The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance () is one of the earliest constitutional documents of Switzerland. A treaty of alliance from 1291 between the cantons of
Uri
Uri may refer to:
Places
* Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland
* Úri, a village and commune in Hungary
* Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province
* Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India
* Uri (island), off Malakula Island in V ...
,
Schwyz
Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and 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''.
The of ...
and
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 ...
, the Charter is one of a series of alliances from which the
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...
emerged. In the 19th and 20th century, after the establishment of the
Swiss federal state, the Charter became the central founding document of Switzerland in the popular imagination.
The Charter documents the Eternal Alliance of the League of the Three Forest Cantons (), the union of three
cantons
A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...
in what is now central Switzerland. It is dated to early August 1291, which in the 20th century inspired the date of
Swiss National Day
Swiss National Day (; ; ; ) is the national holiday of Switzerland, set on 1 August. Although the founding of the Swiss Confederacy was first celebrated on this date in 1891 and annually since 1899, it has only been an official holiday since ...
, 1 August. Done in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, the Charter makes reference to a previous (lost or unwritten) pact. It is now exhibited at the
Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation in
Schwyz
Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and 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''.
The of ...
.
Contents
The Alliance was concluded between the people of the
alpine areas of
Uri
Uri may refer to:
Places
* Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland
* Úri, a village and commune in Hungary
* Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province
* Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India
* Uri (island), off Malakula Island in V ...
,
Schwyz
Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and 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''.
The of ...
and
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 ...
(). The participants are referred to as ''conspirati'' and (synonymously) ''coniurati'', traditionally translated in German as "
Eidgenossen" (and in English as "Confederates").
The Charter was probably intended to ensure legal certainty after the death of
Rudolf I of Habsburg on 15 July 1291. The first two paragraphs commit all three communities to the joint defence of the three valleys. The remainder of the Charter concerns judicial matters: It calls for arbitration in the case of conflicts, rejects foreign judges, establishes the death penalty for murderers and exile for arsonists, and commands obedience to judges and judicial verdicts.
Date and context
The authenticity of the letter used to be disputed as a supposed modern forgery, but historians now agree that it is certainly a product of the 14th century. In 1991, the
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...
was
radiocarbon dated at
ETH
Eth ( , uppercase: ⟨Ð⟩, lowercase: ⟨ð⟩; also spelled edh or eð), known as in Old English, is a letter used in Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, Faroese (in which it is called ), and Elfdalian.
It was also used in Sca ...
to between 1252 and 1312 (with a probability of 85%); alternatively, it could date to between 1352 and 1385 (with a probability of 15%).
The document is thus not a forgery, tied to the emergence of the modern federal state in 1848, but should rather be seen in the context of Chapter 15 of the
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...
in which
Charles IV outlawed any ''conjurationes, confederationes,'' and ''conspirationes'', meaning in particular the city alliances (''
Städtebünde''), but also other communal leagues that had sprung up through the
communal movement in medieval Europe. It was then very common to produce documents only when needed. At the time, agreements were most often verbal, and any documentation drawn up later might have its contents or dates changed to suit current purposes.
The charter was part of a system of defensive pacts among the polities that later became the Swiss cantons. They include the following, also on display at the Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation:
* 1315: Federal Charter of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden 9 December 1315 (aka
Pact of Brunnen)
* 1332: Charter of the City of
Lucerne
Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...
with Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden
* 1352: Charter with
Glarus
Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.[Zug
Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...]
* 1451: Contract with
St. Gallen Abbey and
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Lucerne and Schwyz and Glarus
* 1454: Eternal Contract for
St. Gallen with Zürich,
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, Lucerne and Schwyz, Zug and Glarus
* 1464: Contract of
Rapperswil
Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...
with the abovementioned
* 1481: Contract of
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
und
Solothurn
* 1501: Contract with
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
of which the number of copies is known to be 11, corresponding to the 11 seals.
* 1501: Contract with
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...
* 1513: Contract with
Appenzell
Appenzell () was a cantons of Switzerland, canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen, in existence from 1403 to 1597.
Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered ...
Modern reception
The charter of 1291 became important in the
historiography of Switzerland
The historiography of Switzerland is the study of the history of Switzerland.
Early accounts of the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy are found in the numerous Swiss chronicles of the 14th to 16th centuries.
As elsewhere in Europe, these la ...
only in the late 19th century. Previously, the date of the foundation of the Confederacy had been traditionally given as 1307 (
Aegidius Tschudi);
this is the year inscribed for example on the
Tell Monument, commissioned in 1895.
The idea of the charter of 1291 representing the founding document of the Confederacy was first suggested in a report by the Federal Department of Home Affairs of 21 November 1889, in the context of a proposed combined celebration of the 700th anniversary of the foundation of Bern and the 600th anniversary of the Confederacy in 1891. Celebration of a
national holiday on 1 August based on the date on the document was first suggested in 1899 (although it was introduced officially only in 1994).
The idea to build a dedicated national monument housing the foundational documents of the Confederacy was first proposed in 1891 by federal councillors Emil Welti and Carl Schenk. This plan was revisited in 1915 during the preparation of the 600th anniversary celebration for the
Battle of Morgarten, but its realisation was delayed due to World War I. After the war, the canton of Schwyz requested federal support for the project, which was granted in 1928. Designed by Joseph Beeler in 1933, the ''Bundesbriefarchiv'' (Federal Charter Archive) was opened in 1936. In 1979/80, the exhibition hall was renovated, and restoration work was carried out on the 21 banners and flags displayed in the museum. In 1998/99, the exhibition was re-arranged. In the meantime, the institution changed its name to ''Bundesbriefmuseum'' (Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation).
See also
*
Tagsatzung
*
Rütlischwur
*
Swiss National Day
Swiss National Day (; ; ; ) is the national holiday of Switzerland, set on 1 August. Although the founding of the Swiss Confederacy was first celebrated on this date in 1891 and annually since 1899, it has only been an official holiday since ...
*
Historiography of Switzerland
The historiography of Switzerland is the study of the history of Switzerland.
Early accounts of the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy are found in the numerous Swiss chronicles of the 14th to 16th centuries.
As elsewhere in Europe, these la ...
*
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...
References
Further reading
* Marabello, Thomas Quinn (2023) "The Origins of Democracy in Switzerland," ''Swiss American Historical Society Review'', Vol. 59: No. 1. Availabl
here pp. 91–93.
* Winkler, Albert (2014)
"The Federal Charter of 1291 and the founding of the Swiss State,"''Swiss American Historical Society Review,'' vol. 50 (2014), no. 1, pp. 33–50.
External links
{{Authority control
1290s in law
13th-century manuscripts
Federalism in Switzerland
Legal history of Switzerland
Political charters
Schwyz
1290s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1291 establishments in Europe
13th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy