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 army of the Habsburg Duke Leopold III of Austria.
According to legend, the Swiss initially could not break the close ranks of the Habsburg pikemen. Winkelried cried: "I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen and confederates, my wife and children..." He then threw himself upon the Austrian pikes, taking some of them down with his body. This broke up the Austrian front, and made an opening through which the Swiss could attack.
As phrased in the Halbsuterlied printed in the 1530s by Aegidius Tschudi and Wernher Steiner:
Des adels her was veste, ir ordnung dik und breit, | The host of the nobles was solid, their order both thick and wide |
Trüwen lieben eydgnossen, min leben verlur ich mit, | "True and dear confederates, I shall lose my life doing it. |
Hiemit so tett er fassen, ein arm voll spiess behend | Saying thus he quickly grasped an armful of pikes, |
Also begunndentz brechen, des adels ordnung bald, | And thus they soon began to break up the battle order of the nobles |
Two other verses describe the order of battle of the Austrian side. According to this testimony, the knights dismounted, presumably because they were forced to fight from the lower ground, and they cut off their shoe-tips for better mobility. Even though they would have had a sufficient force of mercenaries to engage the outnumbered Swiss, the nobility wanted to engage the enemy on their own, because they were concerned that the mercenaries would make such short work of the peasants that they themselves would not see any action at all, which would have been to their dishonour:
| Sie bunden uff ir helme, und tatends fürher tragen. von schuhen huwents dschnäbel, man hätt gefüllt ein wagen; | "They fastened their helmets and pushed forward |
This is given by means of explanation as to how the breaking of the first rank of pikes by Winkelried could lead to immediate disaster for the Austrian side, as the leaders of the army were fighting in the van.
Haller (Schweizerschlachten, 1828) reports that in the early 19th century, a pierced mail shirt identified as that worn by Winkelried in the battle was preserved in Stans. Haller also reports a folk tradition according to which Winkelried was found still alive after the battle, and only died of his wounds on the way home in a boat on Lake Sempach.
The historicity of Winkelried and his deed has been taken for granted in 19th-century historiography, but in the 20th century it was commonly deconstructed as pure legend. Since the late 20th century, scholarship is again inclined to consider its historicity as plausible, even though no positive proof can be given to substantiate it.
The earliest record of the deed is in the Zürcher Chronik, a manuscript compiled in the 1480s based on older sources. The hero in this account is unnamed, identified just as ein getrüwer man under den Eidgenozen (a faithful man among the Eidgenossen ("confederates")). In the chronicle of Diebold Schilling of Berne (c. 1480), in the picture of the battle of Sempach there is a warrior pierced with spears falling to the ground, which may possibly be meant to be Winkelried. In the chronicle of Diebold Schilling of Lucerne (1511), though in the text no allusion is made to any such incident, there is a similar picture of a man who has accomplished Winkelried's feat, though he is dressed in the colours of Lucerne. [1]
The name of Winkelried first appears in the 16th century. The hero is still nameless in De Helvetiae origine by Rudolph Gwalther (1538), but Aegidius Tschudi (1536) has "a man of Unterwalden, of the Winkelried family," this being expanded in the final recension of the chronicle (1564) into "a man of Unterwalden, Arnold von Winckelried by name, a brave knight,". He is entered (in the same book, on the authority of the "Anniversary Book" of Stans, now lost) on the list of those who fell at Sempach at the head of the Nidwalden (or Stans) men as "Herr Arnold von Winckelriet, Ritter," this being in the first draft "Arnold Winckelriet." [2]
Some recensions of the Sempacherlied , which originally dates to about the time of the Burgundian Wars in the 1470s, do mention Winkelried, but these sections are mostly considered additions from the early 16th century, as in the additions by H. Berlinger of Basel to Etterlin's chronicle (made between 1531 and 1545), or the version in Werner Steiner's chronicle (1532). Also from the 16th century is evidence from lists of those who fell at Sempach; the "Anniversary Book" of Emmetten in Unterwalden (drawn up in 1560) has "der Winkelriedt" at the head of the Nidwalden men. A book by Horolanus, a pastor at Lucerne (about 1563), has "Erni Winckelried" some way down the list of Unterwalden men.
