Posted 11:38 AM by Marco

Today is the Swiss Confederation Day. The communities of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden had interests in common. They were populated by free peasants with a loyalty to their neighbours as opposed to ruling lords far away. The were Alpine. They were agrarian. In fact they found themselves in the late 13th century under the thumb of the Habsburgs. This didn't sit well. So on this date in 1291 representatives of the threesome met above Lake Vierwaldstdtter in a field. That meeting resulted in the formation of a coalition known as the Everlasting League. The date is considered the founding of the Swiss Confederation, and has been celebrated as such for the last century or so in Switzerland and Swiss communities around the globe.