Arnold von Melchtal, also spelt Melchthal and otherwise Arnold von der Halden, was one of the three ''

Eidgenosse ''Eidgenossenschaft'' () is a German language, German word specific to the political history of Switzerland. It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance", in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss ...

n'', the legendary founding fathers of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He represented the Canton of

Unterwalden Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas'' ("between the forests"), 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 tw ...

at the Rütlischwur.

Aegidius Tschudi Aegidius Tschudi (Glarus, 5 February 1505Glarus, 28 February 1572) was a Swiss historian, statesman and soldier, an eminent member of the Tschudi family of Glarus, Switzerland. His best-known work is the '' Chronicon Helveticum'', a history of ...

in his

Chronicon Helveticum The ''Chronicon Helveticum'' (Latin for "Swiss Chronicle") is one of the oldest accounts of the early history of the Swiss Confederation. The rough draft of the ''Chronicon Helveticum'' was written by Swiss historian Aegidius Tschudi in 1550.Ber ...

tells Arnold's story as follows:

, ''

Notes

14th-century Swiss people {{Switzerland-bio-stub