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130-590: Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline ; Romansh : Vuclina ( listen ) ; Lombard : Valtelina or Valtulina ; German: Veltlin ; Italian : Valtellina ) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its ski centre , hot spring spas, bresaola , cheeses (in particular Bitto , named after

260-626: A redoubt . In any event, Mussolini's capture on 27 April by the partisans at Dongo , barely short of the Valtellina, ended any possibility of a fascist last stand. The official language is Italian, but the Valtellinese variety of the Lombard Language is also spoken. On 31 January there was the tradition of l'è foeu el sginer ("January's out"), a custom very similar to that celebrated on 2 February known as l'è foeu l'ors de la tana ("the bear

390-540: A symbol that represents the group's motto or identity. The Pasquali are allegorical floats with a religious theme, prepared during the winter by the various districts of Bormio (Buglio, Combo, Dossiglio, Dossorovina and Maggiore) for Easter (Pasqua meaning Easter in Italian). On Easter day, the Pasquali are carried on the shoulders of the boys and are accompanied by a band, folk groups, women, seniors, and children who embellish

520-591: A "Protestant language". With the Act of Mediation , the Grisons became a canton of Switzerland in 1803. The constitution of the canton dates from 1892. When the Grisons became part of Switzerland in 1803, it had a population of roughly 73,000, of whom around 36,600 were Romansh speakers—many of them monolingual—living mostly within the Romansh-speaking valleys. The language border with German, which had mostly been stable since

650-530: A "test-tube baby" or "castrated language". They argued that it was an artificial and infertile creation which lacked a heart and soul, in contrast to the traditional dialects. On the other side, proponents called on the Romansh people to nurture the "new-born" to allow it to grow, with Romansh writer Ursicin Derungs calling Rumantsch Grischun a " lungatg virginal " "virgin language" that now had to be seduced and turned into

780-516: A bearded and joyful man dressed as a mountaineer, and Lean Lent, a thin woman dressed in a humble way, with a dark handkerchief on her head and an empty basket on her arm, represent the transition from the glories of Carnival to Lenten fasts. They are accompanied by the Paralytic, the Bear Handler, a funny shepherd who dances and rolls on the ground named Toni, an old man with a butt covered with Nutella,

910-646: A blossoming woman. The opposition to Rumantsch Grischun also became clear in the Swiss census of 1990, in which certain municipalities refused to distribute questionnaires in Rumantsch Grischun, requesting the German version instead. Following a survey on the opinion of the Romansh population on the issue, the government of the Grisons decided in 1996 that Rumantsch Grischun would be used when addressing all Romansh speakers, but

1040-413: A club to celebrate and travel through the streets of the town in a car from which the flag decorated with the symbol of the group waves. On New Year's Eve, amid fireworks and the noise of whistles, cowbells , motorcycles, and tractors , they entrust the flag to conscripts one year younger, after having it blessed in church. Each group chooses different coloured sweatshirts and decorates the tricolour with

1170-546: A collection of church songs in the Vallader dialect. These early works are generally well written and show that the authors had a large amount of Romansh vocabulary at their disposal, contrary to what one might expect of the first pieces of writing in a language. Because of this, the linguist Ricarda Liver assumes that these written works built on an earlier, pre-literature tradition of using Romansh in administrative and legal situations, of which no evidence survives. In their prefaces,

1300-470: A continuous speech area, this continuum has now been ruptured by the spread of German, so that Romansh is now geographically divided into at least two non-adjacent parts. Aside from these five major dialects, two additional varieties are often distinguished. One is the dialect of the Val Müstair , which is closely related to Vallader but often separately referred to as Jauer (Romansh: jauer ; derived from

1430-600: A definite guideline, the Normas ortograficas per igl rumantsch da Surmeir , was not published until 1939. In the meantime, the norms of Pallioppi had come under criticism in the Engadine due to the strong influence of Italian in them. This led to an orthographic reform which was concluded by 1928, when the Pitschna introducziun a la nouva ortografia ladina ufficiala by Cristoffel Bardola was published. A separate written variety for Sutsilvan

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1560-586: A federation of three states, rather than a single, unified state; the union had few competencies and virtually all affairs of the Free State were settled by referendum . The Ilanz Articles of 1524 and 1526 reduced the power of the Bishop of Chur and strengthened the alliance between the Three Leagues. The first articles, adopted 4 April 1524, required priests to live in the communities they served, to earnestly care for

1690-595: A few villages around Thusis and the village of Samnaun . In the case of Samnaun, the inhabitants adopted the Bavarian dialect of neighboring Tyrol, making Samnaun the only municipality of Switzerland where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The Vinschgau in South Tyrol was still Romansh-speaking in the 17th century, after which it became entirely German-speaking because of the Counter-Reformation denunciation of Romansh as

1820-498: A hunchbacked mountaineer whose hump is filled with chestnut urchins, and Bernarda, a man disguised as a baby put in a pannier supported by a fake old woman, and accompanied by another man dressed as a farmer). During the Carnival period, manzòli or manzòla , white flour and buckwheat pancakes mixed with slices of cheese and cut into the shape of a calf were eaten to propitiate the abundance of livestock parts. In Bormio , during

1950-453: A kind of rite of passage to adulthood. Today is simply the celebration of the coming of age . The duration of the celebration varied from town to town: in Grosio the conscription could last up to ten days, during which the boys and girls met in bars, taverns, or in places specially set up for the purpose. The conscripts had the task of embroidering on the tricolour flag the symbol and possibly

2080-470: A language as equally acceptable as possible to speakers of the different dialects, by choosing those forms which were found in a majority of the three strongest varieties: Sursilvan, Vallader, and Surmiran (Puter has more speakers than Surmiran but is spoken by a lower percentage of the population in its area). The elaboration of the new standard was endorsed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out by

