A native of the
Swiss canton of
Uri (he was probably born in
Klingnau), Zwyer initially pursued a military career. From 1612 to 1617, he served in a mercenary regiment in the service of
Spain and
Milan; from 1619 to 1642 he was in service for the
Habsburg emperors, first for
Ferdinand II and then
Ferdinand III. Zwyer fought in several battles of the
Thirty Years' War. He participated in the
Battle of White Mountain in 1620, fought at
Glückstadt in 1624, at
Mantua in 1630, and at
Nördlingen in 1634. In 1635, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General and made a member of the emperor's staff, where he was responsible for reforming the armies following the Swedish example. From 1638 to 1641 he again fought in northern
Italy, commanding his own regiment of
Swiss mercenaries. He abandoned his military career in 1642 at the rank of Lieutenant Field Marshal (equivalent to a
lieutenant general). In 1642, he returned to Uri and became active in local politics. 1643 the emperor named Zwyer his official envoy in the Confederacy. From 1644 to 1659, he filled the top positions in Uri: he was one of the two representatives of Uri at the
Tagsatzung, the federal council of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and from 1647 on also the
Landammann (head of state) of the canton. In 1648, the
Tagsatzung designated him and
Johann Rudolf Wettstein, the mayor of
Basel, the official negotiators of the Confederacy at the
Treaty of Westphalia with the task to ensure the formal exemption of the Confederacy from the
Holy Roman Empire. In winter 1650/51, the two were also sent on a diplomatic journey to Emperor
Ferdinand III in order to achieve the liberation of some goods from the
German Court. During the
Swiss peasant war of 1653, Zwyer commanded the joint troops of the city of
Lucerne and
Uri, putting down the revolt in the
Entlebuch valley in the
canton of Lucerne. Three years later, he again commanded
Catholic troops in the
First war of Villmergen, when he led the defence of
Rapperswil against attack from Zurich troops but refused to take direct offensive action himself. ==References==