Battle of Morgarten

Toward the end of the 13th century the House of Habsburg coveted the area around the Gotthard Pass, as it offered the shortest passage to Italy. However, the Confederates of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, which had formalized the Swiss Confederacy in 1291, held imperial freedom letters from former Habsburg emperors granting them local autonomy within the empire. In 1314 tensions between the Habsburgs and Confederates heightened when Duke Louis IV of Bavaria (who would become Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor) and Frederick the Handsome, a Habsburg prince, each claimed the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor. The Confederates supported Louis IV because they feared the Habsburgs would annex their lands (which they had tried to do in the late 13th century). War broke out after the Confederates of Schwyz raided the Habsburg-protected Einsiedeln Abbey. The conflict with Einsiedeln had begun when settlers moved from Schwyz into unused parts of the territories claimed by Einsiedeln. The settlers cleared the primal forest and established farms or pastures. The abbot of Einsiedeln carried his complaint to the bishop of Constance, who moved to excommunicate Schwyz. As revenge, men of Schwyz under the leadership of Werner Stauffacher raided Einsiedeln abbey on the night of 6 January 1314. They plundered the monastery, desecrated the church, and took several monks as hostages. The abbot managed to escape to Pfäffikon, from where he alerted the bishop. The bishop reacted by including Uri and Unterwalden in the excommunication. == Battle ==

Frederick's brother, Habsburg duke Leopold of Austria, led a large army to crush the rebellious Confederates. Johannes von Winterthur's chronicle of the battle puts the Habsburg forces at 20,000, although that number is likely an exaggeration. A 19th century account by Rudolf Hanhart states that there were 9,000 men in the Habsburg army. Historian Hans Delbrück estimated in 1907 that the Habsburg army consisted of only 2,000–3,000 men, but that these were mainly well-trained and -equipped knights. Delbrück's view is shared by Kelly DeVries. The Confederates of Schwyz were supported by the Confederates of Uri and Unterwalden. The size of the Confederate force is unknown, with estimates ranging from 1,500 to around 3,000-4,000. According to Karl von Elgger, the Confederates, unfamiliar with the customs of battles between knights, brutally butchered retreating troops and everyone unable to flee. He records that some infantry preferred to drown themselves in the lake rather than face the brutality of the Swiss. The entire passage between Lake Ägeri and Sattel is now known as Morgarten, but this is in reference to the battle. ==Use of halberds==

Matthias of Neuenburg writing in Latin around 1350 uses the term jesa to describe a type of polearm used by the Confederates; this has been interpreted as referencing an early form of the halberd. Konrad Justinger, writing in German in c. 1430, cites the use of halberds explicitly: "the Swiss held in their hands certain most terrible murder weapons, known in the vernacular as helnbarten, by means of which even the best armed opponents were cut apart as with a razor blade, and hacked to pieces: this was no 'battle', but, for the reasons mentioned, so to speak a mere butchering of the men of duke Leopold by those mountain dwellers, as with a herd led to slaughter". In the assessment of John Guilmartin, writing for Encyclopædia Britannica (2015, s.v. "Military technology", section "The infantry revolution, c. 1200–1500"): ==Aftermath==

of 1547 Within a month of the battle, in December 1315, the Confederates renewed the oath of alliance made in 1291, initiating a period of growth within the Confederacy. ==Commemoration==

As the first military success of the Confederacy, Morgarten became an important staple of Swiss patriotism in the early modern period. Records of formal commemorations of the battle go back to the 14th century; Johannes von Winterthur in the 1340s records the decision of Schwyz to hold a yearly commemoration. The existence of a chapel at the site of the battle is recorded in 1501. Writing in 1530, Joachim Vadian suggests that the first such chapel may have been built immediately after the battle, with the proceeds from the spoils. The modern chapel dates to 1604. In 1891, in the context of the 600-years anniversary of the Confederacy, plans were made to erect a new memorial at the site of battle. There was some dispute as to the appropriate location (not least because the "battle" was an attack on a marching column stretched out for some 2 kilometres), with both the cantons of Schwyz and of Zug claiming the site of the battle. A monument was eventually inaugurated in 1908 at the southern shore of Lake Ägeri, in the village of Hauptsee, in the canton of Zug. On this occasion, the village was renamed to "Morgarten" (part of Oberägeri municipality). The authorities of Schwyz refused to acknowledge a site of the battle outside of their territory and did not send any official representation to the monument's inauguration ceremony. Since 1912, a yearly target shooting event has been held on the day of the battle in the vicinity of the monument, the Morgartenschiessen. The competition is over the distance of 300m. In addition, a pistol competition over a distance of 50m was introduced in 1957, taking place in the territory of Schwyz, near the battle chapel. A large celebration for the 600-year anniversary of the battle was organised in 1915, held in two locations at the chapel and the monument. In the context of the 650-year anniversary in 1965, efforts were made to preserve the site of the battle. Money was raised for the canton of Schwyz to buy up private land in the area. Felicia Hemans's poem Song of The Battle of Morgarten was published in The Edinburgh Magazine in 1822. ==See also==