Editing Aargau (section)

===Unteraargau or Berner Aargau===
[[File:Berner Aargau.png|thumb|upright|Districts in Bernese controlled Unteraargau]]
Bern's portion of the Aargau came to be known as the [[Unteraargau]], though can also be called the Berner or Bernese Aargau. In 1514 Bern expanded north into the [[Canton of Jura|Jura]] and so came into possession of several strategically important mountain passes into the Austrian [[Fricktal]]. This land was added to the Unteraargau and was directly ruled from Bern. It was divided into seven rural [[bailiwick]]s and four administrative cities, Aarau, Zofingen, Lenzburg and Brugg. While the Habsburgs were driven out, many of their minor nobles were allowed to keep their lands and offices, though over time they lost power to the Bernese government. The bailiwick administration was based on a very small staff of officials, mostly made up of Bernese citizens, but with a few locals.<ref name=HDS_BA>{{harvnb|Sauerlände|2002}}</ref>

When Bern converted during the [[Protestant Reformation]] in 1528, the Unteraargau also converted. At the beginning of the 16th century a number of [[anabaptist]]s migrated into the upper Wynen and Rueder valleys from [[Zürich]]. Despite pressure from the Bernese authorities in the 16th and 17th centuries anabaptism never entirely disappeared from the Unteraargau.<ref name=HDS_BA/>

Bern used the Aargau bailiwicks mostly as a source of grain for the rest of the city-state. The administrative cities remained economically only of regional importance. However, in the 17th and 18th centuries Bern encouraged industrial development in Unteraargau and by the late 18th century it was the most industrialized region in the city-state. The high industrialization led to high population growth in the 18th century, for example between 1764 and 1798, the population grew by 35%, far more than in other parts of the canton. In 1870 the proportion of farmers in Aarau, Lenzburg, Kulm, and Zofingen districts was 34–40%, while in the other districts it was 46–57%.<ref name=HDS_BA/>