2210-433: A language of instruction. Opponents argued that Romansh culture and identity was transmitted through the regional varieties and not through Rumantsch Grischun and that Rumantsch Grischun would serve to weaken rather than strengthen Romansh, possibly leading to a switch to German-language schools and a swift Germanization of Romansh areas. The cantonal government refused to debate the issue again however, instead deciding on

2340-492: A maximum of 8 tonnes/ha. While the ageing requirements are the same as the DOC, the minimum alcohol level for the DOCG wine is 12%. The best-known villages for red wines are: Grumello , Sassella , Inferno , Valgella , and Maroggia . The village names are normally indicated on the label. Additionally, there is an Amarone style DOCG wine called Sforzato (Sfursat). In the lower part of

2470-579: A maximum speed of 70 km/h. The system was designed by the brilliant Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó who was employed by the main contractors the Budapest -based Ganz company. During the last months of World War II , the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and other diehard fascist leaders of the Italian Social Republic (RSI) proposed making a "last stand" against the advancing Allied armies in

2600-401: A plan to Germanize the Romansh areas of Grisons, many German-speaking groups wished that the entire canton would become German-speaking. They were careful however, to avoid any drastic measures to that extent, in order not to antagonize the influential Romansh minority. The decline of Romansh over the 20th century can be seen through the results of the Swiss censuses. The decline in percentages

2730-595: A small number of pre-Latin words have survived in Romansh, mainly concerning animals, plants, and geological features unique to the Alps , such as camutsch " chamois " and grava " scree ". It is unknown how rapidly the Celtic and Raetic inhabitants were Romanized following the conquest of Raetia. Some linguists assume that the area was rapidly Romanized following the Roman conquest, whereas others think that this process did not end until

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2860-428: A team of young Romansh linguists under the guidance of Georges Darms and Anna-Alice Dazzi-Gross. The Lia Rumantscha then began introducing Rumantsch Grischun to the public, announcing that it would be chiefly introduced into domains where only German was being used, such as official forms and documents, billboards, and commercials. In 1984, the assembly of delegates of the head organization Lia Rumantscha decided to use

2990-467: A three-step plan in December 2004 to introduce Rumantsch Grischun as the language of schooling, allowing the municipalities to choose when they would make the switch. The decision not to publish any new teaching materials in the regional varieties was not overturned at this point, however, raising the question of what would happen in those municipalities that refused to introduce Rumantsch Grischun at all, since

3120-630: A transition zone between them. The Engadinese varieties Putèr and Vallader are often referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin (Ladin, Sursilvan, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun : ladin ; Sutsilvan: ladegn ), which is not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin . Sutsilvan and Surmiran are sometimes grouped together as Central Romansh (rm. Grischun central ), and then grouped together with Sursilvan as "Rhenish Romansh" (in German, "Rheinischromanisch"). One feature that separates

3250-530: Is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin , the spoken language of the Roman Empire . Among the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location. This has resulted in several archaic features. Another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German , which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to

3380-424: Is called Carneval vegg ("Old Carnival"). In the past, it was customary for people to gather all together to dance, sing, eat and drink. Being an agricultural ritual that represents the death of winter and the beginning of summer, Carnival officially began on January 17 with the parade of the blessed cattle adorned with coloured ribbons. It included numerous bonfires , with which the paths were cleared to facilitate

3510-401: Is it, when one can learn the languages of both without effort? In response however, the editor of the newspaper added that: According to the testimony of experienced and vigilant language teachers, while the one who is born Romansh can easily learn to understand these languages and make himself understood in them, he has great difficulties in learning them properly, since precisely because of

3640-517: Is on the northern side of the alpine watershed , it is considered part of Valtellina as it falls within the province of Sondrio . The region was conquered in 16 BC by the Romans . By the 5th century, it was Christianized with around ten pieve (rural churches with a baptistery ) under the Diocese of Como . The Lombards gained control over the area after 720, but about fifty years later Charlemagne gave

3770-476: Is only partially due to the Germanization of Romansh areas, since the Romansh-speaking valleys always had a lower overall population growth than other parts of the canton. Starting in the mid-19th century however, a revival movement began, often called the "Rhaeto-Romansh renaissance". This movement involved an increased cultural activity, as well as the foundation of several organizations dedicated to protecting

3900-466: Is out from its den"). Both celebrated the end of winter and the imminent arrival of spring. The two customs involved walking around the town and inviting people to leave their houses under any pretext, like throwing a large piece of wood or a pot down the stairs. When people ran outside to check what had happened, they were greeted with the shout l'è foeu el sginer! or l'è foeu l'ors de la tana! Intraverser l'èn or intraverser l'ann (literally "to put

4030-522: The Questione Ladina . Some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. The Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli first made the claim in 1873. The other position holds that any similarities between these three languages can be explained through their relative geographic isolation, which shielded them from certain linguistic changes. By contrast,

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4160-462: The Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) and 10% for the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). Grapes are limited to a harvest yield of 12 tonnes per hectare. The finished wine must be aged for at least two years prior to release (three years if a Riserva bottling) with a minimum alcohol level of at least 11%. Yields for the DOCG wines are further restricted to

4290-514: The Gallo-Italic languages to the south, and placing it closer to Ladin , Friulian and Franco-Provencal , are: Another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels. All unstressed vowels except /a/ disappeared. Whether or not Romansh, Friulan , and Ladin should compose a separate " Rhaeto-Romance " subgroup within Gallo-Romance is an unresolved issue, known as

4420-508: The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes languages such as French , Occitan , and Lombard . The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin / u / to [ y ] or [ i ] , as seen in Latin muru(m) "wall", which is mür or mir in Romansh. The main features distinguishing Romansh from

