William Tell

William Tell (German: Wilhelm Tell, pronounced [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈtɛl]; French: Guillaume Tell; Italian: Guglielmo Tell; Romansh: Guglielm Tell) is a legendary Swiss folk hero famous for shooting an apple from his son's head.

According to the legend, Tell was a skilled mountain climber and crossbow marksman who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, a tyrannical reeve representing the Austrian Habsburg dukes in Altdorf, Uri canton. Tell's act of defiance and tyrannicide allegedly inspired the local population to rebellion, leading them to form an alliance with neighboring Schwyz and Unterwalden. This pact against foreign rulers is considered the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy, with Tell regarded as its father.

Though traditionally set in the early 14th century (around 1307, during Albert of Habsburg's rule), the first written accounts of the legend only appear in the late 15th century, coinciding with the Swiss Confederacy's growing military and political influence. Tell stands alongside Arnold von Winkelried, the hero of Sempach (1386), as a central figure in Swiss national historiography. His significance grew during the formation of modern Switzerland in the 19th century, known as the Restoration and Regeneration period. Beyond Switzerland, Tell became a broader European symbol of resistance against aristocratic rule, particularly during the 1848 Revolutions against the Habsburg dynasty that had controlled Austria for centuries.