Abstract
The First and Second Peace of Kappel 1529 & 1531 The adoption of the religious reform first by Zürich and then also by other cantons of the Swiss Confederacy led to an escalating conflict between the Reformed cantons and those who remained loyal to the old faith. Open war was avoided by the efforts of several mediators and the First Peace of Kappel was concluded in June 1529. However, the peace agreement could not defuse the conflict permanently and the Second War of Kappel broke out in October 1531. The Reformed cantons were defeated and forced to accept the Second Peace of Kappel in November 1531. The new peace treaty gave priority to the old faith in the condominium territories but allowed the Reformed cantons to practice the new faith undisturbed. Alongside the ancient alliances, the Second Peace of Kappel became the constitutional basis of the Swiss Confederacy until the treaty was invalidated after the victory of the Reformed cantons in the Second War of Villmergen in 1712.
