and serfs lived without the gates, in the outer city or walled-in
suburbs. These political inequalities at length met with violent
opposition, and in 1336 there broke out a revolution.
[Pg 151]
The industry of the thrifty and energetic population increased the
material wealth of the city, and commercial treaties were entered into
with neighbouring countries, with Italy particularly, and Italian
influence made itself felt ever since the twelfth century, through four
hundred years, not only in trade, but also in architecture. Zurich
became an emporium for silk, and the silk manufacture, introduced
from Italy, became a speciality, and was found in no other German
town.[29] The activity displayed in building churches and monasteries was simply astonishing. The present minster, in the Lombard style,
on the type of San Michele at Pavia, was built in the twelfth century,
and the abbey was restored by the noble ladies in the thirteenth. The
frequent visits of kings and emperors, who held their diets here,
naturally increased the importance of the city. Taking it altogether,
Zurich must have been, even in the thirteenth century, a fine
specimen of a mediæval town, for Barbarossa's biographer, Otto von
Freysing, calls it the noblest city of Swabia ("Turegum nobilissimum
Sueviae oppidum").[30] Her policy of entering into alliances with the Swabian and Rhenish towns, and with the vast South-German
coalition, and the friendly political and commercial relations she
maintained, show that she fully grasped the situation, and
[Pg 152]
gave her that security which promoted her trade and industry, and
allowed her to develop freely.
The thirteenth century spread enlightenment amongst the benighted
people of the Middle Ages, and increased the growth of political
freedom in the cities, thanks to the struggles between the Papacy and
the Hohenstaufen. Zurich had early emancipated herself from the
spiritual sway and influence of her abbess mistress. Already, in 1146,
the people had listened with keen interest to the advanced religious
teaching of Arnold of Brescia, and in the ensuing quarrels sided with
the freethinking Frederick II. During the interdict of 1247-49
Frederick's staunch adherents boldly drove from the town those
clergy who refused to perform their spiritual functions. On a second
expulsion from the town the friars took sides with the citizens, and
obeyed the order literally, for they went out by one gate of the town,
and re-entered by another, and resumed their offices. That the
Zurcher had grown strong and self-reliant is shown by their alliance
with Rudolf of Habsburg, in the feuds against their common foes, the
neighbouring nobles, whose raids they checked, and by openly
resisting the heavy taxation imposed by the monarch on the city. On
one occasion—it was at a drinking-bout—the chief magistrate
denounced this oppressive policy most wrathfully in the very
presence of the queen and her daughters.
The Staufen epoch, seething with social and political movements,
was also full of the spirit of romanticism. The English and French met
the Germans in the Crusades, and quickened in the
[Pg 153]
Fatherland the love of poetry and romance. Then the great religious
wars themselves opened out a whole new world of thought and fancy.
The glorification of the brilliant exploits of the Staufen sovereigns,
themselves poets, inspired many a grand or lovely song, the highest
flights producing the Nibelungen and the Minnelieder. In Swiss lands
also minstrelsy flowed richly, and Zurich stands out as a "Poets'
Corner" in the thirteenth century. At the hospitable manor of Roger
Manesse, a famous knight and magistrate of the city, or at the great
Abbey Hall, a brilliant company of singers clustered round the
Princess Abbess Elizabeth, an eminent woman, and her relatives, the
Prince Bishop of Constance, Henry of Klingenberg, and his brother
Albrecht, the famous chevalier. Then the Prince Abbots of Einsiedeln,
and the abbots of Petershausen (Constance), the counts of
Toggenburg, the barons of Regensberg, of Eschenbach, and Von
Wart, together with many other lords, spiritual and temporal, and
many a fair and illustrious lady—all these thronged the courtly circle
to listen to the recital of the Minnelieder, or perchance to produce
their own. The famous Codex Manesse, lately at Paris, and now in
Germany,[31] bears witness to the romantic character of the age. It contains the songs of some hundred and fifty German and Swiss
minstrels, who sang between the years 1200 and 1350. Manesse and
his son, a canon at the minster, undertook the collection out of pure
enthusiasm. Their amanuensis
[Pg 154]
was a comely young fellow named Hadloub, the son of a freeman
farmer from the Zurichberg. A pretty story is told how during his
mechanical labour of copying there grew strong in him the love of
poetry, and he became himself a poet. For he fell in love with a high-
born lady at Manesse's court, who however noticed him not. Then he
told his grief in love songs which Manesse added to his collection.
