u/And_G

If anything else, this goes to the heart of the many myths of Westphalia.

But IAWM, my teachers tell me that Westphalia brought world peace, saved the world from the evils of papistry, and even endowed it with the concept of sovereignty

To which I say, BAH.

Up to the time of the Peace of Osnabrück (PoO), the Swiss was in a rather indeterminate state due to the outcome of the Swabian War that followed the Imperial Reform of 1495. In that reform, Maximilian agreed to being placed under theoretical supervision as he enacted the Common Penny tax that was to be used to raise an Imperial army. The cheeky Swiss of the so-called Old Confederation had forced Maximilian I to revert back to the pre-1495 state of relationships between them and Maximilian, or to be precise, Maximilian acting as the Duke of Austria. Thus, the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy was then exempt from paying their dues, even as they remained members of the HRE.

Between 1499 and the PoO, several more cantons joined the Swiss Confederation, all members of the HRE. The problem now becomes, they want to also be exempt from the HRE taxes and dues, including the infamous Common Penny. In particular, Basel was highly motivated to "join in on the agreement" because it had joined in 1501 -- barely missing the agreement between Maximilian and the Old Confederation that was negotiated in its own city -- and upkeep of HRE obligations was becoming expensive. The upkeep of the Reichskammergericht was over 14,000 thalers a year and they were simply too Swiss to want to pay this with not much in return.

So Basel sent its burgomaster, a very interesting man who came to Osnabrück neither invited nor enpowered by the Swiss Confederation, for he was simply mayor of Basel. The Duc d'Orleans, desiring friendship with the Swiss, lobbied for the mayor to be included in the discussion, resulting in the following article of the PoO:

LXIII. And as His Imperial Majesty, upon Complaints made in the name of the City of Basle, and of all Switzerland, in the presence of their Plenipotentiarys deputed to the present Assembly, touching some Procedures and Executions proceeding from the Imperial Chamber against the said City, and the other united Cantons of the Swiss Country, and their Citizens and Subjects having demanded the Advice of the States of the Empire and their Council; these have, by a Decree of the 14th of May of the last Year, declared the said City of Basle, and the other Swiss-Cantons, to be as it were in possession of their full Liberty and Exemption of the Empire; so that they are no ways subject to the Judicatures, or Judgments of the Empire, and it was thought convenient to insert the same in this Treaty of Peace, and confirm it, and thereby to make void and annul all such Procedures and Arrests given on this Account in what form soever.

I see, IAWM, it's as my teacher said, Westphalia endowed them sovereignty.

Except that there was no universal concept of sovereignty, other than contracts and obligations between entities. Which is what that article was, and what the 1499 Peace of Basel was.

But IAWM, doesn't the above give the Swiss total control of their own foreign relationship, which is a halmark of sovereignty?

Why, every HRE state already HAD that right since 1644! Ferdinand III had promulgated ius belli ac pacis, giving HRE states the right to conduct their own foreign policy, such that he could gain more allies in negotiating against the nefarious Swedes and Frenchies.

Further, the Swiss did not renounce their membership in the HRE. Zurich kept the HRE emblem on its coat of arms for several more decades, and Schaffhausen considered itself a state of the HRE until the next century!

As far as I know, as much as I love Valais' vineyards, it had nothing to do with the PoO, they simply rode along as a recent member of the HRE not covered by the 1499 treaty.

TL;DR Much mythology around Westphalia, let us sharpen our pikes and get busy crushing them one at a time.