each case the Landrat is composed of the members of the executive, plus a certain number of members elected in each “commune,” in the proportion of 1 member to every 250 inhabitants, or fraction over 125 (so Nidwalden, which allows them to hold office for six years), or 1 member to every 200 inhabitants (Obwalden, which allows them to hold office for four years). These Landsgemeinden are of immemorial antiquity, while the other constitutional details are settled by the constitution of 1877 in Nidwalden, and by that of 1902 in Obwalden. In each half the single member of the Federal Ständerat is elected by the Landsgemeinde, while the single member enjoyed by each in the Federal Nationalrat is chosen by a popular vote, but not by the Landsgemeinde. The people of the canton have always been very pious and religious. In the church of Sachseln (near Sarnen) still lie the bones of the holy hermit, Nicholas von der Flue, fondly known as “Bruder Klaus” (1417–1487), while at Sarnen there are several convents, though the most famous of all the monasteries in the canton, the great Benedictine house of Engelberg (founded about 1120) is situated at the head of the Nidwalden valley, though politically in Obwalden. At the lower end of the Nidwalden valley is Stans, the home of the Winkelried family (q.v.).
It is very remarkable that in both valleys the old “common lands” are still in the hands of the old gilds, and “communes” consist of natives, not merely residents, though in Obwalden these contribute to the expenses of the new “political communes” of residents, while in Nidwalden the latter have to raise special taxes. In Engelberg (which still retains some independence) the poor are greatly favoured in the division of the common lands and their proceeds, and unmarried persons (or widowers and widows) receive only half of the share of those who are married.
Historically, both Obwalden (save a small bit in the Aargau) and Nidwalden were included in the Zürichgau. In both there were many great landowners (specially the abbey of Murbach and the Habsburgs) and few free men; while the fact that the Habsburgs were counts of the Aargau and the Zürichgau further delayed the development of political freedom. Both took part in the risings of 1245–47, and in 1247 Sarnen was threatened by the pope with excommunication for opposing its hereditary lord, the count of Habsburg. The alleged cruelties committed by the Habsburgs do not, however, appear in history till Justinger’s Chronicle, 1420 (see Tell). On the 16th of April 1291, Rudolph the future emperor bought from Murbach all its estates in Unterwalden, and thus ruled this district as the chief landowner, as count and as emperor. On the 1st of August 1291 Nidwalden (Obwalden is not named in the text of the document, though it is named on the seal appended to it) formed the “Everlasting League” with Uri and Schwyz (this being the first known case in which its common seal is used). In 1304 the two valleys were joined together under the same local deputy of the count, and in 1309 Henry VII. confirmed to them all the liberties granted by his predecessor—though none is known to have been granted. However, this placed Unterwalden on an equal political footing with Uri and Schwyz; and as such it took part (1315) in Morgarten fight (also driving back an invasion over the Brünig Pass) and in the renewal of the Everlasting League at Brunnen (1315), as well as at Sempach (1386) and in driving back the Gugler or English freebooters (1375). For physical reasons, it was difficult for Unterwalden to enlarge its territories. Yet in 1368 it acquired Alpnach, and in 1378 Hergiswil. So too Obwalden snared with Uri in the conquest of the Val Leventina (1403) and in the purchase of Bellinzona (1419), as well as in the loss of both (1422). It was Nidwalden that, with Schwyz and Uri, finally won (1500) and ruled (till 1798) Bellinzona, the Riviera, and the Val Blernio; while both shared in conquests of the Aargau (1415), the Thurgau (1460), and Locarno, &c. (151 2), and in the temporary occupation of the Val d’ Ossola (1410–14, 1416–22, 1425–26, 1512–15). In the Burgundian war Unterwalden, like the other Forest cantons, long hung back through jealousy of Bern, but came to the rescue in time of need. In 1481 it was at Stans that the Confederates nearly broke up the League for various reasons, and it was only by the intervention then of the holy hermit Nicholas von der Flue (of Sachseln in Obwalden) that peace was restored, and the great Federal agreement known as the compact of Stans concluded. Like the other Forest cantons, Unterwalden clung to the old faith at the time of the Reformation, being a member of the “Christliche Vereinigung” (1529) and of the Golden League (1586).
