Early history of Switzerland

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The early history of Switzerland begins with the earliest settlements up to the beginning of

.

Prehistory

Paleolithic to Mesolithic

A hand-axe fashioned by Homo erectus has been found in Pratteln, which has been dated to 300,000 years ago.^[1] Neanderthal presence is known from the Grotte de Cotencher in Neuchâtel, dating to 70,000 years ago^[2] and from the caves of Wildkirchli in the Appenzell Alps, dated to about 40,000 years ago.^[3]

but most of what is now Switzerland was covered by glaciers during the . Human habitation in the Swiss Plateau can be shown for the beginning Mesolithic, in Wetzikon-Robenhausen beginning around 10,000 years ago.

• 
  Venus of Monruz, c. 9000 BC

Neolithic to Copper Age

The Neolithic reached the Swiss plateau before 7,000 years ago (late 6th millennium BC), dominated by the Linear Pottery culture. The area was relatively densely populated, as is attested to by the many archeological findings from that period. Remains of

marks the transition from the Chalcolithic to the early Bronze Age.

• 
  Pfyn culture settlement at Breitenloo, c. 3700 BC
• 
  Neolithic implements, pottery and foodstuffs, Cortaillod culture
• 
  Crystal arrowhead, Cortaillod culture, c. 3500 BC
• 
  Wooden wheel fragment, Horgen culture
• 
  Megalithic dolmen, Horgen culture
• 
  Alpine copper axe, 4th millennium BC
• 
  Anthropomorphic stele, Sion, Bell Beaker culture, c. 2700 BC
• 
  Copper necklace and ornaments, c. 2700 BC

Bronze Age

In the 3rd millennium BC, Switzerland lay on the south-western outskirts of the

and fortified settlements on elevated sites.

The Bronze Hand of Prêles dating from the 16th-15th century BC, is a unique find from the Tumulus culture period.^[6] Described as "the earliest metal representation of a human body part ever found in Europe",^[7] it may have been a ritual object, or mounted on a standard like similar metal hands known from the Iron Age,^[8] or possibly a prosthesis.^[9] It was found in a grave along with a bronze hair-ring, pin and dagger. The hand had a golden bracelet or cuff decorated with solar motifs.^[10]

• 
  Dagger,

  Unetice/Rhône

  culture c. 2000 BC
• 
  Thun-Renzenbühl axe, c. 1800 BC
• 
  Eschenz gold cup, Tumulus culture, c. 1600 BC
• 
  Altstetten gold bowl, Urnfield culture, c. 1000 BC
• 
  Bronze swords, Urnfield culture, 10th century BC
• 
  Pottery inlaid with tin foil, Urnfield culture, c. 1000 BC
• 
  River and lake finds from Bern, Urnfield culture
• 
  Lake settlement at Cortaillod-Est

Iron Age

The Swiss plateau lay in the western part of the Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture,^[11] and it participated in the early La Tène culture (named for the type site at Lake Neuchâtel) which arose out of the Hallstatt background from the 5th century BC.^[12]

By the final centuries BC, the Swiss plateau and Ticino were settled by

area by the Lepontii. The interior Alpine valleys of eastern Switzerland (.

The distribution of La Tène culture burials in Switzerland indicates that the Swiss plateau between Lausanne and Winterthur was relatively densely populated. Settlement centres existed in the Aare valley between Thun and Bern, and between Lake Zurich and the Reuss. The Valais and the regions around Bellinzona and Lugano also seem to have been well-populated; however, those lay outside the Helvetian borders.

Almost all the Celtic oppida were built in the vicinity of the larger rivers of the Swiss plateau. About a dozen oppida are known in Switzerland (some twenty including uncertain candidate sites), not all of which were occupied during the same time. For most of them, no contemporary name has survived; in cases where a pre-Roman name has been recorded, it is given in brackets.^[13] The largest were the one in

. Of intermediate size were those of Bois de Châtel, Avenches (abandoned with the foundation of Aventicum as the capital of the Roman province), Jensberg (near vicus Petinesca, Mont Vully, all within a day's march from the one in Bern, the Oppidum Zürich-Lindenhof at the Lake Zurich–Limmat–Sihl triangled Lindenhof hill, and the Oppidum Uetliberg, overlooking the Sihl and Lake Zurich shore. Smaller oppida were at Geneva (Genava), Lausanne (Lousonna) on the shores of Lake Geneva, at Sermuz on the upper end of Lake Neuchâtel, at Eppenberg and Windisch (Vindonissa) along the lower Aar, and at Mont Chaibeuf and Mont Terri in the Jura Mountains, the territory of the Rauraci.

A female who died in about 200 B.C found buried in a carved tree trunk during a construction project at the Kern school complex in March 2017 in Aussersihl. Archaeologists revealed that she was approximately 40 years old when she died and likely carried out little physical labor when she was alive. A sheepskin coat, a belt chain, a fancy wool dress, a scarf and a pendant made of glass and amber beads were also discovered with the woman.^[15][16][17]

• 
  Grächwil hydria (Greek import), Hallstatt culture, 570 BC
• 
  Gold jewellery, Hallstatt culture, c. 550 BC
• 
  Jewellery, La Tène culture
• 
  Jewellery, La Tène culture
• 
  Mont Vully oppidum, La Tène culture
• 
  Carnyx ornament, La Tène culture, c. 200 BC
• 
  Lake depositions at La Tène
• 
  Reconstructed Celtic Bridge at La Tène, 3rd century BC

Roman era

In 58 BCE, the

.

The following 300 years saw extensive Roman settlement, including the construction of a road network and the founding of many settlements and cities. The center of Roman occupation was at Aventicum (

The Romans also developed the

.