Indeed these songs close the series of Swiss poems in the Codex
Manesse. Gottfried Keller, of Zurich, one of the greatest German
novelists of the present day, has treated of the period in his exquisite
novel "Hadloub" ( Zurcher Novellen). Space does not permit us to give
any account of the story, and the reader must be referred to the
fascinating tale as it stands. Hadloub was indeed the last Swiss
minstrel belonging to that fertile age. The love and beauty of woman
is the theme of his songs, and in depicting these he particularly
excels—the real Minnegesang. Uhland, the great lyric poet says of
him, "In the clear soul of this poet the parting minstrelsy has once
more reflected its own lovely image."
But whilst poetry was rejoicing the hearts of the nobles, political
clouds were fast gathering over the city, to break at length into a wild
hurricane. As a matter of fact, a few distinguished families had
established an oligarchy in the place of the city council in process of
time. The craftsmen, excluded from any share in the administration,
and moreover finding fault with the financial management of the state,
and galled by the domineering conduct of the aristocracy, rose in
fierce opposition. Rudolf Brun,
[Pg 155]
an ambitious ruler, but a clever statesman, being at variance with his
own patrician party, suddenly placed himself at the head of the
malcontents. Overthrowing the government before it had time to
bestir itself, Rudolf had himself elected burgomaster, an official in
whom all power was to centre. In 1336 he presented a new
constitution, making the whole assembly swear to it. To insure its
validity this code ( Geschworne Brief) was submitted to the sanction of
the abbess and the provost, and was also approved by the emperor.
This new constitution was quite in keeping with the political views of
the age, and remained in its chief points the leading constitutional
guide of the commonwealth down to the revolution of 1798. It was a
curious blending of democratic with aristocratic and monarchical
elements. The craftsmen, who up to the present had counted for
nothing in politics, were now formed into thirteen corporations, each
selecting its own guildmaster, who represented its members in the
governing council. The nobility and the wealthy burghers who
practised no profession, or the Geschlechter (patricians), and rentiers
formed a highly aristocratic body known as the Constafel
(Constables), and were likewise represented in the state council by
thirteen members, six of whom Brun named himself. The position of
the burgomaster was the most striking of all, and was, in fact, that of
a Roman dictator of old, or resembling the Italian tyrannies of the
Visconti or Medici. Elected for life, vested with absolute power, the
burgomaster was responsible to none, whilst to him fealty was to be
sworn by all on pain of losing the rights of citizenship.
[Pg 156]
The idol of the people to whom he had granted political power, Brun
was regarded as the true pilot and saviour in stormy times. The fallen
councillors brooded revenge, and being banished the town, resorted
to Rapperswyl, the Zurich extra muros, and at the other end of the
lake. There they made chose commune with Count John of that
place, who was desirous of evading payment of the debts he had
contracted in Zurich. Feuds and encounters followed, and John was
slain in battle in 1337. The emperor tried to restore peace, but the
exiled councillors were bent on bringing back the old state of things,
and on regaining their seats. They plotted against Brun's life, and
those of his associates, and fixed upon the 23rd of February, 1350,
for making an attack by night on the city, with the intention of seizing
it by a single coup-de-main. They relied on the help of sympathisers
within the town. The burgomaster, being apprized of the plot,
summoned his faithful burghers to arms by the ringing of the tocsin. A
bloody hand-to-hand fight in the streets took place, thence called the
Zurcher Mordnacht. The conspiracy was crushed by the majority, and
Count John of Rapperswyl, son of the above-mentioned count, was
thrown into the tower of Wellenberg, a famous state prison. There he
passed his time in the composition of Minnelieder.
Brun made a bad use of his victory. His cruelties to the prisoners and
to Rapperswyl, which he burnt, are unjustifiable, and seem
inexplicable in so far-sighted a statesman. He was ambitious, and
desired not only his own advancement, but also that of his
[Pg 157]
native city. He had depended on Austria, hoping to rise through her
alliance and aid, but, suddenly forgetting all moderation, and
disregarding all traditional liaisons with her, he laid waste the territory
of the counts of Rapperswyl, cousins to the Habsburgs. This of
course entangled Zurich in a war with Austria, who threatened to level
her with the ground. Having estranged the neighbouring states by her
cruel proceedings, or rather by those of Brun, Zurich stood alone, and
was compelled to look around for aid and countenance. Though by
no means friendly towards the bold Forest men, the dictator Brun
concluded an alliance with them. The Waldstätten were quite ready to
receive into their league a commonwealth so powerful and well-
organized as Zurich, a state likely to be at once their bulwark and
their emporium. They therefore willingly agreed to Brun's stipulations
(May 1, 1351), and, further acquiesced in the proviso that Zurich
should be allowed to conclude separate treaties. These treaties or
alliances were very common at that time, and changeable as they
were, they nevertheless gave additional security for the time being.
