Early in 14th century Switzerland was under the control of their far more powerful neighbour, Hapsburg Austria. In the small town of Aldorf in the canton of Uri, which is at the centre of Switzerland, near Lake Lucern and the city of Zurich there lived a brutal Austrian governor, Albrecht Gessler. Gessler hated the Swiss, a proud and rebellious people, and to remind them of their subjugation he placed his hat on a large post in the middle of the town, and demanded the Swiss bow when passing.

William Tell, an expert crossbowman and hunter, refused. Furious, Gessler set Tell a challenge. Shoot an apple off his son’s head, from 100 yards, as the wretched child was tied to the post or the boy would be executed. Tell reluctantly agreed, and with a miraculous shot he succeeded, and so began the revolt against Austria and Switzerland’s journey to independence for which it is known today, as well as dubious banking practises.

Joining the podcast is the director Nick Hamm who has made a film of William Tell, starring Claes Bang, Ben Kingsley, Jonathan Pryce, Golshifteh Farahani, Rafe Spall, Ellie Bamber and Connor Swindells. Also on the chat is the historian Almut Seurbaum.

William Tell Links

William Tell Movie on Wikipedia

William Tell Movie on IMDB

Aspects of History Links

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