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dues was not only their cost, but also that such customs were seen as the badge of serfdom, though for all practical purposes serfdom had been abolished long since. There were also strong objections to the way in which the tax money was spent. Some of it went towards works for the whole community, such as road building and poor relief, but some on projects which benefited only the abbey. "Zäll nünt, du bist nünt scholdig!" was the slogan - "Pay nowt, tha doosent owe nowt!"

After a long interval, in December 1794, the Prince-Abbot rejected this appeal on the grounds that the procedure followed had been illegal. The five magistrates were replaced by a committee with seventeen members, who stirred up discontent among the people. The Prince-Abbot then gave permission for assemblies to be held in the communes, to collect further grievances. After another long interval, in February 1795, Künzle took advantage of this to hold an assembly in Gossau, attended by several thousand men. He allowed himself to be elected as leader of the revolutionary movement, and became literally an iconic figure, his portrait appeared on medallions worn by women and girls. He came from a farming family and the Landvogt Müller-Friedberg had helped him educate himself - in a similar way that Bräker had been helped by Andreas Giezendanner. Systematic attempts were then made to gain the support of other communes. Perhaps to counter this, the Prince-Abbot issued a decree on 19th March, to reassert his authority.

Much more attention was attracted by the reaction to a similar approach to the authorities at Stäfa, a small town on the Lake of Zürich, in 1794. A "Memorial" of grievances was printed and widely circulated, demanding a reform of the constitution of the rural communes around Zürich, to give their people equal rights and privileges with those of the city, in such matters as trade and manufactures, higher education and military service. These demands were based on alleged ancient rights that had been allowed to fall into abeyance. (This was a common revolutionary tactic; ancient documents were ferreted out from the archives, dusted off and used to justify a form of government completely new to Switzerland.) In November 1794 the government of Zürich countered this by suppressing publication of the Memorial and arresting some of the men who had published it. This led to popular assemblies in other Zürich communes, which were regarded as seditious and banned by law. In early 1795 severe sentences were passed on the more prominent of those who had been arrested, and proclamations were issued to deter further revolutionary activity.

Soon, however, further conflicts broke out, and on 22nd March a Tree of Liberty was erected in Stäfa. (A Tree of Liberty was a totem-pole symbolising revolution in the way that a Christmas-tree symbolises Christmas, similarly decorated with garlands, flags, printed slogans and so on. Sometimes it was topped by a red cap like those worn by French workmen, to show that the common people were now in control, later this was replaced by the traditional Swiss green hat.) After an illegal assembly at which some ancient documents of rights were publicly proclaimed, the government of Zürich demanded that some representatives from Stäfa should come to the city to give an account of their actions. When this demand was refused, the town was occupied by soldiers for nine weeks. In fact the city had some trouble in recruiting soldiers for this occupation, because by this time their harsh treatment of the citizens of Stäfa had aroused widespread sympathy for the revolutionaries. Even in the city itself some prominent men such as Füssli, Lavater and Pestalozzi used their influence to reduce the sentences passed on the leaders, otherwise some might well have been condemned to death.

Though this was in theory just another local rising, in fact it was clear to all that the outcome would affect the future of the whole Confederation.

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