The Republic of the Seven Tithings
(
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: ''Republik der Sieben Zenden'',
French: ''République des Sept-Dizains'') was a state in what is now the
Swiss canton
The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...
of
Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
during the
early modern period, and an associate of the
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...
.
The seven tithings (''Zenden'', ''dizains'', Latin: ''decumae'') of the Central and Upper Valais, listed
orographically
Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...
, were
Goms GOMS is a specialized human information processor model for human-computer interaction observation that describes a user's cognitive structure on four components. In the book ''The Psychology of Human Computer Interaction''. written in 1983 by Stua ...
,
Brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
,
Visp
Visp (french: Viège) is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Geography
Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, west of Brig-Glis.
Visp has an area, , of . Of ...
,
Raron
Raron (french: Rarogne) is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Raron is first mentioned around 1101–1200 as ''Rarogni''. In 1146 it was mentioned as ''Rarun''.
A settlement on the Heidnisc ...
,
Leuk
Leuk (french: Loèche-Ville) is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of Erschmatt merged into the municipality of Leuk.[Siders
Sierre (; german: Siders, ; frp, Siérro, ) is the capital municipality of the district of Sierre, located in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It has a population of 16,332.
Sierre is nicknamed City of the Sun (french: Cité du Soleil) for i ...]
, and
Sion
Sion may refer to
* an alternative transliteration of Zion
People
* Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name
Pl ...
. The six districts of the Lower Valais, known as "banners" (''vexilla''), were ruled as subject lands by the Republic. They only came to be referred to as ''dizains'' as they acceded to the
Rhodanic Republic and the Swiss canton, during 1802–1815.
History
![Stumpf Froschauer Landtaflen Wallis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Stumpf_Froschauer_Landtaflen_Wallis.jpg)
The tithings (''Zehnden'') of the
Upper Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...
emerged as
medieval commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup.
C ...
s, which were granted certain privileges by
Charles IV in 1353.
These territories had enjoyed de facto independence since the mid-15th century, as a result of the
Raron affair
The Raron affair (German: ''Raronhandel'') was a 15th-century rebellion in the Valais (the prince-bishopric of Sion) against the power of a local noble family, the Raron family. The rebellion brought several cantons of the Swiss Confederation in ...
, and they continued to grow in power and influence over the following two centuries.
They seized much of the Lower Valais formerly controlled by the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
in 1475. This happened in the context of the
Burgundian Wars
The Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the battlefield in th ...
, and with the agreement of both the
bishop of Sion
The Diocese of Sion ( la, Dioecesis Sedunensis, french: Diocèse de Sion, german: Bistum Sitten) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of ...
and the
canton of Berne
The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...
.
The tithings gained further autonomy as a result of the conflict with bishop
Matthäus Schiner
Matthäus Schiner (or ''Schinner'', c. 1465 – 1 October 1522) was a bishop of Sion, Cardinal and diplomat. He was a military commander in several battles in northern Italy.
Biography
He was born in Mühlebach (in what is now the Swiss cant ...
after the
Battle of Marignano
The Battle of Marignano was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai and took place on 13–14 September 1515, near the town now called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan. It pitted the French army, composed of the be ...
(1515). Throughout the 16th century, the tithings, now calling themselves ''Republica Vallesi'', acted as a sovereign power without regard to the prince-bishop who was still nominally the feudal ruler of Valais.
In the wake of the
Swiss Reformation
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...
, Berne occupied
Vaud
Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...
and the city of
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
in 1535. Anticipating further Bernese aggression, the seven tithings sent their troops to Saint-Maurice to defend their border. As the Bernese advanced to
Chablais
Chablais () was a province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its capital was Thonon-les-Bains.
Chablais was elevated to a duchy in 1311 by Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
This region is currently divided into three territories, the ''Chablais savoyard'', the ...
, the Valais troops crossed the Rhone and advanced along the shore of Lake Geneva, onto Savoyard territory, and far as
Évian
Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year.
Today, Evia ...
, halting the Bernese advance. Berne agreed to return the occupied territory to Savoy in 1564. The Valais refused to do the same, but eventually agreed to return Evian and Hochtal, keeping
Monthey
Monthey (; frp, Montê) is the capital of the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
The castle in the town center was built in 950 on a hill, the first houses of Monthey surrounded it. Monthey is first mention ...
as their subject territory. The constitutional establishment of the ''Zendenherrschaft'' (sovereignty of the tithings) dates to 1571, but the conflict between the prince-bishops and the communes simmered on into the 17th century.
The Reformation began to spread to Sion and Leuk in the 1580s. The bishop attempted to suppress this, from 1603 aided by the tithings, by the Catholic Swiss cantons and by France. In 1604, adherents of the Reformation were forced to either re-convert to Catholicism or to emigrate.
By the beginning 17th century, the seven tithings had gained complete sovereignty ''de facto'', and in 1613, the
Diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
(German: ''Landrat,'' French: ''Diète''), a council of representatives of tithings and parishes, formally declared independence from the prince-bishop.
In 1613, bishop Hildebrand Jost was forced to forfeit his claim on the tithings, at first temporarily, then permanently in 1634, marking the beginning of the ''de jure'' sovereignty of the tithings and the end of the secular power of the prince-bishops.
The communes of the Valais first referred to themselves as a democratic Republic in a document of 1619; the distinctive seven-star coat of arms which forms the basis of the current
cantonal coat of arms dates to 1628.
From this time until the
French invasion of 1798, the bishops of Sion retained their title of prince-bishops of the Holy Roman Empire only in name, being constitutionally bound to submit to the decisions of the Diet.
Successors
The ''République des Sept-Dizains'' was abolished, and merged with its former subject Lower Valais, declared as the short lived (16 March to 1 May 1798) ''République du Valais'', which was in turn incorporated as the canton of Valais of the
Helvetic Republic
The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
, but in 1802 again seceded as the French client state of the
Rhodanic Republic, which in 1810 became part of the French ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
'' of
Simplon before in 1815 joining the
restored Swiss Confederacy
The periods of Restoration and Regeneration in Swiss history lasted from 1814 to 1847. "Restoration" is the period of 1814 to 1830, the restoration of the ''Ancien Régime'' ( federalism), reverting the changes imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte on ...
as a canton.
References
* "Valais".
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
*
See also
*
History of the Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...
*
Early modern Switzerland
The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy (''Eidgenossenschaft'', also known as the "Swiss Republic" or ''Republica Helvetiorum'') and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Republique des Sept-Dizains
History of Valais
Associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy
States and territories established in 1634
1613 establishments in Europe
1798 disestablishments in Europe
Sept-Dizains, Republique des