Rappenkrieg ( Basel ) The Rappenkrieg was a peasant uprising lasting from 1591 – 1594 , involving a conflict between the Swiss city of Basel and the surrounding Prince - Bishopric of Basel . At issue was an increase in the rate of sales tax on wine and meat . After several years the conflict was ended through negitiations headed up by the Basel merchant turned politician . The name " Rappenkrieg " comes from the local word , Rappen , then as now the term for a low value coin : " Rappenkrieg " can be loosely translated as the " Pence / Cents War " . The Basel Rappenkrieg is not to be confused with the " Rappenkrieg " in Western Austria from 1612 to 1614 in the adjacent Fricktal and the Rhine , although both had similar causes . Origins . The economic backdrop was furnished by agricultural prices which had risen to record high levels as a result of population increase , the splitting of small holdings on inheritance , and resulting shortage of land . This was occurring in the context of a succession of poor harvests attributed by some historians to a " Little Ice Age " . The political context from the second half of the sixteenth century included a sustained increase in religious tensions as protestantism grew in popularity among the citizenry in this part of the Swiss confederation , while the Roman Catholic Prince - Bishops of Basel , galvanized into an increasingly active fight - back by the Counter - reformation , lost respect and influence . In 1575 Jakob Christoph Blarer von Wartensee , the newly appointed Prince - Bishop of Basel , committed himself to the of the entire region , and in 1579 he secured alliances with the principal catholic towns and territories locally . His relationship with the Swiss city of Basel was now polarised along religious lines . The city found itself increasingly isolated among its more regiously conservative Swiss confederate neighbours , and was obliged to agree to the 1585 , a principal feature of which was the requirement to make prince bishop an enormous payment of 200 , 000 Guilders . The Baden Agreement was seen at the time as a major victory for the counter - reformation . Fighting breaks out . In order to raise the necessary money , the city decided to increase taxes on wine and meat with effect from January 1591 . Already under growing economic pressure , the farmers protested against this major tax increase , but the city rejected their protest and marking out their representatives as potential troublemakers . Relations deteriorated and the protests degenerated into an insurrection . A notable spokesman for the farmers was a protestant from Liestal called Osimus Battmann , was singled out for blame by the city government . Battmann was arrested for a second time in September 1593 and subjected to intensive questioning which may have amounted to torture . Escalation and resolution . The city fathers maintained a hard line against the insurgency . Other measures were taken including a decree forbidding inn keepings from plying their trade . The conflict became more militarised when the insurgents tried to prevent implentation of the decree by force . Fifty soldiers were sent to Liestal on 13 May 1594 under the command of to put down the insurrection . Two days later , an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest Hans Siegrist from Niederdorf , one of the movement ' s leaders . This escalated the affair and the angry farmers responded by taking up their arms and gathering on the beside to the castle at Wildenstein . For his part Ryff , now with a force of 170 men confronted the rebels . It now turned out that Ryff was willing to use a diplomatic combination of sympathy and menace on behalf of the city in order to try and avert the threat of a wider civil war . There followed several days of uncertainty and negotiation between Siegrist and Ryff until eventually Ryff managed to persuade his compatriots that a tax increase was necessary . The compromise agreed involved restrcting the tax increase on wine to three times its pre - crisis level . The insurgents were spared punishment and it was agreed that they would not be fined for the expenses which their protest had imposed on the city .