Song of the Founding of the Confederation
Encyclopedia
The Bundeslied or Tellenlied ("Song of Tell") is a patriotic song of the Old Swiss Confederacy
.
Its original composition dates to the Burgundian Wars
period (1470s). The oldest extant manuscript text was written in 1501, the first publication in print dates to 1545.
It consists of stanzas of six lines each, with a rhyming scheme of A-A-B-C-C-B.
It is one of the oldest existing records of the legend of Swiss national hero William Tell
.
It is also known as Altes Tellenlied "Old Song of Tell", in order to distinguish it from later compositions known as Tellenlied, such as that by Hieronymus Muheim (1613) or that by Johann Caspar Lavater (1767), and as Lied von der Entstehung der Eidgenossenschaft "Song of the Origin of the Confederacy".
as in league with the Confederacy, that portion was likely written earlier, in 1474 or 1475, as duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza
also entered a pact with Burgundy in 1475, lending it military support against the Swiss, much to the discontent of the Confederacy, so that a Swiss poet writing in 1477 would probably not have mentioned Milan as an ally.
The earliest part of the poem was probably just stanzas 1 to 13 (the Tell legend), to which the remaining text was added as the Burgundy War unfolded.
The earliest record of the poem is in a manuscript written by Ludwig Sterner in 1501, where it has the title von der eidgenossen pundt "of the pact of the confederates". The text was printed for the first time in 1545 by Augustin Fries under the title of Ein hüpsch lied vom ursprung der Eydgnoschaft und dem ersten Eydgnossen Wilhelm Thell genannt, ouch von dem bundt mit sampt einer Eydgnoschafft wider hertzog Karle von Burgund, und wie er erschlagen ist worden. A later edition was printed by Johann Schröter in 1623.
Although Max Wehrli
, the last editor of the text supposes that this song was composed in the canton of Uri
(Uri being mentioned explicitly in stanza 2 as the site of Tell's apple-shot and the place of origin of the Confederacy), the geographical origin of this early William Tell song is still a matter of debate.
The first 14 stanzas explore the foundation and growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
, the expulsion of the foreign bailiffs
as well as the story of William Tell. The account includes Tell's apple-shot, his
admission that he had reserved an additional arrow to shoot the bailiff in the event of his killing his son, and his escape, but not his eventual assassination of Gessler.
Stanzas 15 to 23 describe the merits of the Swiss Confederacy.
Stanzas 15 and 16 enumerate the eight cantons (Acht Ort) that formed the Confederacy up to 1480, viz. Zurich
, Berne
, Lucerne
, Uri
, Schwyz
, Unterwalden
, Glarus
and Zug
.
Stanza 17 adds Fribourg
(1481), Solothurn
(1481), Biel (1496), Appenzell
(1513), Schaffhausen
(1501) and St. Gall (1454) as recent accessions ot the Confederacy.
Stanzas 19 to 23 mention pacts made by the Confederacy between 1481 and 1529, listing Sigmund of Austria (referring to pacts of 1477 and of 1511), the duchy of Milan
(1474), the duchy of Lorraine (1476), and the five cities of Strasbourg
, Colmar
, Schlettstadt, Basel
and Mulhouse
(1529).
The final 12 stanzas focus on the Burgundian Wars
.
The poem records the defeats of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Grandson
, where he lost "silver gold and jewels", at the Battle of Murten where Charles lost 24,000 men, and finally at the Battle of Nancy
where Charles himself are slain.
The final stanza is a pious invocation of God asking for the future protection of the Confederacy and the salvation of the poet.
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
.
Its original composition dates to 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...
period (1470s). The oldest extant manuscript text was written in 1501, the first publication in print dates to 1545.
It consists of stanzas of six lines each, with a rhyming scheme of A-A-B-C-C-B.
It is one of the oldest existing records of the legend of Swiss national hero William Tell
William Tell
William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle....
.
It is also known as Altes Tellenlied "Old Song of Tell", in order to distinguish it from later compositions known as Tellenlied, such as that by Hieronymus Muheim (1613) or that by Johann Caspar Lavater (1767), and as Lied von der Entstehung der Eidgenossenschaft "Song of the Origin of the Confederacy".
