Chapter II: Part 2

“The Swiss, hardy and brave from their modes of life and forms of government, disdained to submit to a foreign power, and beheld the gathering of the storm without dismay, though with the interest due to the importance of the cause in which they were engaged. Fourteen hundred men, the flower of their youth, grasped their arms and assembled at the town of Schwyz. A solemn fast being proclaimed, they passed the day in religious exercises and chanting hymns and kneeling down in the open air, petitioned “the God of heaven and earth to listen to their lowly prayers, and humble the pride and arrogance of their enemies.” By the advice of an experienced veteran they took post on the heights of Morgarten, and with the same spirit which had animated the Greeks at the strait of Thermopylæ, waited the approach of the enemy. Fifty outlaws also, who had been expelled from Schwyz, petitioned the magistrates that they might share the danger of the day with their countrymen; and, though rejected, occupied an eminence commanding the entrance of the pass.

“At the dawn of the morning (November 16.) the Austrians were seen advancing in all the pomp of war, and flushed with the hope of certain conquest. The cavalry, on whom the warriors of that day placed their principal reliance, armed from head to foot, led the way, and were followed by the infantry in a compact body. When they began to fill the strait, and stretch along the borders of the lake, the fifty exiles raised a sudden shout, and hurled among them huge blocks of timber, heaps of stones, and fragments of rock. This unexpected assault threw the column into confusion; and the confederates perceiving the impression, rushed down from the heights, and charged the enemy in close array with their clubs, halberts, and pikes. Cramped by the narrowness of the defile, the Austrians were unable to make any evolution, and their embarrassment was increased by the effects of a hoar frost. Many of the horse leaped into the lake, and the remainder recoiled on their infantry, who, unaware of the attack, and unable to open their files, were run over, dispersed, or trampled to death; numbers were driven into the lake, crushed by their companions, or fell by the hands of an enraged enemy. Not less than fifteen hundred, most of whom were nobles or knights, were slain in the rout, and Leopold himself with difficulty escaped under the guidance of a peasant to Winterthur, where he arrived in the evening, gloomy, exhausted, and dismayed.

“At the close of evening the Unterwalders, apprised of the advance of the body from Lucern, embarked with a hundred Swiss on the lake, and landing at Buchs, attacked and dispersed the enemy. Notwithstanding the exertions of this arduous day, the victorious troops, joined by a few of their countrymen, hastened to Alpnach, where the four thousand had taken a strong position. The Austrians, beholding the victorious banners of the Swiss, and hearing the shouts of exultation, were panic struck, and began to retreat; but were attacked by the confederates, and, notwithstanding the exertions of their commander, driven back in disorder over the mountains towards Lucern.

“The three cantons in a public assembly declared the anniversary of this day, ‘in which the God of Hosts had visited his people, and given them the victory over their enemies,’ a solemn festival, and ordered the names and heroic deeds of those champions, who had fallen in defence of their country, to be annually recited to the people. They also rendered perpetual their ancient league, which had hitherto been renewed every tenth year, and obtained a confirmation of their confederacy from the head of the empire.”

We omit the rest of the history of these two brothers, on account of their too great complication with the interests of other princes, including the Pope, who pursued their objects with the same recklessness of the welfare of the countries which were the theatre of the disputes, that is the ever continued course of the House of Austria, and with no shadow of a better purpose than family aggrandisement, ever manifested by every one of them, whether in peace or war.

They both died before 1330, leaving their younger brothers, Albert II. and Otho, heads of the family, who immediately concluded peace with the Emperor Louis. Hardly was this effected before we find the brothers engaged in war for the succession of Carinthia and the Tyrol. Being invested with both by Louis, they took forcible possession of Carinthia, but were obliged to renounce the Tyrol, so effectually were they opposed by its nobles and magistrates.

“While Albert was thus on the whole extending his possessions, and consolidating his power on the side of Austria his paternal domains and influence in Switzerland were curtailed by the three petty republics of the Alps, who had already resisted the efforts and humbled the pride of his house.

“At the commencement of their administration, Albert, in conjunction with his brother Otho, had made considerable acquisitions in the neighborhood of the Rhine; they had obtained possession of Schaffhausen, Rheinfelden, and Brisach; and had purchased from the House of Lauffenburgh the feudal rights over the town and country of Rapperschwyl. By these acquisitions, and by the extent of their paternal inheritance, the Austrian princes almost surrounded and isolated the three republics: they possessed nearly the whole of that part of the canton of Berne which is now called the Argau; they were masters of the Thurgau; they held the sovereignty of Zug and Lucern, including the Entlibuch, and the towns of Sempach and Reichensee; and, as advocates of the abbeys of Einsidlin and Seckingen, their authority was paramount in the district to the south of the lake of Zurich, and over the town and canton of Glarus.

“By the death of Otho, and of his two sons, who deceased in 1344, the whole possessions and power of the House of Austria devolved on Albert. But he was at first too much embarrassed in contests on the side of Austria and the empire to give the necessary attention to the affairs of Helvetia, where a concurrence of events had begun to diminish the authority of his family.