4550-741: The Graubünden ( Grisons in French and English), and it joined the Cisalpine Republic. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Valtellina became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , which was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire. In 1859 it came, together with Lombardy, to the Kingdom of Sardinia , and finally in 1861 it became part of the Kingdom of Italy . At the end of the 19th century, there

4680-522: The Palio delle Contrade sees the inhabitants of the five districts of Bormio compete against each other, divided according to age, in downhill, cross-country, combined, and relay races. The cross-country race takes place through the streets of the town, covered with snow for the purpose. In Valtellina, wines are produced mainly from Chiavennasca (the local name of Nebbiolo grape variety ) with other minor varieties such as Rossola nera permitted up to 20% for

4810-514: The Romonsch fusionau of Gion Antoni Bühler in 1867 and the Interrumantsch by Leza Uffer in 1958. Neither was able to gain much support, and their creators were largely the only ones actively using them. In the meantime, the Romansh movement sought to promote the different regional varieties while promoting a gradual convergence of the five varieties, called the " avischinaziun ". In 1982, however,

4940-634: The Val Poschiavo , the valley in the Graubünden canton of Switzerland that descends into the Valtellina at Tirano , similar wines are produced – but under different regulations such as appellation and the allowance of sugar addition, or chaptalization . One of the most notable tourist attractions of the area is the Bernina Line ("Trenino Rosso", little red train) of the Rhaetian Railway , which links

5070-559: The bishops of Chur as Prince-Bishopric of Chur ), the early medieval remnant of the Roman province of Raetia prima . On 29 January 1367, the League of God's House ( German : Gotteshausbund , Italian : Lega Caddea , Romansh : Lia da la Chadé ), was founded to resist the rising power of the Bishopric of Chur and the House of Habsburg . Bishop Peter Gelyto reacted by transferring

5200-524: The canton of Raetia . With the Napoleonic Act of Mediation , the Leagues were incorporated into a restored Swiss Confederacy — as the canton of Graubünden — in 1803; the current constitution of the canton dates from 1892. The districts of Chiavenna , Valtellina and Bormio , previously dependencies of the Leagues, were never a part of the canton of Raetia, however, having permanently been detached from

5330-459: The gabinat most likely comes from Bavaria , Germany, where Christmas, New Year's Eve and Epiphany were indicated with the name Geb-nacht ( Gaben means "gifts" and Nacht means "night", therefore "night of gifts"): on the eve of these holidays, the poor young people sang in front of the doors of the wealthiest in the hope to receive a gift. On the first of March, throughout Valtellina and Valchiavenna , people used to go to ciamà l'erba ("call

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5460-402: The 10th or 11th century, although major works did not appear until the 16th century, when several regional written varieties began to develop. During the 19th century the area where the language was spoken declined due to the industrialization of Switzerland, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of their language . In

5590-562: The 12th century; and by the 15th century, the Rhine Valley of St. Gallen and the areas around the Walensee were entirely German-speaking. This language shift was a long, drawn-out process, with larger, central towns adopting German first, while the more peripheral areas around them remained Romansh-speaking longer. The shift to German was caused in particular by the influence of the local German-speaking élites and by German-speaking immigrants from

5720-543: The 14th century. In rare cases, these Walser settlements were eventually assimilated by their Romansh-speaking neighbors; for instance, Oberhalbstein , Medel , and Tujetsch in the Surselva region. The Germanization of Chur had particularly long-term consequences. Even though the city had long before ceased to be a cultural center of Romansh, the spoken language of the capital of the Diocese of Chur continued to be Romansh until

5850-446: The 15th century. After a fire in 1465 which virtually destroyed the city, many German-speaking artisans who had been called in to help repair the damage settled there, causing German to become the majority language. In a chronicle written in 1571–72, Durich Chiampell mentions that Romansh was still spoken in Chur roughly a hundred years before, but had since then rapidly given way to German and

5980-413: The 16th century, now began moving again as more and more villages shifted to German. One cause was the admission of Grisons as a Swiss canton, which brought Romansh-speakers into more frequent contact with German-speakers. Another factor was the increased power of the central government of the Grisons, which had always used German as its administrative language. In addition, many Romansh-speakers migrated to

6110-441: The 1830s and 1840s. Initially, these were merely translations of the German editions, but by the end of the 19th century teaching materials were introduced which took the local Romansh culture into consideration. Additionally, Romansh was introduced as a subject in teacher's college in 1860 and was recognized as an official language by the canton in 1880. Around the same time, grammar and spelling guidelines began to be developed for

6240-459: The 1940s with the aim of reintroducing Romansh to children. Although the Scoletas had some success – of the ten villages where Scoletas were established, the children began speaking Romansh amongst themselves in four, with the children in four others acquiring at least some knowledge of Romansh – the program ultimately failed to preserve the language in the valley. A key factor was the disinterest of

6370-493: The 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 people (of whom 27,038 live in the canton of the Grisons ) indicated Romansh as the language of "best command", and 61,815 as a "regularly spoken" language. In 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system of assessment that uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. In 2019, there were 40,074 Swiss residents who primarily spoke Romansh; in 2017, 28,698 inhabitants of

6500-647: The 4th and 1st millennia BCE, can be found at the Rock Engraving Park in Grosio . Born in Valtellina: Further reading: F Pieth: Bündnergeschichte, 1982, ISBN   3-85894-002-X 46°10′N 9°52′E  /  46.167°N 9.867°E  / 46.167; 9.867 Romansh language Romansh is one of the descendant languages of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire , which by

6630-603: The 4th or 5th century, when more thoroughly Romanized Celts from farther north fled south to avoid invasions by Germanic tribes . The process was certainly complete and the pre-Roman languages extinct by the 5th–6th century, when Raetia became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom . Around 537 AD, the Ostrogoths handed over the province of Raetia Prima to the Frankish Empire , which continued to have local rulers administering

