In the
Early Middle Ages, Fricktal formed part of the
Alemannic Augstgau between the
Rhine and
Aar rivers, from the 10th century onwards of the smaller
Frickgau region within
Upper Burgundy, owned by the
Counts of Homberg-Thierstein in the 11th and 12th centuries. The western Fricktal was held by the Burgundian Lords of
Rheinfelden, their last scion
Rudolf of Rheinfelden became
Duke of Swabia in 1057 and upon his death in 1080 his possessions passed to his son in law
Berthold II from the
House of Zähringen. After the extinction of the line in 1218, the area eventually passed to the Counts of
Habsburg, who already held the
Vogtei of
Laufenburg. After the
Habsburg dynasty had lost large parts of its original Swabian possessions south of the Rhine to the
Swiss Confederacy at the 1386
Battle of Sempach, the remaining Fricktal was administered from the
Oberamt Breisgau of
Further Austria (
Vorderösterreich) at
Freiburg, while the adjacent
Unteraargau region to the south was finally conquered by the Swiss at
Bern in 1415. In 1469 the indebted Archduke
Sigismund of Further Austria sold the Breisgau with Fricktal to the
Burgundian Duke
Charles the Bold, nevertheless upon Charles' death in 1477 it reverted to Archduke
Maximilian I of Habsburg by marriage with the duke's daughter
Mary the Rich. In the early 18th century, the citizens of Bern attempted to purchase Fricktal from the Habsburg Emperors without success. Subsequent to the 1797
Treaty of Campo Formio,
France occupied Fricktal, and in 1802 it was briefly a canton of the
Helvetic Republic, as the
Canton of Fricktal. On 9 March 1803, Fricktal was integrated into the Aargau canton of the
Swiss Confederation by order of
Napoleon. Fricktal, with its mild climate, is an important location for
wine and
cherry production as well as a base of the
chemical and
pharmaceutical industries. ==References==