Canton of Basel

Coordinates: 47°33′N 7°34′E / 47.550°N 7.567°E / 47.550; 7.567
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Canton of Basel
Kanton Basel
Restoration Switzerland
1501–1833
Flag of Basel, Canton
Flag
Coat of arms of Basel, Canton
Coat of arms
half-cantons
16 August 1833
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Bishopric of Basel
Bishopric of Basel
Basel-City
 Basel-Country
Basel-Country
 Basel-Country

Basel was a

Basel-Country.[1]

Background

Main articles:
Bishopric of Basel
The Prince-Bishopric of Basel in the 16th century

Before the

crosier shown on the Basel coat of arms
, as above). In the later 15th century, in the wake of the
Council of Basel
(1431–49), the city of Basel grew in wealth and importance. The
Erasmus of Rotterdam taught in Basel, and early printshops were set up by Johannes Petri and Johann Froben
. In 1495, Basel was incorporated in the
Imperial Circle
, the bishop sitting on the Bench of the Ecclesiastical Princes.

Establishment

As a direct consequence of the Swabian War, resolved by the 1499 Treaty of Basel, Basel and the Imperial City of Schaffhausen joined the Swiss Confederation in 1501, as the confederacy's 11th and 12th states, with Appenzell following suit 12 years later to complete the Dreizehn Orte that made up Switzerland until the French Revolutionary Wars.

The canton of Basel seceded from the prince-bishopric, and the secular rule of the bishops of Basel from this time was limited to territories west of Basel, more or less corresponding to the modern

Protestant Reformation
.

Reformation

In 1503, the new bishop Christoph von Utenheim refused to give Basel a new constitution whereupon, to show its power, the city began the construction of a new city hall.[2] The reformation was brought to Basel by Johannes Oecolampadius cathedral preacher under von Utenheim and co-editor of Erasmus' first edition of the Greek New Testament. Von Utenheim resigned on 19 February 1527. He was succeeded by Philippe von Gundelsheim, canon at Basel Münster since 1510.

In 1529, the city became Protestant under Oecolampadius and the bishop's seat was moved to Porrentruy. In 1530,

Laufental rebelled against the bishop, but were suppressed using forces from Solothurn
. Because of insolvency, the prince-bishopric grew increasingly dependent on the city of Basel, with the city granting him a mortgage on Birseck Castle in 1542, 1544, and 1545. In 1547, the bishop formally agreed to allow the city to choose its own religion, recognizing that the city had already become Protestant.[3]

The Basel patriciate (

Jakob Bernoulli, Johann Bernoulli and Daniel Bernoulli, were from Basel. The 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler
was born in Basel and studied under Johann Bernoulli.

Intended as a defence of

Calvinism
.

Matthäus Merian
, oriented with SW at the top and NE at the bottom.

The first edition of Christianae religionis institutio (

Calvinist doctrine) was published at Basel in March 1536.[4]
In 1543,
De humani corporis fabrica, the first book on human anatomy, was published and printed in Basel by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564).[5]

The 1648 Peace of Westphalia finally brought about Imperial recognition of the independence of the Swiss cantons, removing the de jure (but not de facto) overlordship of the Holy Roman Empire rejected by the then–Prince-Bishopric nearly 150 years earlier.

Unrest and insurrection

Further information: Switzerland in the Napoleonic era and Restoration and Regeneration in Switzerland

In 1792, the

First French Republic
.

Until 1830, Basel was a unified canton, with citizens from both the city and the municipalities of the countryside sitting in the Kantonsparlament. The cantonal parliament was dominated by members from the city, though its population was less than that of the combined countryside. This had not previously been a source of grievance, but in 1830 the Baselbieter, or citizens from the countryside, grew increasingly distrustful of the city. At a meeting in Bad Bubendorf on 18 October 1830, 25 Baselbieter wrote to the "esteemed gentlemen and noblemen in Basel", demanding equal rights between city and countryside and a representation in parliament in proportion to their numbers.

When the city rejected this demand, resentment from the countryside region grew still larger to the extent that the city feared an attack. In Liestal a few men of the countryside formed a new provincial government protected by an army of 3,000. The government was however short-lived as on 16 January 1831 a force from Basel occupied Liestal, driving out the new government. A number of villages, such as Gelterkinden, Reigoldswil, Anwil and Bubendorf remained loyal to Basel, though coming under threat from the rebels. The unrest in the countryside persisted into 1832 and both sides committed injustices upon the other.

On 3 August 1833 over 1200 troops of the city armed with 14 cannons marched on Liestal, but at the Battle of Hülftenschanz, which took place between Pratteln and Frenkendorf, the city's troops were forced back to Basel by the superior numbers of the rebels. Their route back to the city was ambushed and the city forces took heavy losses.

Partition

A cantonal coat of arms combining the coats of arms of the two half cantons, was in use from 1833 to 1999 when the "full canton" needed representation, e.g. in the Standesscheiben shown in the glass dome of the Federal Palace of Switzerland. The same combined coat of arms would be used for the suggested re-united canton.

After this conflict, the highest Swiss authority, the

half-cantons, modelled after the precedent of Unterwalden and Appenzell
, was effected.

From the country municipalities it allocated only

Basel-City and the Grand Duchy of Baden
— to the new half-canton of Basel-City. The remaining municipalities formed the new canton of Basel-Country.

The

half-cantons
as "cantons" for the first time.

Suggested re-unification

Several attempts have been made to reunite Basel-City and Basel-Country. In 1969, the citizens of Basel-Country defeated the motion in a referendum. The two cantons have since concluded a number of co-operation agreements, such as joint financing and governance of the University of Basel.

References

  1. Swiss Constitution
    of 1999, paragraph 142.4)
  2. ^ Habicht, Peter, Basel - A Center at the Fringe (Basel: Christoph Merian Verlag, 2006) pp. 43, 55, 70, 79.
  3. ^ Surchat, Pierre Louis, „Philipp von Gundelsheim“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 20 (2001), S. 373 f. [Onlinefassung]; URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd100536808.html
  4. Charles Loch Mowat, The New Cambridge Modern History
    , 1990, p. 113
  5. ^ The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, Courier Dover Publications 1973, p.30

External links

  • Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). "Basel (canton)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). p. 462.
  • Canton of Basel in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

47°33′N 7°34′E / 47.550°N 7.567°E / 47.550; 7.567

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