Arnold von Winkelried
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Arnold von Winkelried or Arnold Winkelried is a legendary hero of Swiss history, who allegedly saved the victory of the confederate forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Battle of Sempach in 1386 against an army of the Habsburg duke Leopold III of Austria.
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[edit] The legend
According to legend, the Swiss couldn't break the close ranks of the Habsburg footsoldiers. Winkelried is reported to have cried: "I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen and confederates, my wife and children" before opening a breach in their lines by throwing himself into their pikes, taking them down with his body such that the confederates could attack through the opening.
[edit] Historicity
It is doubtful whether this event actually happened. The first written report of such a deed dates from 1538, and the name "Arnold Winkelried" is connected to the story only in the Chronicles of Tschudi, which writes about "a man of Unterwalden, of the Winkelried family" and in its final edition from 1564 about "a man of Unterwalden, Arnold von Winckelried by name, a brave knight".
The Luzerner Schilling of 1513 does depict a Winkelried figure breaking the Habsburg ranks, without glossing the name. Earlier, detailed accounts of the Battle of Sempach do not make any mention of such a heroic deed, nor of the name Winkelried. The Battle song of Sempach, which dates to about the time of the Burgundy Wars in the 1470s, does mention Winkelried, but the verses on him are generally considered later additions from about the 1520s. It thus appears that the legend can be traced to have emerged around 1500, or some 120 years after the battle.
The genealogy of the Winkelrieds of Unterwalden has been studied meticulously, and while an "Erni Winkelried" or "Arnold Winkelried" seems to have lived at that time, he was also alive and well after the battle: he was plaintiff in a lawsuit in Stans in 1389, and acted as Landamman (chief magistrate) of Unterwalden in 1417.
[edit] Significance
Similar to William Tell, the figure of Winkelried was an important symbol during the formation of the Swiss federal state, and an icon of Swiss independence during World War II.
[edit] References
- Meinrad Lienert, Schweizer Sagen und Heldengeschichten, Stuttgart 1915.
