Robin Hood

Robin is famous for his gallantry, robbing the rich to feed the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. Anyone who knows of Robin has also heard the stories of his outlaw band. The names of Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marion, Allan a Dale, Will Scarlet, Much the Miller and the evil Sheriff of Nottingham are as much a part of the legend as Robin Hood himself.

From the first time men spoke of him, Robin hood was believed to be a real person. Through the centuries there has been much speculation as to who he was, however his identity remains unknown. No one could provide authentic records of his activities, but five of the oldest surviving poems or ballads as they are now called, tell us much of what is known about the legend of this English hero.

Robin Hood has been associated with two different regions from a very early date; Barnsdale north of Doncaster in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. 'Robin Hood in Barnesdale Stood' was quoted by a judge in the court of Common Pleas in 1429. 'Robin Hood in Sherwood stood' was written in a Lincoln cathedral manuscript in about 1410. In the fifteenth century Robin was more often associated with Barnsdale than Sherwood, although the two regions are less than forty miles apart. In Robin Hood and the Monk the outlaws adventures are confined to Sherwood and Nottingham. Robin Hood and the Potter names Wentbridge (Wentbreg) in the Barnsdale region and Nottingham. In Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, the action takes place in the 'greenwood' and Barnsdale, and the sheriff is slain when he tries to flee to Nottingham. The Gest names Barnsdale, the 'greenwood' and Nottingham, only Robin Hood and the Monk names Sherwood. The sheriff of Nottingham intrudes into Barnsdale where he has no jurisdiction, and both he and the outlaws travel between the two regions at lightening speed. The two regions may have become confused from an earlier date, or their may have been two separate cycles, one of Barnsdale and one of Sherwood. Barnsdale and Sherwood

Could Robin Hood have existed? How can the real man be traced? Here are some facts for consideration: A document of court records was found in the London public records office dating from 1226. The court records reflect that a man named Robert Hod fled the jurisdiction of the king's justices, and his possessions were seized by the Sheriff of York. (In the Middle Ages, the name Robert was synonymous with Robin.) The document reads that this sheriff "owes 32 shilling 6 pence of chattels of Rob Hod, fugitive." The Sheriff of York later became the Sheriff of Nottingham. In 1227, the sheriff still owed the court the money for Robert Hod's belongings, and the record states that the same sheriff owed the money. The sheriff told his men to search for and find this Robert of Weatherby and behead him, calling Robert an "outlaw and evildoer of our land." Robert Hod was caught and hanged by chain. Forty years later, another fugitive was nicknamed Robyn Hod in court records. Rolls of Parliament in 1437 show a petition for the arrest of Piers Venables of Derbyshire who had resorted to violence and robbery and taken to the woods "like as it had been Robyn Hood and his meynie." So the outlaw Robin Hood was used as a title for a woodland thief and outlaw, even within a generation of Robert Hod in 1226.

From March 24 to November 22 1324, a man named Robyn Hood was a porter of the Chamber of the royal service. So the possible history is this: Robert Hood of Wakefield was a supporter of the Earl of Lancaster, who was executed after his defeat in battle. Robert Hood escaped the rebellion, which made him an outlaw, but by the time Edward II came to Nottingham in 1323, Robert had resolved these feelings. He became part of the royal service and was called Robyn Hood. He tired of this work within a year and returned to Barnsdale in 1324, just outside Wakefield, when his name no longer appears in the records. The Real Robin?