Early Modern Switzerland
Encyclopedia
The early modern
history of the Old Swiss Confederacy
(Eidgenossenschaft
, also known as the "Swiss Republic" or Republica Helvetiorum), lasting from formal independence in 1648 to the French invasion
of 1798 came to be referred as Ancien Régime retrospectively, in post-Napoleonic Switzerland.
The early modern period was characterized by an increasingly aristrocratic
and oligarchic
ruling class as well as frequent economic or religious revolts. The loosely organized Confederation remained generally disorganized and crippled by religious divisions. During this period the Confederation gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire
with support from France, and had very close relations with France. The early modern period also saw the growth of French-Swiss literature with several famous authors, including the native-born Rousseau
, Voltaire
and Edward Gibbon
, as well as many other writers living in Switzerland.
between phases of expansion
consisted of Eight Cantons (Acht Orte) during 1352–1481, and of Thirteen Cantons from 1513 until its collapse in 1798.
The Thirteen Cantons thus correspond to the sovereign territories of Early Modern Switzerland.
They were listed in a fixed order of precedence, first the Eight Cantons of the 14th century Confederacy, then the five cantons which joined after the Burgundian Wars
, and within these two groups, the more powerful urban cantons were listed first, with Zürich
heading the list as the de facto Vorort
of the Eight Cantons prior to the Swiss Reformation.
The order of precedence, similar but not identical to the modern order (which lists Zug after Glarus, and Basel after Solothurn), was as follows:
Symbolic depictions of the Confederacy consisted of arrangements of the thirteen cantonal coats of arms, sometimes with an additional symbol of unity, such as two clasping hands, or the "Swiss Bull" or (from the later 17th century), the Three Confederates
or the Helvetia
allegory.
The cantonal coats of arms were often accompanied by the coats of arms of the close associates of the confederacy, including
Biel, 
the Imperial Abbey of St. Gall
en,
Imperial City
of St. Gallen
, the Sieben Zenden (Valais
),
the Three Leagues
(Grisons),
the Imperial City of Mulhouse
,
the Imperial City of Geneva
and the
Imperial City of Rottweil
.
left the Old Swiss Confederacy
divided between two hostile factions. But still, Switzerland remained a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen
) while Europe was torn by the Thirty Years' War
. The cities generally lay low and watched the destruction from afar, the Republic of Zürich investing in building state-of-the-art city ramparts. The cantons had concluded numerous mercenary contracts and defence alliances with partners on all sides. Some of these contracts neutralized each other, which allowed the confederation to remain neutral – in the 1647 Defensionale von Wil, signed under the impression of the Swedes advancing as far as Lake Constance
in the winter of 1646/47, the confederates declared "permanent armed neutrality", the historical starting point of Swiss neutrality, which would be re-confirmed by the Congress of Vienna
and adhered to throughout the 19th and 20th century conflicts
.
attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire
, although it had been de facto independent since the Swabian War
in 1499. With the support of the Duke of Orléans, who was also prince of Neuchâtel and the head of the French delegation, Johann Rudolf Wettstein
, the mayor of Basel, succeeded in getting a formal exemption from the empire for all cantons and associates of the confederacy.
During the Thirty Years' War, the Drei Bünde
(Graubünden
, an associate state of the Swiss Confederation) had been caught in the middle of internal and external conflict. Because the Leagues were very decentralized, conflicts over religion and foreign policy broke out during the war (known as the Bündner Wirren or Confusion of the Leagues). Following the war the League took steps to strengthen itself. The Valtellina
, which had broken from the Three Leagues, became a dependency once again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic
by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.
took Alsace
(in 1648), Franche-Comté
(in 1678 during the Franco-Dutch War
) and Strasbourg
(in 1681). Following Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes
, which granted rights to Protestants, the Protestant cantons began to favor military service with the Protestant Dutch
who were fighting a series of wars against several European powers including France.
In 1707 following the death of Marie de Nemours, Duchess of Nemours and Princess of Neuchâtel, the city, which was on the border of the Swiss Confederation, had to choose her successor from among fifteen claimants. While Louis XIV promoted a number of French pretenders to the title, the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederation encouraged Neuchâtel to select the Protestant King Frederick I of Prussia
. In a victory for the Protestant half of the Confederation, Frederick I, who claimed his entitlement in a rather complicated fashion through the Houses of Orange and Nassau
, was selected.
In 1715 the catholic cantons, to regain prestige following their defeat during the Second Battle of Villmergen
, renewed the Confederation's treaty with France with several major and unpopular changes. France was placed in the position of the guarantor of their freedom with rights of interfering in case of attack from forces within or without the Confederation. France also promised to procure restitution for the lands lost by the catholic cantons to the Protestant cantons. This agreement removed much of the independence that the Confederation had enjoyed. In 1777 the unpopular clause was dropped from a renewed agreement between the Confederation and France and the independence of Switzerland was explicitly stated.
Political power congealed around the 13 cantons (Bern, Zürich
, Zug
, Glarus
, Uri
, Schwyz
, Unterwalden
, Fribourg, Solothurn
, Basel
, Luzern, Schaffhausen
, Appenzell
) of the old confederation. During this era, the patrician
families decreased in number but increased in power. Some patrician families were drawn from leadership in the Guild
s or trading groups within the town. While other families grew from successful mercenary captains and soldiers. The trend toward increasing Authoritarianism
conflicted with the history of public expression which grew out of the Swiss Reformation. In many regions the patrician families were unable to suppress the public assemblies but they did dominate the assemblies. The tradition of inviting the people to express their opinions died out mostly during this era.
