Was William Tell an outlaw? Was William Tell a real person? Does the legend of a "William Tell- like- figure" appear elsewhere in Western European history?
The Swiss national hero, William Tell was an outlaw to the Habsburg (Hapsburg) bailiff of Uri. When the bailiff, Hermann Gessler, ordered the Swiss residents of Uri to bow to his hat atop a pike, Tell shot the hat with an arrow. Such a show of rebellious behavior to the Habsburg rulers could not go unpunished and Tell was deemed an outlaw.
Gessler had Tell arrested and he was ordered to shoot an apple atop his son's head. According to legend, Tell carried two arrows in his quiver, and upon successfully shooting the apple from atop his son's head, he was asked by Gessler to explain the second arrow. Tell replied that, had he missed and killed his son, he would have used the second arrow to kill Gessler.
Tell was arrested, but managed to escape and then kill the Habsburg bailiff. Tell is honored as a symbol for the struggle against tyranny. While the Tell saga supposedly took place in 1307, the legend first appeared in widespread form in 1470.
By 1570, two differing accounts had been merged into the story that is common today.
Tell's existence can not be verified nor can that of Hermann Gessler, though accounts of similar stories are found in medieval Germanic myths, Morse mythology and English legends. In 1986, one historian tried to tie Tell's background to an existing family line in Switzerland, but many historians remain skeptical.
Nevertheless, Tell's refusal to bow to tyranny has proved an impetus to the revolutionaries during the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.
Real man or not, outlaw or reformer, William Tell provides a symbol of the importance of not yielding to tyranny. His story holds great significance in the modern world, still.