Composition
The song in its extant form was composed in several stages during the later 15th century. Since it ends with the death of Charles the Bold, it cannot have been completed before 1477. But since stanza 21 names the duchy of MilanDuchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
as in league with the Confederacy, that portion was likely written earlier, in 1474 or 1475, as duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza
Galeazzo Maria Sforza
Galeazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical....
also entered a pact with Burgundy in 1475, lending it military support against the Swiss, much to the discontent of the Confederacy, so that a Swiss poet writing in 1477 would probably not have mentioned Milan as an ally.
The earliest part of the poem was probably just stanzas 1 to 13 (the Tell legend), to which the remaining text was added as the Burgundy War unfolded.
The earliest record of the poem is in a manuscript written by Ludwig Sterner in 1501, where it has the title von der eidgenossen pundt "of the pact of the confederates". The text was printed for the first time in 1545 by Augustin Fries under the title of Ein hüpsch lied vom ursprung der Eydgnoschaft und dem ersten Eydgnossen Wilhelm Thell genannt, ouch von dem bundt mit sampt einer Eydgnoschafft wider hertzog Karle von Burgund, und wie er erschlagen ist worden. A later edition was printed by Johann Schröter in 1623.
Although Max Wehrli
Max Wehrli
Max Wehrli was a Swiss literary scholar and Germanist. Wehrli studied Germanic and Greek at the Universities of Zurich and Berlin. Among his teachers were Ernst Howald and Nicolai Hartmann.-Works:...
, the last editor of the text supposes that this song was composed in the canton of 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...
(Uri being mentioned explicitly in stanza 2 as the site of Tell's apple-shot and the place of origin of the Confederacy), the geographical origin of this early William Tell song is still a matter of debate.
Structure and Synopsis
The standard version of the Song of the Founding of the Confederation comprises 35 stanzas, each containing six lines. Another version omits five verses of the Tell narrative.The first 14 stanzas explore the foundation and growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
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...
, the expulsion of the foreign bailiffs
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
as well as the story of William Tell. The account includes Tell's apple-shot, his
admission that he had reserved an additional arrow to shoot the bailiff in the event of his killing his son, and his escape, but not his eventual assassination of Gessler.
Stanzas 15 to 23 describe the merits of the Swiss Confederacy.
Stanzas 15 and 16 enumerate the eight cantons (Acht Ort) that formed the Confederacy up to 1480, viz. Zurich
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...
, Berne
Berne
The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...
, 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...
, 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...
, 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....
and Zug
Zug
Zug , is a German-speaking city in Switzerland. The name ‘Zug’ originates from fishing vocabulary; in the Middle Ages it referred to the right to ‘pull up’ fishing nets and hence to the right to fish.The city of Zug is located in the Canton of Zug and is its capital...
.
Stanza 17 adds 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...
(1481), 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:...
(1481), Biel (1496), Appenzell
Appenzell
Appenzell is a region and historical canton in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen....
(1513), 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 ....
(1501) and St. Gall (1454) as recent accessions ot the Confederacy.
Stanzas 19 to 23 mention pacts made by the Confederacy between 1481 and 1529, listing Sigmund of Austria (referring to pacts of 1477 and of 1511), the duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
(1474), the duchy of Lorraine (1476), and the five cities of 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,...
, Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
, Schlettstadt, 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...
and Mulhouse
Mulhouse
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...
(1529).
The final 12 stanzas focus on 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...
.
The poem records the defeats of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Grandson
Battle of Grandson
The Battle of Grandson, took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars, and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.- Siege of Grandson, February 1476 :...
, where he lost "silver gold and jewels", at the Battle of Murten where Charles lost 24,000 men, and finally at the Battle of Nancy
Battle of Nancy
The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 between Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and René II, Duke of Lorraine...
where Charles himself are slain.
The final stanza is a pious invocation of God asking for the future protection of the Confederacy and the salvation of the poet.