The earliest attestation of the name is found in a graffito on a vessel from Mantua, dated to c. 300 BC.[15] The inscription in Etruscan letters reads eluveitie, which has been interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic elu̯eti̯os ("the Helvetian"), presumably referring to a man of Helvetian descent living in Mantua.

Helvetii settled north of the Rhine (Germany)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetii#Earliest_historical_sources_and_settlement

The Helvetii were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. Helvetians were possibly divided into four subgroups or pagi, of which three are known by names: Verbigeni Tigurini, and Tougeni.

47.372983,8.540567

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetii#Earliest_historical_sources_and_settlement

The Battle of Bibracte was fought between the Helvetii and six Roman legions, under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar. It was the second major battle of the Gallic Wars.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Divico_und_Caesar.jpg

Battle of Bibracte

46.9323576,4.0456383

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bibracte

Vercingetorix (c. 82 BC – 46 BC) was a king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe; he united the Gauls in a revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Statue-vercingetorix-jaude-clermont.jpg

Vercingetorix statue by Frédéric Bartholdi, on Place de Jaude, in Clermont-Ferrand, France

47.5393128,4.4916437

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vercingetorix

Noviodunum or Colonia Iulia Equestris was a Roman era settlement in what is now Nyon in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Roman_column_-_Nyon%2C_Vaud%2C_Switzerland.jpg

Roman column from Noviodunum

46.3834773,6.1138334

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noviodunum_(Switzerland)

Augusta Raurica is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Theater_Kaiseraugst.jpg

Roman Theatre in Augusta Raurica

47.533889,7.721389

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Raurica

Roman capital in Switzerland

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Avenches_-_ar%C3%A8nes.jpg

Aventicum Amphitheatre

46.881925,7.0395751

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aventicum

Vindonissa was a Roman legion camp at modern Windisch, Switzerland.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Vindonissa.jpg

Theatre of Vindonissa

47.4761296,8.1852398

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindonissa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetii#The_rising_of_68/69_AD

The Limes Germanicus (Latin for Germanic frontier) was a line of frontier (limes) fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Limes2.png

Upper Raetian Limes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limes_Germanicus

First came the Allemanni, savage warriors of Germanic race. During two centuries and a half of continued warfare, they penetrated deeper and deeper into the Roman territory, and drew nearer and nearer to the Helvetian mountains. At last they broke, like an overwhelming torrent, through the passes of the Jura, and spread themselves over the land. From the Black Forest to the foot of the Alps, all was desolation. The magnificence of Aventicum and of Vindonissa lay heaped in ruins. Romans, as well as Helvetians, if spared by the sword of the enemy, became slaves. The Allemanni divided among themselves the whole country, with its riches and its inhabitants, from the Rhine and the lake of Constance to the lake of the Waldstatten and the Aar. They loved war, liberty and herds. They despised cities, as the prisons of free men. The memories of Rome and of ancient Helvetia were sunk in shameful oblivion.

The History of Switzerland, for the Swiss People - by Heinrich Zschokke & Emil Zschokke - January 1, 1855

The Bishopric of Basel was established in AD 346

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/M%C3%BCnster_Basel_2006_870.JPG

Basel Munster and Palace

47.5546676,7.5593547

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Switzerland#History

The Diocese of Sion is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of the Alps.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/041122Cathedrale.jpg

Cathedral of Sion

46.225759,7.3301598

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Switzerland#History

Geneva became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/ReformationsdenkmalGenf1.jpg

Reformation Wall in Geneva

46.2050835,6.1089833

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Switzerland#History

Burgundians, a Germanic people, settled in western Switzerland on both sides of the Jura and other areas on todays French-speaking Switzerland.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Map_Burgundian_Kingdom_EN.png

Location of Burgundy

Western Switzerland

46.697728,6.620923

http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/migration-nations.html

In the great invasion of AD 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau. From that time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Wappen_Basel-Stadt_matt.svg/960px-Wappen_Basel-Stadt_matt.svg.png

Coat of arms of Basel

47.5546492,7.5594405

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel#Early_history

The Diocese of Chur extends over the Swiss Cantons of Graubünden (Grisons), Schwyz, Glarus, Zurich, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri. A Bishop of Chur is first mentioned in 451/ 452 when its Bishop Saint Asimo attended the Synod of Milan,[1] but probably existed a century earlier.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Chur_Kathedrale_1.jpg