During this time, changes to the membership of city councils became increasingly rare. Throughout the Middle Ages
a seat on the town council was normally a lifetime appointment. However plagues, battlefield deaths and conflicts over the Reformation guaranteed a regular turnover in the city councils. During the early modern era, the growing scientific knowledge and relative peace reduced the number of open seats in the cities. At the same time, council members were increasingly able to fill the council with relatives. During this era, the population in Europe began to expand again following the Thirty Years War. This led to population pressure that hadn't been experienced in several generations. For protection and help against the rising number of immigrants and landless peasants many villages began to draw closer to neighboring towns, eventually coming under the authority of the larger towns.
During the 17th century seats in the councils became increasingly hereditary. There were between 50 and 200 families that controlled all the key political, military and industrial positions in Switzerland. In Bern out of 360 burgher families only 69 still had any power and could be elected by the end of the 18th century. However, the aristocracy remained generally open and in some cities new families were accepted if they were successful and rich enough.
During the Thirty Years War, the Swiss Confederacy had been spared from all belligerent action. This allowed the Swiss economy to flourish as war ravaged neighbors bought food and equipment from the Confederacy. However, following the end of the war the German economy recovered and demand for Swiss exports dropped. Many Swiss peasants, who had raised mortgages
during the boom at wartime, suddenly faced financial problems.
For cities the war had brought both prosperity and new expenses. The cities required new defenses such as new bastion
s. During the war France and Spain had paid Pensions, the agreed sums in return for the cantons providing them with mercenary regiments. With the end of the war this money had to be replaced. Taxes were raised and new ones were created. Additionally, less valuable copper coins called Batzen were minted. The Batzen had, however, the same face value
as the previously minted silver money. The population began hoarding the silver coins, and the cheap copper money that remained in circulation continually lost its purchasing power
. At the end of the war, the population thus faced both a postwar depression
and a high inflation, combined with high taxes. This financial crisis led to a series of tax revolts in several cantons of the Confederacy, for instance 1629–36 in Lucerne, 1641 in Bern, or 1645/46 in Zürich. The uprising in 1653 continued this series, but would take the conflict to an unprecedented level.
In 1653 the largest uprising occurred as peasants of territories subject to Lucerne
, Bern, Solothurn
and Basel
revolted because of currency devaluation. Although the authorities prevailed in this Swiss peasant war
, they did pass some tax reforms and the incident in the long term prevented creation of an absolutist
state, unlike many of the other states of Europe. The Confederation remained a decentralised and disorganised country during this era, torn by religious and political conflicts. In 1655 an attempt to create a central administration fell apart after the two proposers, Bern and Zürich, couldn't agree with each other.
In 1656 a conflict over religious refugees from Schwyz who had fled to Zürich erupted in the First Battle of Villmergen
, which ended in a return to the prewar status quo and a treaty agreement that each canton would be totally independent with respect to religious matters. in 1656 and 1712. Around 1707 unrest erupted in the city of Geneva
which continued throughout the early modern period. Additionally in 1707, the Toggenburg
valley rebelled against the Prince-Abbot of St. Gall
. Attempts by the Abbot to suppress the valley led to the Second Battle of Villmergen in 1712 and the sacking of the Abbey of St. Gall
by Bernese and Zürich troops. From 1719–22 the Werdenberg region rebelled against the city of Glarus
.
In 1717 Major Jean Daniel Abraham Davel was appointed the commander of the Lavaux
region, which is in modern day Canton Vaud
. He identified with the French speaking population that felt oppressed by the German speaking city of Bern that occupied Vaud. Davel believed that he had been called by God to free the inhabitants of Vaud from Bern. On 31 March 1723 he mobilised 600 men and marched on Lausanne
to ask the city leaders to revolt with him. However, they reported him to Bern and arrested him on the next morning. He was judged guilty of treason and beheaded.
About a quarter century later, in 1749, there was another unsuccessful uprising in Bern against the patrician families of the city. A few years later, in 1755, the unsuccessful Liviner Uprising against Uri. Finally in 1781 the Chenaux Uprising occurred against the city of Fribourg
.
was well received in Swiss cities, in spite of contemporary tendencies towards political conservatism. The early modern period was a time when Swiss science and literature flowered. In Zürich the scholar and physician Johann Jakob Scheuchzer
wrote about Swiss history, geology, geography and science. In Basel the Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler
worked on mathematics and physics, coming up with some fundamental concepts in these fields. Albrecht von Haller
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
praised the natural beauty and unspoiled state of Switzerland and triggered an early wave of tourism
(notably, Goethe's visit to Switzerland in 1775).
Zürich at the time was home to a number of internationally known scholars, such as Johann Jakob Bodmer
, Salomon Gessner, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
and Johann Caspar Lavater, styling itself as "Republic" (after the great city states of the time, such as the Republic of Venice
).
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In the 18th century the intellectual movement in Switzerland greatly developed, though it was naturally strongly influenced by local characteristics. Basel, Bern and especially Zürich were the chief literary centres. Basel was distinguished for its mathematicians, such as Leonhard Euler
(1707–1783), and three members of the Bernoulli family, the brothers Jakob (1654–1705) and Johann
(1667–1748), and the latter's son Daniel
(1700–1782). But its chief literary glory was Isaak Iselin
(1728–1782), one of the founders of the Helvetic Society
(1760) and of the Economical Society (1777). He wrote about the philosophy of history, ideal politics and economics.
In Bern both German and French were commonly used in writing, making the separation of Bernese authors into one category difficult. Albrecht von Haller
wrote both scientific works as well as poems which praised the beauty of the countryside. His son Gottlieb Emanuel von Haller (1735–1786), compiled a useful bibliography of writings relating to Swiss history, which is still used today. Beat Ludwig von Muralt (1656–1749) analysed, in French, the racial characteristics of other nations for the instruction of his fellow-countrymen. Samuel Wyttenbach (1748–1830), Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner
and Johann Georg Altmann (1697–1758) all wrote descriptions of the countryside in a combination of literary and scientific styles.
