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 .
36-629: Gessler or Geßler is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: Albrecht Gessler , 14th century Austrian bailiff connected with the William Tell legend Amaka Gessler (born 1990), New Zealand swimmer Friedrich Leopold von Geßler (1688–1762), Prussian field marshal Doc Gessler (1880–1924), American baseball player Otto Gessler (1875–1955), German politician Magdalena Gessler (born 1953), Polish restaurateur Scott Gessler (born 1965), American lawyer and Secretary of State of
72-417: A dungeon. A sudden fierce storm made the crew terrified and, since William Tell was a better sailor, they handed the wheel to him but, instead of heading towards the dungeon, he escaped to shore. There he ambushed and killed Gessler with an arrow, launching the young Confederacy's rebellion against Austrian rule. A Gessler family of ministeriales is documented from the 13th century onwards but at Wiggwil in
108-532: A new crusade by taking the crusader's vow in 1275. Pope Gregory X , despite the protests of Ottokar II of Bohemia, not only recognised Rudolf himself, but persuaded King Alfonso X of Castile (another grandson of Philip of Swabia ), who had been chosen German (anti-)king in 1257 as the successor to Count William II of Holland , to do the same. Thus, Rudolf surpassed the two heirs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty whom he had earlier served so loyally. In November 1274,
144-517: A number of robber castles . In 1291, he attempted to secure the election of his son Albert as German king. The electors refused, however, claiming inability to support two kings, but in reality, perhaps, wary of the increasing power of the House of Habsburg. Upon Rudolf's death they elected Count Adolf of Nassau . In 1286, Rudolf I instituted a new persecution of the Jews, declaring them servi camerae ("serfs of
180-530: A penance, he took up the cross and joined Ottokar II, King of Bohemia in the Prussian Crusade of 1254 . Whilst there, he oversaw the founding of the city of Königsberg , which was named in memory of King Ottokar. The disorder in Germany during the interregnum after the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty afforded an opportunity for Count Rudolf to increase his possessions. His wife was a Hohenberg heiress; and on
216-412: A pole in the market square of Altdorf , Uri , Switzerland , placed his hat atop it, and ordered all the townsfolk to bow before it. Tell, whose marksmanship and pride were legendary, publicly refused. Gessler's cruel wrath was tempered by his curiosity to test Tell's skill, so he gave Tell the option of either being executed or shooting an apple off his son's head in one try. Tell succeeded in splitting
252-599: A principality of his own as his father was still alive. By the admission of Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria instead of the King of Bohemia as the seventh Elector, Rudolf gained all seven votes. Rudolf was crowned in Aachen Cathedral on 24 October 1273. To win the approbation of the Pope, Rudolf renounced all imperial rights in Rome , the papal territory, and Sicily , and promised to lead
288-564: A ransom was paid for his body by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpfen, who was subsequently laid to rest beside the Maharam. Rudolf died in Speyer on 15 July 1291 and was buried in Speyer Cathedral . Only one of his sons survived him: Albert I . Most of his daughters outlived him, apart from Catherine who had died in 1282 during childbirth and Hedwig who had died in 1285/6. Rudolf's reign
324-455: A result, within the electoral college, King Ottokar II of Bohemia (1230–1278), himself a candidate for the throne and related to the late Hohenstaufen king Philip of Swabia (being the son of the eldest surviving daughter), was almost alone in opposing Rudolf. Other candidates were Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt and Margrave Frederick I of Meissen (1257–1323), a young grandson of the excommunicated Emperor Frederick II, who did not yet even have
360-634: Is most memorable for his establishment of the House of Habsburg as a powerful dynasty in the southeastern part of the realm. In the other territories, the centuries-long decline of Imperial authority since the days of the Investiture Controversy continued, and the princes were largely left to their own devices. In the Divine Comedy , Dante finds Rudolf sitting outside the gates of purgatory with his contemporaries, characterizing him as "he who neglected that which he ought to have done". Rudolf
396-586: The Schöllenenschlucht under his direct control, Emperor Frederick II granted Schwyz Reichsfreiheit in the Freibrief von Faenza . In 1242, Hugh of Tuffenstein provoked Count Rudolf through contumelious expressions. In turn, the Count of Habsburg had invaded his domains, yet failed to take his seat of power. As the day passed on, Count Rudolf bribed the sentinels of the city and gained entry, killing Hugh in
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#1732855376282432-790: The Aargau region, the original homeland of the Habsburgs and the basis for their rise after the extinction of the Swabian House of Hohenstaufen . The Gesslers profited from the election of Count Rudolph of Habsburg as King of the Romans in 1273 and his acquisition of the Austrian and Styrian duchies after the victory over King Ottokar II of Bohemia at the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld . The White Book of Sarnen , written around 1470, mentioned one gesler who