In 1798 Unterwalden resisted the Helvetic republic, but, having formed part of the short-lived Tellgau, became a district of the huge canton of the Waldstatten. Obwalden submitted at an early date, but Nidwalden, refusing to accept the oath of fidelity to the constitution mainly on religious grounds, rose in desperate revolt (September 1798), and was only put down by the arrival of 16,000 armed men and by the storming of Stans. In 1803 its independence as a canton was restored, but in 1815 Nidwalden refused to accept the new constitution, and Federal troops had to be employed to put down its resistance, the punishment inflicted being the transfer (1816) to Obwalden of the jurisdiction over the abbey lands of Engelberg (since 1462 “protected” by the four Forest cantons), which in 1798 had fallen to the lot of Obwalden and had passed in 1803 to Nidwalden. Since that time the history of Unterwalden has been like that of the other Forest cantons. It was a member of the “League of Sarnen” (1832), to oppose the reforming wishes of other cantons, and of the “Sonderbund” (1845); it was defeated in the war of 1847; and it voted against the acceptance of the Federal constitution both in 1848 and in 1874.
Authorities.—Beiträge z. Geschichte Nidwaldens (Stans, from 1884); J. J. Blumer, Staats- und Rechtsgeschichte d. schweiz. Demokratien (3 vols., St Gall, 1850–59); J. Businger, Der Kanton Unterwalden (St Gall, 1836) and Die Geschichte des Volkes von Unterwalden (2 vols., Lucerne, 1827–28); M. A. Cappeller, Pilati montis historia (Basel, 1767); E. Etlin, Die Alpwirtschaft in Obwalden (Soleure, 1903); H. Christ, Ob dem Kernwald (Basel, 1869); R. Durrer, Die Kunst- und Architekturdenkmäler d. Unterwaldens (in course of publication since 1899); J. Gander, Die Alpwirtschaft im Kant. Nidwalden (Soleure, 1896); Geschichtsfreund, from 1843 (in vols. 49, 51–53, 55 and 57 the charters of Engelberg 1122–1428 have been printed) ; Conrad Gesner, Descriptio montis fracti (Pilatus) (Zürich, 1555); A. Lütolf, Sagen, Brduche, Legenden aus den Fünf Orten (Lucerne, 1862); Obwaldner GesChichtsblätter (Zürich, from 1901); W. Oechsli, Die Anfänge d. schweiz. Eidgenossenschaft (Zürich, 1891); H. Ryffel, Die schweiz. Landsgemeinden (Zürich, 1903); J. Sowerby, The Forest Cantons of Switzerland (London, 1892). (W. A. B. C.)
UNTON (or Umpton), SIR HENRY (c. 1557–1596), English
diplomatist, was the second son of Sir Edward Unton, or Umpton
(d. 1583), of Wadley, near Faringdon, Berkshire, his mother,
Anne (d. 1588), being a daughter of Edward Seymour, duke
of Somerset, the protector. Educated at Oriel College, Oxford,
Unton became a member of parliament in 1584 and served with
the English forces in the Netherlands in 1585 and 1586, being
present at the skirmish of Zutphen. In 1586 he was knighted.
In 1591, through the good offices of the earl of Essex, Unton was
sent as ambassador to Henry IV. of France; he became very
friendly with this king and accompanied him on a campaign in
Normandy before he was recalled to England in June 1592.
Again securing a seat in parliament he lost for a short time the
favour of Queen Elizabeth; however, in 1593 he went again
as ambassador to France. He died in the French camp at La
Fere on the 23rd of March 1596, a collection of Latin verses
being published in his memory at Oxford later in the year.
This was edited by his chaplain, Robert Wright (1560–1643),
afterwards bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.
There is an interesting picture in the National Portrait Gallery representing Unton and various scenes in his life. Many of his official letters are in the British Museum and in the Public Record Office, London. A collection of these was edited by Joseph Stevenson (1847), and some are printed in W. Murdiu’s Burghley Papers (1759).
UNYAMWEZI, a region of German East Africa, lying S. of Victoria Nyanza and E. of Lake Tanganyika. It is mentioned as early as the 16th century by the Portuguese and by Antonio Pigafetta, under the name Munemugi or "Land of the Moon," which is the exact equivalent of the name—Wu-nya-mwezi—by
