hermit, popular saint, and Swiss folk hero. His intervention in a conflict between cantonal factions over the admission of Fribourg and Solothurn to the Swiss Confederation led to the agreement of Stans (Stans, Diet of) (Dec. 22, 1481), which forestalled civil war and strengthened the federative bond of the member cantons.

After serving with his cantonal contingent in the war against Zürich (1436–50), Flüe was elected judge and councillor for upper Unterwalden (1448), but in 1467 he left his wife and family and his civil functions to become a hermit. The nature of his intervention at Stans is still disputed; but by his admonitions to moderation, he entered popular Swiss tradition as one of the earliest champions of arbitration as a method for resolving disputes.