Atlas of Battles

battle, major, medieval

Battle of Sempach

Battle of Sempach was a battle fought on 9 July 1386 at Sempach, in what is now Switzerland. It was part of the War between Switzerland and the House of Habsburg, which ran from 1291 to 1499. The recorded result: Swiss victory. Recorded strength: 1,000 – 1,500 against 4,000, including 1,500 knights.

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Swiss pike square in the battle near Sempach on the 9th of July, 1386. Painting by Hans Ulrich Wegmann (1638/41) from the Battle Chapel at Sempach.
Swiss pike square in the battle near Sempach on the 9th of July, 1386. Painting by Hans Ulrich Wegmann (1638/41) from the Battle Chapel at Sempach.. Adrian Michael, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought9 July 1386
WhereSempach, Switzerland47.146N, 8.213E
OutcomeSwiss victory
BelligerentsOld Swiss Confederacy; Lucerne; Uri; Schwyz; UnterwaldenagainstDuchy of Austria
Casualties and losses200-600and1,500, among them c. 400 noblemen
Part ofWar between Switzerland and the House of Habsburg1291 to 1499

Where it sits in the War between Switzerland and the House of Habsburg

Battle of Saint George, 1292Battle of Dornbühl, 1298Battle of Morgarten, 1315Battle of Laupen, 1339Battle of Sempach, 138612921386Battle of Sempach, 1386
5 placed engagements of the War between Switzerland and the House of Habsburg in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date9 July 1386
PlaceSempach, Switzerland
47.146N, 8.213E
KindBattle, medieval
Strength1,000 – 1,5004,000, including 1,500 knights
Casualties and losses200-6001,500, among them c. 400 noblemen
Commanders
  • Petermann von Gundoldingen
  • Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Johann von Ochsenstein
Battle of SempachBattle of SempachSiege of BremgartenBattle of KappelBattle of GubelBattle of MorgartenBattle of St. Jakob an der SihlSiege of BremgartenBattle of MorgartenBattle of St. Jakob an der SihlGenevaBernLausanneFreiburgMulhouseLuganoBielChur100 km47.146N, 8.213E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Sempach
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Sempach today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-08. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 610 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 461 to 827 m, 366 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 37% grassland, 26% tree cover, 25% cropland.

grassland: 37%tree cover: 26%cropland: 25%water: 7%built-up: 6%grassland 37%tree cover 26%cropland 25%water 7%built-up 6%
west to east, 10.0 km504 to 660 mnorth to south, 10.0 km517 to 752 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1386

Battle of Sempach is one of 600 engagements of the 14th century in the atlas and one of 73 in present-day Switzerland.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q661759, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Sempach, revision 1380143024, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.