“Since the battle of Morgarten, the power and influence of the Swiss had increased with their success; and the spirit of that liberty which they had so courageously defended was diffused over the neighboring Alps, and among the towns and districts on the borders of Germany. The surrounding people were eager to obtain an exemption from feudal despotism; and panted for an equal participation of those rights which had raised the three democratic cantons to such reputation and prosperity. Lucern set the first example. In consequence of the unceasing disputes and contests between the Austrian feudatories and the confederated republics, Lucern was exposed to perpetual inroads; her commerce to Italy was interrupted, her fairs deserted, and her citizens, continually under arms, were unable to protect their territories from depredations, or their walls from insult. In these depressing circumstances the flower of her youth was summoned to the field under the Austrian standard, her citizens loaded with excessive contributions, and, the authority of the Austrian princes being supported by the nobles, the town was agitated with discordant factions. At length the majority of the burghers obtained from the emperor Louis the protection of the empire, and with his approbation concluded an armistice of twenty years with the Swiss cantons. The nobles applied to the baron of Ramschlag, the Austrian castellan of Rotenburgh, who advanced with a body of 300 horse to surprise the town; but this project being defeated by the vigilance and firmness of the burghers, many of the Austrian partisans retired, and the remaining inhabitants entered into an alliance with the Swiss cantons. In forming this alliance, however, both parties observed the most rigid dictates of justice, and confirmed all the rights and prerogatives of the House of Austria. Albert and Otho, failing in their attempts to recover Lucern by intrigue or arms, took advantage of their reconciliation with Louis, and solicited him to dissolve the alliance of Lucern with the Swiss cantons. The cause was accordingly submitted to arbitrators, selected from Zurich, Berne, and Basle: but the confederacy was confirmed, and a truce for thirty months concluded between the dukes of Austria and Lucern, which was renewed at different intervals.

“The four cantons, which, from this period, are called the four Forest Cantons, took an active share in the subsequent transactions, and, after vindicating their own independence, assisted in extending and maintaining the liberty of the neighboring towns and districts, who sought their alliance and protection.

“Zurich next became a member of the Helvetic confederacy. The House of Austria had more than once endeavoured in vain to annex Zurich to their other territories; and in the peace of Hagenau, it was one of the four imperial towns mortgaged by the emperor to Albert and Otho. But the inhabitants claiming the privilege granted to them by Adolphus, of never being separated from the empire, Louis yielded to their remonstrances, and instead of Zurich ceded Brisach, a town of the Brisgau. The Austrian princes, however, did not relinquish their purpose, and gained a considerable party of the nobles, who had gradually acquired the principal share in the administration of affairs. But their views were thwarted by a revolution which annihilated the influence of the nobles, and established a popular form of government; and Rodolph Brun, by whose influence and intrigues this revolution was effected, under the title of perpetual burgomaster, secured the chief authority. The nobles who opposed the change were driven into exile, their estates confiscated, and the severest measures were adopted to prevent the restoration of the ancient government. The tyrannical proceedings of Brun having excited great discontents, the exiles united with John of Hapsburgh, lord of Rapperschwyl, who had afforded them an asylum, to recover their lost ascendancy. In 1351 they succeeded in introducing a considerable body of men into the town; but at midnight, when the explosion was about to take place, the plot was accidentally discovered. The conspirators were put to death, or dispersed; and John of Hapsburgh, with Ulrich of Bonstetten, the two leaders, made prisoners. Many of their adherents among the burghers were afterwards executed; and the authority of Brun was more firmly established than ever. He led a party against Rapperschwyl, made himself master of the town, expelled the inhabitants, levelled every house to the ground, and demolished the walls of the castle; but, aware that these proceedings would expose him to the vengeance of Albert, he saw no other resource than the protection of the Swiss cantons, and succeeded in procuring the admission of Zurich into the Helvetic confederacy, which took place on the 7th of May, 1351.

“Albert, at length relieved from his embarassments in Germany, hastened to recover his declining authority. He assembled at Bruck all his governors, barons, and magistrates, from the Thurgau, Argau, Alsace, the Black Forest, and Suabia, and roused their indignation by expatiating on the flagitious conduct of Zurich. He then summoned the deputies of Zurich, who came to congratulate him on his arrival, into his presence, and, after rebuking them with severity, dismissed them with an order that the towns of old and new Rapperschwyl should be rebuilt, the marshes restored, and his people indemnified for their losses. On the refusal of the burghers to comply with these conditions, he invested the town with 16,000 men.

“On the first appearance of danger, the people of Zurich applied to the Forest Cantons, and a body of Swiss prepared to march, without delay, to the assistance of their new ally. The burghers, however, panic struck with the force and menaces of the Austrians, requested an arbitration to arrange the dispute, and yielded sixteen hostages as pledges for the fulfilment of the award. The arbitrators chose Agnes, queen of Bohemia, the sister of Albert, as final umpire, who decided in favour of her brother. A treaty was accordingly concluded; but a dispute arising in regard to the release of John of Hapsburgh, and the Swiss disapproving the conditions, both parties had again recourse to arms.

“Among his allies, Albert summoned the people of Glarus to his standard; but these husbandmen, who were animated with the same spirit as their Alpine neighbours, refused to obey the summons; and when he despatched a body of troops, as well to awe them into compliance as to annoy the Forest Cantons, the Swiss, bursting in the depth of winter into the valley, were joyfully received by the inhabitants, and expelled the governor. The people, grateful for this deliverance, entered into a treaty of alliance with the Forest Cantons, and 200 of their bravest youth marched to the defence of Zurich. At the commencement of the ensuing year they repulsed and defeated with great slaughter an Austrian force in the field of Rutly, and soon after this event Glarus was formally admitted into the Helvetic confederacy. In a similar manner the Swiss expelled the Austrians from Zug, and the natives of that town and district were received into the confederacy; the two cantons however did not yet throw off their feudal subjection to the house of Austria, but reserved, in their full latitude, all the rights and revenues of the duke.

