Francois de Bonivard -- The Prisoner of Chillon

In the year 1530, soldiers of Charles III, Duke of Savoy, seized a man on the road near Geneva and brought him to the Chateau de Chillon. His name was Francois de Bonivard, and his crime was simple: he had spent years working to free the city of Geneva from the political control of the Duke of Savoy, advocating for the city's right to govern itself as an independent republic. For this -- for believing that a city should choose its own destiny -- he was dragged into the underground vaults of Chillon and chained to the fifth pillar from the entrance with an iron ring around his ankle.