William Tell in the context of Tyrannicide


William Tell in the context of Tyrannicide

⭐ Core Definition: William Tell

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

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, of which Tell is consequently considered the father.

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William Tell in the context of Hero

A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of glory and honor. Post-classical and modern heroes, on the other hand, perform great deeds or selfless acts for the common good instead of the classical goal of wealth, pride, and fame. The antonym of hero is villain. Other terms associated with the concept of hero may include good guy or white hat.

In classical literature, the hero is the main or revered character in heroic epic poetry celebrated through ancient legends of a people, often striving for military conquest and living by a continually flawed personal honor code. The definition of a hero has changed throughout time. Merriam Webster dictionary defines a hero as "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities". Examples of heroes range from mythological figures, such as Gilgamesh and Iphigenia, to historical and modern figures, such as Joan of Arc, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Sophie Scholl, Alvin York, Audie Murphy, and Chuck Yeager, and fictional "superheroes", including Superman and Batman.

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William Tell in the context of Shooting an apple off one's child's head

Shooting an apple off one's child's head, also known as the apple-shot (from German Apfelschuss), is a feat of marksmanship with a bow that occurs as a motif in a number of legends in Germanic folklore (and has also been connected with non-European folklore). In the Stith Thompson Motif Index it is F661.3, described as "Skillful marksman shoots apple from man's head" or "apple shot from man's head", though it always occurs in the form of the marksman being ordered to shoot an apple (or occasionally another smaller object) off his own son's head. It is best known as William Tell's feat.

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William Tell in the context of Albrecht Gessler

Albrecht Gessler, also known as Hermann, was a legendary 14th-century Habsburg bailiff (German: Landvogt) at Altdorf, whose brutal rule led to the William Tell rebellion and the eventual independence of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

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William Tell in the context of Altdorf, Uri

Altdorf (Swiss Standard German pronunciation: [ˈaltˌdɔrf] ) is a municipality in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri and retains historic town privileges. It is the place where, according to the legend, William Tell shot the apple from his son's head.

Altdorf is situated on the right (eastern) bank of the Reuss, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of where the river discharges into the Urnersee, an arm of Lake Lucerne. It is at the junction of two major Alpine passes—Saint Gotthard to the south and the Klausen Pass to the east—and is the last station on the Gotthard railway before the line enters the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest railway tunnel.

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William Tell in the context of William Tell (play)

William Tell (German: Wilhelm Tell, German pronunciation: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈtɛl] ) is a drama written by Friedrich Schiller in 1804. The story focuses on the legendary Swiss marksman William Tell as part of the greater Swiss struggle for independence from the Habsburg Empire in the early 14th century. Gioachino Rossini's four-act opera Guillaume Tell was written to a French adaptation of Schiller's play.

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William Tell in the context of 1300s (decade)

The 1300s was a decade of the Julian Calendar that began on 1 January 1300 and ended on 31 December 1309.