“During these transactions, four thousand Austrian troops had been defeated by fifteen hundred burghers of Zurich, at Tatwyl, and a corps of a thousand by forty-two Swiss at Kussnacht. Albert, unwilling to continue this predatory warfare, in which all the advantage lay on the side of the active and light-armed peasants of the Alps, and which dispirited his own troops while it increased the courage and skill of the enemy, collected from all quarters an army sufficient, as he imagined, to humble the confederates by a single effort. He drew out the whole force of his own hereditary dominions, and persuaded the nobles of Burgundy, Suabia, and Helvetia that their interests were equally concerned in punishing refractory subjects, and checking the progress of the Helvetic union; he likewise succeeded in obtaining the support of the elector of Brandenburgh, and many other princes of the empire; and was assisted even by the republic of Berne, and its allies of Oberland, Hasli, and the Pays de Vaud. Having in 1352 assembled 30,000 foot, and 4000 horse he intrusted the command to an experienced warrior, Everhard, count of Wirtemberg, who laid siege to Zurich. Albert himself was indefatigable in forwarding the siege, and either on a litter, or on horseback, assiduously visited and encouraged the different posts; but the invincible spirit of the burghers, assisted by a corps of the confederates, baffled all his efforts. In consequence of an alarming scarcity of provisions, his auxiliaries successively retired, and Albert at length gladly accepted an accommodation, which was concluded by the intervention of the elector of Brandenburgh, with the plenipotentiaries of the confederates assembled at Lucern. All prisoners, conquests, and hostages were to be restored on both sides; the prerogatives and revenues of the duke in Lucern, Schwyz, and Underwalden were to be preserved; Zug and Glarus agreed to render him due allegiance; and the duke in return promised to be their friend. The confederates were to conclude no alliance with an Austrian town or country; Zurich and Lucern were to admit no Austrian subject into their burghership; John of Hapsburgh was to be released; and all former alliances, immunities, and established regulations to remain inviolate.

“The signal proofs of spirit, valor, and perseverance, displayed by the confederates in this arduous and apparently unequal contest, increased their former reputation; and before the close of 1352, their union was strengthened by the accession of Berne, the most powerful republic in Helvetia, which, by purchase or arms, had enlarged her frontiers, and acquired a considerable domain; but was still more formidable from the military skill and prowess of her warlike citizens.

“The treaty which Albert, from his necessities rather than from inclination, had concluded with the confederate cantons, was a suspension of arms instead of a solid peace; for disputes soon arose relative to the interpretation of the articles. Albert insisted that the engagements of Glarus and Zug to pay him due allegiance dissolved their alliance with the Swiss cantons; and the Swiss urged that the article in which the maintenance of all former alliances was stipulated comprehended the Helvetic union. Albert had recourse to the mediation of the emperor, who was anxious to compose the troubles of the empire, that he might receive the crown from the hands of the Pope at Rome. Charles repaired to Zurich, and endeavoured to effect an accommodation; but as he displayed an evident partiality in favour of Albert, the Swiss cantons declared their resolution to reject any award before their confederacy was acknowledged; and at the same time they tendered a compensation for the ducal prerogatives, which was to be fixed by the emperor. Charles, irritated by this mark of disrespect, declared the Helvetic union null and void, and all confederacies illegal, which were formed without the consent of the head of the empire.

“In consequence of the unshaken resolution displayed by the Swiss, an Austrian force passed the Glatt, and fortified Rapperschwyl, which Albert had purchased from the house of Lauffenburgh; and from that central post annoyed both the Swiss and the town of Zurich. Soon afterwards Charles himself summoned the contingents of the empire, and, accompanied by all his princes, spiritual and temporal, joined the army of Albert, which was encamped before Zurich. But the hopes of Albert were again frustrated; the garrison, though amounting to only four thousand men, were all animated by the same undaunted spirit; while the heterogeneous and unwieldy mass of the besieging army was agitated with disputes and jealousies. The imperial cities were unwilling to assist in reducing another city of the empire; the princes and states were jealous of the increasing power of Austria, and averse to enforce the maxims promulgated by Charles, that all confederacies were illegal which were concluded without the consent of their chief; Charles himself also was disinclined to support so unpopular a cause, and to waste his time in aggrandising a family, of which he dreaded the ascendancy. A frivolous dispute about precedence in the assault afforded a pretext for retiring; the besiegers struck their tents, and withdrew in such haste and disorder that, according to the expressions of an ancient chronicle, none knew who went first, or who last, and Albert was left to prosecute the war with his own forces.

“Albert, thus deserted, changed his plan of operations, devastated the country in the neighbourhood of Zurich, and let loose a lawless band of Hungarian auxiliaries, who, like the Croats and Pandours of modern times, committed the most horrible excesses, and spared neither friend nor foe. At length his own subjects, and the neighbouring barons, harassed and exhausted with perpetual depredations, unanimously clamoured for peace, and testified a resolution to terminate hostilities, even without his consent. Albert was reduced to make overtures of accommodation, and admitted, at the diet of Ratisbon, that the reservation of the Swiss league should be a preliminary of the future award, which was left to the decision of the emperor. He endeavoured, however, to gain by artifice what he could not effect by force. At his instigation the emperor drew up articles of accommodation, containing an ambiguous clause, which virtually annulled the alliance, and would have ultimately again subjected Zug and Glarus to the domination of the house of Austria. With this view the Austrian commissaries, instead of presenting the instrument to a general assembly of the confederates, endeavoured to divide them, and to extort their separate concurrence. Brun, bribed by Albert, exerted his powerful influence; and Zurich, which had been the principal cause of the war, not only ratified the imperial award, but entered into a defensive alliance with Austria, to enforce the execution even against the confederates.

