Place:Valais, Switzerland

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Valais (in French), or Wallis (in German), more formally the Canton of Valais, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion. The flag of the canton is made of thirteen stars representing the districts, on a white-red background.

Valais is situated in the southwestern part of the country. It borders the cantons of Vaud and Bern to the north, the cantons of Uri and Ticino to the east, as well as Italy to the south and France to the west. It is one of the three large southern Alpine cantons, along with Ticino and the Grisons, which encompass a vast diversity of ecosystems. It is a bilingual canton, French and German being its two official languages. Traditionally, the canton is divided into Lower, Central, and Upper Valais, the latter region constituting the German-speaking minority.

Valais essentially coincides with the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, essentially separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps, the two largest mountain ranges of the canton. A major wine region, the canton is simultaneously one of the driest regions of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley and among the wettest, having large amounts of snow and rain upon the highest peaks found in Switzerland, such as Monte Rosa and the Finsteraarhorn. Although a major hydroelectricity producer, Valais is essentially renowned for its tourism industry and its numerous Alpine resort towns, notably Crans-Montana, Saas Fee, Verbier, and Zermatt. Overlooking the latter town, the Matterhorn has become an iconic landmark of the canton.

In 1529, Valais became an associate member of the Swiss Confederation. After having resisted the Protestant Reformation and remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church, it became a republic under the guidance of the prince-bishop of Sion in 1628. In 1815, Valais finally entered the Swiss Confederation as a canton. In 1878, the Simplon Railway connected most of Valais with the cities of the Swiss Plateau. The canton was further opened up by the Lötschberg Railway in 1913.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The Romans called the upper Rhône valley Vallis Poenina. The Vallis Poenina was conquered by the Romans after the Battle of Octodurus (now known as Martigny) in 57 BC and became part of the Gallo-Roman cultural sphere. According to a tradition that can be traced back to the middle of the 8th century, the Theban legion was martyred at Agaunum (now Saint Maurice) about 285 or 302. From 888 onwards the lands were part of the kingdom of Jurane Burgundy.

Valais formed part of the kingdom of Transjurane Burgundy, which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. It became part of the duchy of Burgundia Minor, which was held by the emperors by the house of Zähringen (which became extinct in 1218). In 999, King Rudolph III of Burgundy gave all temporal rights and privileges to the Bishop of Sion, who was later styled praefect and count of Valais and is still a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The count-bishops then struggled to defend their area against the Zähringer and then the dukes of Savoy, so that the medieval history of Valais is inextricably linked with that of the diocese of Sion. The Dukes of Savoy, however, succeeded in winning most of the land west of Sion (Lower Valais), while in the upper part of the valley (Upper Valais) there were many feudal lords, such as the lords of Raron, those of La Tour-Châtillon, and the counts of Visp.^[1]

About the middle of the 13th century, the large communities (Zenden or tithings) began to develop independence and grow in power. The name Zenden or tithings probably came from a very ancient division of the bishop's manors for administrative and judicial purposes. In the same century the upper part of the valley was colonized by Germans from Hasli in the Canton of Bern. The locals became German-speaking, though many Romance local names remain. In 1354 the liberties of several of the seven Zenden (Sion, Sierre, Leuk, Raron, Visp, Brig and Conches) were confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV.^[1]

By the late 14th century, the counts of Savoy acquired the bishopric of Sion. The Zenden resisted his attempts to gather both spiritual and secular power in the valley. In 1375–76, Zenden forces defeated the army of the house of La Tour-Chatillon, and in 1388 routed the forces of the bishop, the count, and his nobles at Visp. The German-speaking Zenden spread further into the valley. Starting in 1384 the Morge stream (a little below Sion) was recognized as the boundary between Savoyard, French-speaking Lower Valais and German-speaking episcopal Upper Valais.

During the Raron affair rebellion from 1414 to 1420, some cantons of the Swiss Confederation took sides in the conflict. Lucerne, Uri and Unterwalden supported the Upper Valais rebels, while Bern supported the noble Raron family. The uprising was successful in driving out the Rarons and almost brought the Confederation to civil war.

Following the Raron affair, the canton was the location of the Valais witch trials between 1428 and 1447 in which at least 367 men and women were put to death. This event marks one of the earliest witch scares in late medieval Europe. The phenomenon later spread to other parts of the continent.

With the election of Walther von Supersax of Conches as bishop in 1457, the German-speaking part of the valley finally attained supremacy. At the outbreak of the Burgundian Wars in 1475, the bishop of Sion and the Zenden made a treaty with Bern. In November of the same year, they seized all Lower or Savoyard Valais up to Martigny. In March 1476, after the victory of Grandson, they advanced and captured St Maurice, Évian, Thonon and Monthey. They had to give up the last three districts in 1477 but won them again in 1536. In the treaty of Thonon in 1569, Monthey, Val-d'llliez, and Le Bouveret were permanently annexed to Valais. These conquered districts in the Lower Valais were ruled as subject lands by the bishop and the Tithings of the Upper Valais until 1798. On March 12, 1529, Valais became an associate member (Zugewandter Ort) of the Swiss Confederation.^[1]

In the early 17th century, the aristocratic governors of the districts in the Upper Valais pressured the prince-bishop of Sion to abdicate secular power, which was achieved temporarily in 1613 and then permanently in 1634, when the country became the federal Republic of the Seven Tithings under the rule of a Landeshauptmann. The republic in its original form existed until 1798, when the districts of the Lower Valais, until then ruled as subjects, successfully revolted against the Seven Tithings and achieved equal status within the republic. During the French invasion of the Swiss Confederacy in the same year, Valais was incorporated into the Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the separate Rhodanic Republic.

In 1810 the Rhodanic Republic was annexed by the First French Empire as the departement of Simplon. The department was occupied by Austrian troops in late 1813, and on 4 August 1815 Valais finally entered the Swiss Confederation as a canton. In 1845, Valais joined the Catholic separatist league (Sonderbund) which led to what is called the Sonderbund War. 99,000 Swiss Federal troops under General Henri Dufour were faced by 79,000 Separatists, but in the end, Valais chose not to fight.

The beginning of the modern history of Valais essentially coincides with the exploration of the High Alps, the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marking the end of the golden age of alpinism. The boom of tourism followed in the late 19th century. In 1878, the Simplon Railway connected Brig, the last town before the Simplon Pass, from Lausanne and Geneva and other major cities of the Swiss Plateau.

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