IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS PHILL 60
Held at: University College London
Title: Swiss Peasants War, 1653
Date(s): 17th century
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume containing 36 leaves
Name of creator(s): Unknown
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
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.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Manuscript volume, 17th century: Diplomatische Actenstücke mit dem zu Zürich 1653 gedruckten Verlaufe des Bauernkrieges correspondierend (papers on the Peasants' War in Switzerland).
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: German
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Physical characteristics:
Paper manuscript bound in blue boards. Several hands. 34cm.
Finding aids:
Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935); handlist at University College London Special Collections.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
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.
Immediate source of acquisition:
The Phillipps Manuscripts at University College London were given to the College by the German government in 1912.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Source: review of Andreas Suter's book on the Swiss Peasants' War (Der schweizerische Bauernkrieg von 1653: Politische Sozialgeschichte--Sozialgeschichte eines politischen Ereignisses, 1997), from the American Historical Review, volume civ, issue 4, available at the website http://www.historycooperative.org. Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: Sep 2001