Glossary
apanage A gift, usually of land, to younger sons of monarchs for their maintenance.
Articulants A group of generally pro-Swiss Genevan councillors, some of whom negotiated
with Bern in 1539 over villages once under the control of the bishop or the abbey of
St-Victor. Their lack of German led to an unfavourable outcome for the city and earned
the councillors the derisive name of Artichauts (artichokes).associated members As well as full members of the Swiss Confederation (after 1513 XIII
cantons) there were numerous associated members, some of whom had been subsequently
elevated into full membership (e.g. Schaffhausen). Some members were allowed to
attend the Confederal diet, others not. In general, although their status varied, association
usually implied military assistance, toll-free commerce, and mutual support in legal
disputes. Some other powers had analogous links, such as the duchy of Württemberg, the
bishop of Konstanz, the county of Montbéliard, and the imperial city of Besançon. Some
powers were associated with just one or two cantons (Gruyère with Fribourg and Bern,
Payerne and Saanen with Bern).bonnes villes For France these towns are often translated as ‘royal towns’, since they enjoyed
both privileges and obligations bestowed by the Crown. In the Vaud there seems to have
been no clear definition of their status under Savoy, though they were certainly members
of the Estates of the Vaud.Bundschuh The peasant’s laced boot, used to designate a series of uprisings or
conspiracies in South-West Germany and Alsace in the decades before the German
Peasants’ War of 1524–6.Burgrecht An alliance between a town and other surrounding towns, convents, nobles,
or corporations, whose distinguishing feature was that they involved acceptance into
citizenship by swearing an oath, as a result of which the oath-takers acquired certain civic
rights (legal protection, access to market) (plural = Burgrechte). Burgrechte were the
principal means whereby the Confederation developed as a polity; indeed, the
Confederation may be seen as a series of Burgrechte writ large. By the fifteenth century
these alliances could be deployed by the initiating partner as a means of territorial
expansion and consolidation, though that was not their original purpose. Burgrechte
were particularly widespread in western Switzerland, an area with no one dominant
power (see Part II). See also Christliches Burgrecht.canton (1) The contemporary term in German for members of the Helvetic Confederation
was Ort (place). Canton is a much later usage, though it was at the time deployed in the
francophone areas.canton (2) The contemporary term in German (Kanton) for the associations of imperial
knights in various areas of the Empire, including Swabia.Christliches Burgrecht The alliance concluded in December 1527 between Zürich and
Konstanz to defend the Reformation. It was expanded by means of other bilateral treaties
between Konstanz and Bern (1528) and Bern and Zürich (1528). The latter was joined
up to 1529 by St Gallen, Biel, Mulhouse, and Basel. Its Catholic counterpart was the
Christliche Vereinigung (Christian Union).