“The people of Schwyz, however, refused to ratify the obnoxious clause, and resisted with firmness and indignation the urgent representations of Albert, and the mandates of the emperor. Nor did their firmness forsake them on the arrival of an Austrian commissary to demand the homage of Zug and Glarus, although Zurich remained neuter, and even Lucern, Uri, and Underwalden seemed inclined to shrink from the contest. A body of troops marched from Schwyz under the banner of their forefathers, which had triumphed at Morgarten, entered the two cantons, drove out the Austrian commissary, and renewed the reciprocal engagements of perpetual amity and mutual defence.

“At length Albert, worn out with age, afflicted by the increase of his paralytic disorder, which was aggravated by arthritic complaints, and the disappointment of his hopes, returned in disgust to Vienna, where he fell into such a state of despondency, that the very name of a Swiss was never mentioned in his presence. His son Rodolph, who was intrusted with the administration of the Suabian territories, agreed to an armistice of eleven years, which was mediated by the baron of Thorberg, the Austrian commissary in Helvetia, and thus terminated a ruinous and fruitless contest.

“This event was soon followed by the decease of Albert, who died on the 16th of August, 1358, after a reign of twenty-eight years.”

The successor of Albert II. was his son Rodolph IV., who had a fancy for antiquities; a fancy made important by his undertaking to assume all the titles which had ever pertained to his family, among the rest that of the Archduke Palatine; but the most important acquisition that marked his own reign was that of the Tyrol, ceded by Margaret Maultasch, whom he had laid under obligation to himself, by procuring from the Pope the legitimation of her son Meinhard. He also obtained various advantages in a contest with the patriarch of Aquilea; but, in the midst of his attempts to aggrandise his family, he died untimely, aged 26, in 1365.

As his brother Frederic had died immediately before this time, the administration of the family interests fell upon a younger brother, Albert III., who was only seventeen years of age. He also had a brother Leopold, two years younger than himself, and it was his ambition that divided the hitherto united territories of the family. With the sanction of the Emperor, Leopold II. took possession of all the provinces except Austria, and he then proceeded to add to his possessions from the world without. He succeeded in getting Trieste by taking part with Francis of Carrara against the Venetians, but he was disappointed of his hopes of procuring the crown of Poland for his son William, and he sunk into a depression of spirits which incapacitated him for bodily or mental exertion. “He neglected the administration of affairs, and his bailiffs and feudal chiefs, who were freed from his control, were guilty of great tyranny and excessive exactions. Symptoms of discontent soon broke out in Suabia, of which Leopold was imperial bailiff; above forty of the towns renewed the confederacy which they had formerly established against the oppressions of the princes and nobles, and were joined by Strasburgh, Mentz, and the principal cities on the Rhine. To strengthen their league, and to secure allies in the heart of the Austrian possessions, they sought the accession of the Helvetic confederates, whom they considered as the enemies of the House of Austria, from prejudice, interest, and situation.

“Many causes of misunderstanding had contributed to aggravate the natural jealousy between the House of Austria and the Helvetic states. Leopold had evinced an inclination to recover the authority of his ancestors, and had recently shackled the commerce of the Forest Cantons and Zurich, by the imposition of additional tolls at Rapperschwyl and Rotemberg; he had likewise taken part in a contest between Berne and a collateral branch of the family of Hapsburgh. The interference of Leopold in this instance disgusted the confederates, and Berne, Zurich, and Zug, with the town of Soleure, joined the union of the Suabian cities, and warmly solicited the accession of the other cantons.

“Alarmed with this formidable league, Leopold roused himself from his lethargy, and repaired to Zurich, pacified the people of Schwyz, by abolishing the tolls imposed at Rapperschwyl, and by their means gained the three other Forest Cantons; he also conciliated the burghers of Zurich, and detached them from the confederacy. He then appeased the discontents in Suabia, by repressing the exactions of the bailiffs, and by threats and promises dissolved the league of the cities on the Rhine. During these events he had smoothed and _amused the Swiss by offers of perpetual peace, and splendid promises_, but having pacified the imperial cities, he became less compliant, and his governors and bailiffs renewed their oppressions. The inveterate aversion which the Swiss people had fostered against the Austrian family again revived, and a trifling dispute soon occasioned an open rupture. Leopold had pledged the castle and town of Wolhausen, with the Entlibuch, to Peter of Thorberg, and Rotemberg to Herman of Graunberg. These lords oppressing the inhabitants, the latter, instead of appealing to the duke their sovereign, sent their deputies to seek the protection of Lucern, and were admitted into the co-burghership. The citizens of Lucern, also, who were aggrieved by imposition of heavy tolls at Rotemberg, seized this opportunity to attack and raze the castle and the walls of the town; and, instead of giving satisfaction for the outrage, admitted into their burghership the Entlibuch, with the Austrian towns of Sempach and Richensee.

“Leopold, irritated by the defection of his subjects and the loss of his territories, was still further exasperated by the clamors of the neighboring princes and nobles, who, being _alarmed lest their vassals should follow the example of those of Austria_, offered to assist in crushing so dangerous a confederacy. Both parties prepared for hostilities; and although Berne declined engaging in the contest, and the Suabian cities refused their assistance, Zurich, Zug, and the three Forest Cantons, armed in defence of Lucern. A desultory but sanguinary warfare took place; the confederates anticipated their enemies by razing the castles of Wolhausen, Meyenburgh, and Caffenberg, and placed garrisons in Sempach and Richensee; and, on the other side, the Austrians having recovered Richensee, sated their vengeance by demolishing the town, and putting the inhabitants to the sword, without distinction of sex or age.

