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Switzerland

Family History

Confoederatio Helvetica - - - Swiss Confederation



 Switzerland, the Roman province of Helvetia
 1033   The Helvetia becomes part of the Holy Roman Empire.
          Holy Roman Empire, the designation for the political entity that originated at the coronation
          as emperor (962) of the German king Otto I and endured until the renunciation (1806) of the
          imperial title by Francis II. The term itself did not come into usage until several centuries 
         after Otto's accession.
  1291  Formation of a defense league, The League of the Three Forest Cantons,
 the basis of the Swiss Confederation, by cantons (states) of Uri, Schwyz, and
 Unterwalden.
1309
  Henry VII recognizes Swiss League.
 1315   Swiss defeat Leopold of Austria at Morgarten.  The Swiss League renewed.
 1318  Truce between Swiss League and Hapsburgs.
 1332  Lucerne joins Swiss League.
 1351  Zurich joins Swiss League.
 1352  Glarus and Zug join Swiss League.  Austria wars against Zurich.
 1353  Bern joins the Swiss Confederation, which now consists of the 8 old cantons.
 1386  Leopold III of Austria defeated and killed by Swiss at Sempach.
 1388  Swiss defeat Leopold IV of Austria at Nafels.
 1403  Valais joins Swiss League.
 1499  Treaty of Basel grants the Swiss independence.
 1501  Basle and Schaffhausen join the Confederation.
 1513  Appenzell joins the confederation.
 1519  The beginning of the reformation in Switzerland dates from Zwingli's lectures 
 on the New Testament.
1520 The Anabaptists, Protestants who baptized believers only and not infants, 
grew as a movement in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. 
 1524 Ulrich Zwingli abolished the Catholic mass in Zurich.
 1525 The Mennonites, a Protestant branch of the Anabaptists, were established in Zurich
 1526 Zurich threatens followers of Anabaptists with penalty of death. 
 1529 Civil war commenced between Catholic and the Reformed cantons in Switzerland. 
The Catholics were ultimately defeated. 
 1530 Zurich orders death penalty for anyone harboring Anabaptists. 
 1637 Zurich banishes Anabaptists. 
 1648  The Swiss Confederation obtained its formal independence from the Holy 
 Roman   Empire.
 1690 Children of Anabaptist marriages are refused rights of inheritance in Bern. 
 1720 Bern begins branding Anabaptists
 1798  French armies, under Napoleon, swept into Switzerland and established the 
 Helvetic Republic.         Map of Switzerland in 1798
 1803  Swiss cantons regain their independence under terms of the Act of Mediation.
 1815  Switzerland is established as an independent confederation of 22 cantons.
 1848  A civil war (1847) resulted in the transformation of Switzerland into a more 
 centralized federal state (Constitutions of 1848).
 1874  The Constitution of 1874 completes the development of Switzerland to a unified 
 federal state.

 

 

1979 

 Areas from the canton of Bern attained independence from the Bernese, forming the new canton of Jura.                              

1999 

 On 18 April 1999 the Swiss population and the cantons voted in favour of a completely revised federal constitution.

RootsWeb's Guide toTracing Family Trees

Swiss



A History of the Switzerland
Links to Swiss Cantons
History of Switzerland: Primary Documents
 
Personal Homepages
of individuals researching in Switzerland
Gerber Ancestry Gateway
Swiss Cross-Index FEEFHS
Some Descendants of Rev. Samuel Koch Guldin
 
Burkholder Family Association
Switzerland - Wikipedia
The Bosshards Family
 
The Samuel Bear/Bar Family
Swiss Libraries & Archives
Resources Available for Swiss Research
Lonely Planet - Destination Switzerland
Resources Available 
for Swiss Research
Cyndi's List - Switzerland / Suisse / Schweiz
Switzerland-L mailing list
Information about Switzerland
Swiss Roots
   
Switzerland's History
 FESTIVALS OF SWITZERLAND
Information about Switzerland
SwissGen Home Page
 


Geography
Swiss Info Geo 
Flags of Switzerland, Cantons & Villages
Ticino, Locarno , Sonogno GenData
History
  
Switzerland by WorldStatesMen.org
Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians
History of Zurich
 
History of Bern
Maps
 
Historical Maps
Relief Map of Switzerland
Administrative Districts - Map
Cemeteries
Findagrave
 
 
Click for Zurich Airport, Switzerland Forecast 
 
"Yoodle" Switzerland (search engine)

Rootsweb Email Lists for Switzerland & the Cantons


Switzerland's Neighbors
Austria
France
Germany
Italy
Lichtenstein



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Last updated: 5 July 2009


Your host Laura Lee Scott

The only assistance I can personally give you is to maintain this website and provide you with links that will be helpful to you. My ancestors came from Switzerland to the United States in the Eighteenth century and I, too, am learning to do research in Europe.
This page copyrighted by Laura Lee Scott 1998 -  2009



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