1. Concept
The type of confederation called in German Eidgenossenschaft (literally “oath confederacy,” from the Latin coniuratio) arose in the high Middle Ages, and was established by the swearing of an oath. Obligations of peace (King’s peace) and mutual assistance were undertaken in invocation of a saint. Oath confederacies included city leagues (including with nobles), and, in peripheral regions, purely rural alliances (e.…