This book could not have been written without the advice and encouragement of
many colleagues within Switzerland and beyond. I am grateful to Kurt Andermann,
Georges Bischoff, Michael Bruening, Mathieu Caesar, Gilbert Coutaz, Anne-Marie
Dubler, Ulrich Ecker, Roland Gerber, Bruce Gordon, Kaspar von Greyerz,
Hans-Joachim Hecker, Christian Hesse, André Holenstein, Josef Leisebach, Gerald
Mager, Guy Marchal, Helmut Maurer, Werner Paravicini, Blythe Alice Raviola, Guy
Rowlands, Regula Schmid, Rainer Christoph Schwinges, Claudius Sieber-Lehmann,
Stefan Sonderegger, Matthew Vester, Sabine Wienker-Piepho, Christian Windler,
and Andreas Würgler. I am indebted to Heinrich Speich, who allowed me to quote
from his dissertation at the University of Fribourg, which will appear in mid-
in book form as a supplementary volume of the series Vorträge und Forschungen,
published by Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern. I am also most grateful to Rita
Binz-Wohlhauser who made available the conclusion of her forthcoming study of
Reforming sentiment and its opponents in Fribourg. The maps were prepared by
Paul Gardner of paulgardnerdesign.
Some of the ideas contained in this book were put forward in June 2015 at a
conference in Bern on Eroberung und Besitznahme: Die Eroberung des Aargaus im
europäischen Vergleich (in press). An outline of Part II was presented at a research
seminar at the University of Lausanne in May 2016; I am grateful to Bernard
Andenmatten for the invitation.
Peter Niederhäuser kindly took it upon himself to scrutinize Part I, and Willy
Schulze Part II, of the book. Hamish Scott cast a critical eye over the Introduction
and Conclusion. None of the named colleagues bear any responsibility for errors
or omissions in the text.
It is an especial pleasure to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues in
the archives: Barbara Studer Immenhauser and Nicolas Barras in Bern, Kathrin
Utz-Tremp in Fribourg, and Silvan Freddi in Solothurn. Without their guidance
and expertise this study would have been immeasurably poorer.
Langholm/St Andrews, T.S.
October 2016
Acknowledgements