Aegidius (Giles, Glig) Tschudi (February 5, 1505 – February 28, 1572) was a Swiss statesman and historian, best known as the author of the Chronicon Helveticum, a history of the early Swiss Confederation. Tschudi served in public offices throughout his life. In 1558, he became a chief magistrate and was sent as ambassador to the court of Emperor Ferdinand, who in turn ennobled him in 1559. His most important works were not published until well after his death. His greatest work, the Chronicon Helveticum, was not published until the 1730s. Despite this, Tschudi's scholarship did not go unnoticed and circulated in unpublished manuscript throughout European learned circles: Ortelius's 1570 map of Switzerland, for example, was based on his work. As a historian, Tschudi earned criticism: his writings relied on forged documents to fraudulently exaggerate his family's significance.