The valley round Schwyz and the Muota, a community of largely free peasants with much land of Einsiedeln and of the Lenzburg heirs among them.
In the first half of the 12th century the men of Schwyz already acted as one party in the long quarrel with the abbey of Einsiedeln over the forest marches (the Marchenstreit), which kings judged for the abbey; the valley community calls itself 'universitas vallis de Switz' from the early 13th century. Rudolf II of Habsburg will judge the quarrel again in 1217 as the valley's advocate.
Who holds it
- Name
- The free valley men of Schwyz (the 'cives de Suites' of the twelfth century), with the count of Habsburg holding the old count's rights from the Lenzburg inheritance
- Title
- No single holder
- Since
- count's rights: Habsburg since 1173
- Confidence
- medium
Overlord
The king; the Habsburg count as holder of the count's rights.
What it holds
- Common alps and forests
- The parishes of Schwyz, Steinen, Muotathal and Morschach (later Habsburg patronage)
How things stand that morning
The forest quarrel with Einsiedeln and its advocate (Rapperswil) smoulders. Allegiance in the throne war not pinned.
Law and courts
The count's high justice (Habsburg); the valley's own assemblies, documented from the early 13th century.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1217 (later course)Rudolf II of Habsburg arbitrates the Marchenstreit between Schwyz and Einsiedeln.Depends on: The quarrel continuing. Stopped by: A settlement.
Where the sources disagree
- The forests of Alpthal and the Iberg, disputed with Einsiedeln, are drawn with Einsiedeln (Rapperswil record).
Evidence: The community is attested in the 12th-century quarrel and as a universitas from the early 13th century.
On the map: The modern district of Schwyz less the forests disputed with Einsiedeln.
Primary sources for Empire
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.