William Tell

William Tell (German Wilhelm Tell) was a legendary hero of disputed historical accuracy said to have lived in Canton of Uri in Switzerland in the early 14th century.

He was known as an expert marksman with his crossbow. At the time, the Habsburg emperors were seeking to dominate Uri. Hermann Gessler, the newly appointed Austrian governor of Altdorf raised a pole in the village's central square with his hat on top and forced all the local townsfolk to bow before it. As Tell passed by without bowing, he was arrested. He received the punishment of either successfully shooting an apple off of the head of his son, or dying.

Tell had been promised freedom if he shot the apple. On November 18, 1307, Tell did split the fruit with a single bolt from his crossbow, thankfully, without mishap (this is, however, a story which appears in several Germanic countries, such as Denmark, England and Holstein, see Palnatoke).

However, Tell soon said that if he had ended up killing his son in that trial, he would have turned the crossbow on Gessler. Gessler became enraged at that comment, and he arrested Tell. Tell was furious and vowed to get revenge. Indeed he did, escaping from Gessler and shooting him with an arrow. When he returned to his town, he was hailed as a hero.

This defiance of the Austrian governor sparked a rebellion, leading to Switzerland's independence.

Schiller and Rossini

Friedrich von Schiller inspired the Opera by Gioachino Rossini.

de:Wilhelm Tell fr:Guillaume Tell nl:Willem Tell [[ja:ウィリアム・テル]] no:Wilhelm Tell sv:Wilhelm Tell

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