In 259,

as the border, and the cities on Swiss territory were rebuilt. However, it was now a frontier province, and consequently the new Roman cities were smaller and much more fortified.

• 
  Roman remains at Nyon
• 
  Roman theatre of Augusta Raurica
• 
  Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst
• 
  Silver plate from Augusta Rarica
• 
  Sanctuary at Aventicum (Avenches), reconstruction
• 
  Amphitheatre at Avenches

Christianization and post-Roman era

In the late Roman period in the 3rd and 4th centuries, the

The first bishoprics were founded in the 4th and 5th centuries in

, which may have been moved from Avenches.

With the fall of the

Alemannia

followed suit.

The Burgundy kings furthered the Christianization through newly founded monasteries, e.g. at

Bishopric of Konstanz

also was founded at that time.

Switzerland in the Middle Ages

Early Middle Ages

Alemannia and Upper Burgundy

around 1000

  Alemannia

  Upper Burgundy

Under the

Saint Gotthard Pass

.

Louis the German in 853 granted his lands in the

were buried.

When the land was granted to the monastery, it was exempt from all feudal lords except the king and later the

Vogt

of the abbey which was given to one family after another by the emperor as a sign of trust.

In the 10th century, the rule of the Carolingians waned:

were the Swiss territories reintegrated into the empire.

High Middle Ages

Arelat

in the 13th century; Savoy was detached from the Arelat in 1361

Renaud III of Mâcon

for the government of the Arelat. Renaud prevailed, though he had to cede large parts of the eastern Transjuranian lands to Conrad, who was made "rector of Burgundy" in 1127 against, setting a precedent of western Switzerland being considered a territory separate from the rest of Burgundy.

King

was detached from the Arelat just before its dissolution, in 1361.

The dukes of

The rise of the Habsburg dynasty gained momentum when their main local competitor, the

.

Under the

Frederick I "Barbarossa"

and in 1213 under Frederick II. The city of Zürich became reichsfrei in 1218.

While some of the "Forest Communities" (Waldstätten, i.e. Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden) were reichsfrei the Habsburgs still claimed authority over some villages and much of the surrounding land. While Schwyz was reichsfrei in 1240, the castle of

, a title that would become Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolph was therefore the ruler of all the reichsfrei communities as well as the lands that he ruled as a Habsburg.

He instituted a strict rule in his homelands and raised the taxes tremendously to finance wars and further territorial acquisitions. As king, he finally had also become the direct

In the Valais, increasing tensions between the

. After the peace of 1301, Savoy kept only the lower part of the Valais, while the bishop controlled the upper Valais.

The 14th century

With the opening of the

, which during the 1330s to 1350s grew to incorporate its core of "eight cantons" (Acht Orte)

The 14th century in the territory of modern Switzerland was a time of transition from the old feudal order administrated by regional families of lower nobility (such as the houses of

gradually gave way to the politics of the Late Middle Ages, with the Swiss Confederacy wedged between Habsburg Austria, the Burgundy, France, Savoy and Milan. Bern had taken an unfortunate stand against Habsburg in the battle of Schosshalde in 1289, but recovered enough to confront Fribourg (Gümmenenkrieg) and then to inflict a decisive defeat on a coalition force of Habsburg, Savoy and Basel in the battle of Laupen in 1339. At the same time, Habsburg attempted to gain influence over the cities of Lucerne and Zürich, with riots or attempted coups reported for the years 1343 and 1350 respectively. This situation led the cities of Lucerne, Zürich and Bern to attach themselves to the Swiss Confederacy in 1332, 1351, and 1353 respectively.

As elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland suffered a crisis in the middle of the century, triggered by the

was destroyed almost completely in the ensuing fire.

The balance of power remained precarious during the 1350s to 1380s, with Habsburg trying to regain lost influence; Albrecht II besieged Zürich unsuccessfully, but imposed an unfavourable peace on the city in the treaty of Regensburg. In 1375, Habsburg tried to regain control over the Aargau with the help of Gugler mercenaries. After a number of minor clashes (Sörenberg, Näfels), it was with the decisive Swiss victory at the battle of Sempach 1386 that this situation was resolved. Habsburg moved its focus eastward and while it continued to grow in influence (ultimately rising to the most powerful dynasty of early modern Europe), it lost all possessions in its ancestral territory with the Swiss annexation of the Aargau in 1416, from which time the Swiss Confederacy stood for the first time as a political entity controlling a contiguous territory.

Meanwhile, in Basel, the citizenry was also divided into a pro-Habsburg and an anti-Habsburg faction, known as Sterner and Psitticher, respectively. The citizens of greater Basel bought most of the privileges from the bishop in 1392, and from this time on, though Basel nominally remained the domain of the prince-bishops until the Reformation, it was de facto governed by its city council, which since 1382 had been dominated by the city's guilds. Similarly, the bishop of Geneva granted the citizenry substantial political rights in 1387.

Other parts of western Switzerland remained under the control of Burgundy and Savoy throughout the 14th century; the

that would emerge in the early modern period. In the Grisons, similar structures of local self-government arose at the same time, with the League of God's House founded in 1367, followed by the Grey League in 1395, both in response to the expansion of the House of Habsburg.

See also

• Charles Guillaume Loys de Bochat
• Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich

References

Bibliography

• Im Hof, U.: Geschichte der Schweiz,
  ISBN 3-17-017051-1
• Schwabe & Co.: Geschichte der Schweiz und der Schweizer,
  ISBN 3-7965-2067-7

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Origins of the Confederation, up to 1291.

• Overview of the History of Switzerland