468-782: The Imperial Diet at Nuremberg decided that all Crown estates seized since the death of the Emperor Frederick II must be restored, and that King Ottokar II must answer to the Diet for not recognising the new king. Ottokar refused to appear or to restore the duchies of Austria , Styria and Carinthia together with the March of Carniola , which he had claimed through his first wife, a Babenberg heiress, and which he had seized while disputing them with another Babenberg heir, Margrave Hermann VI of Baden . Rudolf refused to accept Ottokar's succession to
504-468: The Kingdom of Bohemia , betrothed one of his daughters to Ottokar's son Wenceslaus II , and made a triumphal entry into Vienna . Ottokar, however, raised questions about the execution of the treaty, and procured the support of several German princes, again including Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria. To meet this coalition, Rudolf formed an alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary and gave additional privileges to
540-722: The Babenberg patrimony, declaring that the provinces reverted to the Imperial crown due to the lack of male-line heirs. King Ottokar was placed under the imperial ban ; and in June 1276 war was declared against him. Having persuaded Ottokar's former ally Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria to switch sides, Rudolf compelled the Bohemian king to cede the four provinces to the control of the royal administration in November 1276. Rudolf then re-invested Ottokar with
576-573: The Emperor of Austria, who wishes to deliberately provoke the people of Switzerland into a rebellion which will serve as an excuse for Austria to invade Switzerland. Rudolph I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany of the Habsburg dynasty from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which had begun after
612-701: The Empire's western neighbor in the Kingdom of France . Rudolf was not very successful in restoring internal peace. Orders were indeed issued for the establishment of territorial peaces in Bavaria , Franconia and Swabia, and at the Synod of Würzburg in March 1287 for the whole Empire. But the king lacked the power, resources, and determination to enforce them, although in December 1289 he led an expedition into Thuringia , where he destroyed
648-482: The U.S. State of Colorado See also [ edit ] 113355 Gessler , asteroid Gessler Clinic, P.A. , a large outpatient clinic system in Winter Haven, Florida [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Gessler . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to
684-559: The Viennese citizens. On 26 August 1278, the rival armies met at the Battle on the Marchfeld , where Ottokar was defeated and killed. The Margraviate of Moravia was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolf's representatives, leaving Ottokar's widow Kunigunda of Slavonia in control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus II was again betrothed to Rudolf's youngest daughter Judith . Rudolf's attention next turned to
720-415: The apple with his arrow, saving his own life. When Gessler asked why he had readied two crossbow bolts, he lied and replied that it was out of habit. After being assured that he would not be killed, Tell finally admitted that the second was intended for the tyrant if his son was harmed. Gessler, enraged, had Tell arrested and taken by boat across Lake Lucerne to Küssnacht to spend the life he had saved in
756-550: The citizens of Bern to pay the tribute that they had been refusing. After his son Rudolf II defeated Bern at the Battle of Schosshalde , he strengthened his authority in Switzerland. He further expanded his Swiss possessions and granted some ecclesiastical posts to his family. In 1289 he marched against Count Philip's successor, Otto IV , compelling him to do homage. In 1281, Rudolf's first wife died. On 5 February 1284, he married Isabella , daughter of Duke Hugh IV of Burgundy ,
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#1732855376282792-553: The court of his godfather, the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II , and his loyalty to Frederick and his son, King Conrad IV of Germany , was richly rewarded by grants of land. In 1254, he engaged with other nobles of the Staufen party against Bertold II, Bishop of Basle . When night fell, he penetrated the suburbs of Basle and burnt down the local nunnery, an act for which Pope Innocent IV excommunicated him and all parties involved. As
828-498: The death of his childless maternal uncle Count Hartmann IV of Kyburg in 1264, Rudolf seized Hartmann's valuable estates. Successful feuds with the Bishops of Strasbourg and Basel further augmented his wealth and reputation, including rights over various tracts of land that he purchased from abbots and others. These various sources of wealth and influence rendered Rudolf the most powerful prince and noble in southwestern Germany (where
864-549: The death of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II in 1250. Originally a Swabian count, he was the first Habsburg to acquire the duchies of Austria and Styria in opposition to his mighty rival, the Přemyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia , whom he defeated in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld . The territories remained under Habsburg rule for more than 600 years, forming the core of the Habsburg monarchy and
