Federal Charter of 1291: Difference between revisions

| purpose = Union of three [[canton (subnationaladministrative entitydivision)|cantons]] in what is now central Switzerland

The '''Federal Charter''' or '''Letter of Alliance''' ({{lang-de|Bundesbrief}}) is one of the earliest constitutional documents of Switzerland. A treaty of alliance from 1291 between the cantons of [[Canton of Uri|Uri]], [[Canton of Schwyz|Schwyz]] and [[Unterwalden]], the Charter is one of a series of alliances from which the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]] emerged. In the 19th and 20th century, after the establishment of the [[Swiss federal state]], the Charter became ''the'' central founding document of Switzerland in the popular imagination.

The Charter documents the '''Eternal Alliance of the League of the Three Forest Cantons''' ({{lang-de|Ewiger Bund der Drei Waldstätten}}), the union of three [[canton (subnationaladministrative entitydivision)|cantons]] in what is now central Switzerland. It is dated to early August 1291, which in the 20th century inspired the date of [[Swiss National Day]], 1 August. Done in [[Latin]], the Charter makes reference to a previous (lost or unwritten) pact. It is now exhibited at the [[Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation]] in [[Schwyz]].<ref>[http://www.sz.ch/documents/Prospekt_E.pdf Visitor Information to the Bundesbriefmuseum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518183749/http://www.sz.ch/documents/Prospekt_E.pdf |date=18 May 2013 }}</ref>

The authenticity of the letter used to be disputed as a supposed modern forgery., Butbut historians now agree that it is certainly a product of the 14th century. In 1991, the [[parchment]] was [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] at [[ETH Zurich|ETH]] to between 1252 and 1312 (with a certaintyprobability of 85%); alternatively, it could date to between 1352 and 1385 (with a probability of 15%).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Woelfli |first1=Willy |last2=Bonani |first2=Georges |date=1992 |title=Datierung des Bundesbriefes mit der Radiokarbonmethode |url=https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-166807 |journal=Mitteilungen des historischen Vereins des Kantons Schwyz |volume=84 |pages=27–31 |doi=10.5169/seals-166807 |via=[[E-Periodica]]}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ipp.phys.ethz.ch/research/experiments/tandem/posters/Bundesbrief.pdf Radio carbon result] by [[ETH]] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710041244/http://www.ipp.phys.ethz.ch/research/experiments/tandem/posters/Bundesbrief.pdf |date=10 July 2007 }}</ref>

The document is thus not a forgery, tied to the emergence of the modern federal state in 1848., Itbut should rather be seen in the context of chapterChapter 15 of the [[Golden Bull of 1356]], wherein which [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] outlawed any ''conjurationes, confederationes,'' and ''conspirationes'', meaning in particular the city alliances (''[[Städtebund|Städtebünde]]''), but also other communal leagues that had sprung up through the [[communal movement in medieval Europe]]. It was then very common to produce documents only when needed. At the time, agreements were most often verbal, and any documentation drawn up later might have its contents or dates changed to suit current purposes.

* 1501: Contract with [[Basel]] of which the number of copies is known to be 11, corresponding to the 11 seals.<ref>[http://www.baselland.ch/fileadmin/baselland/files/docs/uebrige/bundesbrief/bundesbrief-1501.pdf German (modern) translation of the 1501 contract including some history (german)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040636/http://www.baselland.ch/fileadmin/baselland/files/docs/uebrige/bundesbrief/bundesbrief-1501.pdf |date=4 February 2012 }}</ref>

* WinklerMarabello, AlbertThomas Quinn (20142023). [https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2825&context=facpub "The Federal CharterOrigins of 1291Democracy andin the founding of the Swiss StateSwitzerland,"] ''Swiss American Historical Society Review,'', volVol. 5059: (2014), noNo. 1. Available [https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss1/4, here], pp.&nbsp;33–50 91–93.

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