In Zürich JJ Scheuchzer
wrote in Latin of his travels around the country, and shared them with the London Royal Society
of which he was a Fellow. He associated closely with other Fellows of the Royal Society, including Isaac Newton
. JJ Bodmer
and his friend Johann Jakob Breitinger
(1701–1776) were among the most prominent purely literary writers in the city. Another famous Zürich writer was Solomon Gesner, the pastoral poet, and yet another was JK Lavater
, now best remembered as a supporter of the view that the face presents a perfect indication of character and that physiognomy
may therefore he treated as a science. Other well-known Zürich names are those of JH Pestalozzi
(1746–1827), the educationalist, of Hans Caspar Hirzel (1725–1803), another of the founders of the Helvetic Society, and of Johann Georg Sulzer
(1720–1779), whose chief work is one on the laws of art or aesthetics.
Outside the three towns named above there were several significant writers of German-speaking Switzerland. One of the best known is Johann Georg Zimmermann (1728–1795), whose Betrachtungen fiber die Einsamkeit (1756-1784/1785) profoundly impressed his contemporaries. He, like the fabulist AE Erhlich, was born at Brugg. Johannes von Müller
of Schaffhausen
, was the first who attempted to write (1780) a detailed history of Switzerland, which, though inspired more by his love of freedom than by any deep research, was very characteristic of his times. JG Ebel
was a Swiss by adoption only, but deserves mention as the author of the first detailed guidebook to the country (1793), which held its ground till the days of Murray
and Baedeker
. A later writer, Heinrich Zschokke
(1771–1848), also a Swiss by adoption only, produced (1822) a history of Switzerland written for the people, which had a great vogue.
The 18th century was the "golden age" for Swiss literature. This was due to the influence of French refugees who came to Switzerland after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Among the refugees was Louis Bourguet
(1678–1743) who wrote geological works and founded two periodicals that provided Italian research and works by French Swiss authors to the country. Abraham Ruchat (1678–1750), who was published in Bourguet's periodicals, is best known as the author (under the pen-name of Gottlieb Kypseler) of an excellent guide-book to Switzerland, which was published from 1714 until 1778. Around the same time the historian Charles Guillaume Loys de Bochat (1695–1754) and the philosopher JP de Crousaz (1663–1750), were working the Vaud
region, which was at the time part of the Canton of Bern. A French refugee at Lausanne
, Jean Barbeyrac
(1674–1744), published in 1712 a translation of Samuel von Pufendorf
's works on natural law
. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui
(1694–1750) and the celebrated international lawyer Emeric de Vattel (1714 1767) were natives of Neuchâtel, though de Vattle only returned to die in the city.
The second half of the 18th century was when some of the best known writers of the era established themselves in what would become French Switzerland. In 1754 the famed philosopher Rousseau
came back for good to Geneva
, and Voltaire
established himself at Ferney, while in 1753 the historian Edward Gibbon
moved to Lausanne
. These three, while their works were not specifically Swiss, lead the golden age of French literature in Switzerland.
Also during this time there were other active writers. Madame de Charrière
(1740–1805) was Dutch by birth, but married to a native of Neuchâtel. She wrote of sad results of an unsuitable marriage and set her books in highly detailed small provincial towns. Paul Henri Mallet
, a Genevese, who held a chair at Copenhagen
, devoted himself to making known to the educated world the history and antiquities of Scandinavia.
During the mid and late 18th century Geneva produced a number of scientists who were interested in the characteristics of the Alps. The chief of this school was Horace-Bénédict de Saussure
one of the founders of the sciences of geology and meteorology
, while his Alpine ascents (undertaken in the cause of science) opened a new world even to non-scientific travellers. Jean-André Deluc
devoted himself mainly to questions of physics in the Alps, while Jean Sénebier, the biographer of Saussure, was more known as a physiologist than as a physicist, though he wrote on many branches of natural science, which in those days was not yet highly specialised. On the other hand Marc Théodore Bourrit
, the contemporary of these three men, was rather a curious and inquisitive traveller than a scientific investigator, and charms us even now by his genial simplicity as contrasted with the austerity and gravity of the three writers we have mentioned.
In Vaud, at this time part of the Canton of Bern, nationalist feelings among the French-speaking inhabitants and against the German-speaking Bern administration began to grow. Philippe Cyriaque Bridel (1757–1845), began writing poetry in 1782 and is considered the earliest Vaudois poet. His descriptions of his travels around the Vaud region were published in serial form for nearly 50 years, from 1783 until 1831. His paintings and written portraits of the Vaud countryside inspired a number of later writers and helped unify the nationalist movement in Vaud.
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
history of the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
(Eidgenossenschaft
Eidgenossenschaft
Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. The term literally translates as "oath fellowship". An Eidgenossenschaft is a confederacy of equal partners, which can be individuals or groups such as states, formed by a pact sealed by a solemn oath. Such an alliance could be either...
, also known as the "Swiss Republic" or Republica Helvetiorum), lasting from formal independence in 1648 to the French invasion
Switzerland in the Napoleonic era
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the revolutionary armies marched eastward, enveloping Switzerland in their battles against Austria. In 1798 Switzerland was completely overrun by the French and became the Helvetic Republic. The Helvetic Republic encountered severe economic and political problems...
of 1798 came to be referred as Ancien Régime retrospectively, in post-Napoleonic Switzerland.
The early modern period was characterized by an increasingly aristrocratic
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
and oligarchic
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
ruling class as well as frequent economic or religious revolts. The loosely organized Confederation remained generally disorganized and crippled by religious divisions. During this period the Confederation gained independence from 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...
with support from France, and had very close relations with France. The early modern period also saw the growth of French-Swiss literature with several famous authors, including the native-born Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
, as well as many other writers living in Switzerland.