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6760-487: The 5th century AD replaced the Celtic and Raetic languages previously spoken in the area. Romansh retains a small number of words from these languages. Romansh has also been strongly influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax . The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced in other areas by Alemannic and Bavarian dialects. The earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from

6890-515: The Central Romansh varieties do not share many unique features, but rather connect Sursilvan and Ladin through a succession of numerous small differences from one village to the next. The dialects of Romansh are not always mutually comprehensible. Speakers of Sursilvan and Ladin, in particular, are usually unable to understand each other initially. Because speakers usually identify themselves primarily with their regional dialect, many do not take

7020-588: The Danube watershed was at stake as it formed part of the so-called Spanish Road . The anti-Habsburg forces in the Three Leagues put together a court named 'clerical overseers' that between 1618 and 1620 handed down a number of convictions (often in absentia ) against Catholics in the Leagues and Valtellina. This included the arresting under false pretences and torturing to death of the (catholic) arch-priest Nicolò Rusca of Sondrio . This and similar harsh judgments of

7150-766: The Gallo-Italic varieties of Northern Italy were more open to linguistic influences from the South . Linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few. This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist Carlo Battisti . This linguistic dispute became politically relevant for the Italian irredentist movement . Italian nationalists interpreted Battisti's hypothesis as implying that Romansh, Friulan, and Ladin were not separate Romance languages but rather Italian dialects . They used this hypothesis as an argument to claim

7280-670: The German-speaking north, especially as the ruling élite now comprised almost entirely speakers of German. At the time, Romansh was spoken over a much wider area, stretching north into the present-day cantons of Glarus and St. Gallen , to the Walensee in the northwest, and Rüthi and the Alpine Rhine Valley in the northeast. In the east, parts of modern-day Vorarlberg were Romansh-speaking, as were parts of Tyrol . The northern areas, called Lower Raetia, became German-speaking by

7410-634: The Grisons then took steps to strengthen the role of Rumantsch Grischun as an official language. Since the cantonal constitution explicitly named Sursilvan and Engadinese as the languages of ballots, a referendum was launched to amend the relevant article. In the referendum, which took place on June 10, 2001, 65% voted in favor of naming Rumantsch Grischun the only official Romansh variety of the Canton. Opponents of Rumantsch Grischun such as Renata Coray and Matthias Grünert argue, however, that if only those municipalities with at least 30% Romansh speakers were considered,

7540-603: The Harlequins of the Company of Mat, with children escorting the Podestà. The conscription was originally a celebration on the occasion of the call to the draft: the tradition seems to have originated in the second half of the nineteenth century with the unification of Italy when young men were forced to serve a period in the Army. The feast of the conscripts of eighteen-year-olds was therefore

7670-413: The Leagues. In February 1623 France, Savoy, and Venice signed the Treaty of Paris in which all three signatories agreed to re-establish the territory of Valtellina by attempting to remove Spanish forces stationed there. In 1797 the growing power of the First French Republic created the Cisalpine Republic in Northern Italy. On 10 October 1797, the French supported a revolt in the Valtellina against

7800-416: The Protestants with its cultural center around Ilanz , and a Catholic variety with the Disentis Abbey as its center. The Engadine dialect was also written in two varieties: Putèr in the Upper Valley and Vallader in the Lower Valley. The Sutsilvan areas either used the Protestant variety of Sursilvan, or simply used German as their main written language. The Surmiran region began developing its own variety in

7930-451: The Rhenish varieties as in détg "said" or fatg "did", while developing into /t/ in Ladin ( dit and fat ). A feature separating Sursilvan from Central Romansh, however, involves the extent of palatalization of Latin /k/ in front of /a/, which is rare in Sursilvan but common in the other varieties: Sursilvan casa , Sutsilvan tgea , Surmiran tgesa , Putèr chesa , and Vallader chasa "house". Overall however,

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8060-405: The Rhenish varieties from Ladin is the retention of the rounded front vowels / y / and / ø / (written ü and ö ) in Ladin, which have been unrounded in the other dialects, as in Ladin mür , Sursilvan mir , Surmiran meir "wall" or Ladin chaschöl to Rhenish caschiel "cheese". Another is the development of Latin -CT-, which has developed into /tɕ/ in

8190-446: The Romansh language. In 1863, the first of several attempts was made to found an association for all Romansh regions, which eventually led to the foundation of the Società Retorumantscha in 1885. In 1919, the Lia Rumantscha was founded to serve as an umbrella organization for the various regional language societies. Additionally, the role of Romansh in schooling was strengthened, with the first Romansh school books being published in

8320-465: The Swiss Confederacy and the allied Leagues to be recognised. After 1499, the Free State de facto separated from the Holy Roman Empire and developed, during the 16th century into a political entity that was unique in early modern Europe . In the early 17th century, it was the only territory in Europe where all decisions were made by communalism , with the Leagues founded, governed and defended by cooperative decisions. The Musso war of 1520 drove

8450-433: The Three Leagues closer to the Swiss Confederacy. With the Bundesbrief of 23 September 1524 was created a constitution that endured until the Napoleonic dissolution of the Free State. The supreme power in the Free State was a Bundestag , composed of 63 deputies with responsible to constituencies; this Bundestag alternated between Ilanz , Chur and Davos . By today's standards, the Three Leagues would be considered

8580-410: The Valtellina. The Fascist Party secretary Alessandro Pavolini was the main proponent of the idea, which he first raised with Mussolini in September 1944. However, the fascist leadership was divided over the plan and only minimal preparatory work was carried out to establish the area as a stronghold. By the time the Allies made their final advance in April 1945, the Valtellina was not ready to be used as

