James Blake Wiener

James Blake Wiener is a writer, PR specialist, trained world historian and a Co-Founder of World History Encyclopedia.

The Walser Migrations

James Blake Wiener 22.11.2022 The Walsers migrated outwards to settle and tame uncultivated pastures in the harsh high altitudes of the Alps between c. 1150-1450. This migration represents one of the last great movements of peoples during the Middle Ages, and the legacy of Walser resourcefulness still looms large in Swiss culture.

The former Walser settlement of Sapün, below Arosa GR.

The Battle on the Planta

James Blake Wiener 10.11.2022 On 13 November 1475, the Valaisans and their Confederate allies defeated the powerful army of Savoy at the gates of Sion. Their victory in the now little-known «Battle on the Planta» was of great importance for the Confederation and decisive for its successes in the Burgundian Wars.

When the Magyars invaded St. Gall

James Blake Wiener 01.11.2022 In 926, the notorious Magyars raided and sacked the town and monastery of St. Gall. Thereafter, monks in St. Gall wrote and preserved the most detailed and oldest first-hand descriptions of the Magyar invasions of Western Europe.

The invasion of the Magyars in St. Gall.

The "Camino Español" through Switzerland

James Blake Wiener 03.10.2022 During the Counter-Reformation, Switzerland’s Catholic cantons cultivated strong ties with Spain to counter Protestant ambitions. The “Spanish Road” – a vital artery for the Spanish war effort during the Eighty Years' War – ran directly through Switzerland for a brief period of time.

The Siege of Dijon 1513

James Blake Wiener 09.09.2022 The Old Swiss Confederation won a stunning military victory over France at the Battle of Novara in June 1513. Following up on their successes in Italy, the Swiss and their Swabian allies successfully besieged the city of Dijon in September 1513, which marks the apex of Swiss power across Western Europe.

Tapestry of the Siege of Dijon, c. 1514-1520 (detail).

Zenith of Swiss Power: The Battle of Novara

James Blake Wiener 03.06.2022 The Battle of Novara on 6 June 1513 was the last great military victory of the Old Swiss Confederation and marked the peak of its power in Europe.

A Swiss mercenary holds the best hand vis-à-vis the great European rulers in the "Game for Milan". Woodcut by Hans Rüegger, 1514 (detail).

The Zurich Art Controversy: Ferdinand Hodler and the Swiss National Museum

James Blake Wiener 14.03.2022 In 1900, the Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler created three frescoes the armory hall of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. Hodler ignored the wishes of his patrons and sparked a nationwide controversy with the composition of the picture for his work «The Retreat from Marignano».

Retreat from Marignano. Fresco on the west side of the Armory Hall at the National Museum Zurich, main piece, 1900.

Around the world with James Cook

James Blake Wiener 09.02.2022 The Swiss-British artist John Webber (1751-1793) served as the draughtsman in Captain James Cook's third expedition to Oceania, Canada, and Alaska. Webber’s artwork captures a unique moment in time – the first encounters of the British with indigenous peoples from around the Pacific Rim.

Burial Ground in the South Seas. Painting by John Webber, around 1777.