Thirteen Cantons
The Old Swiss ConfederacyOld Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
between phases of expansion
Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
The growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy began as an alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains...
consisted of Eight Cantons (Acht Orte) during 1352–1481, and of Thirteen Cantons from 1513 until its collapse in 1798.
The Thirteen Cantons thus correspond to the sovereign territories of Early Modern Switzerland.
They were listed in a fixed order of precedence, first the Eight Cantons of the 14th century Confederacy, then the five cantons which joined after 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...
, and within these two groups, the more powerful urban cantons were listed first, with Zürich
History of Zürich
Zurich was continuously inhabited since Roman times. The name Zurich is possibly derived from the Celtic dur . It is first mentioned in 807 under the form Turigus, then in 853 as Turegus...
heading the list as the de facto Vorort
Vorort
Vorort is a German term that could be considered roughly equivalent to a suburb. Vororte usually have their own business centre. They are the remainders of formerly separate neighbour towns, or have been founded as satellite towns...
of the Eight Cantons prior to the Swiss Reformation.
The order of precedence, similar but not identical to the modern order (which lists Zug after Glarus, and Basel after Solothurn), was as follows:
-
ZürichCanton of ZürichThe Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
, city canton, since 1351 -
Berne, city canton, since 1353; associate since 1323 -
LucerneCanton of LucerneLucerne is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population of the canton is . , the population included 57,268 foreigners, or about 15.8% of the total population. The cantonal capital is Lucerne.-History:...
, city canton, since 1332 -
UriCanton of UriUri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
, founding canton (Pact of BrunnenPact of BrunnenThe pact of Brunnen is a historical treaty between the cantons ofUri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen SZ on 9 December 1315....
1315) -
SchwyzCanton of SchwyzSchwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne in the east and Lake Zurich in the north, centered around and named after the town of Schwyz....
, founding canton (Pact of BrunnenPact of BrunnenThe pact of Brunnen is a historical treaty between the cantons ofUri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen SZ on 9 December 1315....
1315) -
UnterwaldenUnterwaldenUnterwalden 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...
, founding canton (Pact of BrunnenPact of BrunnenThe pact of Brunnen is a historical treaty between the cantons ofUri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen SZ on 9 December 1315....
1315) -
ZugCanton of ZugThe Canton of Zug is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. It is located in central Switzerland and its capital is Zug. With 239 km² the canton is one of the smallest of the cantons in terms of area. It is not subdivided into districts.- History :The earlier history of the canton is...
, city canton, since 1352 - GlarusCanton of GlarusThe Canton of Glarus is a canton in east central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus.The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German.The majority of the population identifies as Christian, about evenly split between the Protestant and Catholic confessions.-History:According to legend, the...
, rural canton, since 1352 -
Basel, city canton, since 1501 -
FribourgCanton of FribourgThe Canton of Fribourg is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the west of the country. The capital of the canton is Fribourg. The name Fribourg is French, whereas is the German name for both the canton and the town.-History:...
, city canton, since 1481; associate since 1454 - SolothurnCanton of SolothurnSolothurn is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn.-History:The territory of the canton comprises land acquired by the capital...
, city canton, since 1481; associate since 1353 -
SchaffhausenCanton of SchaffhausenThe Canton of is a canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the canton is Schaffhausen.- History:Schaffhausen was a city-state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins starting in 1045. It was then known as Villa Scafhusun. Around 1049 Count Eberhard von...
, city canton, since 1501; associate since 1454 -
Appenzell, rural canton, since 1513; associate since 1411
Symbolic depictions of the Confederacy consisted of arrangements of the thirteen cantonal coats of arms, sometimes with an additional symbol of unity, such as two clasping hands, or the "Swiss Bull" or (from the later 17th century), the Three Confederates
Rütlischwur
The Rütlischwur is a legendary oath of the Old Swiss Confederacy, taken on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne near Seelisberg. The oath is notably featured in the Wilhelm Tell drama of 1804 by Friedrich Schiller.-Early accounts:...
or the Helvetia
Helvetia
Helvetia is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially Confœderatio Helvetica, the "Helvetic Confederation".The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss flag, and commonly with braided hair, commonly with a wreath as...
allegory.
The cantonal coats of arms were often accompanied by the coats of arms of the close associates of the confederacy, including
Biel, the Imperial Abbey of St. GallAbbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...
en,
Imperial CityFree Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
of St. Gallen
St. Gallen
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...
, the Sieben Zenden (Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
),
the Three LeaguesThree Leagues
The Three Leagues was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League, leading eventually to the formation of the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Most of the lands of Graubünden were part of the Roman province Raetia in 15 BC...
(Grisons),
the Imperial City of MulhouseMulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
,
the Imperial City of GenevaGeneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and the
Imperial City of RottweilRottweil
Rottweil is a town in the south west of Germany and is the oldest town in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb hills, Rottweil has about 25,000 inhabitants...
.
The Thirty Years War
The Reformation in SwitzerlandReformation in Switzerland
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate and population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matters in Zürich and spread to several other cantons of the Old Swiss...
left the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
divided between two hostile factions. But still, Switzerland remained a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen was a German author.-Biography:Grimmelshausen was born at Gelnhausen. At the age of ten he was kidnapped by Hessian soldiery, and in their midst tasted the adventures of military life in the Thirty Years' War...