  • Spring – Sultan Osman I calls for a military campaign to strike deep into Byzantine Bithynia. During the campaign, Ottoman forces capture the towns of İnegöl and Yenişehir. The later town will be transformed into a capital city, as Osman moves his administration and personal household within its walls. By the end of the year, Ottoman forces begin blockading the major Byzantine city of Nicaea.
  • July 11 – The Battle of the Golden Spurs takes place as France retaliates against Flanders for the May 18 Matins of Bruges massacre. Flemish forces led by William of Jülich ("William the Younger") and Pieter de Coninck defeat the French army (some 9,000 men) at Kortrijk in Flanders. The cavalry charges of the French prove unable to defeat the untrained Flemish infantry militia, consisting mainly of members of the craft guilds. Many French nobles (some 500 knights) are killed, like the commander Robert II of Artois, and forced to retreat.
  • July 27Battle of Bapheus: To counter the Turkish threat at Nicomedia, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos sends a Byzantine force (some 2,000 men) to cross over the Bosporus to relieve the city. On the plain, Turkish forces (some 5,000 light cavalry) led by Sultan Osman I defeat the Byzantines, who are forced to withdraw to Nicomedia. After the battle, Andronikos loses control of the countryside of Bithynia, withdrawing to the forts. Meanwhile, Turkish forces capture Byzantine settlements, such as the coastal city of Gemlik.
  • August 5John Segrave is appointed to the custody of Berwick Castle, leaving him in charge with an English force of some 20,000 men. Robert, along with other nobles, gives his allegiance to Edward.
  • August 31 – The Peace of Caltabellotta is signed between King Charles the Lame, King of Naples and King Frederick III of Sicily, ending the War of the Sicilian Vespers. The Kingdom of Sicily will pass to Angevin rule on Frederick's death, in return Charles pays a tribute of some 100,000 ounces of gold. Frederick hands over all his possessions in Calabria and releases Charles' son Philip I, prince of Taranto, from his prison in Cefalù.
  • September 3 (1 Muharram 702 AH) – At the start of the new Muslim year 702 AH, Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad sends a fleet of 20 galleys) to Tripoli of Lebanon, where Mamluk forces led by Kahardash al-Zarraq al-Mansuri, begin a blockade and siege.
  • September 26 (28 Muharram 702 AH) – Fall of Ruad: The Knights Templar, European Crusaders to the Holy Land, surrender their control of the island of Ruad (modern-day Arwad, off of the coast of Syria) to the Mamluk Sultanate. Hugh Dampierre negotiates a promise that the Europeans will be allowed safe conduct to a Christian-ruled land of their choice, but Knights are attacked as soon as they emerge from the garrison. Templar Grand Master Barthélemy de Quincy is killed in battle, all of the Syrian Christian bowmen and footsoldiers are executed, and the surviving Knights Templar are taken as prisoners of war and incarcerated in Cairo.
  • SeptemberRoger de Flor, Italian military adventurer and knight (condottiere), founds the Catalan Company group of mercenaries, with soldiers (Almogavars) jobless after the Treaty of Caltabellotta.
  • January 11 – Messengers from King Edward of England arrive at Kinclaven Castle in Scotland to discuss peace with Scottish noble John Comyn.
  • January 18 – In France, King Philip the Fair issues a mandate at Toulouse to halt the threat of a civil war, declaring that "For the good of our realm... we expressly forbid and most strictly prohibit wars, battles, homicides, the burning of towns or houses, assaults or attacks on peasants or those who plow, or doing anything similar to our vassals and subjects, regardless of status or condition, in any place, or in any part of the realm," and adds that "the rash transgressors of these statutes and inhibitions ought to be punished as disturbers of the peace, regardless of contrary custom, or rather corruption allegedly followed in any part of the said realm." The action comes after Philip's meeting with Franciscan friar Bernard Délicieux concerning the Dominican Inquisition, but the King stops short of halting the Inquisition entirely despite Delicieux's claim that there had not been a single heretic among all the Albigensians for many years.
  • January 31 – Cardinal Nicolò Albertini de Prato is dispatched by Pope Benedict XI as the papal legate to oversee negotiation of peace between Tuscany, Romagna and the Marca Trevigiana.
  • February 9War of Scottish Independence: Scottish nobles led by Robert the Bruce and John Comyn ("John the Red"), negotiate a peace treaty with King Edward I of England ("Edward Longshanks"). His terms are accepted, and the Scots submit to English rule. In return, they are granted life and liberty under their old laws and freedom from the forfeiture of their lands. A few prominent nobles are singled out for temporary banishment – among them John de Soules, guardian of Scotland, who is exiled to France. No terms are offered to William Wallace, Edward's most wanted enemy, who remains defiantly at large despite every effort of Edward to capture him.
  • February 20Battle of Happrew: Scottish rebels led by William Wallace and Simon Fraser fight guerilla warfare against King Edward I of England. They defend themselves against a vanguard of English knights at Peebles, in the Scottish Borders. During the skirmish, the Scots are defeated and routed. Wallace and Fraser narrowly escape being captured.
  • March 17 – Cardinal Albertini, the papal legate and peacemaker, enters Florence and is granted special powers by the government to facilitate his mission.
