Battles of Villmergen - Aftermath

Aftermath

The peace of Aarau (11 August 1712) brought more equality in religion, and thus an end to Catholic hegemony in the Swiss Confederation, staying the conflict until the renewed outbreak of civil war in 1847, the Sonderbundskrieg that led to the formation of Switzerland as a federal state.

The abbot eventually granted more religious freedom to the Toggenburg. Both Bernese and Zurich troops took booty from the Abbey Library of St. Gall. While Berne later returned their share, Zurich only returned part of the goods, while a number of manuscripts as well as a large astronomical globe remain in possession of the canton of Zurich. In the 2000s, the canton of St. Gallen prepared for a court case to claim these back, while Zurich held that ownership had long been passed to the canton of Zurich. The parties agreed to attempt mediation rather than confrontation in court, a possibility for the solution of intercantonal disputes envisaged in the Swiss Federal Constitution of 2000. In the first case of such a mediation, led by Pascal Couchepin, the cantons found an amicable compromise. The ownership of the objects in question remains with Zurich, but a number of manuscripts are given as long-term loans to St. Gallen. The globe remains in the Landesmuseum in Zurich, but the canton of Zurich will manufacture an exact copy, and present this to St. Gallen as a gift.