But though Brun had introduced a régime of force, he yet made
concessions to the masses, giving them a share of political power.
And his constitutional system answered the wants of the city, to a
great degree, for some four centuries and a half.
FOOTNOTES:
White silk veils in the guise of bonnets were exported to Vienna, and even
as far as Poland. This silk-making, of course, increased the prosperity of
the town. It declined, and was reintroduced in the sixteenth century in a far
more advanced condition, by the persecuted Protestants from Locarno.
He also reports that one of its gates bore the inscription, " Nobile Turegum
multarum copia rerum."
It happened to be in the possession of the Elector of the Palatinate, and
was carried off to France when Louis XIV. laid waste the province.
[Pg 158]
XIV.
BERN CRUSHES THE NOBILITY: GREAT VICTORY OF
LAUPEN, 1339.
The alliance of Bern was a great acquisition to the federal league.
She formed the corner-stone of the Burgundian states, and brought
them into connection with, and finally into the pale of, the Swiss
Confederation. Her early history has been touched upon in previous
chapters. True to her original position as a check on the nobility, and
forming a natural stronghold, this proud Zaeringen town shows a
singularly martial, and indeed dominant spirit, and runs a military and
political career of importance. Bern had effectively resisted the
encroachments of the old house of Kyburg (1243-55), and stoutly
opposed the oppressive tax of 40 per cent, imposed by Rudolf of
Habsburg. And, though she had suffered a severe defeat at
Schosshalde, in 1289, the disaster was more than compensated by a
great victory at Dornbühl, in 1298, and she had carried over her rival,
Freiburg and the nobles of the highlands, partners of the latter. It was
always a most usual thing in the fourteenth
[Pg 159]
century for states to enter into leagues, with the view of better
safeguarding themselves against neighbouring and powerful foes.
And thus Bern gathered all the kindred elements of West Switzerland
into a Burgundian Confederation—the free imperial valley Hasle, the
rich monastery of Interlaken, the house of Savoy, the new house of
Kyburg-Burgdorf, the bishops of Sion, the cities of Bienne, Solothurn,
Freiburg,—all these were at one time or another in union with Bern.
The friendship with Freiburg, however, was often disturbed by
feelings of jealousy that at times grew into feuds, but that for
Solothurn was lasting. It was, in fact, based on similarity of political
views and aims, both agreeing in refusing to acknowledge the rival
kings, Louis of Bavaria and Frederick the Handsome. In consequence
of their obstinacy, Leopold, who had been defeated at Morgarten, and
wished to reassert the authority of his brother, laid siege to Solothurn
in 1318. The Bernese came to the help of the sister city. A
memorable scene was witnessed during the course of the assault.
The river Aare was much swollen at the time, and a bridge that the
beleaguering forces had thrown across was carried away by the
flood, and their men were being drowned in numbers. Then the
Solothurner, forgetting all injuries, rushed out with boats to save their
enemies. Leopold was so touched by such magnanimity that he at
once raised the siege, and presented the town with a beautiful
banner.
[Pg 160]
THE STANDARD-BEARERS OF SCHWYZ, URI, UNTERWALDEN
AND ZÜRICH.
[Pg 161]
Bern's strong bent for territorial extension was quite a match for the
encroaching tendencies of the Habsburgs. To get a footing in the
canton the latter made use of a crime committed amongst the
Kyburger. That illustrious house, well-nigh ruined morally and
financially, had been compelled by its adverse fortunes to place in the
Church a younger son, Eberhard. The young man submitted with
great reluctance. Happening to fall to a quarrel with Hartmann, at the
castle of Thun, high words arose and were succeeded by blows, and
Hartmann was slain. This was in 1332. On the plea of avenging the
murder, the Habsburgs set up a claim to the Kyburg property. Bern
however confirmed the count in his possessions, and purchasing
Thun from him, returned it as a fief, requiring him to give an
undertaking that Burgdorf should never be mortgaged without her
knowledge and consent. But Eberhard gradually forgot the services
Bern had rendered his house, and, fearing her power, veered round
to Freiburg, and became a citizen of that town. The differences then
swelled into an outbreak, which had been for some time impending.
Bern, it is to be noted, had in many ways got the start of the sister
city; for instance, she had become an imperial free city in the year
1218, on the extinction of the Zaeringer, and this had given her a
considerable lift. Then, in 1324, Bern had secured the mortgage of
Laupen, an excellent stronghold on the Saane, and had driven the
Freiburger from the district. And in 1331, after the house of Kyburg
had joined its fortunes with those of Freiburg, the strong fortress of
Gümminen had been demolished, as well as many Kyburg castles.