  • March 23John I of Arborea, nicknamed "Chiano" and the ruler of western Sardinia as Judge of Arborea dies. He is succeeded by his sons Marianus III and Andrew
  • Battle of Skafida: Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (some 10,000 men) to halt the expansion of the Bulgarians in Thrace. The two armies meet near Sozopol on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. During the battle, the Bulgarian army led by Tsar Theodore Svetoslav is defeated and routed. The Byzantines, infatuated with the chase of the retreating enemy, crowd on a bridge – which possibly is sabotaged, and break down. The Bulgarians capture many Byzantine soldiers and some nobles are held for ransom. Svetoslav secures his territorial gains and stabilizes himself as the sole ruler of the Bulgarian Empire (until 1322).
  • The Byzantines lose the island of Chios, in the Aegean Sea, to the Genoese under Admiral Benedetto I Zaccaria. He establishes an autonomous lordship and justifies the act to the Byzantine court as necessary to prevent the island from being captured by Turkish pirates. Benedetto is granted the island as a fief for a period of 10 years.
  • In London, a city ordinance decrees that heating with coal is forbidden when Parliament is in session (the ordinance is not particularly effective).
  • January 25 – King Edward II marries the 13-year-old Isabella of France, daughter of King Philip IV of France ("Philip the Fair"). The marriage takes place at Boulogne and Edward leaves his friend and favourite, Piers Gaveston, as regent in his absence. Isabella's wardrobe indicates her wealth and style – she has dresses of silk, velvet, taffeta and cloth along with numerous furs; she has over 72 headdresses and coifs. Isabella brings with her two gold crowns, gold and silver dinnerware and 419 yards of linen. Meanwhile, Edward alienates the nobles by placing Gaveston in such a powerful position, who react by signing the Boulogne agreement on January 31.
  • February 1Herman I the Tall Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel (and co-ruler of Brandenburg with Otto IV), dies and is succeeded as Margrave by his son John V.
  • February 25 – Edward II is crowned at Westminster Abbey under the guidance of Henry Woodlock, bishop of Winchester. During the ceremony, Piers Gaveston is given the honour of carrying the crown. At the banquet that followed, Edward spends more time with Gaveston than with his wife Isabella of France. Isabella's family, who have travelled with her from France, leave to report back to Philip IV of Edward's favouritism for Gaveston over Isabella. As part of the coronation, Edward swears an oath to uphold "the rightful laws and customs which the community of the realm shall have chosen".
  • March 8 – King Denis of Portugal, "the Poet King", grants Póvoa de Varzim a charter, the Foral, giving royal lands to 54 families, who found a municipality known as Póvoa around Praça Velha.
  • March 18 – Brothers Andrei Rurik and Lev II Rurik become the co-monarchs of Ruthenia (now part of Ukraine and Poland, with a capital at Lviv), upon the death of their father, King Yuri I of Galicia. The two brothers will reign until their deaths in 1323 at the Battle of Berestia against Mongol invaders.
  • April 24 – Spanish kings James II of Aragon and Ferdinand IV of Castile persuade Pope Clement V to grant the papal bull Indesinentis cure, authorizing them approval and church financial support for a crusade to rid the Iberian peninsula of Islam, as well as to conquer Corsica and Sardinia. The two monarchs fail to mention their collaboration with the Muslim Marinid Empire, and use the papal bull to plan a blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar with their combined fleet of 40 warships on their mission to expel the Saracen forces from Spain.
  • April 29 – Pope Clement V issues the papal bull Prioribus decanis granting King Ferdinand IV 110th of clergy taxes collected in Castile, in order to finance the war against Granada.
  • April – After his ascent to the throne, the Emir Nasr ad-Din Muhammad of Granada sends envoys to the Marinid court at Fez, in Morocco.
  • May 5Robert the Wise becomes the new King of Naples upon the death of his father, Charles the Lame.
  • May 12 – Marinid Sultan Abu al-Rabi Sulayman launches an attack on Ceuta. He concludes an alliance with King James II of Castile, and concedes commercial benefits to Castilian merchants. Abu al-Rabi also sends 1,000 measures of wheat to Aragon. A few months later, Marinid forces, without Castilian support, occupy Ceuta and expel Saracen forces from Morocco.
  • June 15 – The second coronation of Charles I as King of Hungary takes place at Székesfehérvár after a first attempt in 1301 was not recognized.
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William Tell in the context of William Tell (opera)

William Tell (French: Guillaume Tell; Italian: Guglielmo Tell) is a French-language opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and L. F. Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell, which, in turn, drew on the William Tell legend. The opera was Rossini's last, although he lived for nearly 40 more years. Fabio Luisi said that Rossini planned for Guillaume Tell to be his last opera even as he composed it. The often-performed overture in four sections features a depiction of a storm and a vivacious finale, the "March of the Swiss Soldiers".

Paris Opéra archivist Charles Malherbe discovered the original orchestral score of the opera in the hands of a second-hand bookseller, resulting in its being acquired by the Paris Conservatoire in 1898.

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