in ewig geniessen lan:	"True and dear confederates, I shall lose my life doing it. Their battle order is locked tight, we may not breach it But I will make a breach For this may you aliment my family forever."
Hiemit so tett er fassen, ein arm voll spiess behend den sinen macht er ein gassen, sin leben hat ein end. er hat eins lewen mut, sin manlich dapfer sterben, was den vier waldstetten gut.	Saying thus he quickly grasped an armful of pikes, He created an entrance for his own, and his life took an end. He had the courage of a lion, His brave and manly death was a benefit for the four forest-cantons.
Also begunndentz brechen, des adels ordnung bald, mit howen und mit stechen, gott siner seelen walt wo er das nit hett gton, so wurds d eydgnossen han kostet noch mengen bidermann.	And thus they soon began to break up the battle order of the nobles with hewing and with thrusting; may God keep his soul. had he not done this deed it would have cost the confederates many a brave man.

Historicity

The historicity of Winkelried or his deed cannot be substantiated.

The earliest record of the deed is in a 1476 copy of a chronicle written before 1438. The hero in this account is unnamed, identified just as ein getrüwer man under den Eidgenozen (a faithful man among the Eidgenossen ("confederates")). In the chronicle of Diebold Schilling of Berne (c. 1480), in the picture of the battle of Sempach there is a warrior pierced with spears falling to the ground, which may possibly be meant to be Winkelried. In the chronicle of Diebold Schilling of Lucerne (1511), though in the text no allusion is made to any such incident, there is a similar picture of a man who has accomplished Winkelried's feat, though he is dressed in the colours of Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

.

The name of Winkelried first appears in the 16th century. The hero is still nameless in De Helvetiae origine by Rudolph Gwalther (1538), but Aegidius Tschudi

Aegidius Tschudi

Aegidius Tschudi was an eminent member of the Tschudi family, of Glarus, Switzerland....

 (1536) has "a man of Unterwalden, of the Winkelried family," this being expanded in the final recension of the chronicle (1564) into "a man of Unterwalden

Unterwalden

Unterwalden is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or Talschaften, now organized as two half-cantons, an upper part, Obwalden, and a lower part, Nidwalden.Unterwalden was one of the three participants...

, Arnold von Winckelried by name, a brave knight,". He is entered (in the same book, on the authority of the "Anniversary Book" of Stans, now lost) on the list of those who fell at Sempach at the head of the Nidwalden (or Stans) men as "Herr Arnold von Winckelriet, Ritter," this being in the first draft "Arnold Winckelriet."

Some recensions of the Sempacherlied

Sempacherlied

Sempacherlied is the title of a number of patriotic songs celebrating the Swiss victory at the Battle of Sempach .The oldest versions are recorded in the late 15th to early 16th century, e.g. by Melchior Russ , by Wernher Schodeler and by Aegidius Tschudi...

, which originally dates to about the time of the Burgundian Wars

Burgundian Wars

The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a decisive role. Open war broke out in 1474, and in the following years the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the...

 in the 1470s, do mention Winkelried, but these sections are mostly considered additions from the early 16th century, as in the additions by H. Berlinger of Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 to Etterlin's chronicle (made between 1531 and 1545), or the version in Werner Steiner's chronicle (1532). Also from the 16th century is evidence from lists of those who fell at Sempach; the "Anniversary Book" of Emmetten in Unterwalden (drawn up in 1560) has "der Winkelriedt" at the head of the Nidwalden men. A book by Horolanus, a pastor at Lucerne (about 1563), has "Erni Winckelried" some way down the list of Unterwalden men.

It thus appears that the legend may have originated by the 1430s, or at the latest the 1470s, that is within 50 or at the most 90 years of the battle, but the name of "Winkelried" was not associated with the hero before the 1530s or perhaps the 1520s, i.e. the time of the Swiss Reformation, more than 130 years after the battle.

The history of the Winkelrieds of Stans

Stans

Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-History:Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC...

 from 1248 to 1534 has been minutely worked out from the original documents by Hermann von Liebenau, in a paper published in 1854 and reprinted at Aarau

Aarau

Aarau is the capital of the northern Swiss canton of Aargau. The city is also the capital of the district of Aarau. It is German-speaking and predominantly Protestant. Aarau is situated on the Swiss plateau, in the valley of the Aar, on the river's right bank, and at the southern foot of the Jura...

 in 1862, and with much other matter in his book, Arnold von Winkelried, seine Zeit and seine That. According to von Liebenau, they were a knightly family at the time of the earliest documents from about 1250, but towards the end of the 14th century they seem to have been simpler men without the honors of knighthood, and not always using their prefix "von." Among its members we find an Erni Winkelried acting as a witness to a contract of sale on the 1st of May 1367, while the same man, or perhaps another member of the family, Erni von Winkelried, is plaintiff in a suit at Stans on the 29th of September 1389, and in 1417 is the landamman (or head man) of Unterwalden, being then called Arnold Winkelriet. We have, therefore, a real man named Arnold Winkelried living at Stans about the time of the battle of Sempach, who was, however, apparently alive and well three and even thirty years after the battle.

It is, however, possible that his deed has been historical and he has actually survived the battle. Mail can stand slashes and thrusts fairly well, and a padded gambeson adds protection. If he has, as the tale suggests, grabbed a bunch of lances on his chest and then jumped down, the thrusting power and penetration of the lance heads is reduced significantly and his hauberk and gambeson may have well protected his vital parts. This would create a gap on the phalanx, which then can be employed.

Significance

Similar to William Tell

William Tell

William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle....

, the figure of Winkelried was an important symbol during the formation of the Swiss federal state, and an icon of Swiss independence during World War II. Napoleon referred to Winkelried as “the Swiss Decius immortalized” at Sempach.
The Sempacherlied

Sempacherlied

Sempacherlied is the title of a number of patriotic songs celebrating the Swiss victory at the Battle of Sempach .The oldest versions are recorded in the late 15th to early 16th century, e.g. by Melchior Russ , by Wernher Schodeler and by Aegidius Tschudi...

of ca. 1836, one of the expressions of Swiss patriotism during the period of Restoration, is dedicated to the heroism of Winkelried.

There is a philosophy called "Winkelriedism", which name is taken from the hero's name. It is based on an individual giving himself up idealistically and sacrificially to the enemy for the betterment of others. Juliusz Słowacki created this way of thinking in his dramatic poem "Kordian

Kordian

Kordian is a drama written in 1833, and published in 1834, by Juliusz Słowacki, one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature. Kordian is one of the most notable works of Polish Romanticism and drama, , PWN Encyklopedia and is considered one of Słowacki's best works.-History:Słowacki began work on...

", where the titular character decides to kill the Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 to take Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

's suffering on himself, easing a breakthrough to freedom for his nation. Słowacki considered Poland the "Winkelried of Nations", a bitter and fatalistic sentiment.