Raised to War: The deadly militias of the Swiss Confederation

In this video we take a look at the feral killers of the Swiss Alps as they face down (and chop into little pieces) the mighty Duke Leopold I (Habsburg) of Austria at Morgarten in 1315, to their annihilation of the army of Duke Leopold III also of the Austrian Habsburgs at Sempach in 1386. This is part 1 of a two part series.

Latin excerpt reading by William Rosencrans, author of “The Epiphanist” and “Freaksome Tales by Swigford Gloume.”

Bibliography – Primary Sources
Chronicle of Matthias of Neuenburg, 1350 – 1378
Konrad Justinger Chronicle 1430
Tschachtlanchronik – Bendit Tschachtlan and Heinrich Dittinger – 1474
White Book of Sarnen – 1474 Hans Schriber (“Hans the writer”), rediscovered in 1856. Possibly a copy of an older book from 1426
Berner Schilling Chronicle – Diebold Schilling the Elder, 1483
Spiezer Shilling Chronicle – Diebold Schilling the Elder, 1480
Züricher Schilling Chronicle – Diebold Schilling the Elder 1484
Gerold Edlibach Chronicle -1486
Luzerner Schilling Chronicle – Diebold Schilling the Younger 1515
Wernher Shodeier Chronicle 1515
Berner Chronik Valerius Anshelm 1546
Chronicon Helveticum – Aegidus Tschudi 1550
Schweitzer Chronik Michael Stettler 1631

Bibliography – Secondary Sources
Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters, “History of the German People at the close of the Middle Ages” Johannes Janssen (1896-1910)
Hans Delbrück – History of the Art of War, Volume 3 (1920)
J.F. Verbruggen – The Art of Warfare in Western Europe during the Middle Ages (1954)
Luck, James M.: A History of Switzerland / The First 100,000 Years: Before the Beginnings to the Days of the Present (1986)
The Swiss at War 1300-1500 (Osprey) – Douglas Miller, 1979

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