Robin Hood

Robin Hood is an outlaw of the medieval era in archetypal English folk tales, who may be based on a true story. Many accounts of Robin Hood, though not the very earliest, bear a striking similarity to accounts of the life of Fulk FitzWarin, a Norman noble who was disinherited and became an outlaw and an enemy of John of England. In the oldest legends, this is because a sheriff is by profession an outlaws enemy, [1] but in later versions, the sheriff is despotic and gravely abuses his position, appropriating land, levying excessive taxation, and persecuting the poor. In some tales the antagonist is Prince John, based on the historical John of England, who is seen as the unjust usurper of his pious brother Richard the Lionheart. In the oldest versions surviving, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but in some later versions he is described as a nobleman, the earl of Loxley (or Locksley), who was unjustly deprived of his lands. [2] In other stories, he has served in the crusades, returning to England to find his lands pillaged by the dastardly sheriff.

In some tales he is the champion of the people, fighting against corrupt officials and the oppressive order that protects them, while in others he is an arrogant and headstrong rebel, who delights in bloodshed, cruelly slaughtering and beheading his victims.

In modern versions of the legend, is famous for robbing the rich to provide for the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. His band consisted of seven score (140) group of fellow outlawed yeomen called his Merry Men. [3] Robin Hood and his bands tales are usually associated with the area Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire, though most historians point towards him having been a Yorkshireman[4][5][6][7]. He has been the subject of numerous movies, books, comics and plays.

The oldest references to Robin Hood are not historical records, or even ballads recounting his exploits, but hints and allusions found in various works.

From 1227 onwards the names Robinhood, Robehod or Hobbehod occur in the rolls of several English justices. The majority of these references date from the late thirteenth century: between 1261 and 1300 there are at least eight references to Rabunhod in various regions across England, from Berkshire in the south to York in the north. [8] The term seems to be applied as a form of shorthand to any fugitive or outlaw. Even at this early stage, the name Robin Hood is used as that of an archetypal criminal. This usage continues throughout the medieval period. In a petition presented to Parliament in 1439, the name is again used to describe an itinerant felon. The petition cites one Piers Venables of Aston, Derbyshire, who having no liflode, ne sufficeante of goodes, gadered and assembled unto him many misdoers, beynge of his clothynge, and, in manere of insurrection, wente into the wodes in that countrie, like as it hadde be Robyn Hude and his meyne. [9] The name is still used to describe sedition and treachery in ...