The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between

Leopold III, Duke of Austria Leopold III (1 November 1351 – 9 July 1386), known as the Just, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1365. As head and progenitor of the Leopoldian line, he ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Carinthia, Styr ...

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 , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...

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 Rapperswil ( Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dia ...

Rothenburg Rothenburg is a German language placename and refers to: Places *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany *Rothenburg, Oberlausitz, Saxony, Germany *Rothenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany *Rothenburg, Switzerland, Canton of Lucerne, S ...

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albania ...

and

Wolhusen Wolhusen is a municipality in the district of Entlebuch in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. Geography Wolhusen has an area of . Of this area, 58.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 8.6% ...

. In 1384 the people of

Entlebuch Entlebuch is a municipality in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district of Entlebuch. The area has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001. History Entlebuch is first mentioned in 1157, as ''Entilibuoch' ...

receive the Lucerne citizenry and on

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

on the 6 January 1386, Lucerne expanded its sphere of influence by providing the same right also to the people of

Sempach Sempach is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History It has retained some traces of its medieval appearance, especially the main gateway, beneath a watch tower, and reached by a bridge over th ...

. Lucerne entered further pacts with a number of towns and valleys under Austrian control, including, Meienberg, Reichensee and

Willisau Willisau is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the Lucerne canton of Switzerland. It was formed on 1 January 2006 from the municipalities of Willisau Land (W. Country) and Willisau Stadt (W. Town). An armistice was called on 21 February, and negotiations were held in Zürich. But neither side had any real interest in ending the conflict at this point, and as the armistice ended, the conflict escalated into a full-scale military confrontation. Duke Leopold gathered his troops at

Brugg , neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch , twintowns = Rottweil (Germany) , website ...

, consisting of his feudal vassals from Swabia, the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, as well as troops from Burgundy,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and even England. In the course of a few weeks, no less than 167 noblemen, both secular and of the church, declared war on the Swiss. These declarations were sent to the Swiss diet in 20 packets, in order to increase the effect of shock. On 24 June, a messenger from

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

brought 15 declarations of war. Before all letters had been read, the messenger from

Pfirt Ferrette (; german: Pfirt ; gsw-FR, Pfìrt) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated close to the Swiss border. Its main attraction is the Château de Ferrette. County of Ferrette The County ...

delivered another eight, and before he had finished speaking, letters from the lords of

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

were brought in. Another eight messengers arrived on the following day. The gathering of Austrian forces at Brugg suggested an intended attack on Zürich, and the Confederate forces moved to protect that city. But Leopold marched south, to

Zofingen Zofingen (french: Zofingue) is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home of an ancient monastic settlement. History In ancient times Zofingen was a settleme ...

and on to Willisau, apparently with the intention of ravaging the Lucerne countryside and perhaps ultimately aiming for the city of Lucerne. The Austrian army had a troop of mowers with them to cut the corn and destroy the harvests along their route. The town of Willisau was plundered and burned, and the army moved on to

Sursee Sursee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from where the ''Sure'' (or '' Suhre'') river exits the lake ("See"), hence the name "Sursee ...

Lake Sempach __NOTOC__ Lake Sempach (German: ''Sempachersee'') is a lake in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal inst ...

, and thence towards Sempach on 9 July. Leopold's men taunted those behind the walls of the town, and a knight waved a noose at them and promised them he would use it on their leaders. Another mockingly pointed to the soldiers setting fire to the ripe fields of grain, and asked them to send a breakfast to the reapers. From behind the walls, there was a shouted retort: "Lucerne and the allies will bring them breakfast!" Confederate troops of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden had marched back from Zürich once it became clear that this was not Leopold's target. The forces of Zürich had remained behind defending their own city, while those of Bern had not heeded the confederate call for assistance.

The battle

The Confederation army had presumably assembled at the bridge over the

Reuss River The Reuss (Swiss German: ''Rüüss'') is a river in Switzerland. With a length of and a drainage basin of , it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland (after the Rhine, Aare and Rhône). The upper Reuss forms the main valley of the canton o ...

at Gisikon. It marched from there, hoping to catch Leopold still at Sempach where he could be pressed against the lake. Around noon, the two armies made contact about 2 km outside of Sempach. This was to the mutual surprise of both armies, which were both on the move and not in battle order. But both sides were willing to engage and formed ranks. The site of the battle is marked by the old battle chapel, which was originally consecrated in the year after the battle. The Swiss held the wooded high ground close to the village of Hildisrieden. Since the terrain was not deemed suitable for a cavalry attack, Leopold's knights dismounted, and because they did not have time to prepare for the engagement, they were forced to cut off the tips of their

poulaine Crakows or crackowes were a style of shoes with extremely long toes very popular in 15th century Europe. They were so named because the style was thought to have originated in Kraków, the then capital of Poland. They are also known as poula ...

s which would have hindered their movement on foot. The Swiss chroniclers report how a huge pile of these shoe-tips was found in a heap after the battle, and they are also depicted in the background of the battle scene in the Lucerne Chronicle of 1513. The main body of the Confederation army finally completed its deployment from the marching column, formed up, and attacked the knights from the flank aggressively. The Austrian force, on the other hand, formed a wide rank and threatened to surround the outnumbered confederates. How and at what point the battle turned in favour of the confederates is a matter of debate. It has been suggested that an important factor was the midday heat in July, which wore out the Austrian knights wearing heavy armour much more than the lightly armed confederates (some of which had reportedly no other "armour" than a wooden plank tied to their left arm as a shield). Another factor may have been a fatal underestimation of the confederates on the part of the nobility. According to the account by Tschudi, seeing the small strength of the confederate force, the nobles were concerned that if they sent the mercenaries in front, as would have been common practice, they might not see any action at all, as the mercenaries would finish the job on their own. Therefore, they insisted on taking the front ranks. Stans Winkelrieddenkmal

Traditional Swiss historiography since the 16th century has attributed the turning of the tide to the heroic deed of

Arnold von Winkelried Arnold von Winkelried or Arnold Winkelried is a legendary hero of Swiss history. According to 16th-century Swiss historiography, Winkelried's sacrifice brought about the victory of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Battle of Sempach (1386) over the ...

