Battle of Arbedo

Last updated
Battle of Arbedo
Part of Transalpine campaigns
Bellinzona Tschachtlan.jpg
Illustration from the Tschachtlanchronik of 1470
DateJune 30, 1422
Location 46°13′N9°02′E / 46.21°N 9.04°E / 46.21; 9.04
Result

Decisive Milanese victory

Belligerents
Flag of the Duchy of Milan (1450).svg Duchy of Milan
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Duchy of Milan (1450).svg Francesco Carmagnola
Flag of the Duchy of Milan (1450).svg Angelo della Pergola [nb 1]
Wappen Luzern matt.svg Ulrich Walker  (POW)
Wappen Zug matt.svg Johannes Rodt 
Wappen Zug matt.svg Peter Kolin 
Wappen Uri matt.svg Bartholome Zinderist 
Wappen Unterwalden alt.svg Zelger Obwalden  [nb 2]
Strength
12,000 infantry
4,000 cavalry [nb 3]
8,000 Infantry [nb 4]
Casualties and losses
Heavy: [4]
~900 killed [2] [7] [nb 5]
400 horses killed [1]
Heavy: [4] [6]
~400 killed [5] [nb 6]
all baggage and 1,200 sumpters lost [4] [6]

The Battle of Arbedo was fought on 30 June 1422 between the Duchy of Milan and the Swiss Confederation, and ended with a Milanese victory.

Contents

In 1419, the Swiss cantons of Uri and Unterwalden bought the fortified town of Bellinzona from the House of Sax but were unable to defend it adequately. When they rejected a Milanese proposal to purchase Bellinzona in 1422, a Milanese force under the command of the condottiero Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola attacked and defeated the Swiss garrison and occupied the town. A Swiss attempt to recapture Bellinzona with the support of other cantons including Lucerne and Zug led to the battle at the village of Arbedo, 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the town.

The shooting thaler of the 1867 federal Schutzenfest depicts Hans Landwing saving the cantonal banner. Zug2.jpg
The shooting thaler of the 1867 federal Schützenfest depicts Hans Landwing saving the cantonal banner.

The Swiss were mainly equipped with halberds and were initially successful in repelling two Milanese cavalry charges. Carmagnola then brought up his crossbowmen on the Swiss flanks and ordered his men-at-arms to dismount and fight on foot with their lances, which outreached the halberds.

The Milanese forced the Swiss back onto a nearby hill, but the appearance of a band of foragers, whom the Milanese mistakenly thought were reinforcements, saved the Swiss from total defeat. When the Milanese force pulled back to reform, the Swiss withdrew from the battlefield, both sides having taken heavy casualties.

In a historiographical tradition of Zug, the bearer of the cantonal banner, Peter Kälin, was slain, and the banner was taken up by his son, who was slain in his turn. The banner was saved by one Hans Landwing, and was later lost against the French. [9]

The victory secured Bellinzona and the Leventina for the Duchy. In addition, the Duchy regained the Val d'Ossola, thus the Swiss lost all their territorial gains. The defeat discouraged Swiss expansion towards Lake Maggiore for a long time. However, it was this defeat at Arbedo that led to the Swiss increasing the number of pikemen in their armies.

See also

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canton of Schwyz</span> Canton of Switzerland

The canton of Schwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Charter of 1291</span> Constitutional document of Switzerland

The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance is one of the earliest constitutional documents of Switzerland. A treaty of alliance from 1291 between the cantons of Uri, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obwalden</span> Canton of Switzerland

Obwalden or Obwald is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Sarnen. It is traditionally considered a "half-canton", the other half being Nidwalden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy</span> Aspect of Swiss history in 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 wars of Kappel (Kappelerkriege) is a collective term for two armed conflicts fought near Kappel am Albis between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Reformation in Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second War of Kappel</span> 1531 battle during the Swiss Reformation

The Second War of Kappel was an armed conflict in 1531 between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Reformation in Switzerland.

The Pfaffenbrief is a contract dated to October 7, 1370, between six states of the Old Swiss Confederacy, Zürich, Lucerne, Zug, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rütli Oath</span> Legendary oath taken at the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Swiss Confederacy</span> 1291–1798 confederation of Swiss cantons

The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states, initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Crevola</span>

The Battle of Crevola was fought in the spring of 1487, between a marauding Swiss army from the Valais and Lucerne and troops from the Duchy of Milan, for the supremacy of the Val d'Ossola (Eschental).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vogtei Rheintal</span> Condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Vogtei Rheintal was a condominium of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the 15th century until 1798. Its territory corresponded to the left banks of the Alpine Rhine between Hoher Kasten and Lake Constance, including the towns of Altstätten and Rheineck.

