page_title: History of Uri
section_title: Formation of the Confederacy
hierarchical_section_title: History of Uri / Old Swiss Confederacy / Formation of the Confederacy
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bezirke des Kanton Tessin
context_page_description: Uri is a Swiss Talschaft and canton in the upper Reuss valley.
  First mentioned in the 8th century, it gained strategic importance with the opening of the Gotthard Pass in the 13th century and was a founding member of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the late medieval period.
context_section_description: A treaty of mutual recognition and assistance with Schwyz, possibly concluded in 1291 and certainly by 1309, would come to be regarded as the foundational act of the Old Swiss Confederacy or Eidgenossenschaft. The Battle of Morgarten in 1315, while of limited strategic importance, was the first instance of the Confererates defeating the Habsburgs in the field. 
  A few months after the victory at Morgarten, the three Forest Cantons met at Brunnen to reaffirm their alliance in the Pact of Brunnen. Over the following decades, the Confederacy expanded into the Acht Orte, now representing a regional power with the potential to challenge Habsburg hegemony. The Confederacy decisively defeated Habsburg in the Battle of Sempach 1386, opening the way to further territorial expansion.
  In the traditional history of the Eternal Alliance, the Habsburgs had appointed a tyrannical vogt named Albrecht Gessler to rule over Uri from his castle in Altdorf. According to Tschudi's version of the events (recorded in the 16th century) Gessler raised a pole in the village's central square, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before the hat. On 18 November 1307, William Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by Gessler's hat, publicly refusing to bow to it, and so was arrested. Gessler – intrigued by Tell's famed marksmanship, yet resentful of his defiance – devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow. However, Gessler noticed that Tell had drawn two bolts and discovered that Tell had planned to kill him if the first bolt had killed Tell's son. Gessler took Tell captive, but Tell was able to escape. Tell then ran cross-country to Küssnacht where he assassinated Gessler with the second crossbow bolt. Tell's assassination sparked a rebellion, which led to the Rütlischwur, a further alliance between Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden.
  While the historicity of William Tell and specific events are questioned by modern historians, the cantons around Lake Lucerne and other nearby lakes had a long history of alliances. For example, in 1291, Uri, Schwyz and Zürich entered into a three-year defensive alliance. In 1309, Emperor Henry VII combined Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden into the Waldstätte or Forest Cantons.
  In 1314, Duke Louis IV of Bavaria (who would become Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor) and Frederick the Handsome, a Habsburg prince, each claimed the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor. The Confederates supported Louis IV because they feared the Habsburgs would annex their countries as Habsburg property — as they already had tried to do in the late 13th century.
  War broke out over a dispute between the Confederates of Schwyz and the Habsburg-protected monastery of Einsiedeln regarding some pastures, and eventually the Confederates of Schwyz conducted a raid on the monastery. The Habsburg response to the raid, led to the Battle of Morgarten in 1315 where the Confederate army, including some troops from Uri, destroyed the Habsburg army. A few months after the victory at Morgarten, the three Forest Cantons met at Brunnen to reaffirm their alliance in the Pact of Brunnen. In the following forty years, the alliance expanded as other cantons (Lucerne in 1332 and Zürich in 1351, Glarus and Zug in 1352 and Bern in 1353) joined the alliance.
  In 1386 Uri participated in the victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Sempach. Following the victory at Sempach, Uri began a program of territorial expansion to allow them to control the entire Gotthard route. As a first step, Uri annexed the lands of Urseren in 1410. The Urseren was allowed to retain its own mayor and assembly, and its own courts under those of Uri. It was not fully incorporated till 1888. In 1403, with the help of Obwalden, it won the Leventina valley from the duke of Milan, but lost it in 1422. Though in 1440 Uri alone reconquered it and kept it until 1798. Between 1410 and 1418, Uri occupied the
caption: Districts of Ticino, showing the Leventina, Blenio, Bellinzona and Riviera districts
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