, who opened a breach in the Habsburg lines by throwing himself into their pikes, taking them down with his body so that the confederates could attack through the opening. Winkelried is usually explained 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 Arth is a village, a town, and a municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality consists of the villages Arth, Oberarth, and Goldau. The four settlements Rigi Kulm, Rigi First, Rigi Klösterli, an ...

, 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 Confederate. For posterity, and recognition of the actual deed, Rudolf 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. His descendants live on today, as recorded in their family tree. 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

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

s and knights were slain, including several members of the noble families of

Aarberg Aarberg is a historic town and a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Aarberg lies 20 kilometers from Bern above the river Aare. With an area of , Aarberg borders Bargen, Kappelen, Lyss, Rad ...

, Baldegg, Bechburg, Büttikon,

Eptingen Eptingen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Waldenburg (district), Waldenburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Eptingen is first mentioned in 1145 as ''Ebittingen''. ...

, Falkenstein,

Hallwil Hallwil is a municipality in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. The Castle of Hallwyl is located in the neighboring municipality Seengen. History Hallwil is first mentioned in 1167 as ''de Allewilare''. Between ...

, Reinach, Rotberg and Wetter.
An other prominent casualty was

Otto I, Margrave of Baden-Hachberg Otto is a masculine German given name and a Otto (surname), surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name ...

Aftermath

An armistice was agreed upon on 12 October, followed by a peace agreement valid for one year, beginning on 14 January 1387. The battle was a severe blow to Austrian interests in the region, and allowed for the establishment of Lucerne as a regional capital and a further

growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure ...

. Already weakened by the 1379 division of Habsburg lands, Leopoldian control of the territories left of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

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 german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

and

, 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 Jura, the Oberland,

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme (river), Emme and Ilfis (river), Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to ...

and Aargau. Lucerne by 1389 was able to consolidate its control over the towns around lake Sempach, Willisau and the

, largely corresponding to the extent of the modern canton of Lucerne.

Glarus , neighboring_municipalities= Glarus Nord, Glarus Süd, Muotathal (SZ), Innerthal (SZ) , twintowns= Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of 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

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n knight received seeds of the flower

Calla ''Calla'' (bog arum, marsh calla, wild calla, squaw claw, and water-arumDickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004) ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, p. 62.) is a genus of flowering plant i ...

for his protection when he decided to accompagny Duke Leopold. After the battle was lost, the knight hid in a forest, where he was killed. Today, the forest is one of the few places where the Calla is to be found naturally in Switzerland. A new peace agreement between the confederacy and Austria was concluded on 1 April 1389, valid for seven years, extended to 20 years on 16 July 1394.

Legacy

Not without justification, the Battle of Sempach came to be seen as the decisive turning point between the foundation of the confederacy as a loose pact in the 14th century, and its

growth Growth may refer to: Biology * Auxology, the study of all aspects of human physical growth * Bacterial growth * Cell growth * Growth hormone, a peptide hormone that stimulates growth * Human development (biology) * Plant growth * Secondary growth ...

into a significant political and military power during the 15th century. A culture of remembrance formed from the city of Lucerne whose Grand Council ordered in the 1380-1390s to remember the 9 July and that annually for bread to the poor and praise to god and Virgin Mary should be provided with. In the following two decades, the neighboring towns and districts of Lucerne were still held by the

Habsburg dynasty The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

and in them, the Habsburgian fallen were remembered in the churchly mass. Only in 1415 Sempach came under control of Lucer. At the peak of the military success of the

Eight Cantons The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure ...

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 Several illustrated chronicles were created in the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were luxurious illuminated manuscripts produced for the urban elite of Bern and Lucerne, and their copious detailed illustrations allow a ...

of the period, and discussed by

Reformation era The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

historiographers such as

Aegidius Tschudi Aegidius (or Giles or Glig) Tschudi (5 February 150528 February 1572) was a Swiss statesman and historian, an eminent member of the Tschudi family of Glarus, Switzerland. His best known work is the Chronicon Helveticum, a history of the earl ...

and

Wernher Steiner Wernher Steiner (1492–1542) was a chronicler of Zug. His writings are among the important sources for Swiss history during the first half of the 16th century. As a military chaplain he witnessed the Battle of Marignano The Battle of Mar ...

. 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. The chapel was repeatedly enlarged. It was decorated with a fresco in 1551, which was restored and enlarged in 1638–1643, 1695, 1741–43, 1747, and 1886. The current fresco is largely a restoration of the painting of 1643. Swiss patriotism in the restored Confederacy of 1815–1847 rediscovered the formative phase of the Old Confederacy as a source of national identity. The modern '' Sempacherlied'' is a product of 1830s patriotism. During the World Wars, the Swiss policy of armed neutrality was also ideologically fuelled by reference to the military successes of the medieval confederacy. Swiss modernist author Robert Walser (1878–1956) recounts the Battle of Sempach in brief but violent detail in his short story "The Battle of Sempach".Th
English translation of Walser's story by Michael Wooff
at Project Gutenberg

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). *

Background

The battle

Aftermath

Legacy

Notes

Sources

See also