8710-538: The agricultural sector, which had been a traditional domain of Romansh, became less important. All this meant that knowledge of German became more and more of a necessity for Romansh speakers and that German became more and more a part of daily life. For the most part, German was seen not as a threat but rather as an important asset for communicating outside one's home region. The common people frequently demanded better access to learning German. When public schools began to appear, many municipalities decided to adopt German as

8840-444: The anti-Habsburg Thusis court led to a conspiracy to drive the Protestants out of the valley. The leader of the conspiracy, Giacomo Robustelli of the Planta family, had ties to Madrid, Rome and Paris. On the evening of 18/19 July 1620, a force of Valtellina rebels supported by Austrian and Italian troops marched into Tirano and began killing Protestants. When they finished in Tirano, they marched to Teglio , Sondrio and further down

8970-429: The authors themselves often mention the novelty of writing Romansh, and discuss an apparently common prejudice that Romansh was a language that could not be written. The first writing in the Sursilvan and Sutsilvan dialects appears in the 17th century. As in the Engadine, these early works usually focused on religious themes, in particular the struggles between Protestants and Counter-Reformers. Daniel Bonifaci produced

9100-470: The bishopric to the Habsburgs in exchange for a pension from the ducal house. The instrument of union was signed by envoys of the cathedral chapter, the episcopal Ministerialis , the city of Chur and the districts of Domleschg , Schams , Oberhalbstein , Oberengadin , Unterengadin and Bergell . Other districts joined the league subsequently, including the Poschiavo in 1408 and the Vier Dörfer in 1450. For some time, Unterengadin, Münstertal and

9230-442: The canton of Graubünden. In Trun , on 16 March 1424, a governing federation was established, comprising: Even before 1440, the lordships of Löwenberg , Thusis , Tschappina and Heinzenberg joined the League, despite the count of Werdenberg-Sargans having forbidden them from doing so. In 1441 Cazis Abbey joined; in 1480, the neighborhoods of Mesocco and Soazza in Misox and, in 1496, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio assisted with

9360-410: The canton of the Grisons (14.7% of the population) used it as their main language. Romansh is divided into five different regional dialect groups ( Sursilvan , Vallader , Putèr , Surmiran , and Sutsilvan ), each with its own standardized written language. In addition, a pan-regional variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in 1982, which is controversial among Romansh speakers. Romansh

9490-695: The day of the Carnival of the Fools, the Mayor hands over his power to the Podestà di Mat ( Podestà of the Fools) to Harlequin , and to the Compagnia di Mat ("the Company of the Fools") who give a public reading of the gossip and complaints that citizens have deposited in a box placed in the square of the Kuerc. The festival also includes a parade along the streets of the historic centre led by

9620-444: The dialect shares many features with the neighboring Putèr dialect of Romansh. As these varieties form a continuum with small transitions from each village to the next, there is no straightforward internal grouping of the Romansh dialects. The Romansh language area can be described best as consisting of two widely divergent varieties, Sursilvan in the west and the dialects of the Engadine in the east, with Sutsilvan and Surmiran forming

9750-451: The early 18th century, with a catechism being published in 1703, though either the Catholic variety of Sursilvan or Putèr was more commonly used there until the 20th century. In the 16th century, the language border between Romansh and German largely stabilized, and it remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century. During this period, only isolated areas became German-speaking, mainly

9880-404: The effort to attempt to understand unfamiliar dialects, and prefer to speak Swiss German with speakers of other varieties. A common Romansh identity is not widespread outside intellectual circles, even though this has been changing among the younger generation. Romansh originates from the spoken Latin brought to the region by Roman soldiers, merchants, and officials following the conquest of

10010-414: The elite had been German-speaking for centuries, so that German was associated with power and education, even though most people did not speak it, whereas Romansh was associated with peasant life. In the Engadine and the Surselva by contrast, the elite was itself Romansh-speaking, so that Romansh there was "not only the language spoken to children and cows, but also that of the village notable, the priest, and

10140-507: The exception of Präz , where the Scoleta remained open until 1979. In other areas, such as the Engadine and the Surselva, where the pressure of German was equally strong, Romansh was maintained much better and remained a commonly spoken language. According to the linguist Mathias Kundert, one important factor was the different social prestige of Romansh. In the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys,

10270-502: The first surviving work in this category, the catechism Curt mussameint dels principals punctgs della Christianevla Religiun , published in 1601 in the Sutsilvan dialect. A second edition, published in 1615, is closer to Sursilvan, however, and writings in Sutsilvan do not appear again until the 20th century. In 1611, Igl Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan ("The true joys of young people"), a series of religious instructions for Protestant youths,

10400-571: The grass"). The children walked in the meadows making noise with cowbells to call the grass and awaken it from its winter slumber. This custom also served to propitiate a bountiful harvest. In the village of Grosio , the Carnival is celebrated, unlike the rest of Valtellina, on the first Sunday of Lent , according to the Ambrosian calendar in force before the Gregorian Reform . For this reason, it

10530-446: The language much more than Italian has. Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects , which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, each of which has developed a standardized form. These regional standards are referred to as idioms in Romansh to distinguish them from the local vernaculars, which are referred to as dialects . These dialects form a dialect continuum without clear-cut divisions. Historically

10660-487: The language of schooling is decided by the municipalities themselves in the Grisons. The teachers of the Engadine in particular were outraged over the decision, but those in the Surmeir were mostly satisfied. Few opinions were heard from the Surselva, which was interpreted either as support or resignation, depending on the viewpoint of the observer. Three Leagues The Three Leagues , sometimes referred to as Raetia ,

10790-469: The language was maintained to a much greater extent. In the Central Grisons, by contrast, German had been a central part of schooling since the beginning, and virtually all schools switched entirely to German as the language of instruction by 1900, with children in many schools being punished for speaking Romansh well into the 1930s. Early attempts to create a unified written language for Romansh include

