Adrian von Bubenberg

Who was Adrian von Bubenberg?

Adrian von Bubenberg was a Bernese knight, general and mayor of Bern in 1468-1469, 1473-1474 and 1477-1479. In Switzerland, he is remembered as the hero of the Battle of Murten.

Adrian von Bubenberg was born as the son of Heinrich IV. von Bubenberg, Schultheiss of Bern and lord of Spiez, whom he succeeded in 1465. He was knighted in 1466 during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulchre.

In April 1476 he was appointed commander of Murten. There, he resisted a twelve-day siege by the troops of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, until he was relieved by Swiss forces - and Charles decisively beaten - on June 22.

Numerous times before and after the Burgundy wars, he led Bernese negotiations with other cantons of the old Swiss Confederacy and foreign powers including Savoy, Burgundy, France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Von Bubenberg was buried in the choir of the Berner Münster, the Cathedral of Bern. Ever having been short of funds in spite of being the head of Berne's preeminent noble house, von Bubenberg was posthumously banned for his debts in 1481, but the government resisted Pope Sixtus IV's demand that he be exhumed and dishonourably buried because of this.