Battle of Calven The Battle of Calven ( Romansh : " Chalavaina " ) took place on May 22 , 1499 at the exit of the Val Müstair in the Grisons ( now part of Switzerland ) to the Vinschgau in County of Tyrol ( now part of Italy ) between the forces of king Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg and those of the free federation of the Three Leagues of the Grisons . It was the decisive battle in the southern Grisons of the Swabian War ; after the defeat of the Habsburg troops , the king had to abandon his attempts to control the Engadin and the Val Müstair . The focus of operations in the Swabian War subsequently shifted again to the northern border of the Old Swiss Confederacy . Background . Since the early Middle Ages , the Bishopric of Chur and the Counts of Tyrol had been disputing and quarrelling over the judicial rights in the lower Engadin , the Val Müstair , and the Vinschgau . When Tyrol came under the rule of the Habsburgs in 1363 , Habsburg reeve s had tried repeatedly to curtail the rights of the bishopric and to assimilate the valleys to their territories . The people of these valleys opposed these attempts and between 1367 and 1415 united in the League of God ' s House , one of the Three Leagues of the Grisons . In the Holy Roman Empire , Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg had become king in 1486 . Seven years later , he took over the possessions of his cousin Sigismund of Austria , which included Tyrol , uniting all Habsburg possessions in his hands . The general rise of power of the Habsburgs and their dynastic politics had brought them in conflict with the French kings . Maximilian ' s second marriage to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan in 1493 opposed him directly to the French kings who also claimed the Duchy of Milan ; a conflict that would escalate to the Italian Wars . The alpine passes in the southern Grisons — and in particular the Umbrail Pass in Val Müstair — had suddenly become strategically important as a direct route from the Tyrol to northern Italy , and the Habsburgs redoubled their efforts to control that region . The Habsburg pressure had prompted the Three Leagues of the Grisons to sign a close military alliance with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1497 / 98 . A raid of Habsburg troops on the Benedictine Convent of Saint John at Müstair on January 20 , 1499 had been the immediate cause for the outbreak of the Swabian War , opposing the Swiss Confederacy and the Leagues of the Grisons against the forces of Maximilian , in particular the Swabian League . Part of Maximilian ' s strategic objective in this war was the control of the Umbrail Pass . Until April 1499 , a large Habsburg army with troops from the Swabian League , from Tyrol , and mercenaries from Italy assembled at the villages of Mals and Glurns in the Vinschgau . At Calven , they erected strongly armed wooden fortifications ( a so - called " Letzi " ) blocking the entire exit of the Val Müstair . Habsburg troops tried to conquer the Pass dal Fuorn on May 11 , 1499 , but failed . The battle . The bishop ' s reeve in the southern Grisons , Benedikt Fontana , was forced to leave his seat on the " Fürstenburg " at Burgeis in the Vinschgau . He had called repeatedly to have strong troops sent to interfere with the preparations of the Habsburg army . The Three Leagues finally complied and assembled an army of about 6 , 300 men at Zuoz and marched to the Val Müstair . They knew that their time was running out , because they had news of Maximilian being on his way with reinforcements . But the " Letzi " seemed an insurmountable barrier . The Habsburg army numbered some 12 , 000 men , of which 2 , 000 manned the fortifications themselves , while another 1 , 200 covered the flanks . Castle Rotund at Taufers in front of the barrier was also manned with Habsburg troops , and 200 men guarded the bridge at Marengo behind the " Letzi " . The rest of the Habsburg army camped at the villages in the Vinschgau . The " mats " , as the soldiers of the Three Leagues were called in Romansh , decided to split at Müstair : about 2 , 000 – 3 , 000 men led by Wilhelm Ringk and Hans von Lombris were to march over the mountains to bypass the " Letzi " on the north and to attack the enemy from behind . Because their route was in full view of Castle Rotund , they took off at night . When they arrived in the morning in the Vinschgau , they were immediately engaged by Habsburg troops , who fled in panic , however , when rumours that they numbered 30 , 000 made the round . But at the Marengo bridge , their advance was stopped . The fleeing troops , united with the 200 Tyrolian soldiers stationed there , managed to hold the bridge . The other half of the troops of the Three Leagues attacked the fortifications frontally all the same . But the defense was strong ; the " Letzi " was equipped with many cannons , and the " mats " were driven back several times and suffered heavy losses . The commanders cheered on their soldiers to keep attacking , and threatened to kill them as traitors should they retreat . Their commander Benedikt Fontana fell . A local flanking maneuver over the mountain slopes south of the barrier finally brought the " mats " the victory . Under simultaneous pressure from all sides , the defenders had to give way . The footsoldiers were overwhelmed and fled , and likewise did the knights , as Pirckheimer reports . They were chased through the Vinschgau and many drowned in the wild mountain rivers . Aftermath . The victorious troops of the Three Leagues pillaged the Vinschgau valley for three days , burning every house and killing all men over twelve years of age . With their bounty , which included some 300 small and eight larger cannons , they retreated over the Fuorn Pass on May 25 , 1499 . When Maximilian , who was at that time at Landeck , heard of the defeat , he was enraged and hurried to Glurns , where he arrived on May 29 , 1499 . 38 hostages from the Engadin were killed in retaliation at Meran , and in June 1499 his troops ravaged the Engadin valley , burning most of the villages up to Samedan . When the Swiss Confederacy sent reinforcements on June 18 , 1499 and troops from Berne , Zürich , Uri , and Glarus arrived at Davos , the Habsburg troops cleared the valley . But the defeat at Calven had put an end to Maximilian ' s attempt to gain control over the Val Müstair and its passes . His allies of the Swabian League refused to send more soldiers to the Grisons , which was of no interest to them . Maximilian returned to Lake Constance , and subsequently led the operations on the northern border of the Swiss Confederacy . But his troops suffered many defeats , and in September 1499 , he had to agree to the Peace of Basel . Although this peace treaty affirmed the " status quo ante bellum " and thus the mixed jurisdiction over the Grisons between the Habsburgs , the bishopric of Chur , and the Three Leagues remained , the battle of Calven marked the end of the Habsburg expansion in the Grisons . The victory also strengthened the republican Three Leagues , who would consolidate their alliance in 1524 . The Vinschgau , however , became a Habsburg territory in 1618 , when the Grisons became a theater in the Thirty Years ' War . Legend . Benedikt Fontana is considered a hero and a freedom fighter in the Grisons . Legend has it that he cheered on his men to attack the Habsburg fortifications with the words " " Hei fraischgiamank meiss matts , cun mai ais be ün hom da fear , quai brichia guardad , u chia hoatz Grischuns e Ligias u maa non plü ! " " — " Go on , my boys , I ' m just one man , do not care about me . Today is for the Grisons and the Leagues , or never ! " . Whether he really used such words is of course uncertain ; written accounts that emphasise his role in the battle appeared only in the middle of the 16th century . The legend was further elaborated and became popular in the 19th century , and in 1903 , a statue was erected in his honor at Chur .