) while Europe was torn by the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The cities generally lay low and watched the destruction from afar, the Republic of Zürich investing in building state-of-the-art city ramparts. The cantons had concluded numerous mercenary contracts and defence alliances with partners on all sides. Some of these contracts neutralized each other, which allowed the confederation to remain neutral – in the 1647 Defensionale von Wil, signed under the impression of the Swedes advancing as far as Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
in the winter of 1646/47, the confederates declared "permanent armed neutrality", the historical starting point of Swiss neutrality, which would be re-confirmed by the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
and adhered to throughout the 19th and 20th century conflicts
Switzerland during the World Wars
During both World War I and World War II, Switzerland managed to keep a stance of armed neutrality, and was not involved militarily. However, precisely because of its neutral status, Switzerland was of considerable interest to all parties involved, as the scene for diplomacy, espionage, commerce,...
.
Treaty of Westphalia
At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the Swiss ConfederacyOld Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
attained legal independence from 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...
, although it had been de facto independent since the Swabian War
Swabian War
The Swabian War of 1499 was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg...
in 1499. With the support of the Duke of Orléans, who was also prince of Neuchâtel and the head of the French delegation, Johann Rudolf Wettstein
Johann Rudolf Wettstein
Johann Rudolf Wettstein was a Swiss diplomat and one-time mayor of Basel. His father, a wine grower, had migrated from Russikon in the Zurich region and worked in the Basel hospital, eventually becoming hospital supervisor.- Career :...
, the mayor of Basel, succeeded in getting a formal exemption from the empire for all cantons and associates of the confederacy.
During the Thirty Years' War, the Drei Bünde
Three Leagues
The Three Leagues was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League, leading eventually to the formation of the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Most of the lands of Graubünden were part of the Roman province Raetia in 15 BC...
(Graubünden
Graubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
, an associate state of the Swiss Confederation) had been caught in the middle of internal and external conflict. Because the Leagues were very decentralized, conflicts over religion and foreign policy broke out during the war (known as the Bündner Wirren or Confusion of the Leagues). Following the war the League took steps to strengthen itself. The Valtellina
Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline valley ; is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its skiing, its hot spring spas, its cheeses and its wines...
, which had broken from the Three Leagues, became a dependency once again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic
Cisalpine Republic
The Cisalpine Republic was a French client republic in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802.-Birth:After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte proceeded to organize two states: one to the south of the Po River, the Cispadane Republic, and one to the north, the Transpadane...
by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.
Relationships with France
Following the Thirty Years' War, as France grew into a great power in Europe, the newly independent Confederation turned to France for trade and protection. In 1663 the Confederation agreed to a new treaty with France which granted Swiss mercenaries certain rights and protections as well as promised French neutrality in Swiss religious conflicts. However, as a consequence of this treaty Switzerland could do nothing when Louis XIVLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
took Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
(in 1648), Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
(in 1678 during the Franco-Dutch War
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...
) and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
(in 1681). Following Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
, which granted rights to Protestants, the Protestant cantons began to favor military service with the Protestant Dutch
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
who were fighting a series of wars against several European powers including France.
In 1707 following the death of Marie de Nemours, Duchess of Nemours and Princess of Neuchâtel, the city, which was on the border of the Swiss Confederation, had to choose her successor from among fifteen claimants. While Louis XIV promoted a number of French pretenders to the title, the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederation encouraged Neuchâtel to select the Protestant King Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
. In a victory for the Protestant half of the Confederation, Frederick I, who claimed his entitlement in a rather complicated fashion through the Houses of Orange and Nassau
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
, was selected.
In 1715 the catholic cantons, to regain prestige following their defeat during the Second Battle of Villmergen
Battles of Villmergen
The Battles of Villmergen were two battles between Reformed and Catholic Swiss cantons. They occurred on January 24, 1656 and July 24, 1712 at Villmergen, Canton of Aargau, Switzerland ....
, renewed the Confederation's treaty with France with several major and unpopular changes. France was placed in the position of the guarantor of their freedom with rights of interfering in case of attack from forces within or without the Confederation. France also promised to procure restitution for the lands lost by the catholic cantons to the Protestant cantons. This agreement removed much of the independence that the Confederation had enjoyed. In 1777 the unpopular clause was dropped from a renewed agreement between the Confederation and France and the independence of Switzerland was explicitly stated.
Growth of the aristocracy
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Zug
Canton of Zug
The Canton of Zug is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. It is located in central Switzerland and its capital is Zug. With 239 km² the canton is one of the smallest of the cantons in terms of area. It is not subdivided into districts.- History :The earlier history of the canton is...
, Glarus
Glarus
Glarus is the capital of the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Glarus municipality since 1 January 2011 incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern....
, Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
, Schwyz
Schwyz
The town of is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.The Federal Charter of 1291 or Bundesbrief, the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the Bundesbriefmuseum.-History of the toponym:...
, 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...
, Fribourg, Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
, 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...
, Luzern, Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
, Appenzell
Appenzell
Appenzell is a region and historical canton in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen....
) of the old confederation. During this era, the patrician
Patricianship
Patricianship, the quality of belonging to a patriciate, began in the ancient world, where cities such as Ancient Rome had a class of patrician families whose members were the only people allowed to exercise many political functions...
families decreased in number but increased in power. Some patrician families were drawn from leadership in the Guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s or trading groups within the town. While other families grew from successful mercenary captains and soldiers. The trend toward increasing Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
conflicted with the history of public expression which grew out of the Swiss Reformation. In many regions the patrician families were unable to suppress the public assemblies but they did dominate the assemblies. The tradition of inviting the people to express their opinions died out mostly during this era.
During this time, changes to the membership of city councils became increasingly rare. Throughout the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
a seat on the town council was normally a lifetime appointment. However plagues, battlefield deaths and conflicts over the Reformation guaranteed a regular turnover in the city councils. During the early modern era, the growing scientific knowledge and relative peace reduced the number of open seats in the cities. At the same time, council members were increasingly able to fill the council with relatives. During this era, the population in Europe began to expand again following the Thirty Years War. This led to population pressure that hadn't been experienced in several generations. For protection and help against the rising number of immigrants and landless peasants many villages began to draw closer to neighboring towns, eventually coming under the authority of the larger towns.
