"Wilhelm Tell" by Friedrich Schiller focuses on the legendary Swiss marksman William Tell as part of the greater Swiss struggle for independence from the Habsburg Empire in the early 14th century. The fateful enmity of the tyrant Gessler, Governor of the Swiss cantons, and William Tell, an obscure huntsman, begins during a tempest on Lake Lucerne when Tell braves the angry waves to row to safety a peasant who is pursued by the Governor's horsemen. His opinion of the bloodthirsty Gessler is shared increasingly by the peasantry as the oppressor fills the old jails, and builds a huge new prison. Tell, the individualist, holds aloof from the rebels' councils but promises his aid when needed.