10920-486: The larger cities, which were German-speaking, while speakers of German settled in Romansh villages. Moreover, economic changes meant that the Romansh-speaking villages, which had mostly been self-sufficient, engaged in more frequent commerce with German-speaking regions. Also, improvements in the infrastructure made travel and contact with other regions much easier than it had been. Finally, the rise of tourism made knowledge of German an economic necessity in many areas, while

11050-567: The logical result of which would be to abolish the regional varieties as languages of instruction. The cantonal parliament passed the measure in August 2003, even advancing the deadline to 2005. The decision was met by strong opposition, in particular in the Engadine, where teachers collected over 4,300 signatures opposing the measure, followed by a second petition signed by around 180 Romansh writers and cultural figures, including many who were supportive of Rumantsch Grischun but opposed its introduction as

11180-451: The medium of instruction, as in the case of Ilanz, where German became the language of schooling in 1833, when the town was still largely Romansh-speaking. Some people even welcomed the disappearance of Romansh, in particular among progressives. In their eyes, Romansh was an obstacle to the economic and intellectual development of the Romansh people. For instance, the priest Heinrich Bansi from Ardez wrote in 1797: "The biggest obstacle to

11310-505: The modern-day Grisons area by the Romans in 15 BCE. Before that, the inhabitants spoke Celtic and Raetic languages, with Raetic apparently being spoken mainly in the Lower Engadine valley . Traces of these languages survive mainly in toponyms , including village names such as Tschlin , Scuol , Savognin , Glion , Breil/Brigels , Brienz/Brinzauls , Purtenza , and Trun . Additionally,

11440-535: The monasteries were placed under government oversight and various tithes were abolished or reduced. The articles remained the law of League until the 1798 French invasion . With the articles, the secular League authorities became the highest power in the region. With the invasion of Switzerland by the French Revolutionary Armies , the Three Leagues were absorbed into the Helvetic Republic , as

11570-401: The moral and economical improvement of these regions is the language of the people, Ladin [...] The German language could certainly be introduced with ease into the Engadine, as soon as one could convince the people of the immense advantages of it". Others however, saw Romansh as an economic asset, since it gave the Romansh an advantage when learning other Romance languages. In 1807, for example,

11700-466: The motto that the group had chosen. On the walls of the villages, it was customary to write W LA CLASSE... ("cheers to the year...") followed by the year of birth: nowadays, conscripts hang a tricolour banner with the same wording and the names (or nicknames) of the members of the group. The feast of the conscripts is particularly felt in Alta Valtellina: in Grosio, for a week, the conscripts meet in

11830-423: The new standard language when addressing all Romansh-speaking areas of the Grisons. From the very start, Rumansh Grischun has been implemented only on the basis of a decision of the particular institutions. In 1986, the federal administration began to use Rumantsch Grischun for single texts. The same year, however, several influential figures began to criticize the introduction of Rumantsch Grischun. Donat Cadruvi, at

11960-587: The north, with the lower and rural classes retaining Romansh longer. In addition, beginning around 1270, the German-speaking Walser began settling in sparsely populated or uninhabited areas within the Romansh-speaking heartland. The Walser sometimes expanded into Romansh-speaking areas from their original settlements, which then often became German-speaking, such as Davos , Schanfigg , the Prättigau , Schams , and Valendas , which became German-speaking by

12090-407: The other in exclaiming gabinat when they met. Whoever lost had to pay a pledge; often, the prize at stake was established in advance and the gabinat thus became the object of bets. To win, various strategies were adopted: stalking, disguises, fake illnesses ... Nowadays, it is only the children who do the gabinat , and they usually show up to relatives, friends, and local shopkeepers. The custom of

12220-495: The parade with flowers and other small crafts. Everyone wears the traditional red, black and white costume. After having followed the entire Via Roma and upon arrival at the Piazza del Kuerc (the main square of the town) the ancient bell called Bajona starts tolling and a jury draws up a ranking of the best Pasquali. At the end of the parade, the floats are exhibited in Piazza del Kuerc where they stay until Easter Monday. Started in 1963,

12350-460: The parents, whose main motivation for sending their children to the Scoletas appears to have been that they were looked after for a few hours and given a meal every day, rather than an interest in preserving Romansh. The other factor was that after entering primary school, the children received a few hours a week of Romansh instruction at best. As a result, the last Scoletas were closed in the 1960s with

12480-455: The passage of farmers, their agricultural vehicles and their livestock. A straw puppet with horns on his head representing the Carnival was also burnt. Nowadays, the districts of the towns challenge each other to the sound of allegorical floats, and the parade is attended by traditional masks, eight characters representing traditions, past events, and moments of everyday life: the Old Carnival,

12610-587: The personal pronoun jau "I", i.e. "the jau -sayers"). Less commonly distinguished is the dialect of Tujetsch and the Val Medel , which is markedly different from Sursilvan and is referred to as Tuatschin . Additionally, the standardized variety Rumantsch Grischun , intended for pan-regional use, was introduced in 1982. The dialect of the Val Bregaglia is usually considered a variety of Lombard , and speakers use Italian as their written language, even though

12740-417: The priest Mattli Conrad wrote an article listing the advantages and disadvantages of Romansh: The Romansh language is an immense advantage in learning so much more rapidly the languages derived from Latin of France, Italy, Spain etc, as can be seen with the Romansh youth, which travels to these countries and learns their language with ease. [...] We live in between an Italian and a German people. How practical

12870-417: The proponents of Rumantsch Grischun to Nazi thugs raiding a Romansh village and desecrating, destroying, and burning the Romansh cultural heritage. The proponents responded by labeling the opponents as a small group of archconservative and narrow-minded Sursilvans and CVP politicians among other things. The debate was characterized by a heavy use of metaphors, with opponents describing Rumantsch Grischun as

