Canton of Basel

Canton of Basel Kanton Basel
Canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy, of the Helvetic Republic and of Restoration Switzerland
← 1501–1833 →   →
Coat of arms
The canton of Basel, shown within the northern part of the Helvetic Republic, as at 1802; the canton of Fricktal (adjacent) joined the Aargau later that year.
Capital		Basel
History
•	established	1501
•	Peace of Westphalia	15 May 1648
•	Rauracian Republic	1792–93
•	Helvetic Republic	1798–1802
•	Partition into half-cantons	16 August 1833

Coat of arms

Basel was a canton of Switzerland that was in existence between 1501 and 1833, when it was split into the two half-cantons of Basel-City and Basel-Country.

Before the Protestant Reformation, Basel was ruled by prince-bishops (see Bishop of Basel, whose memory is preserved in the crosier shown on the Basel coat of arms, as above). In the later 15th century, in the wake of the Council of Basel (1431–49), the city of Basel grew in wealth and importance. The University of Basel was established in 1459, and the city became an intellectual center of the German Renaissance in the years leading up to the Reformation. Erasmus of Rotterdam taught in Basel, and early printshops were set up by Johannes Petri and Johann Froben. In 1495, Basel was incorporated in the Upper Rhenish Imperial Circle, the bishop sitting on the Bench of the Ecclesiastical Princes.

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