Legendary 14th-century Swiss archer, said to
have refused to salute the Habsburg badge at
Altdorf on Lake Lucerne. Sentenced to shoot
an apple from his son's head, he did so, then
shot the tyrannical Austrian ruler Gessler,
symbolizing his people's refusal to submit to
external authority. The first written account
of the legend dates from 1474, the period of
the wars of the Swiss against Charles the
Bold of Burgundy; but the story of a man
showing his skill with the crossbow in such a
way is much earlier. The legend has been used
for plays (by Schiller, 1804) and an opera
(Rossini, 1829), as well as filmed versions.