In 1481 Bruder Klaus sent a message of reconciliation to the convention of the Swiss cantons gathered in the city of Stans and helped to prevent a civil war among the 8 member states of the Swiss Confederation (Uri, Schwyz, Ob- and Nid-Walden, Zug, Luzern, Glarus, Zurich, Bern).
A threat of a conflict between city and rural cantons was emerging after the Burgundy wars (1474-1476). This was mainly due to absence of federal authority and leadership preventing a focused policy to take advantage of the won battles. City cantons, mainly Bern and also Zurich, Zug, Luzern, pushed to re-organize and strengthen federal power. Rural cantons were against stronger federal power and against the admission to the Confederation of the two new city-cantons, Fribourg and Solothurn.
The Swiss Convention of Stans in 1481 concluded an agreement (Stanser Vorkommnis) of importance for the further development of the Swiss Confederation. It was a compromise solving disagreement among cantons and confirming the status of the Swiss Confederation as a loose partnership of independant states. In the same year Fribourg and Solothurn were admitted to the Confederation.
Bruder Klaus' message of 1481 to the Swiss can be summarized in his warning words: " Stecket den Zun nid zu wit !" ("Do not set the fence too far"). This words meant that the Swiss should recognise their limits and avoid power politics and conflict with neighbours and instead concentrate on development within their borders.
Although Bruder Klaus' words helped to conclude a Swiss compromise in 1481, his message was not fully understood at the time. In the following decades the Swiss got involved in the wars in northern Italy and lost the battle of Marigniano in 1515. After this debacle a kind of practical Swiss neutrality began to emerge in the 16th century. The religous reformation of the 16th century brought a split into catholic and protestant cantons and added potential for conflicts and civil war. As a result much of the political energy in the 16th and 17th century was absorbed by avoiding inner conflicts and keeping a balance among the states of the Confederation. Thus de facto the Swiss already appeared neutral but formal and officially declared and recognized neutrality began only later.
For researchers of the origin of Swiss neutrality Bruder Klaus is indeed often named as "Father of Swiss neutrality". Bruder Klaus had the vision of the Swiss Confederation as an alliance among friendly cantons helping each other and avoiding conflict with neighbors. He understood that the Swiss alliance of cantons of his time had no central leadership and therefore were not equipped for power politics. He was worried about the Burgundy wars and the aftermath which despite Swiss victories split the Swiss cantons and threatend civil war.
Author: Peter Stacher
References:
Peter Dürrenmatt, Schweizer Geschichte, SV International, Schweizer Verlagshaus Zürich, 1976
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