Rütlischwur

The Rütlischwur (German pronunciation: [ˈryːtliˌʃvuːr]) is a legendary oath of the Old Swiss Confederacy, taken on the Rütli, a meadow above Lake Lucerne near Seelisberg. The oath is notably featured in the play William Tell (Wilhelm Tell) by Friedrich Schiller.

William Tell is not mentioned in the earliest versions of the Rütlischwur legend. The Rütli oath is first mentioned in the White Book of Sarnen (1470). Its canonical form is that of the 16th century Chronicon Helveticum of Aegidius Tschudi. According to Tschudi, the three oath-takers (Eidgenossen) were Werner Stauffacher for Schwyz, Walter Fürst for Uri and Arnold of Melchtal for Unterwalden.

The figures of the three oath takers or Eidgenossen during the 16th century merged with the legend of William Tell and became known as "the Three Tells". Impersonations of the Three Tells in historical costume played a role during the Swiss peasant war of 1653.

Tschudi dates the event to 8 November 1307. Its historicity is uncorroborated, but also not implausible, the 1307 date falling in a period of a series of similar treaties such as the Federal Charter of 1291, the pact of Brunnen of 1315, the pact of Uri and Urseren of 1317, the pact with Lucerne in 1332, and the Zürich guild revolution of 1336. These were all part of a larger communal movement finally countered by the imperial Golden Bull of 1356 and culminating in the Battle of Sempach of 1386.

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