Switzerland: Confederation Helvetica

Modern Swiss history begins in 1291, even though a variety of tribes had been living in the region for thousand of years. Celts, Helvetii and Rhaetians had inhabited the area prior to an invasion by Rome in 58 B.C., led by Julius Caesar, who dubbed the land "Helvetia."

The Germanic tribes had driven out the Romans by 400 A.D. and were joined by the Burgundians, another Germanic tribe that brought Christianity and the Latin language to the area. Under Charlemagne, the Franks conquered both tribes. The area was incorporated under the Holy Roman Empire in 1032.

However, when Habsburg ruler Rudolf I became Holy Roman Emperor in 1273, he dispatched thugs –- who were basically shylocks and mobsters –- to tighten the screws and collect more taxes in the area. Swiss resentment grew quickly.

Nowhere is that animosity characterized more than in the legend of William Tell. Few national folk heroes have achieved the mythic status of Tell. Stories vary, of course, but most go something like this:

Tell was a strong man and an expert shot with the crossbow. In his time, the Habsburgs were laying the hammer down on the Swiss people. The local “Habsburg sheriff” of Altdorf, Albrecht Gessler, raised a pole in the village square, hung his hat on it and demanded that all townspeople bow before the hat.

Visiting Altdorf with his young son, Tell publicly refusing to bow to the hat, and was subsequently arrested.

Gessler, intrigued by Tell’s famed marksmanship but smarting from his defiance, developed an intriguing punishment. Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell promptly split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow.

However, Gessler noticed that Tell had removed two bolts from his quiver. Before his release, he asked: "why two?" Tell replied that had he killed his son, the second was for Gessler himself. Naturally, Gessler was angered and had Tell sent by ship to Kussnacht to be imprisoned. But a storm broke on Lake Lucerne and Tell escaped.

Tell then ran cross-country to Kussnacht and as Gessler arrived, he assassinated the Habsburg regent with the second crossbow bolt.

His blow for liberty sparked a rebellion that led to the impetus for the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss people have maintained that independent spirit for hundreds of years, keeping their autonomy intact, and even refusing to participate in either world war by declaring their neutrality.

In 1829, Italian composer Gioachino Rossini debuted the William Tell Overture, the last of his 39 operas, a classic piece that -- for most of my generation -- will be impossible to disassociate from The Lone Ranger and “those thrilling days of yesteryear.”