“The crisis now rapidly approached, and twenty successive messengers arrived in one day, with the declarations of war from different lords against the confederates. Leopold soon collected a considerable army at Baden, and detached John de Bonstetten with a corps to Bruck, as if he meditated an attack on Zurich; but his views were in reality directed to penetrate by Sempach and Rotemberg, and make himself master of Lucern. The Forest Cantons, deceived by his dispositions, at first despatched 1,400 men for the defence of Zurich; but, being apprised of his plan, they prevailed on the burghers to undertake their own defence; and the greater part of the auxiliaries crossing the Reuss, directed their march towards Sempach. In their progress they were joined by bodies from Glarus, the Entlibuch, and the villages through which they passed, and on the 9th of July, 1396, arriving at Sempach, took post in the woods which skirt the lake and crown the neighboring eminences, with a force of only 1,300 men.

“On the evening of the preceding day, Leopold had occupied Sursee, and early in the morning advanced with a corps of 4000 horse and 1,400 foot, with the hope of surprising Sempach. Confident of success, his troops rode up to the walls, and insulted the citizens with taunts and threats. One held up a halter, exclaiming, ‘This is for your Avoyer!’ and others, alluding to the stragglers who were lying waste the fields, cried, ‘Send a breakfast to the reapers.’ The burgomaster, pointing to the woods, replied, ‘My masters of Lucern, and their allies, will bring it.’

“The duke, surprised at the appearance of the confederates, instantly held a council of war, to decide whether the attack should be postponed till the arrival of the other forces. But the nobles unanimously exclaimed, ‘God has delivered these peasants into our hands; it would be shameful, armed as we are, to wait for succors against an ill-armed and almost naked rabble.’ The baron de Hasenberg, an experienced veteran, who had often witnessed the prowess of the Swiss, in vain represented the folly of despising the enemy, expatiated on the uncertainty of the fortune of war, and urged the duke to wait the arrival of Bonstetten. But his prudence only drew from the younger knights the censure of cowardice: one of them, calling him a hare in heart, as in name, turned to the duke, and exultingly said, ‘This very noon we will deliver up to you this handful of rustics.’ His petulancy was received with applause, and preparations were made for an immediate attack.

“As the horses were fatigued by the march, and the woods were impracticable for cavalry, the knights dismounted, ordered the foot into the rear, and formed themselves into a solid and compact body. At this moment the Swiss, according to their custom, threw themselves on their knees, and with uplifted hands, implored the assistance of the Most High. Some of the Austrians observing this action, exclaimed, ‘They are supplicating for pardon!’ but they were soon undeceived, for the confederate troops instantly quitted the woods, and with shouts and exclamations poured down into the plain. A few only were in armour; some brandished the halberts which their forefathers had wielded at Morgarten; others bore two-handed swords and battle-axes, and instead of shields, wore boards fastened to their left arms; the Austrian host, on the contrary, covered from head to foot with blazing armour, presented a solid range of shields, and a horrent front of projecting spears.

“The Swiss drew up in the form of a wedge, and rushed with their usual impetuosity to the attack, but made no impression on this formidable phalanx; the banner of Lucern was exposed to imminent danger, and the landamman, with sixty of their most adventurous warriors, fell before a single enemy received a wound. They hesitated for a moment, regarding their enemies with a mixture of indignation and despair; while the flanks of the phalanx advancing in a crescent, endeavoured to close on their rear. At this awful crisis, Arnold de Winkelried, a knight of Underwalden, bursting from the ranks, exclaimed ‘I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen and confederates, my wife and children!’ Then throwing himself on the enemy, he seized as many pikes as he could grasp, and burying them in his bosom, bore them by his weight to the ground. His companions rushed over his expiring body, and forced themselves into the heart of the line, others with equal intrepidity penetrated into the intervals occasioned by the shock, and the whole unwieldy mass was thrown into confusion and dismay. The knights, oppressed with their ponderous armour, and incumbered with their long spears, were unable to withstand the impetuous assault of the Swiss, or to recover from their disorder; and their servants, perceiving the general consternation, mounted the horses of their masters, and left them no hope of safety by flight. The fight was for a while sustained by the efforts of personal valour, and the undaunted spirit of chivalry; but the havoc soon became general; numbers fell by the sword of the enemy; many perished by the pressure of their companions and the intense heat, and not less than 2,000, of whom almost one third were counts, barons, and knights, were numbered among the slain.

“Two hundred only of the confederates fell in this memorable battle, among whom were their most distinguished chiefs. Fatigued with slaughter, and the excessive heat, they did not pursue the fugitives; but returned their usual thanksgiving to Heaven on the field, and the following day agreed to an armistice for burying the dead. The remains of Leopold and twenty-seven of his most illustrious followers were conveyed to the abbey of Königsfelden, and the bodies of the lords of Argau were deposited in the tombs of their ancestors. Those of inferior note were buried on the spot; the two hundred confederates received funeral honours at Lucern, and as at Morgarten a solemn anniversary was established in commemoration of the victory.