13000-514: The referendum would have been rejected by 51%, with an even larger margin if only those with at least 50% Romansh speakers were considered. They thus interpret the results as the Romansh minority having been overruled by the German-speaking majority of the canton. A major change in policy came in 2003, when the cantonal government proposed a number of spending cuts, including a proposal according to which new Romansh teaching materials would not be published except in Rumantsch Grischun from 2006 onwards,

13130-592: The region became known variously as Veltlin , Westtirol (West Tyrol ), and the Welsche Vogteien ("Romanic Bailiwicks"). During the Thirty Years' War , the Valtellina was a theatre of intense military and diplomatic struggle among France, the Habsburg powers and the local authorities which culminated in the Valtellina war of 1620–1626. Control over the routes through the Valtellina to the passes between Lombardy and

13260-511: The regional varieties could continue to be used when addressing a single region or municipality. In schools, Rumantsch Grischun was not to replace the regional dialects but only be taught passively. The compromise was largely accepted by both sides. A further recommendation in 1999, known as the "Haltinger concept", also proposed that the regional varieties should remain the basis of the Romansh schools, with Rumantsch Grischun being introduced in middle school and secondary school. The government of

13390-564: The regional written dialects. One of the earliest was the Ortografia et ortoëpia del idiom romauntsch d'Engiadin'ota by Zaccaria Pallioppi , published in 1857. For Sursilvan, a first attempt to standardize the written language was the Ortografia gienerala, speculativa ramontscha by Baseli Carigiet, published in 1858, followed by a Sursilvan-German dictionary in 1882, and the Normas ortografias by Giachen Caspar Muoth in 1888. Neither of these guidelines managed to gather much support however. At

13520-470: The river Bitto) and wines. In past centuries it was a key Alpine pass between northern Italy and Germany. The control of the Valtellina was much sought after, particularly during the Thirty Years' War as it was an important part of the Spanish Road . The most important comune of the valley is Sondrio ; the others major centres are Aprica , Morbegno , Tirano , Bormio and Livigno . Although Livigno

13650-454: The same time, the Canton published school books in its own variety. Sursilvan was then definitely standardized through the works of Gion Cahannes , who published Grammatica Romontscha per Surselva e Sutselva in 1924, followed by Entruidament devart nossa ortografia in 1927. The Surmiran dialect had its own norms established in 1903, when the Canton agreed to finance the school book Codesch da lectura per las scolas primaras de Surmeir , though

13780-408: The similarity, he mixes them so easily with his own bastardized language. [...] in any case, the conveniences named should hold no weight against all the disadvantages that come from such an isolated and uneducated language. According to Mathias Kundert, this quote is a good example of the attitude of many German-speakers towards Romansh at the time. According to Mathias Kundert, while there was never

13910-456: The so-called Duchy of Chur . However, after the death of the last Victorid ruler, Bishop Tello , around 765 AD, Charlemagne assigned a Germanic duke to administer the region. Additionally, the Diocese of Chur was transferred by the (pre- Schism ) Roman Catholic Church from the Archdiocese of Milan to the Diocese of Mainz in 843 AD. The combined effect was a cultural reorientation towards

14040-478: The spiritual needs of their congregation and to live a righteous life. The communities had the right to approve their priests and restricted the bishop from judging secular matters. The second articles were adopted on 25 June 1526. They completely removed the bishop's secular power. The parishes could now choose their own priests and appointments to bishop required approval of the entire Bundestag . Additionally church leaders could no longer appoint secular officers,

14170-460: The teacher." Additionally, Romansh schools had been common for several years before German had become a necessity, so that Romansh was firmly established as a medium of education. Likewise, in the Upper Engadine, where factors such as increased mobility and immigration by German speakers were even stronger, Romansh was more firmly established as a language of education and administration, so that

14300-472: The territories for Italy where these languages were spoken. From a sociolinguistic perspective, however, this question is largely irrelevant. The speakers of Romansh have always identified as speaking a language distinct from both Italian and other Romance varieties. Furthermore, unlike Friulian, Ladin, or Lombard , Romansh is located north of the German-Italian linguistic border, and German has influenced

14430-467: The then secretary of the Lia Rumantscha, a sociolinguist named Bernard Cathomas  [ de ] , launched a project for designing a pan-regional variety. The linguist Heinrich Schmid presented to the Lia Rumantscha the same year the rules and directives for this standard language under the name Rumantsch Grischun (Rumantsch Grischun: rumantsch grischun ). Schmid's approach consisted of creating

14560-741: The three Leagues are evidenced from 1461; closer links date to 1471, when the two leagues allied with the Grey League , but there is no documentary proof of this date. In 1497 and 1498 the Leagues allied with the Old Swiss Confederacy after the Habsburgs acquired the possessions of the extinct Toggenburg dynasty in 1496, siding with the Confederacy in the Swabian War three years later. The Habsburgs were defeated at Calven Gorge and Dornach , helping

14690-499: The time the president of the cantonal government, claimed that the Lia Rumantscha was trying to force the issue. Romansh writer Theo Candinas also called for a public debate on the issue, calling Rumantsch Grischun a "plague" and "death blow" to Romansh and its introduction a "Romansh Kristallnacht", thus launching a highly emotional and bitter debate which would continue for several years. The following year, Candinas published another article titled Rubadurs Garmadis in which he compared

14820-556: The titles survive for many of them. Another early writer, Giachem Bifrun , who also wrote in Putèr, penned the first printed book in Romansh, a catechism published in 1552. In 1560 he published a translation of the New Testament : L'g Nuof Sainc Testamaint da nos Signer Jesu Christ . Two years later, in 1562, another writer from the Engadine, Durich Chiampel , published the Cudesch da Psalms ,