46.8491864,9.5323021

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Switzerland#History

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Vindonissa.jpg

47.4761627,8.2027925

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Shroud_of_Charlemagne_manufactured_in_Constantinople_814.jpg

814 death shroud of Charlemagne

50.77475,6.083922

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne#Death

Magyars sack Basel

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Kalandozasok.jpg

Magyar Campaigns

47.5546676,7.5593547

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_invasions_of_Europe#After_the_conquest_of_Hungary_.2810th_century.29

In 926 Magyar raiders attacked the abbey and surrounding town. Saint Wiborada, the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican,[8] reportedly saw a vision of the impending attack and warned the monks and citizens to flee. While the monks and the abbey treasure escaped, Wiborada chose to stay behind and was killed by the raiders.[9] Between 924 and 933 the Magyars again threatened the abbey, and its books were removed for safekeeping to Reichenau. Not all the books were returned.[10]

https://www.heiligederschweiz.ch/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/03/wiborada1e-codices_csg-0602_303_max.jpg

47.4229065,9.3763318

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Gallen#Early_history

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Wappen_Zaehringer.png

Coat of arms of the House of Zähringen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Z%C3%A4hringen

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Wappen_Kyburgerr.svg/960px-Wappen_Kyburgerr.svg.png

Coat of arms of the House of Kyburg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Kyburg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Familienwappen_Habsburg-Stroehl.jpg

Coat of arms of the House of Habsburg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg

The castle Dorneck is the ruin of a medieval fortress ( Höhenburg ) near Dornach in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland .

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Zentralbibliothek_Solothurn_-_DORNACH_Schloss_im_Canton_Solothurn_von_Abend_anzusehen_Wappen_in_der_Mitte_DORNAC_Ch%C3%A2teau_dans_le_Canton_de_Soleure_du_c%C3%B4te_de_lOccident_-_a0557.tif/lossy-page1-1920px-thumbnail.tif.jpg

Copper engraving of the castle by David Herrliberger around 1755

47.479992,7.628069

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruine_Dorneck

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to recapture the Holy Lands, called by Pope Urban II in 1095.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyndhJqJReA

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Peter_the_Hermit.jpg

Miniature of Peter the Hermit leading the People's Crusade

Egerton 1500, Avignon, 14th-century

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade

Freiburg was founded in 1157 by Berchtold IV von Zähringen.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Freiburg_Stumpf.jpg

46.803193,7.1422124

Bern was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen

http://swissperience.ch/book-excerpts/#founding_of_berne

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/MerianBern.jpg

46.9547657,7.3246586

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern

The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, and was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5c_R9BGDcw

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/BattleOfInab.jpg/960px-BattleOfInab.jpg

The Battle of Inab (also named Ard al-Hatim). Below: The recovery of Raymond of Poitiers's body after the battle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Crusade

The Third Crusade (1189–1192), also known as The Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGBDAzCbkwU

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/The_Third_Crusade_%281189-1192%29.png

Routes taken by the Crusader armies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Crusade

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Schweiz_um_1200.png/1920px-Schweiz_um_1200.png

Territories of the dominant noble houses in Swabia and Upper Burgundy about 1200

The Fourth Crusade (1202–04) was a Western European armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III, originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVA4n73UBi0

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/ConquestOfConstantinopleByTheCrusadersIn1204.jpg/1920px-ConquestOfConstantinopleByTheCrusadersIn1204.jpg

Conquest of the Orthodox city of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Crusade

In 1251 Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Zurich had formed a defensive league with each other.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Karte_Berner_Quartiere.png

Map of today's districts of Bern. The battle took place in the eastern Bernese Quartier of Schosshalde.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlacht_bei_der_Schosshalde

The Federal Charter of 1291 is one of the oldest surviving written document of an alliance between Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Bundesbrief.jpg

Federal Charter of 1291

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Charter_of_1291

The Rütlischwur is a legendary oath of the Old Swiss Confederacy, taken on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne near Seelisberg. The three oath-takers (Eidgenossen) were Werner Stauffacher for Schwyz, Walter Fürst for Uri and Arnold of Melchtal for Unterwalden.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Swiss_R%C3%BCtlischwur.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%BCtlischwur

The Battle of Morgarten occurred on 15 November 1315, when a 1,500-strong force from the Swiss Confederacy ambushed a group of Austrian soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire on the shores of Lake Ägeri near the Morgarten Pass in Switzerland.

http://swissperience.ch/book-excerpts/#battle_of_morgarten

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Bendicht_Tschachtlan%2C_Die_Schlacht_am_Morgarten_%28c._1470%29.jpg

Battle of Morgarten on 15 November 1315

47.1058268,8.6415672

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Morgarten

The Pact of Brunnen (Bund von Brunnen) is a historical treaty between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen on 9 December 1315.

