, fell
on Count Henry of Luxemburg, a liberal-minded and generous noble, who
was accordingly crowned, under the title of Henry VII. During the short
reign of this monarch he proved himself a wise and generous friend to
the Swiss, whose privileges he confirmed. He made no effort to reimpose
local governors on the people of the Waldstaette, but, on the contrary,
confirmed the charters of Schwyz and Uri, granted one to Unterwalden,
and acknowledged jurisdiction. After Henry's death, in 1313, civil war
once more divided the empire through the rival contentions of Ludwig
(Louis) of Bavaria and Albert's son, Frederick of Austria. In this
contest the powerful monastery of Einsiedeln sided with the Austrian
candidate, and through its influence induced the Bishop of Constance to
place the large portion of Switzerland supporting the Bavarian cause
under a sentence of excommunication.

Between Einsiedeln and the Waldstaette there had long existed a feeling
of bitter hostility, the canons resenting the independent spirit
displayed by the peasants, and the latter remembering the many acts of
arbitrary oppression they and their ancestors had suffered at the
instance of the abbey. Indeed, actual hostilities were only prevented by
the friendly, though interested, mediation of the citizens of Zurich,
who were most anxious to preserve tranquillity in the territories of
both, in order to allow their trade with Italy over the St. Gothard
being carried on. They also favored peace, because since the Hapsburgs
had refused permission to the peasants to enter Lucerne, these had been
in the habit of bringing their cattle and dairy produce through
Einsiedeln to the monks of Zurich. The action of the monks, however, in
bringing about the serious sentence of excommunication so roused the
spirit of the mountaineers that, headed by their Landammann, Werner
Stauffacher, they attacked and captured the abbey, ransacked the whole
building from cellar to altar, and carried off the monks captive to the
town of Schwyz. This daring and sacrilegious act led Frederick--the
hereditary avoyer of the abbey--to place the Waldstaette under the
further punishment of the "ban of the empire." Both these sentences were
alike fruitless in bringing the peasants to submission to the house of
Austria. Shortly after, on Ludwig ascending the throne, the "ban" was
removed by the new monarch, and, with the aid of the Archbishop of
Mainz, the Metropolitan of Constance in 1315,