Sattel

Sattel
Coat of arms
Sattel Show map of Switzerland Sattel Show map of Canton of Schwyz
Location of Sattel
Coordinates: 47°4′N 8°37′E / 47.067°N 8.617°E / 47.067; 8.617Coordinates: 47°4′N 8°37′E / 47.067°N 8.617°E / 47.067; 8.617
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Schwyz
District	Schwyz
Area
• Total	17.36 km2 (6.70 sq mi)
Elevation	794 m (2,605 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	1,931
• Density	110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Postal code	6417
SFOS number	1371
Localities	Ecce Homo, Schornen, Mostelberg
Surrounded by	Oberägeri (ZG), Rothenthurm, Steinen, Steinerberg, Schwyz, Unterägeri (ZG)
Website	www.sattel.ch SFSO statistics

Sattel is a municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. Its name is the German word for saddle.

The Battle of Morgarten occurred on 15 November 1315 near Sattel, at Morgarten (now part of Oberägeri). It began when a Swiss Confederation force of 1,500 infantry archers ambushed a group of Austrian soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire near the Morgarten Pass. The Swiss, led by Werner Stauffacher, thoroughly defeated the Austrians, who were under the command of Duke Leopold I of Austria.

The Confederates prepared a road-block and an ambush at a point between Lake Aegeri and Morgarten pass where the small path led between the steep slope and a swamp. When about 1500 men attacked from above with rocks, logs and halberds, the knights had no room to defend themselves and suffered a crushing defeat, while the foot soldiers in the rear fled back to the city of Zug. A chronicler described the Confederates, unfamiliar with the customs of battles between knights, as brutally butchering everything that moved and everyone unable to flee. This founded the reputation of the Confederates as barbaric, yet fierce and respectable fighters.

Within a month of the battle, in December 1315, the Confederates renewed the oath of alliance made in 1291, initiating the phase of growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Within forty years, cities including Lucerne, Zug, Zürich and Bern had joined the confederation.

The victory of the Confederates left them in their virtual autonomy and gave them a breathing-space of some sixty years before the next Habsburg attack resulted in the Battle of Sempach (1386).