Swiss Perpetual League institution

Timeline

1. 1291The three cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden · SwitzerlandIn early August 1291 the three cantons concluded a perpetual league through a Latin Federal Charter, pledging mutual aid against violence and injustice within and outside the valleys, and confirming and renewing earlier oral or written covenants. The charter forbade accepting foreign judges while preserving each community's internal balance of power.
2. 1291–1315Schwyz · Canton of SchwyzThe league's institution wrote procedures for trying criminal and civil cases and disputes among members into the covenant, requiring resolution by local community judges and arbitration. After the Battle of Morgarten in 1315, the Pact of Brunnen further reaffirmed and expanded the mutual defense obligations.
3. 1332–1515Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy · SwitzerlandAfter Lucerne (1332), Zurich (1351) and other cantons joined in succession, the perpetual league's mutual-aid principle continued through a series of covenants and the Tagsatzung, forming a constitutional tradition of joint defense and coordination of autonomy among multiple cantons, lasting into the early modern period.