Week 13 Essay

          This week I learned about many interesting people and dynasties, and it was very difficult to choose just one to write about, but I eventually picked an important character in history, William Tell. William Tell was a Swiss who fought for independence from the Hapsburg Dynasty. Some of his stories might be myths, we do not know, but he was a real person.

          To begin, there was a time where there was no official Holy Roman Emperor. This time was called the Great Interregnum, and it lasted from 1254-1273 AD. It ended when a man named Rudolph I of the Hapsburgs took the throne and became the Holy Roman Emperor. He started a very long-lasting dynasty (the longest one that Europe had ever seen), he produced many kings of Germany and Austria, and he didn’t gain territory by war, but by marriage. As you can see, this was a very powerful empire.

          However, the Swiss did not want to be ruled. They wanted to be their own country. They even grouped together from several small colonies to one country to rebel against the Hapsburg Dynasty. One of the men that started this rebellion was William Tell.

          Gessler was the name of the man that the Hapsburg ruler of the time set up to rule over Switzerland, but he was a very cruel and harsh ruler. To text the Swiss people’s obedience (which he knew was slim), he set his hat in the middle of the town where everyone walked and told them to bow to it when they passed. The Swiss people already knew their lives were bad enough, and they did not want them to get worse, so they obeyed the duke and bowed.

          William, however, was smarter than this, and when he was walking to the town with his young son (named Walter) did not bow, and neither did Walter. They did not even bow to the Duke Gessler himself! When Gessler heard of this, he was furious, and he had William and his son arrested immediately.

          Duke Gessler knew that William was a skilled archer, and he wanted to test his bowman ability, so for William’s punishment, he was supposed to shoot straight through an apple, which was sitting on Walter’s head. William pleaded with Gessler not to make him do it, but the evil duke replied that if William did not attempt to do his punishment, Gessler would have Walter executed, which was the opposite of what William wanted, so he agreed to the cruel contest.

          In the town square, William set the apple on Walter’s head and stepped fifty paces back. He turned around, carefully aimed, and shot the arrow. It went directly through the apple and did as much as scratching Walter’s head. Everyone cheered, but Gessler was not happy. He noticed that William had a second arrow in his jacket, and he asked why. William replied that it was for Gessler’s heart, in case William missed and the duke harmed William or his son.

           Gessler was even more furious at this news, and he ordered that William should be chained to a ship and brought to Gessler’s castle. However, as they were sailing, the ship was caught in a storm. Through their fear, the sailors freed William, since he had boat experience, and he got them to safety. As soon as he did, though, he grabbed one of the guard’s spears and ran. He went back to his town, and killed Gessler with his second arrow.

          This was when William started the fight for independence in Switzerland from the Hapsburg Empire. His legacy went on and eventually Switzerland got what it was fighting for, in 1499. Today, William is remembered as a legend, and a warrior that fought for Swiss independence.