The Swiss confederates control most of the territory south and west of the Rhine to the Alps and the Jura mountains by 1460, particularly after victories against the Habsburgs (Battle of Sempach, Battle of Näfels), over Charles the Bold of Burgundy during the 1470s, and the success of the Swiss mercenaries.

The Swiss victory in the Swabian War against the Swabian League of Emperor Maximilian I in 1499 amounts to de facto independence within the Holy Roman Empire.

The Old Swiss Confederacy had acquired a reputation of invincibility during these earlier wars, but expansion of the confederation suffers a setback in 1515 with the Swiss defeat in the Battle of Marignano.

This ends the so-called "heroic" epoch of Swiss history.

The success of Zwingli's Reformation in some cantons leads to inter-cantonal religious conflicts in 1529 and 1531 (Wars of Kappel).