Why is Switzerland a semi-autonomous Federation?

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a collection of semi-autonomous cantons. As membership of the confederation has fluctuated throughout history, each of these cantons has its own unique history and nobility. Typically, each canton had its own constitution, currency, jurisdiction, habits, customs, history, and nobility.

Where did the Swiss nobility come from?

Supremacy was firmly controlled by the respective sovereign council. Therefore the origins of the Swiss nobility are different. In the Middle Ages the feudal gentry, whose social, economic and political structures correspond with the general situation in the other areas of the Empire, can be found in the territory of present-day Switzerland.

Where did the Swiss Landvögte come from?

With the house of Habsburg ousted, the Swiss states installed landvögte in several of the newly acquired castles, civil stateholders who wielded the legal and economic powers of the former feudal fief which they now administrated, for example in Lenzburg castle or in the Landvogteischloss (Governor's Castle) in Baden.

Why did Switzerland not consider Vorarlberg's Anschluss?

The Anschluss movement, 1918-1919, and the Paris Peace Conference. American Philosophical Society. pp. 350 et seq. ISBN 978-0-87169-103-3. "As far as Switzerland was concerned, she only considered Vorarlberg's Anschluss with herself, because the alternative, an Anschluss with Germany, seemed to constitute a clear threat to her."

Why did Switzerland have a dynasty?

In Switzerland there were many families of dynasties who were members of the Holy Roman Empire. Other cantons had rulers from the House of Savoy, or from the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Burgundy. This diversity prevented the birth of a state with monarchical central authority.