The Swabian League was the name of several different confederations of German cities formed in the duchy of Swabia and adjoining principalities in the 14th/15th centuries. Twenty-two cities established the first Swabian League in 1331 to fight for their local independence their oppressive rulers. The Swabian nobles retaliated by forming their own a coalition, the Schlegelerbund (German for "mauling band"). The Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, worried about the Swabian League’s growing strength, sided with the nobles against it. Civil war erupted in 1367 and fighting continued until 1372 when the Swabian League was defeated and overthrown.
Four years later in 1376, fourteen Swabian cities formed a new League. The city of Ulm was the most important member. This time the Emperor did not side with the nobles. The League bribed him with the promise of their continuous loyalty to the imperial crown as long as he did not try to mortgage or sell the league’s constituent members or levie oppressive taxes on them. They also sought protection of private property and commerce within the league and the power to keep order in their own cities.
In 1377 the emperor further improved the league’s position by removing the imperial ban against confederations. The League’s power increased when it defeated its main enemy, Eberhard II, Count of Württemberg. Cities in Bavaria, Franconia, and the Rhineland then joined the expanded confederation.
In the 1400’s the Swabian nobles chipped away at the rights of the cities. The situation was developing into anarchy. In response, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III proposed the formation of a confederation of cities and nobles. In February 1488 the Great Swabian League was formed with a constitution granted by the emperor. Four main parties, twenty-two Swabian cities, a knightly order called the League of Saint George and two other groups each led respectively by Sigismund, archduke of Austria; and Eberhard V, count of Württemberg. Eberhard was nade the captain of the Leagues twelve thousand infantrymen and twelve hundred cavalrymen. The League maintained order in its domains until it dissolved in 1534.
The Swiss Confederation, just one of several groups formed during the 13th century, had arose as the farmers and mountain people fought against the efforts of Hapsburg-Austria to enlarge its territory in Switzerland. The Swiss were nominal subjects of the Holy Roman Empire. They did however acknowledge the emperor as their formal head and sought sanction on claims and confirmation of the rights such as approval of their charters. But the emperor’s real power to influence the daily lives and political activity was mostly non-existent. By the end of the 15th century Swiss Allegiance was merely a lip service. When the Hapsburg gained the imperial position, the Swiss became nervous and distrustful. They had had long dealing with the Hapsburgs.
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