''Eidgenossenschaft'' () is a German word specific to the political history 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 ...

. It means "

oath Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...

commonwealth" or "oath alliance", in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of the late medieval period. In Swiss historiography, this relates most notably to the Rütlischwur (Rütli Oath) between the three founding cantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, which traditionally dates to 1307. In modern usage, ''Eidgenossenschaft'' is the German term used as an equivalent to "

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

" in the official name of

, ''Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft'' (rendered, respectively, as ''Confédération suisse'' and ''Confederazione svizzera'' in French and Italian). Its corresponding adjective, ''eidgenössisch''—officially translated as "Swiss federal"—is used in the name of organisations such as the '' Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule'', or Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The term ''Eidgenosse'' (literally: comrade by oath) refers to individual members of the ''Eidgenossenschaft''. It is attested as early as 1315 in the Pact of Brunnen (as ''Eitgenoze''), referring to the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. The abstract noun ''Eidgenossenschaft'' (mostly contracted to ''eidgnoszschaft'' or ''eidgnoschaft'') is attested in the 15th century. In modern usage, ''Eidgenosse'' is sometimes used in archaic or ironic usage for " Swiss citizen", especially for those citizens of purely Swiss origin and not from immigration.NZZ: Schweizer – aber niemals Eidgenosse
/ref> In a historical context, ''Eidgenossenschaft'' refers to the medieval Swiss Confederacy, which grew from the 13th to the 16th century in central Europe, persisted until 1798 and then evolved into a federal state in the 19th century. When used in this sense, the eternal nature of the pact is necessary—the members of the ''Dreizehn Orte'' ( Thirteen Cantons), frequently made time-limited alliances sworn by oath with other partners, but such pacts were not considered an ''Eidgenossenschaft''. The members of an ''Eidgenossenschaft'' are called ''Eidgenossen'' (singular ''Eidgenosse''). This term is documented in an alliance from 1351 between the communal, countrified lieus of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden and the civic city lieus 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 ...

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 ...

, which referred to themselves as such. In the evolution of the Swiss Confederacy, the members initially were not united by one single pact, but rather by a whole set of overlapping pacts and separate bilateral treaties between various members. The abstraction to the singular use of ''Eidgenossenschaft'', which implies a stronger sense of community and the perception of a strong common cause, did not occur until some forty years later, after the Battle of Sempach, although it began already in the '' Pfaffenbrief'' of 1370, a treaty among some of the then eight members of the Swiss Confederacy. The communal movement in medieval Europe often led to similar alliances or leagues, called ''conjurationes'' in the

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 ...

of the official documents of the time. The city alliances () in the medieval

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, in which the member cities also were equal, can be regarded as ''Eidgenossenschaften'', too, although they generally proved less stable, partly due to their fragmented territories. The best known of these city alliances was the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

, but many others existed in the 13th and 14th century. An early example is the Lombard League at the time of Frederick I "Barbarossa"; an example from Switzerland would be the " Burgundian Confederacy" of

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 ...

. In the Holy Roman Empire, emperor Charles IV outlawed any such ''conjurationes, confederationes,'' and ''conspirationes'' in his Golden Bull of 1356. Most ''Städtebünde'' were subsequently dissolved, sometimes forcibly, and where refounded, their political influence was much reduced. On the Swiss ''Eidgenossenschaft'', however, the edict had no such effect as Charles IV, who was of the House of Luxembourg, regarded the Swiss as potential useful allies against his rivals, the Habsburgs.

References

* {{HDS, 26413, Eidgenossenschaft German words and phrases Old Swiss Confederacy Society of Switzerland