| Old Zurich War /Alter Zürichkrieg | |||||||||
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 Eastern Switzerland in the mid-15th century: Territories of theSieben Orte of theSwiss Confederacy Associates of the Swiss Confederacy Lands ofFrederick VII, Count of Toggenburg, as of 1436 Modern Swiss border | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Imperial City of Zurich HabsburgFurther Austria France | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Frederick III of GermanyCharles VII of France | Unknown | ||||||||
TheOld Zurich War (German:Alter Zürichkrieg; 1440–1446) was a conflict between thecanton of Zurich and the other seven cantons of theOld Swiss Confederacy over thesuccession to theCount of Toggenburg.
In 1436, CountFriedrich VII of Toggenburg died, leaving neither heir nor will. The canton of Zurich, led byburgomasterRudolf Stüssi, claimed the Toggenburg lands; the cantons ofSchwyz andGlarus made counter-claims, backed by the other cantons. In 1438, Zurich occupied the disputed area and cut off grain supplies to Schwyz and Glarus. In 1440, the other cantons expelled Zurich from the confederation and declared war. Zurich retaliated by making an alliance withFrederick III, Holy Roman Emperor of the house ofHabsburg.
The forces of Zurich were defeated in theBattle of St. Jakob an der Sihl on 22 July 1443 and Zurich was besieged. Frederick appealed toCharles VII of France to attack the confederates and the latter sent a force of about 30,000Armagnac mercenaries under the command of theDauphin viaBasel to relieve the city. In theBattle of St. Jakob an der Birs near Basel on 26 August 1444, a blocking force of roughly 1,600 Swiss confederates was defeated, but inflicted such heavy losses on the French (2,000 killed) that the Dauphin decided to retreat. The confederacy and the Dauphin concluded a peace in October 1444, and his mercenary army withdrew from the war altogether.[1]
In May 1444, the confederacy laid siege toGreifensee, and captured the town after four weeks, on May 27, beheading all but two of the 64 defenders the next day, including their leader, Wildhans vonBreitenlandenberg, the so-calledMurder of Greifensee. Even in this time of war, such a mass execution was widely considered a cruel and unjust deed.
By 1446, both sides were exhausted, and a preliminary peace was concluded. The confederation had not managed to conquer any of the cities of Zurich except Greifensee;Rapperswil and Zurich itself withstood the attacks. In 1450, the parties made a definitive peace and Zurich was admitted into the confederation again, but had to dissolve its alliance with the Habsburgs.
The significance of the war is that it showed that the confederation had grown into a political alliance so close that it no longer tolerated separatist tendencies of a single member.
Media related toOld Zurich War at Wikimedia Commons
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