Bern entered an alliance with the anti-Habsburg Swiss Forest Cantons in 1323.

In 1332 Lucerne became the fourth member of the Eidgenossen or Swiss Confederation, and the first town to join the rural forest cantons.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Wappen_Luzern_matt.svg/1024px-Wappen_Luzern_matt.svg.png

Coat of arms of Kanton Luzern

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_Lucerne#Foundation_of_Lucerne_city

The Battle of Laupen was fought in June 1339,[6] between Bern and its allies on one side, and Freiburg together with feudal landholders from the County of Burgundy and Habsburg territories on the other. Bern was victorious, consolidating its position in the region. As a consequence of the conflict, the relations of Bern and the Swiss Confederacy tightened, resulting in Bern's permanent accession in 1353.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Battle_of_Laupen.jpg

Illustration by Diebold Schilling the Elder (Spiez chronicle, 1480s) showing the cavalry engagement of the Forest Cantons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Laupen

Zürich joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1351.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wappen_Z%C3%BCrich_matt.svg/1024px-Wappen_Z%C3%BCrich_matt.svg.png

Coat of arms of Kanton Zürich

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Wappen_Glarus_matt.svg/1024px-Wappen_Glarus_matt.svg.png

Coat of arms of Kanton Glarus

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/CHE_Zug_ZG_COA.svg/960px-CHE_Zug_ZG_COA.svg.png

Coat of arms of Kanton Zug

Berne entered into a permanent or eternal alliance with Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden in 1353.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/CHE_Bern_COA.svg/1024px-CHE_Bern_COA.svg.png

Coat of arms of Kanton Bern

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_Bern#Old_Swiss_Confederacy

The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Sempach_Schilling.jpg

Depiction of the battle in the Luzerner Schilling (1513)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sempach

Two battles fought by the Swiss against Charles the Bold, Duke of the Kingdom of Burgundy, on the 2nd of March and the 22nd of June 1474.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Schilling_murten.jpg

Battle of Morat by Zürcher Schilling - 1480/84

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_the_Bold#Downfall

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Wappen_Freiburg_matt.svg/1024px-Wappen_Freiburg_matt.svg.png

Coat of arms of Kanton Fribourg

Swiss defeat Swabian League and House of Habsburg

The Swabian War/The Swiss War

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Schlacht_bei_Dorneck.jpg

Battle of Dornach

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_War

The Battle of Marignano was fought during the phase of the Italian Wars (1494–1559) called the War of the League of Cambrai, between France and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It resulted in a victory for French forces.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Marignan.jpg

Contemporary depiction of the battle, attributed to the Maître à la Ratière

45.3576563,9.3056897

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marignano

The Reformation in Switzerland began in 1523, led by Huldrych Zwingli, priest of the Great Minster church in Zürich since 1518.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Ulrich-Zwingli-1.jpg

Portrait of Ulrich Zwingli

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrych_Zwingli#Reformation_progresses_in_Zurich_.281524.E2.80.931525.29

During the Thirty Years' War, Switzerland was a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen) in war-torn Europe.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Carl_Friedrich_Lessing_-_The_Siege_%28Defense_of_a_Church_Courtyard_During_the_Thirty_Years%E2%80%99_War%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/1920px-Carl_Friedrich_Lessing_-_The_Siege_%28Defense_of_a_Church_Courtyard_During_the_Thirty_Years%E2%80%99_War%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Carl Friedrich Lessing - The Siege (Defense of a Church Courtyard During the Thirty Years’ War)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War

Switzerlands' Independence from the Holy Roman Empire formally recognized

At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, Switzerland attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire, although these territories had enjoyed de facto independence for decades.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Westfaelischer_Friede_in_Muenster_%28Gerard_Terborch_1648%29.jpg

The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648

51.9497512,7.3432381

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia#Internal_political_boundaries

The Swiss peasant war of 1653 was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/BernerSchanzen.jpg

The new city fortifications of Bern, the so-called Schanzen, were built from 1622 to 1634.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_peasant_war_of_1653