District of Disentis

	The territory of the District of Disentis reaches from 
the Oberalp and Lukmanier Passes to the point where the St. 
Petersbach, rushing down from the terrace of Obersaxen, joins 
the Rhine below Tavanasa.  The rocks of the Russein Gorge 
divide the district into two parts, Sursassiala and 
Sutsassiala, which include the political communes of 
Breil/Brigels, Disentis/Mustér, Medel (Lucmagn), Schlans, 
Somvix, Tavetsch,and Trun.

	The German name Disentis is derived from the Latin word 
Desertina, describing the wilderness at Sursassiala at the time 
when the Frankish hermit Sigisbert built his cell in the year 
700.  The Romansh name Mustér goes back to the monastery of the 
Benedictines which was later erected here by Bishop Ursizin.  
This monastery was so important for the development of the 
country that the local people still call it the Cadi, derived 
from " Casa Dei ", Land of the House of God.

	As the monastery lay at the northern entrance to one of 
the lowest and most easily accessible passes through the Alps, 
the Lukmanier, it enjoyed the favour of the German Emperors, 
above all of Otto the Great and Barbarossa, who used this way 
to the south, and endowed the monastery with rich domains.  In 
1048 the monastery was put under the direct rule of the 
Emperor, and the sovereign rights finally included the whole 
Cadi to the extent described above (with the exception of 
Schlans) and even further.  Within the sovereignty of the 
monastery the political rights of the predominantly Romansh 
people grew rapidly.   People from the upper Valais (Walser) 
who had immigrated over the Furka and Oberalp passes also 
settled in the district.  In 1285 the commune already possessed 
its own seal; in 1472 the people had the right to elect their 
own magistrate, and in 1643 the jurisdiction was handed over to 
the commune and divided into four courts (administrative 
districts), namely, Disentis, Tavetsch, BrigelsMedel and 
Somvix-Trun.  Clever local abbots, like Johann II of Ilanz and 
Petrus of Pontaningen, knew how to manage the urge for freedom 
which their people had gained through contact with the Lombards 
and the original Swiss Cantons.  They put themselves at the 
head of the movement, which in 1395 led to the union of the 
Raetian lords, and later to the formation of the Grey League, 
which was brought about by the communes, most of which had 
gained a high degree of independence. The Cadi and six 
neighbouring villages belonged to the same jurisdiction.  In 
1424 the League was solemnly renewed and enlarged under the 
maple at Truns, which from then on remained the meeting place 
of the assemblies of the Grey League.  Under the leadership of 
the abbot, the Grey League joined the Confederates in 1497 as 
the first of the three Raetian Leagues.

	At the time of the Reformation, the Articles of Ilanz 
and the acceptance of the new faith by the abbot and three 
monks threatened the existence of the monastery, but the fact 
that the people had been given political rights at an early 
stage now led to the rescue of the monastery by the magistrate 
of the Cadi.  Under the reform of the Abbot Christian of 
Castelberg it came to new life.

	At the time of the conflicts in the Grisons, levies 
were imposed by the people of Prättigau and the Engadine, but 
money was brought into the country by mercenaries and as the 
result of political business throughout the whole of the 18th 
century.  The de la Tour family from Brigels and the Castelberg 
family from Disentis, supporters of the French and Austrian 
parties, played an eminent part in the policy of the Cadi as 
well as of the whole League.

	At the time of the Revolution the Cadi was the scene of 
bitter fights with the invading French, who in 1799 set fire to 
the village and the monastery after a rising of the local 
people.  Developments took a quieter course in 1803, a decisive 
year in the history of the Grisons.  In 1851, when the 
districts and communes of the canton were reorganised, Schlans, 
formerly part of the jurisdiction of Waltensburg, was joined to 
the Cadi, which then became the District of Disentis. 

	The language spoken in the Cadi is a regional 
dialect-Sursilvanian-Romansh.

Well-known men from the Cadi:

	Plazidus a Spescha (1752-1833) born at Truns, was a 
Benedictine monk in the monastery at Disentis.  He was a 
learned man of great knowledge, ahead of his time, and he made 
a name for himself in mountaineering, cartography, mineralogy, 
zoology, and botony, as well as in history, national economy, 
sociology, and philology.  He was a supporter of the French 
party, and because of this was deported to Innsbruck by the 
Austrians in 1799/81.

	Caspar Decurtins (1855-1916) from Truns was well known 
as a politician and philosopher.  From 1881 to 1905 he was a 
Member of Parliament, and was active in matters of social 
reform.  He was a founder-member of the University of Freiburg 
in Uechtland, and in 1905 became Professor of Cultural History 
at this university.  He was editor of the Romansh Chrestomathy 
and a promotor of the Romansh renaissance.

District Coat of Arms: Gules, with St. Martin mounted in 
silver, sharing green coat with a beggar.  Blazonry: Taken from 
the seal of the judicial court of Disentis, going back to the 
year 1452, with the inscription SI*COMUNlS*Dl* CASA*DEI.  This 
seal with the same emblem was still being used in 1791, and 
even later.  The colours of the district are: red-white-green.