The League of God's House (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Gotteshausbund'',

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Lega Caddea'', rm, ) was formed in what is now

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on 29 January 1367, to resist the rising power of the

Bishopric of Chur The Prince-Bishopric of Chur (german: Hochstift Chur, Fürstbistum Chur, Bistum Chur) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and had Imperial immediacy. The Prince-Bishopric of Chur controlled contiguous land from the city of ...

and the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. The League allied with the

Grey League The Grey League (german: Grauer Bund, it, Lega Grigia, rm, Ligia Grischa or ), sometimes called ''Oberbund'', formed in 1395 in the ''Vorderrhein'' and '' Hinterrhein'' valleys, Raetia. The name Grey League is derived from the homespun grey cl ...

and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions in 1471 to form the

Three Leagues The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, 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 (Grison ...

. The League of God's House, together with the two other Leagues, was allied with the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th centur ...

throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. After the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

the League of God's House became a part of the Swiss canton of Graubünden.

Before the League

The region that would become the League of God's House has always been heavily influenced by the Diocese of Chur. The

Bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Synod of Milan The Synod of Milan or Council of Milan may refer to any of several synods which occurred in late Roman Mediolanum or medieval Milan in northern Italy's Po valley: Synod of 345 In 353 or 354, Pope Liberius wrote thus: ''"Eight years ago the Euseb ...

, but probably existed a century earlier. During the 5th and 6th centuries there is evidence of an extensive

Romanisation Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

and conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

in the region around Chur. In 536 the region was conquered by the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

Kingdom, but due to distance and isolation it quickly fell back into ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' independence. During this time the region was known as ''

Churrätien Raetia Curiensis (in Latin; german: Churrätien, rm, Currezia) was an early medieval province in Central Europe, named after the preceding Roman province of ''Raetia prima'' which retained its Romansh culture during the Migration Period, while ...

'' or ''Churwalchen'' and occupied politically virtually the same territory that the Bishopric of Chur spiritually led. In 773 the political and spiritual power in the region was consolidated into a single family. However this situation only lasted until 806 when

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

split the political and spiritual power into two. This split and the resulting conflicts let to the collapse of ''Churrätien'' and the creation of numerous small independent communities, with the power center of

Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...

in the middle. For centuries after the split, the Bishops of Chur wished to expand their power both politically and spiritually.

Foundation of the League

In the 14th century the core communities of the

lay along the north–south road on the Septimer- Julier route. The bishop ruled the region around Chur and had the right of high judgement in the Fünf Dörfer, Chur, Oberhalbstein, Oberengadin, Bergell, Schams, Rheinwald, Unterengadin and Vinschgau. After 1363 relationships between the bishop of Chur and his subjects worsened.

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

dukes from the

had acquired the

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised ...

which included Münstertal and Unterengadin and were trying to expand into the Bishopric of Chur. The foreign and frequently absent bishop Peter Gelyto von Böhmen, who had driven the bishopric deep into debt, was willing to sell the political leadership of the area in exchange for a yearly salary. As a first step, in 1366 he rented out the Fürstenburg fortress at Burgeis in the Vinschgau. In response to this development representatives from the cathedral church of St. Luzius, the valley communities and the city of Chur met in 1365 in Wildenberg Castle in Zernez. On 29 January 1367 they met again in Chur, with revolution in mind. The meeting represented the three sources of power in the area: first, the spiritual community, represented by personnel from the bishop's cathedral; second, representatives of the large valley communities (six representatives each from Domleschg, Schams, and

Bergell The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja ...

; four from Oberhalbstein; three from Oberengadin; and two from Unterengadin); and third, representatives of the citizens of Chur. The group met without the bishop and voted to limit his power sharply and to demand authority over financial matters. The decision of 1367 was not a formal federation or alliance, but represented a desire to stick together in a crisis. However the decision included a desire to hold future assemblies and to closely monitor the power of the bishop. These future meetings set the stage for closer alliances between the individual communities. In 1409 they established a standing council and appointed a ''Vogt'' or bailiff over the bishop. In the spring of 1468 Bishop Ortlieb von Brandis angered the League. They assembled an army, attacked several of the Bishop's estates, including

Riom Riom (; Auvergnat ''Riam'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Puy-de-Dôme Departments of France, department in Auvergne (region), Auvergne in central France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. History Un ...

and

Greifenstein Greifenstein is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km² on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the castle of the same name in ...

, and occupied them. The Bishop was forced to ask the city of

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

to intervene. Zürich negotiated with the League and convinced them to return the castles to the Bishop. Between 1524 and 1526 the Ilanzer Article removed the last vestiges of the bishop's political power.

Expansion of the League

Throughout the 15th century the League continued to expand. The '' vier Dörfer'' (the four villages, the rest of the five or fünf Dörfer) joined the League, along with Avers and the uppermost part of the Albula valley. The Münster valley (Münstertal) and Puschlavs valley joined about 1498. During the mid-15th century the League of God's House began to pursue a common foreign policy with the other two Leagues (

and League of the Ten Jurisdictions). In 1499 during the

Swabian War The Swabian War of 1499 ( gsw, Schwoobechrieg (spelling depending on dialect), called or ("Swiss War") in Germany and ("War of the Engadin") in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of ...

the League together with the other two Leagues defeated a Habsburg army at the Battle of Calven and took the Vinschgau from the Bishopric of Chur. Over time the power of the Bishop of Chur weakened, but Chur became the center of the League of God's House. After about 1700, the mayor of Chur automatically became the leader of the League of God's House.

Three Leagues

After about 1471 the three separate Leagues were allied together as the Three Leagues. The ''Bundesbrief'' of 23 September 1524 created a constitution for the Three Leagues that would remain until the

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

ic dissolution of the League. However the League was not a unified state in the modern sense. The Three Leagues worked together as a federation of three states and virtually all affairs of the League were settled by referendum. The Three Leagues were also unique in

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histor ...

for practicing a form of

communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...

, in which each League was founded, governed and defended through collective decisions. The Three Leagues were normally allied with the

. Initially this was a response to the expansion of the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. The

Musso war The Musso War (or War of Musso) was an armed conflict between the federation of the Three Leagues (german: Drei Bünde), which functioned as an associate state of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and the Duchy of Milan early in the 16th century. The conf ...

against the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

in 1520 pushed the League closer to the Swiss Confederacy. The League remained in association with the Swiss until the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, when it was absorbed into the Swiss

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, m ...

founded in 1798. After the Napoleonic

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasi ...

in 1803, the Three Leagues became the canton of Graubünden. The League of God's House remained a distinct part of the political organization of the canton from 1803 until 1854.

References

External links