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Arnold Winkelried Biography

Arnold Winkelried Image

WINKELRIED, ARNOLD or ERNI. A Swiss peasant, who, according to tradition, said to have brought about the victory of the Swiss over Duke Leopold of Austria at Sempach (q.v.) on July 9, 1386. The tradition relates that Winkelried broke the phalanx of the Austrians by gathering several spears of the enemy and pressing them into his breast, thus opening a way for his companions. A monument was erected in his honor on the battlefield in 1886 There has been considerable dispute as to whether Winkelried is a legendary character or not. There is no contemporary notice of him, but there are many modern works championing or assailing the legend. The evidence against is very well summarized by Moritz yon Stürler in the Anzeiger fur Schweizerische Geschichte (1881). Karl Dändliker in his Geschichte de Schweiz, vol. i (3d ed., Zurich, 1893), supports the story.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XXIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 628.