Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural,

historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and linguistic region in southwestern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval

Duchy of Swabia The Duchy of Swabia (German: ''Herzogtum Schwaben'') was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German Kingdom. It arose in the 10th century in the southwestern area that had been settled by Alemanni tribes in Late Antiquity. While the ...

, one of the German stem duchies, representing the territory of Alemannia, whose inhabitants interchangeably were called ''

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

'' or ''

Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own name ...

''. This territory would include all of the

Alemannic German Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alamanni ("all men"). Distribution Alemannic dialects are spoken by approxi ...

area, but the modern concept of Swabia is more restricted, due to the collapse of the duchy of Swabia in the thirteenth century. Swabia as understood in modern ethnography roughly coincides with the

Swabian Circle The Circle of Swabia or Swabian Circle (german: Schwäbischer Reichskreis or ''Schwäbischer Kreis'') was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former German stem-duchy of Swabia. However, it di ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

as it stood during the Early Modern period, now divided between the states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Swabians Swabians (german: Schwaben, singular ''Schwabe'') are a Germanic people who are native to the ethnocultural and linguistic region of Swabia, which is now mostly divided between the modern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, in southweste ...

(''Schwaben'', singular ''Schwabe'') are the natives of Swabia and speakers of

Swabian German Swabian (german: Schwäbisch ) is one of the dialect groups of Alemannic German that belong to the High German dialect continuum. It is mainly spoken in Swabia, which is located in central and southeastern Baden-Württemberg (including its capi ...

. Their number was estimated at close to 0.8 million by

SIL Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...

as of 2006, compared to a total population of 7.5 million in the regions of

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

and

Bavarian Swabia Swabia (german: Schwaben, ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Governance The county of Swabia is located in southwest Bavaria. It was annexed by Bavaria in 1803, is part of the historic region of Swabia and was f ...

Geography

Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined. However, today it is normally thought of as comprising the former

, or equivalently the former state of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

(with the Prussian

Hohenzollern Province The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...

), or the modern districts of

(excluding the former Baden regions of the

Bodenseekreis Bodenseekreis ("Lake Constance district") is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south-east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west, clockwise) Konstanz, Sigmaringen and Ravensburg, and in Bavaria, Lindau district. ...

district),

, and the administrative region of

. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the term Swabia indicated a larger area, covering all the lands associated with the Frankish stem duchy of

Alamannia Alamannia, or Alemannia, was the kingdom established and inhabited by the Alemanni, a Germanic tribal confederation that had broken through the Roman '' limes'' in 213. The Alemanni expanded from the Main River basin during the 3rd century a ...

stretching from the

Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...

in the west to the broad Lech river in the east: This also included the region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

and the later

Margraviate of Baden The Margraviate of Baden (german: Markgrafschaft Baden) was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the east side of the Upper Rhine River in southwestern Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, ...

on both sides of the

Upper Rhine The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the Rhine between Basel in Switzerland and Bingen in Germany, surrounded by the Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the sc ...

Valley, as well as modern German-speaking Switzerland, the Austrian state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with th ...

and the principality of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

in the south.

History

Early history

Like all of

Southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

, what is now Swabia was part of the

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...

, and as such has a Celtic (Gaulish) substrate. In the Roman era, it was part of the

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west ...

province. The name ''Suebia'' is derived from that of the ''

''. It is used already by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

in the 1st century, albeit in a different geographical sense: He calls the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

the ''Mare Suevicum'' ("Suebian Sea") after the

Suiones The Swedes ( sv, svear; Old Norse: ''svíar'') (probably from the PIE reflexive pronominal root * s(w)e, "one's own ribesmen/kinsmen;Bandle, Oskar. 2002. The Nordic languages: an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic lang ...

, and ends his description of the Suiones and

Sitones The Sitones were a Germanic people living somewhere in Northern Europe in the first century CE. They are mentioned only by Cornelius Tacitus in 97 CE in Germania. Tacitus considered them similar to Suiones (ancestors of modern Swedes) apart from o ...

with "Here Suebia ends" (''Hic Suebiae finis'').''Germania'
Section 45
By the mid-3rd century, groups of the Suebi form the core element of the new tribal alliance known as the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pre ...

, who expanded towards the Roman Limes east of the Rhine and south of the Main. The Alamanni were sometimes referred to as Suebi even at this time, and their new area of settlement came to be known as Suebia. In the

migration period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roma ...

, the Suebi (Alamanni) crossed the Rhine in 406 and some of them established the

Kingdom of the Suebi The Kingdom of the Suebi ( la, Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Regnum Galicia) or Suebi Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Galicia suevorum regnum), was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom that was one of the first to separate from ...

in Galicia. Another group settled in parts of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now west ...

, after the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

were defeated in 454 in the

Battle of Nedao The Battle of Nedao was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454 between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. Nedao is believed to be a tributary of the Sava River. Battle After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the subject peoples u ...

. The Alemanni were ruled by independent kings throughout the 4th to 5th century centuries but fell under Frankish domination in the 6th (

Battle of Tolbiac The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks, who were fighting under Clovis I, and the Alamanni, whose leader is not known. The date of the battle has traditionally been given as 496, though other accounts suggest it may either have been ...

