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GLARUS (Fr. Glaris)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 79 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GLARUS (Fr. Glaris) , the See also:capital of the Swiss See also:canton of the same name. It is a clean, See also:modern little See also:town, built on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Linth (opposite it is the See also:industrial suburb of Ennenda on the right bank), at the See also:north-eastern See also:foot of the imposing See also:rock See also:peak of the Vorder Glarnisch (7648 ft.), while on the See also:east rises the Schild (6400 ft.). It now contains but few houses built before 1861, for on the lo/11 May 1861 practically the whole town was destroyed by See also:fire that was fanned by a violent See also:Fohn or See also:south See also:wind, rushing down from the high mountains through the natural See also:funnel formed by the Linth valley. The See also:total loss is estimated at about See also:half a million See also:sterling, of which about £See also:Ioo,000 were made up by subscriptions that poured in from every See also:side. It possesses the broad streets and usual buildings of a modern town, the See also:parish See also:church being by far the most stately and well-situated See also:building; it is used in See also:common by the Protestants and See also:Romans. See also:Zwingli, the reformer, was parish See also:priest here from 1506 to 1516, before he became a See also:Protestant. The town is 1578 ft. above the See also:sea-level, and in 1900 had a See also:population of 4877, almost all See also:German-speaking, while 1248 were Romanists. For the Linth canals (1811 and 1816) see LINTH. The See also:DISTRICT OF GLARUS is said to have been converted to See also:Christianity in the 6th See also:century by the Irish See also:monk, Fridolin, whose See also:special See also:protector was St Hilary of See also:Poitiers; the former was the founder, and both were patrons, of the See also:Benedictine nunnery of Sackingen, on the See also:Rhine between See also:Constance and See also:Basel, that about the 9th century became the owner of the district which was then named after St Hilary. The Habsburgs, protectors of the nunnery, gradually See also:drew to themselves the exercise of all the rights of the nuns, so that in 1352 Glarus joined the Swiss See also:Confederation. But the men of Glarus did not gain their See also:complete freedom till after they had driven back the Habsburgs in the glorious See also:battle of Nafels (1388), the See also:complement of See also:Sempach, so that the Habsburgers gave up their rights in 1398, while those of Sackingen were bought up in 1395, on See also:condition of a small See also:annual See also:payment.

Glarus See also:

early adopted Protestantism, but there were many struggles later on between the two parties, as the See also:chief See also:family, that of See also:Tschudi, adhered to the old faith. At last it was arranged that, besides the common Landsgemeinde, each party should have its See also:separate Landsgemeinde (1623) and tribunals (1683), while it was not till 1798 that the Protestants agreed to accept the Gregorian See also:calendar. The See also:slate-See also:quarrying See also:industry appeared early in the 17th century, while See also:cotton-See also:spinning was introduced about 1714, and See also:calico-See also:printing by 1750. In 1798, in consequence of the resistance of Glarus to the See also:French invaders, the canton was See also:united to other districts under the name of canton of the Linth, though in 1803 it was reduced to its former limits. In 1799 it was traversed by the See also:Russian See also:army, under Suworoff, coming over the Pragel Pass, but blocked by the French at Nafels, and so driven over the Panixer to the See also:Grisons. The old See also:system of See also:government was set up again in 1814. But in 1836 by the new Liberal constitution one single Landsgemeinde was restored, despite the resistance (1837) of the Romanist population at Nafels.

End of Article: GLARUS (Fr. Glaris)

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