William Tell

THE STORY OF WILLIAM TELL

William Tell was a farmer who became a Swiss legend when his defiance sparked an uprising against their tyrannical Austrian ruler. He became the symbol of political freedom across Switzerland and there is a bronze statue of him in Uri, a mountain village that is the birthplace of modern Switzerland. He is considered to be one of the countries founding fathers, and it all started with an apple.

The story goes that in 1307, Gessler the Hapsburg Duke of Austria placed one of his Hapsburg hats on a pole in the centre of the Uri village, his orders where that any man that walked by the pole must remove their hat and bow to the pole. Tell refused to do such a thing, laughing at the idea of the subordination that the Duke was demanding, this angered Gessler who felt that others might follow Tell’s example.

Tell was famed for being one of the best hunters around and a great marksman with a bow and arrow. With Gessler seeking to make an example of Tell he ordered his men to take Tell’s son and bring him to the town square where they told Tell that he must prove how good he is as a huntsman by shooting an apple off the head of his child from 120 paces. If he refused or if he was unsuccessful then they would both be killed. Tell had his trepidations but eventually agreed to this and with a single arrow, he aimed and fired and the arrow took flight. It landed right in the centre of the apple and carried it clean off of his son’s head. As Tell then turned to face the Duke, a second hidden arrow fell from his coat, when he was asked what the second arrow was for, Tell replied “Tyrant! This arrow was for your heart if I had hurt my child.”

Tell was promptly detained and deported by boat, bound for a dungeon in a neighbouring castle. He escaped, managed to kill the Duke and galvanised others in an uprising. What happened next kicked off a revolution among the poor, medieval inhabitants and led to an overthrow of their foreign rule and the story became a proud part of Swiss history