Johann Parricida

Parricida, Johann, name given to Johann von Schwaben (1290-1313, Pisa), the nephew of the Emperor Rudolf I of Habsburg and son of Duke Rudolf of Habsburg. Impelled by a sense of grievance at the refusal of what he believed was his inheritance, Johann murdered his uncle Albrecht I, Deutscher König, in May 1308, and the name Parricida refers to this deed. He is the original of the character Johannes Parricida, whom Schiller introduces into the fifth act of Wilhelm Tell in order to demonstrate by contrast the purity of motive prompting Tell's assassination of Geßler.