Transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy
Encyclopedia
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, corresponding more or less to the modern canton of Ticino, on the part of the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
.
These territories were known as ennetbirgische Vogteien or "transmontane bailiwicks
Vogt (Switzerland)
thumb|left|[[Franz Rudolf Frisching]], [[bailiff]] in the [[Vallemaggia |Vallemaggia]] in 1770, in the uniform of an officer of the [[Bernese]] Huntsmen Corps with his [[Berner Laufhund]], painted by [[Jean Preudhomme]] in 1785...
".
The Leventina was the first transalpine possession of the Swiss cantons of Uri
Úri
Úriis a village and commune in the comitatus of Pest in Hungary....
and Obwalden
Obwalden
Obwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population is 33,997 of which 4,043 are foreigners. Its capital is Sarnen. The canton contains the geographical centre of Switzerland.-History:...
, acquired in 1403.
Other territories were acquired in 1418 and 1419. A first setback came with the Battle of Arbedo
Battle of Arbedo
The Battle of Arbedo was fought on June 30, 1422 between the Duchy of Milan and the Swiss Confederation.In 1419, Uri and Unterwalden bought the Bellinzona stronghold from the Sacco barons, but were unable to defend it adequately...
in 1422, where the Swiss were defeated by 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...
, and in a treaty of 1426, the border of the duchy was moved back to the Gotthard Pass.
Renewed campaigns took place in 1439, 1441 and 1447, until in 1449 the Swiss were beaten again by troops of the Golden Ambrosian Republic in the Battle of Castione
Battle of Castione
The Battle of Castione was fought between the Golden Ambrosian Republic and the canton of Uri on 6 July 1449.The site of the battle is near that of the earlier battle of Arbedo, both in the territory of the current-day municipality of Arbedo-Castione in the Swiss canton of Ticino.The cause of both...
.
In 1466, the duke of Milan promised to grant the Leventina to the confederates, but he was slow to act on his promise, and as the Swiss were tied up in 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...
he even formed a pact with the Burgundians. This prompted Uri to send an expedition to the Leventina, which was greeted as liberators by the local population.
The Swiss tried to conquer Bellinzona
Bellinzona
Bellinzona is the administrative capital of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000....
as well, but after a two weeks' siege gave up and returned home.
The Battle of Giornico
Battle of Giornico
In the Battle of Giornico a Swiss force of 600 defeated 10,000 Milanese troops.This victory against odds of one to twenty was possible because the Milanese army was confined in a narrow valley, struggling for foothold on the December snow and ice. The Swiss ambushed the army from above, creating...
was for once a Swiss victory, in which a force of Uri of about 175 men, with the support of about 400 men from the local population, managed to rout a Milanese army of 10,000. From this time, the Leventina was an undisputed possession of Uri, while Bellinzona remained under Milanese control.
In 1487, the 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...
together with 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...
wanted to expand into the Ossola
Ossola
The Ossola is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola....
. Besieging Domodossola
Domodossola
Domodossola is a city and comune in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy...
and marauding the valleys, the Swiss were decisively defeated by the Ducal Milanese
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...
at the Battle of Crevola
Battle of Crevola
The Battle of Crevola was fought in the spring of 1487, between a marauding Swiss army and the Duchy of Milan for the supremacy of the Eschental ....
in april 1487.
This was the situation at the beginning of the Italian Wars
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...
in 1494.
Bellinzona
Bellinzona
Bellinzona is the administrative capital of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000....
was finally occupied by Uri in 1500, and officially granted to the confederacy by Louis XII of France in 1503.
The Battle of Novara
Battle of Novara (1513)
The Battle of Novara was a battle of the War of the League of Cambrai fought on June 6, 1513, near Novara, in Northern Italy.The French had been victorious at Ravenna the previous year. Nevertheless, the French under King Louis XII were driven out of the city of Milan the following month by the...
(1513) was a success for the Swiss Confederacy and the allied Three Leagues
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...
which secured their possessions of
Locarno
Locarno
Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...
, Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
, Mendrisio
Mendrisio
Mendrisio is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian speaking Switzerland ....
, Cuvio
Cuvio
Cuvio is a comune in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 60 km northwest of Milan and about 12 km northwest of Varese...
, Travaglia, Chiavenna, Bormio
Bormio
Bormio is a town and comune located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. It has a population of 4,200...
, Tre pievi and 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...
.
The defeat in the Battle of Marignano
Battle of Marignano
The Battle of Marignano was fought during the phase of the Italian Wars called the War of the League of Cambrai, between France and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It took place on September 13 and 15, 1515, near the town today called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan...
(1515) set an end to Swiss aspirations to further extend their possessions, but the peace of 1516 allowed them to keep their possessions, except for Ossola
Ossola
The Ossola is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola....
which was handed back to Milan.
These ennetbirgische Vogteien were governed partly by the entire confederacy, partly just by Uri
Úri
Úriis a village and commune in the comitatus of Pest in Hungary....
, 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:...
and Nidwalden
Nidwalden
Nidwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population is 40,287 of which 4,046 are foreigners. The capital is Stans.-History:...
(and the Leventina just by Uri) throughout the early modern period
Early Modern Switzerland
The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy , 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...
.
The Valtellina, governed by the Three Leagues from 1512, was lost to Spain in the course of the Bündner Wirren, in 1639.
Transalpine bailiwicks
Overview of the transalpine bailiwicks :Condominiums of the Forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden:
-
BlenioBlenioBlenio is a municipality of the district of Blenio, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.Blenio was created on 22 October 2006 when it incorporated the formerly autonomous municipalities of Aquila, Campo Blenio, Ghirone, Olivone and Torre of the upper Blenio valley.A legal challenge to the merger...
— 1477–80 and from 1495 -
RiveraRiveraRivera is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. It is located at the north end of Route 5, on the border with Brazil. The Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento is right across the border, only a street away of it...
— 1403–22 and from 1495 - BellinzonaBellinzonaBellinzona is the administrative capital of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000....
— from 1500
Condominiums of the Twelve Cantons (Zwölf Orte, the Thirteen Cantons, minus Appenzell) from 1512:
-
Valmaggia -
Lugano -
Locarno -
Mendrisio
Condominiums of the Twelve Cantons from 1512, but were lost from the Confederacy three years later and are now comuni of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
and Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
:
- Travaglia
- Cuvio
- OssolaOssolaThe Ossola is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola....
(Eschental)