 The Aargau had been annexed in 1415.The western part belonged to Bern, while the eastern part comprised the two condominiums of the former County of Baden in the north and the "Freie Ämter" ("Free Districts") in the south.The Free Districts had been forcibly recatholized after the Reformation in Switzerland, and the Catholic cantons, especially Lucerne, Zug, and Uri considered these districts part of their sphere of influence and the reeves typically came from these cantons.