November 18: William Tell
On 18 November 1307, William Tell shot an apple off of his son’s head.
Austrian overlord Hermann Gessler had put a pole in town square, hung his hat on it, and demanded that the townsfolk to bow down to it. William Tell and his son then passed by this pole and publicly refused to bow down. Gessler seized Tell, who was well known as a marksman and set him a challenge. Tell was ordered to shoot an apple off his son’s head with his crossbow. If Tell was successful, he would be released, but if he failed or refused, both he and his son would die.
Tell put one arrow in his quiver and another in his crossbow, took aim, and shot the apple off his son’s head. Gessler was impressed and infuriated. He asked what the second arrow was for. Tell replied that if the first arrow had struck the child, the second would have been for Gessler. For such impertinence, Tell was arrested and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment in Küssnacht.
During the boat journey to the Küssnacht, a storm arose and the oarsmen begged with Gessler to release Tell so that he could steer them to safety. Gessler acceded and Tell maneuvered the boat close to the shore and then leapt to freedom, simultaneously pushing the boat back into the water.
Determined to use the second arrow, Tell hurried to Küssnacht. As Gessler and his party walked along on a dark lane called Hohlegasse on their way to the castle, Tell shot a bolt into the tyrant’s heart. Tell’s comrades were inspired by his act of bravery to throw off the yoke of Habsburg oppression in their homeland and to remain forever free.
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–Bradley Clinansmith
Photo Caption: William tell and his son from Olive Beaupre Miller The Treasure Chest of My Bookhouse (Chicago: The Bookhouse for Children, 1920) V:293.
Meet the Author: Bradley Clinansmith
I am an 18 year old freshman at Schoolcraft College. I plan to transfer to the University of Michigan after my second year of college to become a registered nurse. When I’m not in school I’m usually working. When free time does come around, I’m either hanging
out with my friends, my girlfriend, or playing a recreational sport.
I read that no other Swiss person is so widely known as Wilhelm (William) Tell, the Swiss National Hero of Liberty. Liberty is seen as the absence of tyranny and of oppression. William Tell was very popular during the French Revolution (1789) and he became the official symbol on the seal of the revolutionary Helvetic Republic of Switzerland (1798 – 1803). Willem tell used a crossbow to shoot an apple off his son’s head. Tells crossbow was a label for Swiss quality products. In the 1970’s, when the Spiritual Defense, extended during the cold war, the crossbow-label disappeared quietly.