Gümminen belonged to her rival, and was a place of singular
strategical importance.
[Pg 162]
But these were mere preliminary episodes, and more serious warfare
followed. Many of the surrounding nobles had outlived their time of
prosperity and greatness, and yet clung to the prerogatives of their
class without possessing any longer the means to maintain them.
Bern took advantage of all this to secure her own aggrandisement,
and gain for herself more territory, for originally she had possessed
no lands beyond her walls. The Bernese Oberland was the first
district on which she set her eyes. Here the counts of Greyerz,[32] the dynasts of Turn (Valisian nobles), and the barons of Weipenburg,
held the chief territorial lordships, and formed a strong Alpine
coalition with Austrian sympathies, as against the rising city of Bern.
With the last mentioned Bern strove for the supremacy, and stormed
their stronghold, Wimmis, in the Simmenthal, both town and castle,
and demolished the Letzinen,[33] or fortifications in the valley. The old baron and his nephew had no means to fight out the quarrel, and
were compelled to accept the terms dictated by the victors. They
were bound to render military service, and were required to pledge
their castles for their submission, and so forth. But what most nearly
touched them was the loss of Hasle. That beautiful valley, stretching
from Brienz lake to the Grimsel pass, with romantic Meiringen as its
central place, has had a strange history. The inhabitants were at first
free Alamannic farmers, owing
[Pg 163]
allegiance to no sovereign, or lord, except the German monarch, and
they chose their Ammann from amongst themselves, or had him
chosen by the king. They had allied themselves as equals with Bern,
in 1275, but in 1310 their subjection was sealed. Henry VII. wanting
money for his coronation at Rome, mortgaged Hasle to the barons of
Weipenburg, for 340 marks. In 1334 Bern bought up the mortgage,
and the valley thus came under Bernese rule. Bern now appeared
likely enough to stretch her power even up to the snow-clad mountain
lands, and laid the foundation of her future pre-eminence amongst
the western cantons. But she stirred up fierce opposition, especially
on the part of the Burgundian nobles. Fearing for their very existence,
the counts of Greyerz, Valangin, Aarberg, Nidan, Neuchâtel, Vaud,
Kyburg, headed by Freiburg, encouraged, though not actually
assisted, by Louis of Bavaria, rose in arms. Bern called for help from
Hasle, Weipenburg, and the Forest Cantons, but found it a difficult
matter to get together the scattered forces. On the 10th of June,
1339, an army of fifteen thousand foot and three thousand horse
marched against Laupen, whose defence devolved upon some four
hundred Bernese. On the 21st of the same month there arrived at the
town the forces of the Eidgenossen, amounting to barely six thousand
men. They wore a white cross of cloth, and marched to the relief of
the beleaguered city animated by the stirring words of Theobald, a
priest of the Teutonic order. The battle actually took place, however,
on a plateau a little more than two
[Pg 164]
miles east of the town. During the day the besiegers had amused
themselves with various sports, mocking the preparations of their
opponents, and it was not till vespers that Count Valangin
commenced hostilities. It was a desperate struggle that followed—a
second Morgarten. The Waldstätter had begged to be allowed to
engage the cavalry, and a hard task they found it. Yet within two
hours the enemy was completely routed, and took to flight. No fewer
than fifteen hundred men lay dead upon the field, and amongst them
the counts of Valangin, Greyerz, Nidan, the last count of Vaud, and
others. Seventy full suits of armour, and twenty-seven banners had
been taken. Their hearts overflowing with joy and thankfulness the
victors sank on their knees at nightfall, when all was over, and
thanked God for His mercy. It would be uninteresting to a foreign
reader to give an account of the discussions which have taken place
as to the leadership of the Bernese force. But it may be mentioned
that two distinguished generals, Rudolf von Erlach and Hans von
Bubenberg, have by different authorities been credited with the
honour.
[Pg 165]
PORCH OF BERN MINSTER, WITH STATUE OF RUDOLF VON
ERLACH.
[Pg 166]
The war was not yet concluded, but degenerated into one of simple
devastation. The Freiburg forces were defeated at the very gates of
their town by Rudolf von Erlach, according to some records, which
would seem to show at any rate that he is no mere fictitious
personage. Bern added victory to victory, and the saying ran that,
"God Himself had turned citizen of that town to fight for her just
cause." In July, 1340, a truce was agreed upon, and Bern resumed
her old alliances with Kyburg, the Forest, Vaud, and even Geneva.
The diplomatic Lady of Königsfelden, Agnes, anxious to secure so