It thus appears that the legend may have originated by the 1430s, or at the latest the 1470s, that is within 50 or at the most 90 years of the battle, but the name of "Winkelried" was not associated with the hero before the 1530s or perhaps the 1520s, i.e. the time of the Swiss Reformation, more than 130 years after the battle.
The history of the Winkelried family of Stans has been minutely worked out from the original documents by Hermann von Liebenau in 1854. According to his research, they were a knightly family when we first hear of them about 1250, though towards the end of the 14th century they seem to have been but simple men without the honours of knighthood, and not always using their prefix "von." [2] Liebenau was the first to draw attention to one Erni Winkelried who signed as a witness on a document dated 1 May 1367. This is the only candidate on record for a possible identification of Winkelried with a historical character. Liebenau supposes that because this Erni signed as the last of five witnesses, after one Hans Winkelried, he was presumably still a young man at this time, which would make him of mature age at the date of the battle. He further reasons that the fact that this Erni is absent from record during the 1370s, while Hans is repeatedly seen as a witness, might indicate that during this time the young Erni was abroad in foreign service. [3]
The same name Erni Winkelried however resurfaces on a document dated 29 September 1389, after the battle. Liebenauer again notes how the Erni Winkelried of 1389 signs as the last of the three in his party, which again indicates that he was the youngest among them. Furthermore, an Arnold Winkelried is again attested as landamman of Unterwalden in 1417, it is clear that there were at least two people with this name, perhaps father and eldest son. The older Erni would then have been born around 1350, and the younger around 1370. [4]
As for the plausibility of Winkelried's deed, the single-handed breaking of a line of pikes to open a breach, which is then exploited to turn the course of the battle, a parallel is adduced by Liebenau is that of one Johann Stühlinger, a ministerialis in the service of Regensburg, who in a 1332 battle against Berne and Solothurn broke through the ranks of the enemy with his warhorse, creating just such an opening, which was exploited to the cost of 400 men on the Bernese side. The pikes ( spiesse ) of the Austrian knights in historical paintings are commonly depicted as the long pole weapons of the 15th-century pike square, but this is an anachronism. The pikes of the late 14th century would still have been considerably shorter. As according to the testimony of the Sempacherlied, the Austrian nobility insisted on fighting against the underestimated Swiss in the front rank, it would have been sufficient to break into just the van of the Austrian army to kill Leopold and other leaders of the army, which would have ended the battle immediately. [5]
Similar to William Tell, the figure of Winkelried was an important symbol during the formation of the Swiss federal state, and an icon of Swiss independence during World War II. Napoleon referred to Winkelried as “the Swiss Decius immortalized” at Sempach. [6]
Arnold Winkelried is also mentioned in Nature (1836) by Ralph Waldo Emerson [7] and in The Maine Woods (1864) by Henry David Thoreau. [8]
The Sempacherlied of ca. 1836, one of the expressions of Swiss patriotism during the period of Restoration, is dedicated to the heroism of Winkelried. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges uses his name, among many other known Swiss, as a paradigm of the Swiss spirit in one of his late poems: "Los Conjurados" (The Conspirators), which also gives its name to the book.
There is a philosophy called "Winkelriedism", which name is taken from the hero's name. It is based on an individual giving himself up idealistically and sacrificially to the enemy for the betterment of others. Juliusz Słowacki created this way of thinking in his dramatic poem "Kordian", where the titular character decides to kill the Tsar of Russia to take Poland's suffering on himself, easing a breakthrough to freedom for his nation. Słowacki considered Poland the "Winkelried of Nations". [9]
The Battle of Morgarten took place on 15 November 1315, when troops of Schwyz, supported by their allies of Uri and Unterwalden, ambushed an Austrian army under the command of Leopold I, Duke of Austria on the shores of Lake Ägeri, in the territory of Schwyz.
Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden (Nidwald) in Switzerland.
Nidwalden, also Nidwald is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Stans. It is traditionally considered a "half-canton", the other half being Obwalden.
