The Swabian War and the Peace of Basel

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The last war that preceded Basel's accession to the Confederation was the Swabian War of 1499, fought between the Confederates and the Swabian League, supported by the Emperor Maximilian I. The war had several causes, among them the attempt of Maximilian to impose on the Confederates the reforms decided by the imperial diet of Worms in 1495: the creation of the Imperial Chamber Court, the Reichskammergericht, as a supreme court for the Empire, and of a general imperial tax, the Common Penny, the Gemeiner Pfennig.¹ The Confederates refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the new court and to pay the new tax.

The war was fought along the entire northern and eastern border of the Confederation, from the Grisons to the region of Basel. Basel remained neutral, although its sympathies were divided. The decisive battle took place on 22 July 1499 at Dornach, a few kilometres south of Basel, where the Confederates defeated an imperial army. The peace was negotiated in Basel and signed there on 22 September 1499.² The Peace of Basel did not formally recognise the independence of the Confederation from the Empire, but it exempted the Confederates in practice from the jurisdiction of the Imperial Chamber Court and from the imperial taxes. From then on, the Confederation followed its own path. Its formal separation from the Empire was recognised in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

The Peace of Basel of 1499 is the first of several treaties that bear the city's name. The Peace of Basel of 1795 between France and Prussia, and between France and Spain, ended the war of the First Coalition for these powers.³ The Basel Convention of 1989 on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is one of the principal instruments of international environmental law. And the Basel Accords on bank capital, adopted by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision since 1988, have given the city's name to the rules that govern the capital of banks throughout the world. The choice of Basel as a place for negotiation and agreement is a thread that runs from the Council of 1431 to the present, which Part F follows.

Notes

On the imperial reform of the diet of Worms (1495), the Reichskammergericht and the Gemeiner Pfennig, and the refusal of the Confederates, see HLS, articles "Schwabenkrieg" and "Reichsreform". To be verified. ↩
On the battle of Dornach (22 July 1499) and the Peace of Basel (22 September 1499), see HLS, articles "Dornach, Schlacht bei" and "Schwabenkrieg". To be verified. ↩
The Peace of Basel of 5 April 1795 (France–Prussia) and of 22 July 1795 (France–Spain). See HLS, article "Basel, Frieden von (1795)". To be verified. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.

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The Swabian War and the Peace of Basel

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