Morgarten, Battle of

▪ Swiss history

      (Nov. 15, 1315), the first great military success of the Swiss Confederation in its struggle against the Austrian Habsburgs (Habsburg, House of). When the men of Schwyz, a member state of the confederation, raided the neighbouring Abbey of Einsiedeln early in 1314, the Habsburg duke Leopold I of Austria, who claimed jurisdiction in the area, raised an army of knights for an invasion of Schwyz from Zug by way of the Morgarten Pass alongside Lake Egeri (Ägerisee). The men of Schwyz, however, and some confederates from Uri caught the Austrians before they were out of the pass, killed more than 1,500 of them outright, drove others in the lake, and put the rest to flight. The victory ensured the survival of the confederation, which was formally renewed less than a month later (Pact of Brunnen, Dec. 9, 1315). It was one of the first victories by dismounted commoners over armoured knights in many years and marked the beginning of the rise of the Swiss eidgenossen (“oath brothers”) as the most ferocious shock combatants in Europe. Because of the prestige won by Schwyz in the battle, the confederation as a whole became known by forms of this name (e.g., Schweiz [German], Suisse [French], Svizzera [Italian], or Switzerland).

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