The Gümmenenkrieg was a war between the emergent city-states of Bern and

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () ...

in 1331-33 in what is now Switzerland. The war pitted Bern and the new

Swiss Confederation ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

against the Habsburg-supported city of Fribourg and local nobles. It was also the first in a series of battles that brought the Habsburgs and Fribourg into prominence in the

County of Burgundy The Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté (french: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; german: Freigrafschaft Burgund) was a medieval county (from 982 to 1678) of the Holy Roman Empire, predecessor to the modern region of Franche-Comté. The name ' ...

. The war ended without resolving anything and led to other wars between Bern and Fribourg.

History

In 1324, Bern purchased the bridge-head at

Laupen Laupen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district and its district capital, situated in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Laupen is first mentioned in 1130-33 as ''Loupa''. In 1173 it was mentioned, in French, ...

, which brought Bern into the Fribourg controlled

Sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the central nervous system re ...

and

Saane The Sarine (; frp, Sarena ) or Saane () is a major river of Switzerland.6th longest, 7th largest basin, see List of rivers of Switzerland It is long and has a drainage area of . It is a tributary of the Aare. The Sarine rises in the Bernese Al ...

valleys. The city of Fribourg and a number of minor nobles became concerned about Bernese territorial ambitions and began to ally with each other. In 1331, the Lords of Weissenburg, Turn and Gruyere besieged

Mülenen Castle Mülenen Castle and the attached Letzi Mülenen wall are a ruined medieval fortification in the Mülenen, village of Mülenen and Reichenbach im Kandertal, municipality of Reichenbach im Kandertal, in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. The Let ...

, which was held by a

pledge Pledge may refer to: Promises * a solemn promise * Abstinence pledge, a commitment to practice abstinence, usually teetotalism or chastity * The Pledge (New Hampshire), a promise about taxes by New Hampshire politicians * Pledge of Allegianc ...

against a loan by a citizen of Bern. Bern responded to the siege aggressively and called on its allies,

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 ...

Biel , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) ...

and

Murten Murten (German) or Morat (French, ; frp, Morât ) is a bilingual municipality and a city in the See district of the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is located on the southern shores of Lake Morat (also known as Lake Murten). Morat is si ...

. The combined Bernese army marched on the castle at Gümmenen (now part of

Mühleberg Mühleberg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Mühleberg is first mentioned in 1011–16 as ''Mulinberg''. There are several Hallstatt era grave mounds around Mühlebe ...

) on the Saane river and destroyed it and surrounding fortifications as well as the nearby settlement. Schönfels Castle, which was near Grasburg Castle, and the castle at

Aeschi Aeschi is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Burgäschisee is a lake in the forest on the border with Seeberg. Geography Aeschi has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.2% is used for ag ...

were also destroyed.

Aftermath

In 1333, Queen Agnes of Austria mediated a peace treaty which returned everyone to the pre-war borders, with nothing exchanged except for prisoners. The peace treaty, however, did allow Bern to settle with the Barons of Weissenburg in 1334. Bern was able to occupy

Wimmis Wimmis is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Wimmis is first mentioned in 994 as ''Windemis''. The oldest traces of a settlement in Wimmis include the Mesol ...

and Unspunnen in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

and begin to expand into the Oberland. Bern's continued expansion was at the expense of the feudal lords in the surrounding lands and in 1339 it led to the

Battle of Laupen The Battle of Laupen was fought in June 1339, between Bern and its allies on one side, and Freiburg together with feudal landholders from the County of Burgundy and Habsburg territories on the other. Bern was victorious, consolidating its positio ...

against Fribourg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gummenenkrieg Wars involving Switzerland Battles involving Switzerland Battles of the Middle Ages Conflicts in 1333 1333 in Europe Conflicts in 1331 Conflicts in 1332 Fribourg History of Bern 14th century in the Old Swiss Confederacy 1330s in the Holy Roman Empire

History

Aftermath

See also

References