Basel

Basel, Bale, or Basle, the name of a canton and its capital in the N.W. of Switzerland. The former has an area of 184 square miles, and lies S. of the province of Alsace and the duchy of Baden. The southern portion is traversed by the Jura range with an average height of 4,000 to 5,000 feet, the slopes affording good pasturage. In the north the fertile lowlands are watered by the Rhine. Wine, corn, fruit, butter and cheese are the agricultural products, and timber is plentiful and valuable. Ribbon-making is an important industry, woollens, linens, and iron goods are also manufactured. The city division of the canton is quite distinct from the rural portion.

The town of Basel (anc. Basilia) stands on the S. bank of the Rhine, being connected with a suburb (Little Basel) on the other side by a fine bridge. Founded in the 4th century A.D. it became a free city of the empire in the 10th century. The noble Gothic cathedral was built on the site of a Roman structure in 1010, and contains the tomb of Erasmus and other interesting monuments. From 1431 to 1443 the famous Council of Basel was held here, in which the non-Italian bishops, aided by the Emperor and the King of France, tried in vain to impose checks on the papal power. In 1501 Basel joined the Swiss Confederacy, and the old Town Hall was built at this period. The citizens adopted eagerly the principles of the Reformation, but passed fortunately through that movement and the Thirty Years' war. The oppression of the rural inhabitants by the townspeople led to some disturbances until in 1832 the canton was divided. With railway communication on each side of the Rhine, and placed at the portal of Switzerland, Basel does a large transit business in goods and passengers. It manufactures silk, linen, and cotton, and has dye-works and iron foundries. It has always been an educational centre, and has a university, gymnasium, industrial school, library, botanical garden, and museum. Euler was born and taught here. and Holbein is supposed to have been a native of the place.