hands, or the "Swiss Bull" or (from the later 17th century), the Three Confederates or the Helvetia allegory. The cantonal coats of arms were often accompanied by the coats of arms of the close associates of the confederacy, including Biel, the Imperial Abbey of St. Gallen, Imperial City of St. Gallen, the Sieben Zenden (Valais), the Three Leagues (Grisons), the Imperial City of Mulhouse, the Imperial City of Geneva and the Imperial City of Rottweil. Thirty Years' War The Reformation in Switzerland left the Old Swiss Confederacy divided between two hostile factions. But still, Switzerland remained a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen) while Europe was torn by the Thirty Years' War. The cities generally lay low and watched the destruction from afar, the Republic of Zürich investing in building state-of-the-art city ramparts. The cantons had concluded numerous mercenary contracts and defence alliances with partners on all sides. Some of these contracts neutralized each other, which allowed the confederation to remain neutral – in the 1647 Defensionale von Wil, signed under the impression of the Swedes advancing as far as Lake Constance in the winter of 1646/47, the confederates declared "permanent armed neutrality", the historical starting point of Swiss neutrality, which would be re-confirmed by the Congress of Vienna and adhered to throughout the 19th and 20th century conflicts. Treaty of Westphalia At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the Swiss Confederacy attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire, although it had been de facto independent since the Swabian War in 1499. With the support of the Duke of Orléans, who was also prince of Neuchâtel and the head of the French delegation, Johann Rudolf Wettstein, the mayor of Basel, succeeded in getting a formal exemption from the empire for all cantons and associates of the confederacy. During the Thirty Years' War, the Drei Bünde (Graubünden, an associate state of the Swiss Confederation) had been caught in the middle of internal and external conflict. Because the Leagues were very decentralized, conflicts over religion and foreign policy broke out during the war (known as the Bündner Wirren or Confusion of the Leagues). Following the war the League took steps to strengthen itself. The Valtellina, which had broken from the Three Leagues, became a dependency once again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797. Relationships with France Following the