Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents to their philosophical vision.
Wilhelm Tell, better known as William Tell to English audiences, is the tale of the famous folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle, and the tale is set in the period of the original foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century. According to the legend, Tell was an expert marksman with the crossbow who assassinated Gessler, a tyrannical reeve of Habsburg Austria positioned in Altdorf, Uri. Along with Arnold Winkelried, Tell is a central figure in Swiss patriotism as it was constructed during the Restoration of the Confederacy after the Napoleonic era. Schiller’s story focuses on the legendary Swiss marksman William Tell as well as on the Swiss struggle for independence from the Habsburg Empire in the early 14th century, written in the context of the French and American Revolutions.
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