ABSTRACT
The perpetual evolution of the William Tell story reflects the changing relationship of Swiss citizens to the historical memory of early modern revolts, especially as the initial late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century rebellion was linked to later popular movements and rebellions. On one level, there was a widely accepted narrative as all the versions of the Tell story claimed to record a justified revolt against tyrannical rule in the mountain cantons of Switzerland. The Tell songs and festival plays threatened the patrician elites who occupied positions of power within the Swiss Republics simply because the songs and plays portrayed a successful rebellion. Although Karl Hieronymus Muheim may have moderated elements of the Tell story, the possibility was open for future songs to take even more radical stances in regard to contemporary debates in the Swiss Confederation. Both the oral and written culture sought to work out Swiss social and political issues.