During the 17th century seats in the councils became increasingly hereditary. There were between 50 and 200 families that controlled all the key political, military and industrial positions in Switzerland. In Bern out of 360 burgher families only 69 still had any power and could be elected by the end of the 18th century. However, the aristocracy remained generally open and in some cities new families were accepted if they were successful and rich enough.
Conflict and Revolution
During the Ancien Régime the nobility of Switzerland grew in power becoming nearly absolute rulers. Among the population the loss of power, growing taxes, conflicts between rural and urban populations and religious conflicts all lead to uprisings and conflicts throughout the Confederation.During the Thirty Years War, the Swiss Confederacy had been spared from all belligerent action. This allowed the Swiss economy to flourish as war ravaged neighbors bought food and equipment from the Confederacy. However, following the end of the war the German economy recovered and demand for Swiss exports dropped. Many Swiss peasants, who had raised mortgages
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
during the boom at wartime, suddenly faced financial problems.
For cities the war had brought both prosperity and new expenses. The cities required new defenses such as new bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s. During the war France and Spain had paid Pensions, the agreed sums in return for the cantons providing them with mercenary regiments. With the end of the war this money had to be replaced. Taxes were raised and new ones were created. Additionally, less valuable copper coins called Batzen were minted. The Batzen had, however, the same face value
Face value
The Face value is the value of a coin, stamp or paper money, as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the minting authority. While the face value usually refers to the true value of the coin, stamp or bill in question it can sometimes be largely symbolic, as is often the case with bullion...
as the previously minted silver money. The population began hoarding the silver coins, and the cheap copper money that remained in circulation continually lost its purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
. At the end of the war, the population thus faced both a postwar depression
Depression (economics)
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
and a high inflation, combined with high taxes. This financial crisis led to a series of tax revolts in several cantons of the Confederacy, for instance 1629–36 in Lucerne, 1641 in Bern, or 1645/46 in Zürich. The uprising in 1653 continued this series, but would take the conflict to an unprecedented level.
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...
, Bern, Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
and 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...
revolted because of currency devaluation. Although the authorities prevailed in this Swiss peasant war
Swiss peasant war of 1653
The Swiss peasant war of 1653 was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime. A devaluation of Bernese money caused a tax revolt that spread from the Entlebuch valley in the Canton of Lucerne to the Emmental valley in the Canton of Bern and then to the cantons of...
, they did pass some tax reforms and the incident in the long term prevented creation of an absolutist
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
state, unlike many of the other states of Europe. The Confederation remained a decentralised and disorganised country during this era, torn by religious and political conflicts. In 1655 an attempt to create a central administration fell apart after the two proposers, Bern and Zürich, couldn't agree with each other.
In 1656 a conflict over religious refugees from Schwyz who had fled to Zürich erupted in the First Battle of Villmergen
Battles of Villmergen
The Battles of Villmergen were two battles between Reformed and Catholic Swiss cantons. They occurred on January 24, 1656 and July 24, 1712 at Villmergen, Canton of Aargau, Switzerland ....
, which ended in a return to the prewar status quo and a treaty agreement that each canton would be totally independent with respect to religious matters. in 1656 and 1712. Around 1707 unrest erupted in the city of Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
which continued throughout the early modern period. Additionally in 1707, the Toggenburg
Toggenburg
Toggenburg is the name given to the upper valley of the Thur River, in the Swiss Canton of St. Gallen. Currently, it is one of the eight constituencies into which the canton is divided....
valley rebelled against the Prince-Abbot of St. Gall
Abbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...
. Attempts by the Abbot to suppress the valley led to the Second Battle of Villmergen in 1712 and the sacking of the Abbey of St. Gall
Abbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...
by Bernese and Zürich troops. From 1719–22 the Werdenberg region rebelled against the city of Glarus
Glarus
Glarus is the capital of the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Glarus municipality since 1 January 2011 incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern....
.
In 1717 Major Jean Daniel Abraham Davel was appointed the commander of the Lavaux
Lavaux
The Lavaux is a region in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, in the district of Lavaux. Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the actual vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area...
region, which is in modern day Canton Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
. He identified with the French speaking population that felt oppressed by the German speaking city of Bern that occupied Vaud. Davel believed that he had been called by God to free the inhabitants of Vaud from Bern. On 31 March 1723 he mobilised 600 men and marched on Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
to ask the city leaders to revolt with him. However, they reported him to Bern and arrested him on the next morning. He was judged guilty of treason and beheaded.
About a quarter century later, in 1749, there was another unsuccessful uprising in Bern against the patrician families of the city. A few years later, in 1755, the unsuccessful Liviner Uprising against Uri. Finally in 1781 the Chenaux Uprising occurred against the city of Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
.
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of EnlightenmentAge of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
was well received in Swiss cities, in spite of contemporary tendencies towards political conservatism. The early modern period was a time when Swiss science and literature flowered. In Zürich the scholar and physician Johann Jakob Scheuchzer
Johann Jakob Scheuchzer
Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a Swiss scholar born at Zürich.thumb|Herbarium deluvianumthumb|Zürich, Zwingli-Platz : Former home of Konrad von Mure and the house, where Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was bornthumb|Memorial plate-Career:The son of the senior town physician of Zürich, he received his...
wrote about Swiss history, geology, geography and science. In Basel the Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
worked on mathematics and physics, coming up with some fundamental concepts in these fields. Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet.-Early life:He was born of an old Swiss family at Bern. Prevented by long-continued ill-health from taking part in boyish sports, he had the more opportunity for the development of his precocious mind...
