The Swiss and their neighbours, 1460-1560 : between accommodation and aggression / Tom Scott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scott, Tom, 1947-2022, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Switzerland--Foreign relations.

Switzerland.

International relations.

Switzerland--History--1499-1648.

History.

Diplomatic relations.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 219 pages : maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Renewed interest in Swiss history has sought to overcome the old stereotypes of peasant liberty and republican exceptionalism. The heroic age of the Confederation in the fifteenth century is now seen as a turning-point as the Swiss polity achieved a measure of institutional consolidation and stability, and began to mark out clear frontiers. The Swiss and their Neighbours, 1460-1560 questions both assumptions. It argues that the administration of the common lordships by the cantons collectively gave rise to as much discord as co-operation, and remained a pragmatic device not a political principle. It argues that the Swiss War of 1499 was an avoidable catastrophe, from which developed a modus vivendi between the Swiss and the Empire as the Rhine became a buffer-zone, not a boundary. It then investigates the background to Bern's conquest of the Vaud in 1536, under the guise of relieving Geneva from beleaguerment, to suggest that Bern's actions were driven not by predeterminate territorial expansion but by the need to halt French designs upon Geneva and Savoy. The geopolitical balance of the Confederation was fundamentally altered by Bern's acquisition of the Vaud and adjacent lands.

Contents:

I Accommodation

1 Setting the Scene 7

2 The Occupation of the Thurgau 12

3 From War to Peace 19

4 Trouble in the Thurgau 23

5 Konstanz's Dilemma 26

6 The Swiss or Swabian War of 1499 30

7 Raids and Retaliation 34

8 The Peace of Basel and Its Aftermath 39

9 The Hereditary Agreement of 1511 45

10 Calm amidst the Storm 48

11 A Last Hurrah 53

12 Conclusion to Part I: Frontiers Mental and Physical 55

II Aggression

13 The Romandie: An Open Landscape 61

14 The Romandie: A Commercial Crossroads 67

15 The Burgundian Wars 73

16 A Contested Outcome 79

17 The Troubled Inheritance of Duke Charles II of Savoy 84

18 The Dufour Affair 89

19 All Unquiet on the Western Front 96

20 Savoy Strikes Back 103

21 The Struggle for Geneva 111

22 War or Peace? 118

23 Religion or Politics? 126

24 The Year of the French 133

25 The Vagaries of Conquest 141

26 The Spoils of War 148

27 Faction in Geneva 155

28 The Romandie Reconfigured 158

29 Conclusion to Part II: Motives and Outcomes 166.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 194-209) and index.

ISBN:

9780198725275

0198725272

OCLC:

964653227