The Battle of Calven 1 took place on 22 May 1499 at the exit of the Val Müstair in the Grisons to the Vinschgau in County of Tyrol between the forces of King Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg and those of the free federation of the Three Leagues of the Grisons. It was the decisive battle in the southern Grisons of the Swabian War; after the defeat of the Habsburg troops, the king had to abandon his attempts to control the Engadin and the Val Müstair. The focus of operations in the Swabian War subsequently shifted again to the northern border of the Old Swiss Confederacy.
Depiction of the battle from the Luzerner Schilling, 1513.
The Grisons or Graubünden, more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. It has eleven districts, and its capital is Chur. The German name of the canton, Graubünden, translates as the "Grey Leagues", referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the Three Leagues. The other native names also refer to the Grey League: Grischùn in Sutsilvan, Grischun in the other forms of Romansh, and Grigioni in Italian. Rhaetia is the Latin name for the area. The Alpine ibex is the canton's heraldic symbol.
The Engadin (here near St. Moritz and the lakes) is one of the highest valleys of the Alps and the only Swiss region in the basin of the Black Sea.
The Anterior Rhine (here at the Rhine Gorge) is one of the largest rivers in the canton.
Lowlands: Vineyards of the Bündner Herrschaft, at the foot of the Falknis
Montane zone: Val Bregaglia, at the foot of Piz Badile
