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Unrest on the River Banks of the ReussOn 1 September 1512, a letter was written to the city council of Lucerne that described recent, rather unusual events that threatened to break the peace.  Staatsarchiv Luzern, AKT 13/3456, Projekt eines Attentates auf den französischen Agenten auf der Reuss bei Merenschwand, Kundschaft, 1. 9. 1512. The letter, from an anonymous writer, describes what seems to be a plan by locals to attack a convoy of people from France who were travelling on the river Reuss. He shares the results of his inquiries into the planned attack by detailing to the city council what he had learned from different people he had interviewed. He himself was not involved with this proposed action.  The letter was written in Merenschwand, a village under the rule of Lucerne and situated next to the river Reuss, which represented the border between the city states of Lucerne and Zurich. Both sides of the Reuss, and the river itself, feature heavily in the narrative (see Map1 and Map2). Map 1: This detail of a map by Jos Murer from 1566 shows the concerned region, the villages mentioned in our source are highlighted. The dotted line on the river Reuss represents the border between the territories of Lucerne and Zurich. Eigendtliche und grundtliche Verzeichnung aller Stetten, Graffschafften, Herrschafften, Landen, Gerichten und Gebieten so einer Statt Zürych zugehörig [...] zu Zürych : by Christoffel Froschower, 1568. Universitätsbibliothek Basel, Kartenslg Schw Ca 1. Map 2: The two villages Merenschwand and Maschwanden and their location between the cities Lucerne and Zurich. In 1512, Merenschwand belonged to Lucerne and Maschwanden to Zurich. GoogleMaps, 5. 9. 2019.  Thefirst witness is Hans Wy of Merenschwand. He states that, as he was threshinggrain in front of his home, five armed people came down the river Reuss, andthat he recognised them as being from the Zurich side of the river. Curious atthe sight of these armed men, Wy inquired after their business, but to noavail. He later heard from a boy that “sÿ wend diefranntzosen stechen” (they want to stab the French). Our anonymous writer also managedto talk to this boy himself, who seemed to have confirmed the statement.First paragraph of the letter.   Staatsarchiv Luzern, AKT 13/3456, Projekt eines Attentates auf den französischen Agenten auf der Reuss bei Merenschwand, Kundschaft, 1. 9. 1512.  The next witnessis Hans Maler, also from Merenschwand, whose testimony provided more concretedetails. He describes an event in Maschwanden, a village on the Zurich side ofthe Reuss (see Maps 1 and2), where a group of armed men were also seen passing through. He statedthat the local innkeeper, upon seeing the men, asked what they were doing andthey told him that they were after some Frenchmen, who they wanted to capture. Herewe learn, that the supposed French must have been travelling by boat on theReuss. Upon hearing that the armed men wanted to “schuffen und stechen” (hitand stab) the French, the innkeeper went to get his harness and pike and joinedthem in their mission. He was not, however, alone: apparently the whole villagesolidarized with them and joined in. Last paragraph of the letter.  Staatsarchiv Luzern, AKT 13/3456, Projekt eines Attentates auf den französischen Agenten auf der Reuss bei Merenschwand, Kundschaft, 1. 9. 1512.  Hans Malerfurther relates to our anonymous author that a local official instructed the peoplethat, at his order, they should throw stones at the French if they refused to comeashore. Who exactly this local official was and where his authorities lay isunclear. Anotherofficial, Felix Schwend, had a different stance on the matter. He was animportant official from Zurich, as he represented the city’s jurisdiction in thisregion of the Zurich city state. Schwend told the people that he would not helpthem kill the French, but he would also not hinder them. Schwend, who had beena city councilman in Zurich and part of the “Constaffel” society, belonged tothe ruling elite of Zurich.[1]With this in mind, it is not surprising that he would not support such anunlawful attack, but he was clearly also not a part of the pro-French factioneither. Finally, inthe last segment of the letter, we learn a little more about this French convoyon the river Reuss. They were probably travelling from Lucerne, where they hadsecured a deal to hire mercenaries. We know this because, as Maler says, he wasnot willing to help kill the French, even for a 100 gulden: another replied, inturn, that he would do it for less, “wann sin herrn inn nittgleitt geben hetten” (if his lords did not give them escort. Meaning mercenaries).Since we can assume that this person is also from Merenschwand, “sin herrn”would refer to the city council of Lucerne. This is further supported by the factthat the Frenchmen were travelling down the Reuss, as it flows down the regionfrom Lucerne. It is important to remember that this document has to be analysed in the context of the Italian Wars and the ongoing discussions and discontent regarding the “Pensionen”. This was a practice in which money was given, either to a Swiss political body or individual person, from a foreign ruling elite to gain political favour and access to Swiss mercenaries. The French kings were chief agents in this market. This led to a series of revolts by the rural populace in the Swiss Confederation, known as the “Pensionenunruhen”: they include the curiously named “onion war” (1513-1515) in Lucerne and “gingerbread war” (1515) in Zurich among others.[2] They exemplify the deep discontent held by the rural populace against the “Pensionenwesen”: our document gives us a fascinating glimpse into the growing dissatisfaction of the people in the rural areas of Lucerne and Zurich against the urban, pro-French elites. The authorities in Lucerne therefore had good reasons for wanting to know exactly what had happened in the region of Merenschwand, who was involved, and what they did. It is further noteworthy, that the anonymous author of the “Kundschaft” only mentioned people in the jurisdiction of Zurich actively participating in the planned attack, while the people of Merenschwand are all described as mere onlookers. This could well be a deliberate narrative to appease the city council of Lucerne.Whether ornot the attack was actually carried out has not been determined thus far. Furthersources from Lucerne, such as the minutes of the city council, make no mentionof this matter. It may, however, be possible to find additional information inthe Zurich state archives.[cite][1] Dütsch, Hans-Rudolf. DieZürcher Landvögte von 1402-1798, Ein Versuch zur Bestimmung ihrer sozialenHerkunft und zur Würdigung ihres Amtes im Rahmen des zürcherischen Stadtstaates(Zürich, 1994), p. 228. [2] About the pensionen and the Pensionenunruhen in depht: Rogger,Philippe. Geld, Krieg und Macht.Pensionsherren, Söldner und eigenössische Politik in den Mailänderkriegen1494–1516 (Baden 2015). 