Arnold Von Winkelried

At a critical moment in the great battle of Sempach, when the Swiss had failed to break the ranks of the Austrian knights, Arnold von Winkelried, came to the rescue. Commending his wife and children to the care of his comrades, he rushed toward the Austrians, gathered a number of their spears together against his breast, and fell pierced through, having opened a way into the hostile ranks for his fellow-countrymen, though at the price of his own life.