Editing Obwalden (section)

===The Old Swiss Confederation===
[[File:Bendicht Tschachtlan, Die Schlacht am Morgarten (c. 1470).jpg|thumb|upright|Battle of Morgarten from the ''[[Tschachtlanchronik]]'' of 1470]]
[[File:Amstaldenhandel.jpg|thumb|upright|The Amstalden Affair. The picture shows in the back, under the tree, Peter Amstalden in a conspiratorial meeting to rebel against Lucerne with the support of Obwalden.]]
Initially, the Eternal Alliance was a mutual defense pact between the three cantons, each of which was independently ruled. In 1304 the two valleys of Obwalden and Nidwalden were joined together under the same local deputy of the count.<ref name=EB/> In 1309 [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VII]] confirmed to Unterwalden all the liberties granted by his predecessor, though the exact terms are unknown.<ref name=EB/> The Emperor also granted the valleys [[imperial immediacy]] which placed Unterwalden on an equal political footing with Uri and Schwyz.<ref name=EB/>

In 1314, Duke Louis IV of Bavaria (who would become [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor]]) and [[Frederick I of Austria (Habsburg)|Frederick the Handsome]], a [[Habsburg]] prince, each claimed the crown of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. The Confederates supported Louis IV because they feared the Habsburgs would annex their countries as Habsburg property. War broke out over a dispute between the Confederates of Schwyz and the Habsburg-protected monastery of [[Einsiedeln Abbey|Einsiedeln]] regarding some pastures, and eventually, the Confederates of Schwyz conducted a raid on the monastery.<ref>{{HDS|8726|Battle of Morgarten}}</ref>

In support of their allies, Unterwalden joined the Confederates in the [[Battle of Morgarten]] and drove back an invasion of the [[Brünig Pass]]. After the decisive Confederation victory over the Habsburgs, Unterwalden renewed the Eternal Alliance in the [[Pact of Brunnen]]. During the 14th century, the communities in Obwalden grew increasingly powerful at the expense of the nobility. The formerly powerful Kellner of Sarnen family retired from politics after 1307. The [[White Book of Sarnen]] mentions the conquest of the Lower Castle in Sarnen, the home of the family, which may explain why they left politics. The Strättligen and Ringgenberg families married into the Lords of Hunwil and used the power of the dynastic marriages to reduce Habsburg power to a vague suzerainty in the 1330s and 40s, though the Habsburg still owned some land in Obwalden. During the early 14th century, an organization of livestock farmers developed in the Hunwil lands. Throughout the century, their political power grew as they acquired more land and grew wealthy. The organization eventually became an alternative political structure and following conflicts between the organization and the Hunwil nobles, in 1382 the [[Landsgemeinde]] excluded the Hunwils from holding political or court offices.<ref name=HDS/> During the 13th and 14th century Obwalden established its own local governance, despite having had a joint assembly with Nidwalden up to around 1330.

During the 14th century, Obwalden participated in several other wars with the Swiss Confederation, including the [[Battle of Sempach]] in 1386 and the [[Gugler]] war in 1375. It peacefully acquired Alpnach in 1368 and Hergiswil in 1378. In 1403 Obwalden joined Uri to invade the [[Leventina]] area (today located in the canton of [[Ticino]]) to establish new markets for cheese and cattle. They conquered the [[Ossola|Val d' Ossola]] in 1410. In 1419 the Confederation bought [[Bellinzona]]. Milan attacked the city three years later in 1422 after an offer to buy Bellinzona was rejected by the Swiss Confederation. The troops from Uri and Obwalden were quickly driven from the city and later defeated at the [[Battle of Arbedo]] on 30 June 1422.<ref>{{HDS|2031|Bellinzona}}</ref> This defeat drove the Confederates out of Bellinzona and the Val d' Ossola and Leventina. An attempt to pull the Entlebuch region away from [[Canton of Lucerne|Lucerne]] ended with the Obwalden supported Entlebuch leader Peter Amstalden arrested, tried and executed in 1478.<ref>{{HDS|17167|Amstalden Affair}}</ref> In 1500, Nidwalden, Schwyz, and Uri conquered Ticino again and ruled until 1798. While Obwalden participated in the conquests of [[Aargau]] (1415), [[Thurgau]] (1460), and Locarno, (1512), and in the temporary occupation of the Val d' Ossola (1410–14, 1416–22, 1425–26, 1512–15)<ref name=EB/> it was never able to incorporate any captured territory or grow.

During the [[Burgundian Wars]] (1474–77) Unterwalden, like the other Forest cantons, hung back through jealousy of Bern, but came to the rescue in time of need.<ref name=EB/> Following the Swiss victories in the Burgundian Wars the Old Swiss Confederation was nearly torn apart by internal conflict when the city cantons insisted on having the lion's share of the proceeds since they had supplied the most troops. The country cantons resented this and the ''Tagsatzung'' or leadership of each of the cantons met in [[Stans]] in Nidwalden in 1481 to resolve the issues. However, they were unable to resolve the issues and war seemed inevitable.<ref name=HDS_SV>{{HDS|9805|Stanser Verkommnis}}</ref> A local hermit, [[Niklaus von der Flüe]] from Obwalden, was consulted on the situation.<ref name=EB/> According to legend he requested that a message be passed on to the members of the ''Tagsatzung'' on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, however, it did calm the tempers and led to the drawing up of the ''[[Stanser Verkommnis]]''. As part of the ''Verkommnis'' [[Fribourg]] and [[Solothurn]] were admitted into the confederation.