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Days Gone By: William Tell and Resistance to Tyranny

Jesse James | January 23, 2010 | 0 Comments

Switzerland has been a haven of individual freedom in the face of mounting globalist tyranny and EU socialism. We could all learn a lot by studying what makes Switzerland different and what lessons can be learned from their example. One of things that makes Switzerland stand out is the example of liberty and the conduct of free men in the face of arbitrary tyranny that is contained in one of their most famous foundational stories, the heroic tale of Wilhelm (William) Tell. It is a tale of personal and political freedom that is undaunted and even contemptuous of mindless governmental tyranny and arrogant civil functionaries.

During the first decade of the 14th century the Austrian Hapsburg emperor decided that he wanted to seize control of the Swiss canton of Uri and thus control one of the lucrative trading routes across the Alps. The emperor sent a Vogt or bailiff, Hermann Gessler, with a detachment of troops to seize control of the city of Altdorf and bring the surrounding population into subjugation. In a highhanded effort to force compliance and cow the local population, Gessler removed his hat that was adorned with peacock feathers in the fashion of the day and placed it on top of a pole in the center of Altdorf’s marketplace. He then issued a decree requiring all the local people who passed in sight of the hat to bow before it in a gesture of respect and submission. Some of his soldiers were placed on guard near the pole to enforce compliance.

Enter our Swiss hero, William Tell, a hunter who lived in one of the small villages near Altdorf and his young son. The two villagers entered Altdorf and passed through the center square. Now either through ignorance of the recent decree or in contempt of it, Tell failed or refused to bow in submission. In a rage Gessler had his men seize both Tell and his son. Knowing that Tell was a well respected local man who was renowned as an excellent marksman, Gessler decided on a cruel punishment to crush the spirit of the local people once and for all by humiliating one of their best men. Tell could choose between two proposed punishments. The first was that both Tell and his son would be immediately executed for their disrespect of the Emperors chosen man or Tell could take his chances and demonstrate his great marksmanship by shooting an apple off the head of his son.

The Hapsburg soldiers grabbed Tell’s son, bound him to a nearby tree and set an apple on his head. Tell was understandably shaken and feared for his son’s life but took heart when he saw how calm and confident his son was in the face of the desperate situation. Taking careful aim Tell fired his crossbow and his bolt neatly pierced the apple straight through the middle. Annoyed that Tell had made the shot, Gessler ordered his men to release the boy but then he noticed that William Tell had stuck a second crossbow bolt in his jacket. When questioned what he intended to do with the second bolt Tell answered that he would have used it to kill Gessler had his first shot struck his son instead of the apple. The day was 18 November 1307, a day and a show of bravery still honored by the Swiss people.

Gessler had his men once again seize Tell and they rushed him to a their boat that was tied up along Lake Lucerne to take him off to their castle at Kussnacht on the northern shore of the lake. While crossing the lake a storm arose that the Austrian leader feared might sink the boat so he ordered his men to untie Tell so he could use his great strength and knowledge of the local conditions to get them all to safety. Tell steered the boat through the storm towards the shore and leaped out and made his escape through the woods. He then made his way rapidly overland to a gorge that the trail to the Austrian castle had to pass through and waited in ambush for his former captors. When Gessler and his men came along the trail Tell fired a single bolt and killed his tormentor with a shot through his heart.

Later William Tell helped organize an uprising against the invaders and took part in the Battle of Morgarten when a force of 1,500 Swiss archers ambushed a column of Austrian soldiers serving the Holy Roman Empire. The revived Swiss Confederation defeated the invaders so decisively that they were not invaded again for some sixty years thus insuring the safety and freedom of their people for several generations.

The lesson of the William Tell story is simple and clear, free men are armed men who know how to use their weapons and have the willpower and confidence to use them. It was this legacy and the Swiss reputation as a nation of marksmen that discouraged the German Army from invading the tiny Alpine nation during World War II despite Hitler’s wish to punish the Swiss for choosing neutrality over joining his new unified Europe. The German General staff knew that the Swiss militia was well trained in guerrilla tactics and well motivated to preserve their freedom and would be waiting for them behind every rock and tree. The cost of invading would be just too high to justify so Swiss preparedness saved their country from occupation and destruction during the long years of the worst war the world has ever seen.

Much doubt has been raised by Swiss leftist and EU infiltrators as to the literal truth of the William Tell legend in the hopes that they can destroy the people’s belief in a foundational myth that validates the Swiss belief in the armed citizen and a militia of the people as the true guarantor of the nation’s freedom and security. The other lesson of the William Tell story that the socialist globalist hate is that one of the strongest defenses against arbitrary tyranny and the whim of our would be masters is the unshakeable contempt of the free man for petty functionaries who would rule us by absurd soul crushing rules backed by naked force. You can kill a free man but you can’t subjugate him because his mind is free.

Legend of Wilhelm Tell the Swiss Hero
William Tell -Wikipedia

Originally posted at Light in the Forest © Jesse James