14950-623: The town of Tirano in the Valtellina with St. Moritz in Graubünden, Switzerland via the Bernina Pass . The mountains of the Valtellina offer numerous possibilities for sports activities: skiing and winter sports in Bormio , Aprica or Livigno , hiking and biking in the same locations and especially in the secondary valleys, and rock climbing in the Val Masino . The Rupe Magna, a unique large rock with more than 5,000 engraved figures dating from between

15080-473: The turn of the century, the inner Heinzenberg and Cazis became German-speaking, followed by Rothenbrunnen , Rodels , Almens , and Pratval , splitting the Romansh area into two geographically non-connected parts. In the 1920s and 1930s the rest of the villages in the valley became mainly German-speaking, sealing the split. In order to halt the decline of Romansh, the Lia Rumantscha began establishing Romansh day care schools, called Scoletas , beginning in

15210-605: The union of the remainder of the county of Misox, with the districts of Misox and Calanca . The Grey League was administered in eight districts: A third league was established on 8 June 1436, by the people of ten bailiwicks in the former county of Toggenburg , as the dynasty of Toggenburg had become extinct. The league was called League of the Ten Jurisdictions ( German : Zehngerichtebund ; Romansh : Ligia da las diesch dretgiras ), with its capital in Davos , and

15340-652: The upper Vinschgau were disputed between the Bishopric of Chur and the County of Tyrol . While the first two could shake off the rule of the Habsburgs as count of Tyrol, in 1618, Untercalven was separated from the League as the last part of the Vinschgau. With its capital in Chur, the League was composed of the following districts: The Grey League ( Romansh : Lia Grischa )

15470-517: The valley killing every Protestant that they found. Between 500 and 600 people were killed on that night and in the following four days. The attack drove nearly all the Protestants out of the valley, prevented further Protestant incursions and took the Valtellina out of the Three Leagues . The killings in Valtellina were part of the conflicts in Graubünden known as the Bündner Wirren or Confusion of

15600-523: The valley to Saint Denis Monastery near Paris. Later the valley returned to the Bishop of Como. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Valtellina belonged to the Three Leagues (the "Grey Leagues"), which was then a mutual-defence region independent of Switzerland but is now the easternmost Swiss Canton of Graubünden . Graubünden is an area in which German, Romansh , Lombard and Italian are all spoken, and hence during 16th-century rule by Graubünden,

15730-561: The various Romansh-speaking regions would still have developed their own separate written standards. Instead, several regional written varieties of Romansh began appearing during the 16th century. Gian Travers wrote the first surviving work in Romansh, the Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs , in the Putèr dialect. This epic poem, written in 1527, describes the first Musso war , in which Travers himself had taken part. Travers also translated numerous biblical plays into Romansh, though only

15860-507: The way to the new year. On 6 January, the custom of the gabinat is still celebrated today, especially in Tirano , in the Upper Valley, and in the nearby Poschiavo Valley (Switzerland). Traditionally, children would suddenly enter other people's homes shouting gabinat! and in exchange, they would receive a handful of cooked chestnuts, some sweets or dried fruit. The adults competed to precede

15990-408: The year across") also celebrated New Year's Eve: during the night young people used to build barricades of gates, doors , benches, agricultural tools, logs, stairs, sledges, and carts in the main square or in front of the church, to prevent the old year from leaving. The next morning, the owners of the stolen objects had to go and recover them, dismantling the barricade and metaphorically opening up

16120-464: Was composed of: The alliance was mainly designed to resist Habsburg expansion into the region and was administered in seven districts: The three separate Leagues initially worked together informally, such as in 1450, in the Schamserfehde , a conflict with the house of Werdenberg-Sargans , during which the League of the Ten Jurisdictions allied with the League of God's House . Joint meetings of

16250-462: Was developed in 1944 by Giuseppe Gangale . Around 1880, the entire Romansh-speaking area still formed a continuous geographical unit. But by the end of the century, the so-called "Central-Grisons language bridge" began to disappear. From Thusis , which had become German-speaking in the 16th/17th century, the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys were gradually Germanized over the next decades. Around

16380-573: Was founded in 1395 in the Upper Rhine valley , as a reaction to various feuds between the Barony of Belmont , the Lordship of Sax , the Barony of Rhäzüns , the Barony of Vaz , County of Werdenberg , Disentis Abbey and the Bishopric of Chur . The capital of the League was Ilanz . The name Grey League is derived from the homespun grey clothes worn by the people; the name of this league later gave its name to

16510-525: Was now not much appreciated by the inhabitants of the city. Many linguists regard the loss of Chur to German as a crucial event. According to Sylvia Osswald, for example, it occurred precisely at a time when the introduction of the printing press could have led to the adoption of the Romansh dialect of the capital as a common written language for all Romansh speakers. Other linguists such as Jachen Curdin Arquint remain skeptical of this view, however, and assume that

16640-625: Was published by Steffan Gabriel . Four years later, in 1615, a Catholic catechism, Curt Mussament , was published in response, written by Gion Antoni Calvenzano . The first translation of the New Testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel, Luci Gabriel . The first complete translation of the Bible, the Bibla da Cuera , was published between 1717 and 1719. The Sursilvan dialect thus had two separate written varieties, one used by

16770-529: Was substantial migration out of the Valtellina for reasons of the prevailing economically depressed conditions of the region and for young men to avoid conscription . Australia, especially Western Australia , was a popular destination for such migrants. Industrially, the area is famous as the home of the world's first mainline electrified railway . The electrification of the Ferrovia della Valtellina took place in 1902, using three-phase power at 3,600 V, with

16900-459: Was the 1471 alliance between the League of God's House , the League of the Ten Jurisdictions , and the Grey League . Its members were all associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy , and as such enjoyed positive relations with the Confederation, which eventually led to the formation of the Swiss canton of Grisons . The territory corresponds to the core territory of Raetia Curiensis (ruled by

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