“The defeat of Leopold and the battle of Sempach did not terminate the war, or depress the courage of the Austrian princes and their allies; for six days after the battle, not less than fifty nobles, among whom was the burgrave of Nuremberg, the archbishop of Mentz, and the bishop of Bamberg, sent declarations of war to the victorious confederates; and Leopold, second son of the late duke, though scarcely fifteen, hastened to superintend the preparations, to avenge the death of his father, and retrieve the honour of his family. A desultory war was continued in various parts of Helvetia; the Swiss, encouraged by their astonishing success, prosecuted hostilities with spirit and vigour, and by the accession of Bern, acquired additional strength. The important post of Wesen on the lake of Wallenstadt, which commanded the passes into the cantons of Glarus, and cut off the communication with Zurich, was surprised and garrisoned by the Swiss; and the men of Gaster and Sargens, subjects of Austria, accepted the protection of Glarus. The citizens of Bern repelled the aggressions of the people of Kyburgh, who had continued invariably attached to their sovereigns, and took several forts in the vicinity belonging to the vassals of the House of Austria. The sons of the deceased Leopold being dispirited by these reverses, distressed for the means of supporting the war, and weakened by the loss of their principal nobility at the battle of Sempach, concluded an armistice of eighteen months.

“During this interval of tranquillity, both parties employed their efforts in fortifying and securing the strong places, and preparing for the renewal of hostilities. The people of Glarus acknowledged the supreme authority of the abbess of Seckingen, and the rights of the family of Austria, as advocates of that abbey; but emulating the example of the Swiss, they established regulations which greatly reduced their power and influence. The innovation displeased the Austrian princes, and the truce was scarcely expired, before they renewed hostilities, and directed their principal efforts against Glarus. Early in the spring of 1388 their troops surprised the town of Wesen, massacred the garrison, and in April an army of 8000 men, commanded by the count of Tockenburgh, forced the intrenchments which protected the frontier, and devastating the country with fire and sword, penetrated as far as Naefels. Here only 350 men of Glarus, with 50 of Schwyz, who had crossed the mountains by night, waited their approach, on the hill of Ruti. Despising so inconsiderable a body, part of the Austrian troops dispersed themselves to plunder, and burnt Naefels; the remainder attacked the Swiss, and experienced the same fate as their forefathers at Morgarten. The Swiss hurled down on them large stones and fragments of rock, and having thrown the horse into confusion, rushed from the heights, and attacked them with their characteristic impetuosity. At this critical juncture, the mountains resounded with shouts of exultation, and a band of warriors descending from the Upper Valley, assailed the Austrians, already in confusion. Seized with a panic, they fled in all directions, and were pursued by the assailants with redoubled ardor; many were slain in the flight, and more drowned in the lake of Wallenstadt, by the breaking of the bridge of Wesen. One hundred and eighty knights, and two thousand soldiers perished in the conflict, or the flight; and eleven banners, with a thousand suits of armor, were preserved as trophies of the victory. The conquerors, after their customary devotions, passed the night on the field of battle, and advancing the next morning, sacked and burnt Wesen.

“The troops of Zurich, which had assembled too late for the succor of Glarus, joined the victors, and besieged Rapperschwyl: on the other side, Berne took the Austrian towns of Nidau, Buren, and Unterseven, and extended her conquest as far as Bruck, and the valley of Frick on the Rhine. The counts of Tockenburgh made a separate peace with the Swiss; and at length the dukes of Austria, apprehensive of the defection of the Thurgau, which was agitated with discontents, and dreading the loss of the Argau, which was threatened by the arms of Berne and Zurich, engaged in wars and troubles on the side of Austria, and disunited by family quarrels, concluded, in 1388, a truce for seven years. The Swiss were to maintain their alliances, and preserve their possessions during the continuance of the truce, with all their conquests, except Wesen; the dukes of Austria agreed to establish no fresh tolls or imposts, and the confederates were not to admit any subjects of Austria, not residing within their boundaries, into their co-burghership. Future disputes were to be adjusted by arbitration.

“This trace was prolonged in 1394, for twenty years, at the request of Leopold, who had succeeded to the dominions of his father in Helvetia; and on this occasion he renounced all claims to the conquests of the confederates, promised not to fortify Wesen, limited the contributions of Zug and Glarus, and confirmed their league with the Swiss, together with that of Entlibuch, and Sempach with Lucern.”

The children of Albert II. and Leopold II. made no additions to the family territories. But the consequences of the division of these territories between the two branches of the family were frightful for the Austrians.

“Both parties, by a species of legal tyranny, sated their vengeance and avidity with the treasures and lives of their opponents, and alternately sacrificed the adherents of each other as they gained the ascendancy. The nobles availed themselves of these contests to indulge the spirit of misrule and licentiousness, which had been repressed by the preceding sovereigns; robbers and banditti again infested the highways, insulted the towns and villages with impunity, and the whole country became a scene of pillage, devastation, and carnage.

“Such was the deplorable state of Austria, till the death of Leopold in 1411, at the age of forty.”

Albert V. procured the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, by marrying the daughter of the Emperor Sigismond, who was also King of these nations, and of whom he had gained the favor, by the effectual assistance he had given him in the Hussite war. He was crowned in Hungary by the Diet, after having promised by oath never to accept the imperial diadem. In Bohemia he was acknowledged by the capital and by the town of Kuttenburg; but the Hussites refused their assent, and falling back upon the privileges of the Bohemian constitution, they sent to Poland for Kasimir, brother of the Polish King. Albert nevertheless proceeded to Prague, and was crowned in the cathedral by the Catholic party. Then, assisted by some of the princes of the empire, he led an army of 30,000 men against the Hussites and Poles, and besieged Tabor.

