William Tell 

It’s unclear whether or not William Tell was a real person or a fictional character, however there is some evidence that his story was based on historical fact.  The Hapsburgs were in charge of neighboring Austria and set Gessler as the governor of the town where William Tell lived. Gessler set up his hat in the town square and demanded the people who passed it to bow. The people did what he asked except for William, he refused to bow to the hat or Gessler himself. William and his son who happened to be with him were arrested for his disobedience. Tell was a very skilled bow hunter and marksman. Gessler challenged him to a special shot that would prove how good he was; he was told to shoot an apple off his son’s head. William made the shot successfully without hurting his son. William had an extra arrow in his pocket and Gessler had asked him why he had it. He only needed one to complete the challenge. Tell replied that if any harm came to his son he was going to shoot Gessler for it. His comment made Gessler angry, and William ended up back in Gessler’s dungeon. Later on, Tell was chained to a ship and sent away from the castle. A storm came rolling in and in fear of their life the men freed William so that he could help them make it safely back to shore. As soon as the ship had reached land William ran for his life and was free once again. 

William participated in the uprisings of the Swiss against the Habsburgs and was finally able to get his revenge on Gessler.