William Tell: Switzerland’s National Hero


William Tell is arrested for not saluting Gessler's hat, as seen in a mosaic at the Swiss National Museum. (Photo by Roland Zh via Wikimedia Commons) Image
William Tell is arrested for not saluting Gessler’s hat, as seen in a mosaic at the Swiss National Museum. (Photo by Roland Zh via Wikimedia Commons)
Image

According to legend, on this date in 1307, William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow.

Here are some things you may not have known about the legend.

The first reference to William Tell appeared about 100 years after his supposed death. It describes Tell as a leader of the Swiss Confederate rebellion against Hapsburg Austria.

Tell is said to have been a skilled mountain climber and an expert marksman with a crossbow.

Tell and his son entered the town of Altdorf, and publicly refused to salute the hat of the local lord, Albrecht Gessler. For this offense, Gessler sentenced Tell and his son to death.

Knowing Tell’s reputation as a marksman, Gessler was willing to let them go free if Tell could shoot an apple off his son’s head with one arrow.

Tell drew his bow and split the apple, and more importantly, missed his son’s head.

However, Gessler noticed that Tell had taken two arrows from his quiver and asked him about it.

Tell was initially reluctant, but after Gessler promised again not to kill him, Tell told him that in case he killed his son, the second arrow would have been used to kill Gessler.

Hearing this, Gessler told Tell that he would be imprisoned for the rest of his life for that offense.

As with all good legends, a stormy boat ride allowed the prisoner to escape, leading to a cross-country chase which ended with Tell killing Gessler with another arrow shot, and supposedly sparking the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

Since that time Tell has been revered as a Swiss patriot.

Despite the fact that 60 percent of the Swiss population believe William Tell existed, most modern experts think he was fictional.

Our question, Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” was used as the theme song to what 1950s American television show?

Today is National Day in Oman, and Independence Day in Latvia and Morocco.

It’s unofficially International Stand Up to Bullying Day, Mickey Mouse Day, and National Vichyssoise Day.

It’s the birthday of lyricist Johnny Mercer, who was born in 1909; astronaut Alan Shepard, who was born in 1923; and TV news anchor Megyn Kelly, who turns 46.

Because our topic happened before 1960, we’ll spin the wheel to pick a year at random.

This week in 1971, the top song in the U.S. was “Theme from ‘Shaft’” by Isaac Hayes.

The No. 1 movie was “Fiddler on the Roof,” while the novel “Day of the Jackal” by Frederick Forsyth topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

 

 

Links

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or our website.

Also, if you’re enjoying the show, please consider supporting it through Patreon.com

Please rate the show on iTunes by clicking here.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_18

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell_Overture

https://www.checkiday.com/11/18/2016

http://www.biography.com/people/groups/born-on-november-18

http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/numberonesongs/?chart=us&m=11&d=17&y=1960&o=

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1971_box_office_number-one_films_in_the_United_States


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.