“He would have compelled the fortress to surrender, had not George Podiebrad, who first distinguished himself on this occasion, by a successful sally, forced him to raise the siege, and retire to Prague, while Uladislaus made an irruption into Silesia. Notwithstanding this check, the margrave of Brandenburgh drove the king of Poland from Silesia; and the auxiliary Poles, after killing their horses for food, returned to their country on foot. In consequence of this success a congress was held at Breslau, and a truce concluded with Uladislaus; the Hussites agreed to a cessation of arms, and peace was once more restored to Bohemia.

“In the midst of these conflicts, Albert was chosen king of the Romans, as a prince who, by his extensive possessions and distinguished talents, was most capable of allaying the dissentions of Germany, and arresting the alarming progress of the Turks. He at first declined the proffered dignity from a regard to his oath, but being liberated from his engagements by the Hungarian states, and absolved by the council of Basle, he yielded to the exhortations of his relatives and the instances of the electors; and, though never crowned, obtained and deserved a place among the emperors.”

Albert V. died of the dysentery, caught in an expedition against the Turks, which he made in 1439; and a long period of distraction followed in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary, while his posthumous son Ladislaus was growing up. These troubles were in 1452, somewhat composed, by the queen mother’s giving the administration of Hungary to John Hunniades; that of Bohemia to George Podiebrad; and that of Austria to Count Cilli; until the young king should reach his majority. It is not within the scope of our purpose to enter into the details of the events of this period, rendered a brilliant page of history, by the splendid administration of John Hunniades, and his victories over the Turks, by which he saved not only his native Hungary, but all the rest of the dominions of Ladislaus. Yet we can hardly resist giving the whole chapter of Coxe (XIV.), since it shows one of those great services which Hungary did for the house of Austria, and even for all Europe.

Ladislaus Posthumus died before his marriage, and thus one branch of the Hapsburgh family became extinct. Within the same century the line of Tyrol also ended with Sigismond, son of Frederic IV., fourth son of Leopold II.

“From the circumstances of his sudden decease, and the doubtful nature of his disorder, his death was attributed to poison, and Podiebrad was charged with the atrocious crime. This imputation, which arose from the reports of the Germans, and obtained credit only from the accession of Podiebrad to the throne, has, however, been ably refuted by the Bohemian historians, who incontestably prove that the death of Ladislaus was occasioned by the plague.

“The reign of Sigismond is memorable in the history of the House of Austria, for the loss of all the dominions which yet remained to his family in Switzerland, and which were reduced to Lower Sargans, Kyburgh, Winterthur, and Rapperschwyl. As he inherited the claims of his family to their former territories, he naturally fostered an antipathy to the Helvetic confederates; he was still further irritated by the loss of Rapperschwyl, the inhabitants of which town throwing off their allegiance, were received under the protection of Schwyz, Uri, Underwalden, and Glarus. He therefore augmented the garrison of Winterthur, and seemed inclined to seize the first opportunity of attacking the confederates, when he was involved in disputes with Nicholas de Cusa, cardinal archbishop of Brixen, for the possession of some silver mines recently discovered at Schwartz; hostilities commenced, but were suspended by the intervention of Pius II., who in 1460 summoned both parties before his tribunal. Before the decision of the cause, however, the war was renewed, and Sigismond investing the castle of Brunic, took the bishop prisoner. The pope irritated by this contempt of his authority, fulminated a sentence of excommunication against Sigismond, and instigated the Swiss to invade his territories. They eagerly obeyed the summons, overran the Thurgau without opposition, received the voluntary allegiance of the natives at Frauenfield, besieged Winterthur, and made incursions into the Austrian territories in the vicinity of the lake of Constance. Sigismond, unable to resist the forces of the confederates, obtained a peace by the cession of the conquered territories; and being stripped of the greater part of his possessions, sold Kyburgh and Winterthur to Zurich, and thus alienated the remnant of the Austrian inheritance in Switzerland.

“In imitation of his father, he was no sooner emancipated from his guardians than he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he received the order of Cyprus, and of the Holy Sepulchre. So eager was he to gratify his curiosity, that he accompanied some Jew merchants, in disguise, into the Turkish territories, examined with attention the manners and customs of a people so different from the Christian world, and collected jewels and other valuable curiosities. Of this pilgrimage the celebrated Æneas Sylvius thus speaks in his oration to Pope Nicholas V., when he was recommending a crusade against the infidels:—‘The princes of the sublime house of Austria, which ranks among its members many kings and emperors, deemed themselves secure of success only when they served the Supreme Being with fidelity and constancy. Frederic, following their example, was no sooner delivered from the care of his guardians than, despising the dangers and tempests of the deep, he repaired to Jerusalem, anxious to kiss the earth sanctified by the footsteps of our blessed Redeemer. He visited the sepulchre of our Lord, beheld Mount Calvary, and the palace of Pilate, and ascended the Mount of Olives. He entered the desert; crossed the river Jordan; reached Bethlehem; penetrated into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and, by the sight of these sacred places, was inspired with an incredible and ardent devotion.’

“At the age of twenty, Frederic assumed the reins of government as duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, in conjunction with his brother Albert. On the death of his uncle Frederic of Tyrol, in 1435, he became guardian of Sigismond, and, on the decease of the emperor Albert, was appointed regent by the states of Austria, and guardian of Ladislaus Posthumus.

“The imperial throne being vacant by the death of Albert II., the electors nominated Louis landgrave of Hesse; and that prince declining the crown, their choice unanimously fell on Frederic, as the eldest member of his illustrious house; but he hesitated to accept a dignity, however exalted, which was surrounded by difficulties and dangers.”