496). By the late 5th century, the area settled by the Alemanni extended to

and the

Swiss Plateau The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (german: Schweizer Mittelland; french: plateau suisse; it, altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of ...

, bordering on the

Bavarii The Baiuvarii or Bavarians (german: Bajuwaren) were a Germanic people. The Baiuvarii had settled modern-day Bavaria (which is named after them), Austria, and South Tyrol by the 6th century AD, and are considered the ancestors of modern-day Bavar ...

to the east, the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

to the north, the remnants of

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...

to the west, and the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

and

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...

, united in the Kingdom of Odoacer, to the south. The name ''Alamannia'' was used by the 8th century, and from the 9th century, ''Suebia'' was occasionally used for ''Alamannia'', while ''Alamannia'' was increasingly used to refer to

specifically. By the 12th century, ''Suebia'' rather than ''Alamannia'' was used consistently for the territory of the

Duchy of Swabia

Swabia was one of the original stem duchies of

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...

, the later

, as it developed in the 9th and 10th centuries. Due to the foundation of the important abbeys of

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

and Reichenau, Swabia became an important center of

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...

literary culture during this period. In the later

Carolingian period The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

, Swabia became once again de facto independent, by the early 10th century mostly ruled by two dynasties, the

Hunfriding The Hunfridings or Burchardings (''Bouchardids'') were a family of probably Alemannic origin who rose to prominence in their homeland, eventually becoming the first ducal dynasty of Swabia. The first known member of the family was Hunfrid, Margrav ...

counts in

Raetia Curiensis 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 t ...

and the Ahalolfings ruling the Baar estates around the upper

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwen ...

and Danube rivers. The conflict between the two dynasties was decided in favour of Hunfriding Burchard II at the

Battle of Winterthur The Battle of Winterthur (27 May 1799) was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube and elements of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg army, commanded by Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze, during the War of the Second Coalition, p ...

(919). Burchard's rule as duke was acknowledged as such by the newly elected king

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non- Frankish king of East Francia, h ...

, and in the 960s the duchy under Burchard III was incorporated in the

under

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

. The

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

dynasty, which ruled the

in the 12th and 13th centuries, arose out of Swabia, but following the execution of

Conradin Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke ...

, the last Hohenstaufen, on October 29, 1268, the duchy was not reappointed during the

Great Interregnum In the Holy Roman Empire, the Great Interregnum (so-called to distinguish it from the shorter period between 924 and 962) was a period of time following the death of Frederick II where the succession of the Holy Roman Empire was contested and fough ...

. In the following years the original duchy gradually broke up into many smaller units. Rudolf I of Habsburg, elected in 1273 as emperor, tried to restore the duchy, but met the opposition of the higher nobility who aimed to limit the power of the emperor. Instead, he confiscated the former estates of the Hohenstaufen as imperial property of the Holy Roman Empire, and declared most of the cities formerly belonging to Hohenstaufen to be

Free Imperial Cities In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

, and the more powerful abbeys within the former duchy to be Imperial Abbeys. The rural regions were merged into the Imperial Shrievalty (''Reichslandvogtei'') of Swabia, which was given as Imperial Pawn to Duke Leopold III of Austria in 1379 and again to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria in 1473/1486. He took the title of a "Prince of Swabia" and integrated the Shrievalty of Swabia in the realm of

Further Austria Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (german: Vorderösterreich, formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-wes ...

Later medieval period

The

Swabian League of Cities The Swabian League of Cities (German: ''Schwäbischer Städtebund'') was a primarily military alliance between a number of free imperial cities in and around the area now defined as south-western Germany. Its objective was the maintenance of ...

was first formed on 20 November 1331, when twenty-two

imperial cities In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

of the former Duchy of Swabia banded together in support of the

Emperor Louis IV Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. Louis' election as king of Germany in ...

, who in return promised not to mortgage any of them to any imperial

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

. Among the founding cities were

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. A ...

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

, and

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

. The counts of

, Oettingen, and Hohenberg were induced to join in 1340. The defeat of the city league by Count Eberhard II of Württemberg in 1372 led to the formation of a new league of fourteen Swabian cities on 4 July 1376. The emperor refused to recognise the newly revitalised Swabian League, seeing it as a rebellion, and this led to an "

imperial war A ''Reichskrieg'' ("Imperial War", pl. ''Reichskriege'') was a war fought by the Holy Roman Empire as a whole against a common enemy. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, a ''Reichskrieg'' was a formal state of war that could only be declare ...

" against the league. The renewed league defeated an imperial army at the Battle of

on 14 May 1377. Burgrave Frederick V of Hohenzollern finally defeated the league in 1388 at Döffingen. The next year the city league disbanded according to the resolutions of the Reichstag at

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...

