Raron family

Last updated June 23, 2024

The Raron family (French Rarogne) was an influential noble family in the Valais (the bishopric of Sion) in the late medieval period.

Related to the lords of Ringgenberg, the family held possessions in the area of Raron (Rarogne) in the 12th century, and beginning in the 13th century named themselves after their castle there. Henry, lord of Mannenberg and vice-lord (vicedominus) in Leuk and Rarogne as a vassal of the bishop of Sion, is considered the family's founder. His son Henry would in turn accede to the office of prince-bishop (r. 1243–1271).

Four other prince-bishops were members of the family: Henry II (r. 1273/4), William IV (r. 1394–1402), William V (r. 1402–1418) and William VI (r. 1437–1451).

In the so-called Raron affair of 1413–1420, the population of Upper Valais revolted against the lords of Raron, specifically against bishop William V (also known as William II) and his father Peter of Raron, and the claims of his uncle Witschard of Raron. Emperor Sigismund had granted Witschard sovereignty over the Valais in 1414 as a reward for his military service in Lombardy.^[1] The rebels besieged Witschard and his entourage at Seta Castle near Savièse and forced his resignation as episcopal bailiff and gained the right to elect their own representatives in the government. Witschard was forced to leave Valais and appealed to Bern for help, but was unable to gain any support. He then approached Amadeus of Savoy, who allied with Witschard and sent troops into Valais.^[2] Supported by Savoy, the Rarons re-occupied their castles, but the rebellion continued in the valley. By 1417 Valais troops had destroyed Beauregard, Tourbillon and Montorge castles, and all centers of the Raron power. Since the family held Bernese citizenship, they again appealed to the city for help in regaining their lands.^[3] This resulted in a division of the Swiss Confederation. In September 1417 Witschard and his family had to flee the country permanently.^[4] After Valais troops attacked and besieged Raron castles, Bern invaded over the Sanetsch Pass and plundered Sion in 1418. At the Second Battle of Ulrichen in September 1419 the Bernese were forced to retreat. In the peace treaty of 1420, Valais accepted the payment of reparations to the family, but continued to resist their power at every opportunity and continued to self-govern. With his authority damaged, his castles burned and a sullen population, the Baron abandoned Valais and died in Rome in 1431.^[4]

Petermann von Raron (c. 1405–1479) was the last baron of Raron, and lord in Toggenburg, participating in the Old Zürich War on the side of the Confederacy. He inherited the rights to the Toggenburg in 1437 via his mother Margaretha of Rhäzuns. Petermann moved to the Toggenburg while his brother Hildebrand remained in the Valais, leading to a de facto division of the Raron lands, even though both brothers nominally were co-regents of the entirety patrimony. Petermann sold Uznach to Schwyz and Glarus in 1437/8. He fought on the side of the Confederacy in their invasion of the territory of Zürich in 1440/1. He later participated in the siege of Winterthur (1460) and in the Waldshut feud against Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (1468).

Both Hildebrand and Petermann died without issue, and the family was extinct upon Petermann's death in 1479.

Related Research Articles

Valais, more formally, the Canton of Valais, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion.

The early history of Switzerland begins with the earliest settlements up to the beginning of Habsburg rule, which in 1291 gave rise to the independence movement in the central cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden and the growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Late Middle Ages.

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 the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were largely autonomous.

The Diocese of Sion is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of the Alps. The history of the Bishops of Sion, of the Abbey of St. Maurice of Valais as a whole are inextricably intertwined.

Tourbillon Castle is a castle in Sion in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is situated on a hill and faces the Basilique de Valère, located on the opposite hill.

The Kyburg family was a noble family of grafen (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of what is now Northeastern Switzerland.

The Raron affair was a 15th-century rebellion in the Valais against the power of a local noble family, the Raron family. The rebellion brought several cantons of the Swiss Confederation into conflict with each other and threatened a civil war in the Confederation. While Bern was initially successful, they were eventually forced to surrender most of their gains.

Rümligen Castle is a castle in the municipality of Rümligen of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The Republic of the Seven Tithings was a state in what is now the Swiss canton of Valais during the early modern period, and an associate of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

The Toggenburg War, also known as the Second War of Villmergen or the Swiss Civil War of 1712, was a Swiss civil war during the Old Swiss Confederacy from 12 April to 11 August 1712. The Catholic "inner cantons" and the Imperial Abbey of Saint Gall fought the Protestant cantons of Bern and Zürich as well as the abbatial subjects of Toggenburg. The conflict was a religious war, a war for hegemony in the Confederacy and an uprising of subjects. The war ended in a Protestant victory and upset the balance of political power within the Confederacy.

Elisabeth von Matsch was the last countess of the Swiss noble House of Toggenburg from 1436. She was the spouse of Friedrich VII, count of Toggenburg.

The First Battle of Ulrichen in 1211 was a decisive defeat of Bernese troops under Duke Berthold V of Zähringen by the army of the Canton of Valais under the Bishop of Sion Landrich von Mont. The battle took place near Ulrichen which is now part of Obergoms. Many details about the battle are uncertain or questioned by historians.

The noble family von Sax were a medieval noble family in eastern Switzerland. They owned estates and castles on both sides of the Alps in the modern cantons of St. Gallen, Graubünden and Ticino. The origin of the family is unknown, but they probably stem from Churrätien nobility and were related to the da Torre family. The family divided into two main lines; the Grafen (counts) von Sax-Misox and the Freiherren (barons) von Hohensax.

Strassberg Castle is a ruined castle in the municipality of Churwalden of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

The Second Battle of Ulrichen was fought in 1419 between the Old Swiss Confederacy led by Bern and rebels from Valais near Ulrichen in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Negotiations after the battle led to the end of the Raron affair and self-determination for Valais.

Soie Castle is a ruined castle in the municipality of Savièse of the Canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Beauregard Castle is a ruined castle on the territory of Chippis in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is situated on a rocky spur at the entrance to the Val d'Anniviers.

Swiss Associates, also known as Associated Places,Zugewandte Orte, or Pays Alliés, were associate states of the Old Swiss Confederacy, with some form of alliance agreement with either the entire Confederation or individual cantons.

References

Edwin Hauser: Geschichte der Freiherren v. Raron. Zürich 1916.
Hans Kalbermatten:Raron, von in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .

↑ Zschokke, Heinrich and Emil (1855). The History of Switzerland, for the Swiss People. C. S. Francis & Company. pp. 78–81.
↑ Planta, Joseph (1800). The History of the Helvetic Confederacy. Vol. 1. J Stockdale. pp. 385–389.
↑ von Wattenwyl, Ed. (1875). Archiv des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Bern,. Vol. 8. Stämpfliche Verlagshandlung. pp. 549–553.
1 2 von Wattenwyl, pg. 527

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Zschokke-1] Zschokke, Heinrich and Emil (1855). The History of Switzerland, for the Swiss People. C. S. Francis & Company. pp. 78–81.

[Planta-2] Planta, Joseph (1800). The History of the Helvetic Confederacy. Vol. 1. J Stockdale. pp. 385–389.

[Wattenwyl-3] von Wattenwyl, Ed. (1875). Archiv des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Bern,. Vol. 8. Stämpfliche Verlagshandlung. pp. 549–553.

[pg527-4] 1 2 von Wattenwyl, pg. 527

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]