After the death of Sigismond, the house of Austria was reduced to the Styrian line, founded by Ernest, third son of Leopold I., who was killed at the battle of Sempach. This Ernest had married a niece of Ladislas Jagellon, king of Poland. She was remarkable for her beauty and accomplishments; yet, says Coxe, “historians record that Cymburga was endowed with such masculine strength, that she could crack nuts with her fingers, and with her hand drive a nail as far as others with a hammer! She was the mother of several children, some of whom died in their infancy, and from her are said to have been derived the thick lips—the characteristic feature of the Austrian family.”

“During his continuance at Frankfort, Frederic endeavored to avail himself of the divisions subsisting among the Swiss Cantons, to attempt the recovery of the dominions which had been wrested from the house of Austria. The contest which had arisen for the succession to the Tockenburgh, had terminated unfavorably for Zurich; for Schwyz and Glarus had gained the widow and the collateral heirs of the count, and, by intrigue or persuasion, had finally succeeded in obtaining the support of the other confederates; Zurich, invested and pressed on all sides, was reduced to accept their mediation, and submit to the award of the five remaining cantons.

“The burghers of Zurich, irritated by the loss of their territories, and the disgrace to which they had been reduced, were eager to avenge themselves; they sent ambassadors to Frederic to apologise for their incursions into the county of Sargans during the war, and offered to purchase his alliance, by restoring the county of Kyburgh. Frederic eagerly accepted the offer; as head of the house of Austria, he concluded an alliance with them on the very day of his coronation, and secretly promised to assist them in recovering a part of the Tockenburgh inheritance.

“The confederates, jealous of his intentions, and suspicious of his new connection, required Zurich to renounce her alliance with the house of Austria, as contrary to an article of the union, stipulating that no connection was to be formed by any canton with other powers, except by common consent. The refusal was the signal for war, which raged for four years with a degree of fury and animosity which is only displayed in civil broils; till both parties, fatigued with their exertions, and recoiling from the enormities which they had committed, equally panted for the termination of the contest. The dispute being submitted to arbitration, a peace was arranged in May, 1447, between the house of Austria, Zurich, and the other Swiss confederates. Affairs on both sides were to be restored to the same situation as before the renewal of hostilities; but Zurich renounced her alliance with the house of Austria; and thus the grand principle of the Helvetic confederacy, that no league was valid unless concluded with the consent of the other cantons, was acknowledged and established. At the same time, arbitrators were chosen to the dispute between the house of Austria and Basle; but the war was prolonged by the refusal of the burghers to dismiss the council. They at length yielded to the threats of Frederic, who menaced them with the ban of the empire; and after various skirmishes, and the recovery of Rheinfelden by the Austrians, an accommodation was effected in 1449, which placed both parties in the same situation as before the commencement of hostilities.”

The most important act of Frederic III., so far as our purpose is concerned, was his confirmation to the family, by means of the imperial powers of the archducal title, which had first been assumed by Rodolph IV; and which “raised the house of Austria to a dignity only inferior to that of the electors, and invested it with privileges greater than those possessed by any other prince of the empire. The grant was capriciously founded on letters patent of Julius Cæsar and Nero, and the diplomas of Frederic I., Henry VI., and Frederic II., in favor of the Bamberg line, confirmed by Rodolph of Hapsburgh, when he invested his two sons with the Austrian territories. In virtue of these privileges, the archdukes of Austria were to be considered as having obtained the investiture of their dominions, if they did not receive it after thrice demanding it from the emperor. They were not to be required to pass the limits of their territories, but were to be invested within the borders of Austria on horseback, clad in a regal mantle, wearing a ducal coronet surmounted with the imperial diadem and cross, and holding a staff of command. The archdukes were declared by birth privy-counsellors of the emperor, and their territories could not be put under the ban of the empire. All attempts against their persons were to be punished as crimes of high treason; and they could not be challenged to single combat: they were exempted from the necessity of attending at the diet, and from all contributions and public charges, except the maintenance of twelve men-at-arms for one month against the Turks in Hungary; they were empowered to levy taxes, to grant letters of legitimation, and to create counts, barons, and other inferior titles; in failure of issue male, the females were to enjoy the right of succession, and in failure of heirs, the archdukes were allowed to dispose of their territories by will. Any lands of the empire might be alienated in their favor, and their subjects could not be summoned out of their territories on account of lawsuits, to give testimony, or to receive the investiture of fiefs.”

The death of Ladislaus Posthumus, of whom Frederic had been guardian, had involved him in many disputes and contests, one of which was for the crown of Bohemia; but this he lost in favor of the Bohemian nobleman, George Podiebrad; another was for the crown of Hungary, to which he urged his right as possessor of the crown of St. Stephen, that he had had in safe keeping for eighteen years. But this also he lost to Matthias Corvinus, although he gained a victory over him at Kormund in Styria, for he could not follow up that advantage on account of a civil war with his brother Albert in Austria.

“The terms which had been concluded between Frederic and Albert, for the partition of Austria, and their joint residence at Vienna, gave rise to disputes. Frederic soon became unpopular to the citizens, and the haughty nobles of Austria displayed that turbulence and discontent natural to feudal governments under an indolent sovereign. These discontents being fomented by Albert, soon broke out into open war; and although a temporary reconciliation was effected by the king of Bohemia, neither party was sincerely desirous of peace; the emperor was indignant at the restraints imposed on his authority; and the rapacity of Albert was not gratified by his share of the Austrian possessions. Another and more dreadful contest ensued; the whole country became a scene of intestine discord, and the capital itself was divided into hostile factions; the senate and the most moderate of the burghers, adhered to the emperor; while the populace, headed by the burgomaster Hulzer, a restless demagogue, espoused the cause of Albert.