The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the loosely allied Swiss Confederation into a more unified nation and is seen as a turning point in the growth of Switzerland.

Background

During 1383 and 1384, the expansion of the Old Swiss Confederacy collided with Austrian interests. The interests of Austria were further undermined in the Pact of Constance, a union of Zürich, Zug, Solothurn and 51 cities of Swabia. In 1385, there were various attacks, without formal declaration of war or central organization, by forces of Zürich, Zug and Lucerne on the Austrian strongholds of Rapperswil, Rothenburg, Cham and Wolhusen.

In 1384, the people of Entlebuch receive the Lucerne citizenry and on Epiphany, on 6 January 1386, Lucerne expanded its sphere of influence by providing the same right also to the people of Sempach. Lucerne entered further pacts with a number of towns and valleys under Austrian control, including Meienberg, Reichensee and Willisau. These moves were the immediate cause of war. On 14 January, Lucerne called on the confederates for assistance. A local Austrian force defeated the confederate garrison at Meienberg on 28 January, killing over 140 Swiss soldiers. Winkelried is usually shown as a legendary figure introduced to explain the Swiss victory against the odds, perhaps as late as a full century after the battle. The earliest evidence of the Winkelried legend is the depiction of the battle in the Lucerne Chronicle of 1513.

As was the custom and a matter of honour in such a battle, each canton had one of their comrades carry their municipal flag in the lead. One such recorded was Rudolf Hön (today's spelling, Höhn, English, Hoehn), who represented Arth, a municipality in the canton of Schwyz.

Volunteering to do this meant that he did not carry a weapon, either to defend himself or attack the enemy.

Thus, by leading his comrades into battle without a weapon, he diverted the attention of the enemy and sacrificed himself for the intended good of the Confederation.

For posterity, and recognition of the actual deed, Hön's name can be seen inscribed twice in the list of fallen on the inner wall of Sempach Battle Chapel (situated next to the battleground). One for being a confederate and the other as a flag bearer.

The oldest accounts of the battle are unambiguous in the judgement that the Swiss victory was against all odds and expectations, and is attributed to the grace of God.

In any case, the Swiss did break through the Austrian ranks and routed the enemy army completely. Duke Leopold, and with him a large number of nobles and knights, were slain, including several members of the noble families of Aarberg, Baldegg, Bechburg, Büttikon, Eptingen, Falkenstein, Hallwil, Reinach, Rotberg and Wetter. Already weakened by the 1379 division of Habsburg lands, Leopoldian control of the territories left of the Rhine would collapse over the following years, not least due to the death toll among the local elites loyal to Habsburg. This allowed the confederate cities, especially Lucerne, Bern and Solothurn, an unchecked expansion into the undefended Habsburg lands. Bern, which had not participated in the Sempach war, took the opportunity and began its conquest of what would become the Canton of Bern, sending military expeditions into the cantons of Jura, the Oberland, Emmental and Aargau. Lucerne, by 1389, was able to consolidate its control over the towns around lake Sempach, Willisau and the Entlebuch, largely corresponding to the extent of the modern Canton of Lucerne. Glarus also took the opportunity to rebel against Habsburg control, and established its independence in the Battle of Näfels in 1388. The legend goes that a Bohemian knight received seeds of the flower Calla for his protection when he decided to accompany Duke Leopold. After the battle was lost, the knight hid in a forest, where he was killed. In the following two decades, the neighboring towns and districts of Lucerne were still held by the Habsburg dynasty and in them, the Habsburgian fallen were remembered in the churchly mass. Only in 1415 Sempach came under the control of Lucern. At the peak of the military success of the Eight Cantons in the period of 1470 to 1510, Swiss historiography paid great attention to the Battle of Sempach. It is depicted in the Swiss illustrated chronicles of the period, and discussed by Reformation era historiographers such as Aegidius Tschudi and Wernher Steiner.

Since there are few historiographical accounts of the battle predating 1470, it is difficult to judge the historicity of the individual details. The legend of Arnold Winkelried is recorded in this period, but it cannot be shown to predate 1500.

The battle chapel at Sempach was consecrated already in 1387. The chapel was built by the Habsburgians to remember their fallen and only after the accession of Sempach to Lucerne in 1415, the chapel became known as a place of worship for the Swiss. A yearly mass was celebrated there on the day of the battle.

See also

  • Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
  • Battle of Näfels
  • Battles of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Notes

Sources

  • Die Schlacht von Sempach im Bild der Nachwelt (exhibition catalogue), Lucerne, 1986.
  • Rainer Hugener, Erinnerungsort im Wandel. Das Sempacher Schlachtgedenken im Mittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit, in: Der Geschichtsfreund. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins Zentralschweiz 165, 2012, 135–171.
  • Stefan Jäggi,
  • Theodor von Liebenau, Die Schlacht bei Sempach. Gedenkbuch zur fünften Säcularfeier, Lucerne (1886).
  • G.P. Marchal, Sempach 1386, 1986.
  • G.P. Marchal, Zum Verlauf der Schlacht bei Sempach, in: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 37, 1987, 428–436.
  • Peter Xaver Weber, Der Sempacher Krieg. Erinnerungsschrift zur 550. Gedächtnisfeier der Schlacht bei Sempach, Lucerne (1936).