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
praised the natural beauty and unspoiled state of Switzerland and triggered an early wave of tourism
Tourism in Switzerland
Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular for skiing and mountaineering.As of 2006, tourism accounted for an estimated 3.6% of Switzerland's gross domestic product.- History :...
(notably, Goethe's visit to Switzerland in 1775).
Zürich at the time was home to a number of internationally known scholars, such as Johann Jakob Bodmer
Johann Jakob Bodmer
Johann Jakob Bodmer was a Swiss-German author, academic, critic and poet.-Life:Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters...
, Salomon Gessner, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach....
and Johann Caspar Lavater, styling itself as "Republic" (after the great city states of the time, such as the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
).
Culture during the early modern period
Before the early modern period most of the literature of the Swiss Confederation was either in Latin or German as until 1798 ponfederation was overwhelmingly German with only small pockets of French. During the early modern period German still dominated though French, Italian and Romansh began to develop literary traditions within the boundaries of modern Switzerland.German writings
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
(1707–1783), and three members of the Bernoulli family, the brothers Jakob (1654–1705) and Johann
Johann Bernoulli
Johann Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family...
(1667–1748), and the latter's son Daniel
Daniel Bernoulli
Daniel Bernoulli was a Dutch-Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is particularly remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechanics, especially fluid mechanics, and for his pioneering work in probability and statistics...
(1700–1782). But its chief literary glory was Isaak Iselin
Isaak Iselin
Isaak Iselin was a Swiss philosopher of history and politics.Iselin studied law and philosophy at the University of Basel and the University of Göttingen. In 1756 he became secretary of the republic of Basel...
(1728–1782), one of the founders of the Helvetic Society
Helvetic Society
The Helvetische Gesellschaft / Société Helvétique, or Helvetic Society as it is known in English, was a patriotic society and the first Swiss reform society. It was founded by Swiss philosopher Isaak Iselin, poet Solomon Gessner and some 20 others on 15 May 1762, and was dissolved with the...
(1760) and of the Economical Society (1777). He wrote about the philosophy of history, ideal politics and economics.
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet.-Early life:He was born of an old Swiss family at Bern. Prevented by long-continued ill-health from taking part in boyish sports, he had the more opportunity for the development of his precocious mind...
wrote both scientific works as well as poems which praised the beauty of the countryside. His son Gottlieb Emanuel von Haller (1735–1786), compiled a useful bibliography of writings relating to Swiss history, which is still used today. Beat Ludwig von Muralt (1656–1749) analysed, in French, the racial characteristics of other nations for the instruction of his fellow-countrymen. Samuel Wyttenbach (1748–1830), Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner
Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner
Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner , cartographer and geologist, was the author of the first connected attempt to describe in detail the snowy mountains of Switzerland....
and Johann Georg Altmann (1697–1758) all wrote descriptions of the countryside in a combination of literary and scientific styles.
In Zürich JJ Scheuchzer
Johann Jakob Scheuchzer
Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a Swiss scholar born at Zürich.thumb|Herbarium deluvianumthumb|Zürich, Zwingli-Platz : Former home of Konrad von Mure and the house, where Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was bornthumb|Memorial plate-Career:The son of the senior town physician of Zürich, he received his...
wrote in Latin of his travels around the country, and shared them with the London Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
of which he was a Fellow. He associated closely with other Fellows of the Royal Society, including Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
. JJ Bodmer
Johann Jakob Bodmer
Johann Jakob Bodmer was a Swiss-German author, academic, critic and poet.-Life:Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters...
and his friend Johann Jakob Breitinger
Johann Jakob Breitinger
Johann Jakob Breitinger was a Swiss philologist and author.- Life :Breitinger studied theology and philology and first earned recognition from 1730 through a new edition of the Septuaginta. From 1731 he worked as Professor of Hebrew and later of Greek in the gymnasium in Zürich...
(1701–1776) were among the most prominent purely literary writers in the city. Another famous Zürich writer was Solomon Gesner, the pastoral poet, and yet another was JK Lavater
Johann Kaspar Lavater
Johann Kaspar Lavater was a Swiss poet and physiognomist.-Early life:Lavater was born at Zürich, and educated at the Gymnasium there, where J. J. Bodmer and J. J...
, now best remembered as a supporter of the view that the face presents a perfect indication of character and that physiognomy
Physiognomy
Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
may therefore he treated as a science. Other well-known Zürich names are those of JH Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach....
(1746–1827), the educationalist, of Hans Caspar Hirzel (1725–1803), another of the founders of the Helvetic Society, and of Johann Georg Sulzer
Johann Georg Sulzer
Johann Georg Sulzer was a Swiss professor of Mathematics, who later on moved on to the field of electricity. He was a Wolffian philosopher and director of the philosophical section of the Berlin Academy of Sciences....
(1720–1779), whose chief work is one on the laws of art or aesthetics.
Outside the three towns named above there were several significant writers of German-speaking Switzerland. One of the best known is Johann Georg Zimmermann (1728–1795), whose Betrachtungen fiber die Einsamkeit (1756-1784/1785) profoundly impressed his contemporaries. He, like the fabulist AE Erhlich, was born at Brugg. Johannes von Müller
Johannes von Müller
Johannes von Müller was a Swiss historian.-Biography:He was born at Schaffhausen, where his father was a clergyman and rector of the gymnasium. In his youth, his maternal grandfather, Johannes Schoop , roused in him an interest in the history of his country...
of Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
, was the first who attempted to write (1780) a detailed history of Switzerland, which, though inspired more by his love of freedom than by any deep research, was very characteristic of his times. JG Ebel
Johann Gottfried Ebel
Johann Gottfried Ebel , the author of the first real guide-book to Switzerland, was born at Zullichau ....
was a Swiss by adoption only, but deserves mention as the author of the first detailed guidebook to the country (1793), which held its ground till the days of Murray
John Murray (publisher)
John Murray is an English publisher, renowned for the authors it has published in its history, including Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Herman Melville, and Charles Darwin...
and Baedeker
Karl Baedeker
Karl Baedeker was a German publisher whose company Baedeker set the standard for authoritative guidebooks for tourists.- Biography :...
