Federal Charter of 1291: The Founding of the Swiss Confederacy

The Federal Charter of 1291 is a short Latin document in which the Alpine communities of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden swore to help one another against outside attack. Dated to the beginning of August 1291, it was one of many local alliances of its time. Centuries later it came to be celebrated as the founding document of Switzerland, and its date is the origin of Swiss National Day on 1 August.

Background: the valleys and the Habsburgs

The three communities lay around Lake Lucerne, along the route to the newly important St Gotthard Pass. Their people were mainly farmers and herders, but local leaders handled common affairs such as pasture rights, justice and relations with outside lords.

Uri and Schwyz had won charters from the Hohenstaufen rulers placing them directly under imperial authority, Uri in 1231 and Schwyz in 1240. This gave them a degree of self-government. The powerful Habsburg family, however, held lordships and rights in the region and sought to strengthen its control.

That family’s head, Rudolf I, had become King of the Romans in 1273 and won Austria at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278. When he died on 15 July 1291, the succession was uncertain, and many communities in the region sought security through alliances. The Federal Charter was made within weeks of his death.

What the charter says

The charter names the community of the valley of Uri, the community of the valley of Schwyz and the community of the lower valley of Unterwalden, now Nidwalden. Its main points are:

• the parties promise to help one another, with all their strength and resources, against anyone who attacks or harms them;
• the agreement is said to renew an older alliance, which suggests earlier agreements had existed;
• the communities will not accept any judge who has bought his office or is not a local inhabitant;
• disputes among the confederates are to be settled by arbitration by the wisest among them;
• it sets rules for punishing serious crimes such as murder, arson and robbery.

The charter does not declare independence or reject all lordship. It accepts that people should continue to serve their lords as is proper. Its aim was to keep the peace and protect local rights.

The original is a small sheet of parchment written in Latin by a trained scribe. Two of the three original seals survive. Some scholars have questioned aspects of its dating and context, but it is generally accepted as a genuine document of the late thirteenth century.

From forgotten pact to national symbol

For centuries the charter was largely forgotten. Medieval and early modern Swiss traditions instead told the stories of the Rütli oath and of William Tell, first written down in the White Book of Sarnen around 1470. The sixteenth-century chronicler Aegidius Tschudi dated the founding oath to 1307.

The Federal Charter was rediscovered in the archives of Schwyz and first published in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, after the creation of the modern Swiss federal state in 1848, historians and politicians sought a clear founding date. The government chose 1291, and in 1891 Switzerland celebrated the 600th anniversary of the Confederation.

The choice of 1291 rather than 1307 had practical reasons. The charter was a real, dated document, while the Rütli oath and the deeds of William Tell rested on later tradition that historians increasingly doubted. A founding document also suited the new federal state, which wanted a symbol of union that all cantons, Protestant and Catholic, could share.

The 1 August holiday was marked each year from 1899. Following a popular vote in 1993, it became an official public holiday across the country from 1994.

Consequences

In the short term, the alliance was one of several regional pacts. Its importance grew as the three communities resisted Habsburg power. After they defeated a Habsburg army at the Battle of Morgarten in 1315, they renewed their alliance in the Pact of Brunnen, written in German.

Over the following two centuries, cities and rural areas such as Lucerne, Zürich, Bern and others joined the network of alliances. This loose Confederation, known as the Eidgenossenschaft, became the basis of modern Switzerland.

Timeline

• 1231: Uri receives a charter placing it under direct imperial authority.
• 1240: Schwyz receives a similar charter from Emperor Frederick II.
• 15 July 1291: Death of King Rudolf I of Habsburg.
• Early August 1291: Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden conclude the Federal Charter.
• 15 November 1315: Confederates defeat the Habsburgs at Morgarten.
• 9 December 1315: The alliance is renewed in the Pact of Brunnen.
• 1891: The 600th anniversary of the Confederation is celebrated.
• 1936: The charter museum opens in Schwyz.

Why it matters

The Federal Charter of 1291 shows how small communities in the Alps protected their rights through mutual alliances. Whatever its original significance, it became the central symbol of Swiss identity and the reason Switzerland celebrates its national day on 1 August.