William tell archery biography meaning

Folk hero of Switzerland

For other uses, see William Tell (disambiguation).

William Tell (German: Wilhelm Tell, pronounced[ˈvɪlhɛlmˈtɛl]^ⓘ; French: Guillaume Tell; Italian: Guglielmo Tell; Romansh: Guglielm Tell) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland.

According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, a tyrannical reeve of the Austrian dukes of the House of Habsburg positioned in Altdorf, in the canton of Uri.

Tell's defiance and tyrannicide encouraged the population to open rebellion and to make a pact against the foreign rulers with neighbouring Schwyz and Unterwalden, marking the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy. Tell was considered the father of the Swiss Confederacy.

Set in the early 14th century (traditional date , during the rule of Albert of Habsburg), the first written records of the legend date to the latter part of the 15th century, when the Swiss Confed