William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, a tyrannical reeve of the Austrian dukes of the House of Habsburg positioned in Altdorf, in the canton of Uri. Tell's defiance and tyrannicide encouraged the population to open rebellion and a pact against the foreign rulers with neighbouring Schwyz and Unterwalden, marking the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy. Tell was considered the father of the Swiss Confederacy.
The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria 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.
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.
Eidgenossenschaft is a German word specific to the political history of Switzerland. It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance" in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of the late medieval period, most notably in Swiss historiography being the Rütlischwur between the three founding cantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, traditionally dated to 1307. In modern usage, it is the German term used as equivalent with "Confederation" in the official name of Switzerland, Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, rendered Confédération and Confederazione in French and Italian, respectively. The related adjective, eidgenössisch, officially translated as Swiss federal, is used in the name of organisations, for example the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The term Eidgenosse refers to the individual members of the Eidgenossenschaft. It is attested as early as 1315, in the Pact of Brunnen, referring to the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. The abstract noun Eidgenossenschaft is attested in the 15th century. In modern usage, Eidgenosse is sometimes used for "Swiss citizen", especially for those citizens of purely Swiss origin, not immigrated.
Winkelried was a family of Unterwalden, recorded as members of the lower nobility during the second half of the 13th century and as commoners during the 14th to early 16th centuries. The name is mostly associated with Arnold von Winkelried, the hero of the Battle of Sempach (1386) in Swiss historiography. Because of the importance of Arnold Winkelried in 19th-century Swiss nationalism, much research has gone into the genealogy of this family.
Swiss folklore describes a collection of local stories, celebrations, and customs of the alpine and sub-alpine peoples that occupy Switzerland. The country of Switzerland is made up of several distinct cultures including German, French, Italian, as well as the Romansh speaking population of Graubünden. Each group has its own unique folkloric tradition.
Sempach is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.
Waldstätte is a term which has been used since the early thirteenth century to refer to the Stätte, or later Ort or Stand of the early confederate allies of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden in today's Central Switzerland.
The Battle of Bicocca or La Bicocca was fought on 27 April 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by an Imperial–Spanish and Papal army under the overall command of Prospero Colonna. Lautrec then withdrew from Lombardy, leaving the Duchy of Milan in Imperial hands.
The Rütli Oath is the legendary oath taken at the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy by the representatives of the three founding cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, It is named after the site of the oath taking, the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Uri near Seelisberg. Recorded in Swiss historiography from the 15th century, the oath is notably featured in the 19th century play William Tell by Friedrich Schiller.
The Bundeslied or Tellenlied is a patriotic song of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Its original composition dates to the Burgundian Wars period (1470s). The oldest extant manuscript text was written in 1501, the first publication in print dates to 1545. It consists of stanzas of six lines each, with a rhyming scheme of A-A-B-C-C-B. It is one of the oldest existing records of the legend of Swiss national hero William Tell.
Sempacherlied is the title of a number of patriotic songs celebrating the Swiss victory at the Battle of Sempach (1386).
Heinrich von Winkelried, known as Schrutan or Strut "the giant", was a medieval knight in what is now Central Switzerland.
Hermann von Liebenau was a Swiss historian.
Petermann of Gundoldingen was Schultheiss of Lucerne and participated in the Battle of Sempach.
Johannes Kunisch was a German historian. He held chairs of early modern history at the Goethe University Frankfurt. (1972-1976) and the University of Cologne (1976–2002). Through his publications Kunisch became one of the leading German early modern historians. His biography Frederick the Great, published in 2004 and widely acclaimed, gave lasting impulses to Prussian research.
The Winkelried memorial was erected in memory of Arnold von Winkelried, who sacrificed his life in the Battle of Sempach on the 9 July 1386. According to the Swiss historiography, the Swiss wouldn't be able to break through the firmly positioned order of Habsburg pikemen. At a moment, Winkelried decided to throw himself into the pikes and therefore open a passage through the Austrian defensive front, which made way for an attack of the Swiss confederacy which then led to a Swiss victory in the Battle of Sempach.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Biographical dictionaries | |
| Other | |