900-407: The duchies of Austria and Styria and so laid the foundation of the House of Habsburg. Additionally, he made the twelve-year-old Rudolf Duke of Swabia, a merely titular dignity, as the duchy had been without an actual ruler since Conradin 's execution. The 27-year-old Duke Albert, married since 1274 to a daughter of Count Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol (1238–95), was capable enough to hold some sway in
936-505: The former Alemannic German stem duchy . That same year, Emperor Frederick II was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV at the Council of Lyon . Rudolf sided against the Emperor, while the forest communities sided with Frederick. This gave them a pretext to attack and damage Neuhabsburg. Rudolf successfully defended it and drove them off. As a result, Rudolf, by siding with the Pope, gained more power and influence. Rudolf paid frequent visits to
972-531: The late 15th century refer to a bailiff Gessler in central Switzerland, and it is presumed that no such person existed. Gessler's role in Tell's story is analogous to that of King Niðung in the story of Egil in the Þiðrekssaga . Friedrich Schiller perpetuated the figure in his 1804 drama Wilhelm Tell . In the Tale Spinners For Children recording of the story, Gessler is working under orders from
1008-501: The link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gessler&oldid=1197431262 " Categories : Surnames German-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All set index articles Albrecht Gessler According to the Chronicon Helveticum by Aegidius Tschudi (1505–1572), in 1307 Gessler raised
1044-500: The new patrimony. In 1286, King Rudolf fully invested Albert's father-in-law Count Meinhard with the Duchy of Carinthia , one of the conquered provinces taken from Ottokar. The Princes of the Empire did not allow Rudolf to give everything that was recovered to the royal domain to his own sons, and his allies needed their rewards too. Turning to the west, in 1281 he compelled Count Philip I of Savoy to cede some territory to him, then forced
1080-573: The possessions in Austria and the adjacent provinces, which were taken into the royal domain. He spent several years establishing his authority there but found some difficulty in establishing his family as successors to the rule of those provinces. At length, the hostility of the princes was overcome. In December 1282, at the Hoftag (imperial diet) in Augsburg , Rudolf invested his sons, Albert and Rudolf II , with
1116-453: The present-day country of Austria . Rudolf played a vital role in raising the comital House of Habsburg to the rank of Imperial princes . Rudolf was born on 1 May 1218 at Limburgh Castle near Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl in the Breisgau region of present-day southwestern Germany . He was the son of Count Albert IV of Habsburg and Hedwig, daughter of Count Ulrich of Kyburg . Around 1232, he
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1152-520: The process. Then in 1244, to help control Lake Lucerne and restrict the neighboring forest communities of Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden , Rudolf built near its shores Neuhabsburg Castle . In 1245 Rudolf married Gertrude, daughter of Count Burkhard III of Hohenberg . He received as her dowry the castles of Oettingen , the valley of Weile , and other places in Alsace, and he became an important vassal in Swabia,
1188-633: The treasury"), which had the effect of negating their political freedoms. Along with many others, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg left Germany with family and followers, but was captured in Lombardy and imprisoned in a fortress in Alsace . Tradition has it that a large ransom of 23,000 marks silver was raised for him (by the Rosh ), but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. He died in prison after seven years. Fourteen years after his death
1224-774: The tribal Duchy of Swabia had disintegrated, enabling its vassals to become completely independent). In the autumn of 1273, the prince-electors met to choose a king after Richard of Cornwall had died in England in April 1272. Rudolf's election in Frankfurt on 1 October 1273, when he was 55 years old, was largely due to the efforts of his brother-in-law, the Hohenzollern burgrave Frederick III of Nuremberg . The support of Duke Albert II of Saxony and Elector Palatine Louis II had been purchased by betrothing them to two of Rudolf's daughters. As
1260-455: Was vogt at Uri and Schwyz . In the late 14th century one Hermann Gessler ruled the domain of Grüningen (which today belongs to Zürich ); the domain of Grüningen had been pawned to the Gessler family by the House of Habsburg. His stern measures against the peasant population made the name Gessler an epitome of tyranny. No sources that predate the earliest references to the Tell legend of
1296-447: Was given as a squire to his uncle, Rudolf I, Count of Laufenburg , to train in knightly pursuits. At his father's death in 1239, Rudolf inherited from him large estates around the ancestral seat of Habsburg Castle in the Aargau region of present-day Switzerland as well as in Alsace . Thus, in 1240, in order to quell the rising power of Rudolf and in an attempt to place the important " Devil's Bridge " ( Teufelsbrücke ) across
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