The Pact of Brunnen is a historical treaty between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen on 9 December 1315.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy</span> 15/16th-century military campaigns by the Old Swiss Confederacy to expand south of the Alps

The transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy were military expeditions which resulted in the conquest of territories south of the Alps, corresponding more or less to the modern canton of Ticino, on the part of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th and 16th centuries. These territories were known as ennetbirgische Vogteien or "transmontane bailiwicks".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saubannerzug</span> 1477 Swiss Military campaign

The Saubannerzug was a military campaign of irregular Swiss forces during the Fasnacht period of the year 1477, in the aftermath of the Battle of Nancy. It consisted of disgruntled men-at-arms from Central Switzerland who moved towards Geneva to enforce the payment of a sum of 24,000 Gulden owed to the Old Swiss Confederacy as ransom to escape looting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raron affair</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toggenburg War</span> Swiss religious war in 1712

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Uri</span>

Uri is a Swiss Talschaft and canton in the upper Reuss valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Ulrichen</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ital Reding the Elder</span> Swiss magistrate (d. 1447)

Ital Reding the Elder was Landammann of Schwyz and the leader of the forces of Schwyz during the Old Zürich War (1440–1450).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Associates</span> Type of diplomatic relationship in the Old Swiss Confederacy

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

  1. 1 2 3 Oechsli, Wilhelm (1918). Quellenbuch zur Schweizergeschichte. Zürich. p. 142.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bullinger, Heinrich (1573). Tigurinerchronik. p. Book 9, Ch. 6.
  3. Meyer, Karl (1915). Schweizer Kriegsgeschichte. Bern. p. 54.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 White Book of Sarnen. Obwalden. 1470–1472.
  5. 1 2 Chronik der Stadt Zürich. Zürich. 1420–1477.
  6. 1 2 3 Rötteler Chronik. Rötteln Castle. 1376–1428.
  7. 1 2 Brennwald, Heinrich (1508–1516). Schweizerchronik.
  8. 1 2 Luzerner Bürgerbuch. Lucerne. 1191–1489. p. f.49r.
  9. Illustrirte Zeitung No. 1360, 24 July 1869, pp. 72f.

Footnotes

  1. Andreas Billius 1402–1431 (+1435) cites Carmagnola and Angelo [della Pergola] as commanders of the cavalry and Zenone [di Capo d'Istria] and [Piacentino] Brescia as commanders of the infantry [1] link text p. 142
  2. Heinrich Bullinger (1573) [2] maintains that Lucerne had to impose a tax to ransom its prisoners, among whom was Ulrich Walker, Schultheiss and Hauptmann of Lucerne, who faced a trial after his release link text p. 101. The Landammann of Uri Johannes Rodt link text p. 257, the Landammann and knight banneret of Zug Peter Kolin [2] and the Landammann and knight banneret of Unterwalden Bartholome Zinderist link text pp. 112–113 were all killed in the battle.
  3. Bartolomeo Morone (1392–1461) maintains that Carmagnola and Angelo della Pergola moved to Bellinzona with 16,000 men (might include campfollowers) including 4–5,000 cavalry. An account of the fortress-governor of Bellinzona, from 27. November 1478, however maintains that the total strength of Carmagnola and Angelo della Pergola was 4,000 cavalry and 4,000 infantry, including 500 Genoese crossbowmen. [3] link text p. 54
  4. Both Andreas Billius (+1435) [1] https://archive.org/details/quellenbuchzursc00oech/mode/2up/ text link] p. 142 and Flavius Blondus (1392–1463) text link p. 400 maintain that the Swiss mustered 8,000 men (might include campfollowers) but that around half rushed ahead by a day to plunder the valleys, and what is known from the White Book of Sarnen [4] text link pp. 69–71 together with the Chronik der Stadt Zürich 1420–1477 [5] link text p. 189 and the Rötteler Chronik [6] link text pp. 179–180 is that indeed on the day of battle the continingent of Zug arrived later on the battlefield while that of Schwyz was still behind and never arrived. The Rötteler Chronik does however describe the mobilisation of Uri, Lucerne, Unterwalden and Zug as "very strong".
  5. The Luzerner Bürgerbuch, Anno domini mccccxxii, [8] link text describes the Milanese killed in the battle as ...ob nunhundert... around 900
  6. The Chronik of Zürich mentions ~400 Swiss killed in the battle. The Luzerner Bürgerbuch, Anno domini mccccxxii, [8] link text lists 368 killed while Brennwald [7] link text p. 499 and Bullinger [2] list 375 killed