Old Zurich War
| Old Zurich War / Alter Zürichkrieg | |||||||||
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 Eastern Switzerland in the mid-15th century:
Territories of the Sieben Orte of the Swiss Confederacy
Associates of the Swiss Confederacy
Lands of Frederick VII, Count of Toggenburg, as of 1436
Modern Swiss border
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Imperial City of Zurich Habsburg Further Austria France
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 Vogteien of Appenzell
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Frederick III of Germany Charles VII of France
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Unknown | ||||||||
The Old Zurich War (Alter Zürichkrieg), 1440–46, was a conflict between the canton of Zurich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg.
In 1436, Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg died, leaving neither heir nor will. The canton of Zurich, led by burgomaster Rudolf Stüssi, claimed the Toggenburg lands; the cantons of Schwyz and Glarus made counter-claims, backed by the other cantons. In 1438 Zurich occupied the disputed area and cut off grain supplies to Schwyz and Glarus. In 1440, the other cantons expelled Zurich from the confederation and declared war. Zurich retaliated by making an alliance with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor of the house of Habsburg.
The forces of Zurich were defeated in the Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl on 22 July 1443 and Zurich was besieged. Frederick appealed to Charles VII of France to attack the confederates and the latter sent a force of about 30,000 Armagnac mercenaries under the command of the Dauphin via Basel to relieve the city. In the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs near Basel on 26 August 1444 a blocking force of roughly 1,600 Swiss confederates were wiped out, but inflicted such heavy losses on the French (8,000 killed) that the Dauphin decided to retreat.
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