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| | Old Swiss Confederacy - Open Encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21) |
 | | In 1351, these four forest communities (Vier Waldstätten, a name that lives on in the German name of Lake Lucerne) were joined by the city of Zürich, where a strong citizenship had gained power following the installation of the Zunftordnung (guild laws) and the banning of the noble authorities in 1336. |
 | | In the 1380s, Lucerne expanded its territory aggressively, conquering Wolhusen, claiming sovereignity over the valley of the Entlebuch and the formerly Habsburg city of Sempach. |
 | | This story, like the related story of the Rütlischwur (the oath on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne), seems to have its origins in the late 15th century Weisse Buch von Sarnen, a collection of folk tales from 1470, and is generally considered a fictitious glorification of the independence struggles of the Waldstätten. |
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