. A later writer, Heinrich Zschokke
Heinrich Zschokke
Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke was a German author and reformer. Most of his life was spent, and most of his reputation earned, in Switzerland...
(1771–1848), also a Swiss by adoption only, produced (1822) a history of Switzerland written for the people, which had a great vogue.
French writing
Louis Bourguet
Louis Bourguet was a polymath and correspondent of Leibniz who wrote on archaeology, geology, philosophy, Biblical scholarship and mathematics....
(1678–1743) who wrote geological works and founded two periodicals that provided Italian research and works by French Swiss authors to the country. Abraham Ruchat (1678–1750), who was published in Bourguet's periodicals, is best known as the author (under the pen-name of Gottlieb Kypseler) of an excellent guide-book to Switzerland, which was published from 1714 until 1778. Around the same time the historian Charles Guillaume Loys de Bochat (1695–1754) and the philosopher JP de Crousaz (1663–1750), were working the Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
region, which was at the time part of the Canton of Bern. A French refugee at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Jean Barbeyrac
Jean Barbeyrac
-Life:Born at Béziers in Lower Languedoc, the nephew of Charles Barbeyrac, a distinguished physician of Montpellier. He moved with his family into Switzerland after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. After spending some time at Geneva and Frankfurt am Main, he became professor of belles-lettres...
(1674–1744), published in 1712 a translation of Samuel von Pufendorf
Samuel von Pufendorf
Baron Samuel von Pufendorf was a German jurist, political philosopher, economist, statesman, and historian. His name was just Samuel Pufendorf until he was ennobled in 1684; he was made a Freiherr a few months before his death in 1694...
's works on natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui
Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui
Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui was a Swiss legal and political theorist, who popularised a number of ideas propounded by other thinkers.-Life:...
(1694–1750) and the celebrated international lawyer Emeric de Vattel (1714 1767) were natives of Neuchâtel, though de Vattle only returned to die in the city.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
came back for good to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, and Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
established himself at Ferney, while in 1753 the historian Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
moved to Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
. These three, while their works were not specifically Swiss, lead the golden age of French literature in Switzerland.
Also during this time there were other active writers. Madame de Charrière
Isabelle de Charrière
Isabelle de Charrière , known as Belle van Zuylen in the Netherlands and Madame de Charrière elsewhere, is a Dutch writer of the Enlightenment who lived the latter half of her life in Switzerland. She is now best known for her letters although she also wrote novels, pamphlets, music and plays...
(1740–1805) was Dutch by birth, but married to a native of Neuchâtel. She wrote of sad results of an unsuitable marriage and set her books in highly detailed small provincial towns. Paul Henri Mallet
Paul Henri Mallet
Paul Henri Mallet was a Swiss writer.He was born and educated in Geneva. He became tutor in the family of the count of Calenberg in Lower Saxony. In 1752 he was appointed professor of belles lettres to the academy at Copenhagen...
, a Genevese, who held a chair at Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, devoted himself to making known to the educated world the history and antiquities of Scandinavia.
During the mid and late 18th century Geneva produced a number of scientists who were interested in the characteristics of the Alps. The chief of this school was Horace-Bénédict de Saussure
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure
200px|thumb|Portrait of Horace-Bénédict de Saussure Horace-Bénédict de Saussure was a Genevan aristocrat, physicist and Alpine traveller, often considered the founder of alpinism, and considered to be the first person to build a successful solar oven.-Life and work:Saussure was born in Conches,...
one of the founders of the sciences of geology and meteorology
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
, while his Alpine ascents (undertaken in the cause of science) opened a new world even to non-scientific travellers. Jean-André Deluc
Jean-André Deluc
Jean-André Deluc or de Luc was a Swiss geologist and meteorologist.-Life:He was born at Geneva, descended from a family which had emigrated from Lucca and settled at Geneva in the 15th century...
devoted himself mainly to questions of physics in the Alps, while Jean Sénebier, the biographer of Saussure, was more known as a physiologist than as a physicist, though he wrote on many branches of natural science, which in those days was not yet highly specialised. On the other hand Marc Théodore Bourrit
Marc Theodore Bourrit
-Biography:Marc Theodore Bourrit came of a family which was of French origin but had taken refuge at Geneva for reasons connected with religion. His father was a watchmaker there, and he himself was educated in his native city...
, the contemporary of these three men, was rather a curious and inquisitive traveller than a scientific investigator, and charms us even now by his genial simplicity as contrasted with the austerity and gravity of the three writers we have mentioned.
In Vaud, at this time part of the Canton of Bern, nationalist feelings among the French-speaking inhabitants and against the German-speaking Bern administration began to grow. Philippe Cyriaque Bridel (1757–1845), began writing poetry in 1782 and is considered the earliest Vaudois poet. His descriptions of his travels around the Vaud region were published in serial form for nearly 50 years, from 1783 until 1831. His paintings and written portraits of the Vaud countryside inspired a number of later writers and helped unify the nationalist movement in Vaud.
See also
- 17th century philosophy
- Age of EnlightenmentAge of EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
- History of SwitzerlandHistory of SwitzerlandSince 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal state of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. For the time before 1291, this article summarizes...
- Swiss peasant war of 1653Swiss peasant war of 1653The Swiss peasant war of 1653 was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime. A devaluation of Bernese money caused a tax revolt that spread from the Entlebuch valley in the Canton of Lucerne to the Emmental valley in the Canton of Bern and then to the cantons of...