Swiss Peasants War, 1653

Manuscript volume, 17th century: Diplomatische Actenstcke mit dem zu Zrich 1653 gedruckten Verlaufe des Bauernkrieges correspondierend (papers on the Peasants' War in Switzerland).

Following the German Peasants' War of 1525, there erupted in 1653 in central Switzerland a rural revolt, perceived by contemporaries as a revolutionary challenge to the existing political order. The rebellion began in December 1652 and stemmed from the rural reaction to a devaluation of coin, on which the rural economy was dependent, which occurred in the midst of a depression. The starting point was an attack on a party of Lucerne officials. The perpetrators came from the Entlebuch, a valley subject to Lucerne and a classic source of rural revolt. Swiss peasants mobilized, and much of the Swiss Confederacy was caught up in the revolt, which became a civil war. It ended in late 1653 in a crushing defeat, and the ensuing political settlement was to endure for almost 150 years.

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The Phillipps Manuscripts at University College London were given to the College by the German government in 1912.

Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935); handlist at University College London Special Collections.

Paper manuscript bound in blue boards. Several hands. 34cm.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

The manuscript belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), baronet, an antiquary and bibliophile whose collection included c60,000 manuscripts of various kinds, some relating to the administration of Swiss towns. Various manuscripts were sold after Sir Thomas's death, some to the German government, and were dispersed to several libraries. Formerly Phillipps MS 3462 and Engel MS.