. The major dynasties that arose out of medieval Swabia were the

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 ...

s and the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

s, who rose to prominence in Northern Germany. Also stemming from Swabia are the local dynasties of the dukes of

and the

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the ...

s of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

. The Welf family went on to rule in

and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, and are ancestral to the British Royal Family that has ruled since 1714. Smaller feudal dynasties eventually disappeared, however; for example, branches of the Montforts and Hohenems lived until modern times, and the Fürstenberg survive still. The region proved to be one of the most divided in the empire, containing, in addition to these principalities, numerous free cities, ecclesiastical territories, and fiefdoms of lesser

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

s and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

Early modern history

Duchy of Württemberg and other territories of Swabia

A new

Swabian League The Swabian League (''Schwäbischer Bund'') was a mutual defence and peace keeping association of Imperial Estates – free Imperial cities, prelates, principalities and knights – principally in the territory of the early medieval stem duchy o ...

(''Schwäbischer Bund'') was formed in 1488, opposing the expansionist Bavarian dukes from the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

and the revolutionary threat from the south in the form of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

. In 1519, the League conquered Württemberg and sold it to

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

after its duke

Ulrich Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

seized the Free Imperial City of Reutlingen during the interregnum that followed the death of Maximilian I. It helped to suppress the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...

in 1524–26 and defeat an alliance of robber barons in the

Franconian War The Franconian War (german: Fränkische Krieg) was waged in 1523 when the Swabian League attacked several robber baron castles in Franconia, whose nobles were supporters of Hans Thomas of Absberg in the Absberg Feud. Definitions Franconian ...

. The

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

caused the league to be disbanded in 1534. The territory of Swabia as understood today emerges in the early modern period. It corresponds to the

established in 1512. 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 ...

was ''de facto'' independent from Swabia from 1499 as a result of 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 ...

, while the

had been detached from Swabia since the twelfth century. Fearing the power of the greater princes, the cities and smaller secular rulers of Swabia joined to form the

in the fifteenth century. The League was quite successful, notably expelling the

Duke of Württemberg Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

in 1519 and putting in his place a Habsburg governor, but the league broke up a few years later over religious differences inspired by the

, and the Duke of Württemberg was soon restored. The region was quite divided by the Reformation. While secular princes such as the Duke of Württemberg and the Margrave of

Baden-Durlach The Margraviate of Baden-Durlach was an early modern territory of the Holy Roman Empire, in the upper Rhine valley, which existed from 1535 to 1771. It was formed when the Margraviate of Baden was split between the sons of Margrave Christoph ...

, as well as most of the Free Cities, became

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, the ecclesiastical territories (including the

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

s of

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was t ...

and the numerous

Imperial abbeys Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of imp ...

) remained

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, as did the territories belonging to the Habsburgs (

), the

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaring ...

branch of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

, and the Margrave of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...

Modern history

In the wake of the territorial reorganization of the empire of 1803 by the ''

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

'', the shape of Swabia was entirely changed. All the ecclesiastical estates were secularized, and most of the smaller secular states, and almost all of the free cities, were mediatized, leaving only the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

, the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...

, and the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as sovereign states. Much of Eastern Swabia became part of

, forming what is now the Swabian administrative region of Bavaria. The

Kings of Bavaria Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

assumed the title ''Duke in Swabia'', with the ''in'' indicating that only parts of the Swabian territory was ruled by them, unlike their other title '' Duke of Franconia'' which made clear that the whole of Franconia had become part of their kingdom. In contemporary usage, ''Schwaben'' is sometimes taken to refer to Bavarian Swabia exclusively, correctly however it includes the larger Württemberg part of Swabia. Its inhabitants attach great importance to calling themselves Swabians. Baden, historically part of the duchy of Swabia but not of the Swabian Circle, is no longer commonly included in the term. Baden's residents mostly refer to themselves as

(versus the

Swabian people

Language

cites an estimate of 819,000 Swabian speakers as of 2006. This corresponds to roughly 10% of the total population of the Swabian region, or roughly 1% of the total population of Germany. As an ethno-linguistic group, Swabians are closely related to other speakers of

, i.e.

ers, Alsatians, and

German-speaking Swiss The Swiss people (german: die Schweizer, french: les Suisses, it, gli Svizzeri, rm, ils Svizzers) are the citizens of Switzerland or people of Swiss ancestry. The number of Swiss nationals has grown from 1.7 million in 1815 to 8.7 millio ...

.Minahan, p. 650. Swabian German or German is traditionally spoken in the upper

basin (upstream of

), along the upper

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

between

Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...

and Donauwörth, and on the left bank of the Lech, in an area centered on the Swabian Alps roughly stretching from

. Many Swabian surnames end with the suffixes ''-le'', ''-(l)er'', ''-el'', ''-ehl'', and ''-lin'', typically from the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

suffix ''-elîn'' (Modern Standard German ''-lein''). Examples would be: ''Schäuble'', ''Egeler'', ''Rommel'', and ''Gmelin''. The popular German surname ''Schwab'' as well as ''Svevo'' in Italy are derived from this area, both meaning literally "Swabian".

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* D'alemannisch Wikipedia * * {{Authority control Geography of Baden-Württemberg Geography of Bavaria History of the Holy Roman Empire by location