Three men from the cantons of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden met secretly on the plateau of Grütli above the Urner lake and pledged that they and their kin would help each other against external threats. This was in 1291 and it marks the foundation of the Swiss foundation. The immediate threat came from the House of Habsburg. The alliance of 1291 was reaffirmed and strengthened after the battle of Morgarten in 1315, becoming the legal basis for relations among the cantons until 1798. (W. Scott, Pictures at an Exhibition. An introduction to Swiss History and Art,  Genève, 2007).