Page 86 - All About History - Issue 09-14

The myths of Robin Hood

Robin Hood and his Merry Men: the
original story has been sanitised by
numerous generations

No one blindly believes the story of Robin Hood
as we know it today, but long periods of English
history have had a funny habit of recycling these
tales until it’s hard to tell fact from fiction, or what
the original truth was – if it wasn’t a complete
fabrication to begin with. Like a giant, generational
game of Chinese whispers, the legend of Robin
Hood has been passed along the popular media
of the times with a bit of embellishment added
here, something considered dark, unflattering or
politically unsavoury removed there. And so, via
the 20th century’s communication revolution,
it has boomed into world fame. In the last few
decades we’ve been adding our own tint to this
rose-hued tale of the arrow-slinging rebel, like the
stories of Russell Crowe’s disaffected soldier, Kevin
Costner’s noble Prince of Thieves and Errol Flynn’s
jubilant swashbuckling rogue. If we’re going to sort
some fact from fiction here, we have to unravel the
Hollywood-spun Batman of the Middle Ages back
to where it began, sometime in the 12th century,
and look at the direct origin of today’s tale.
The legend himself, if not the tales, can be traced
to the time of King John of England, who was
born in 1166 and reigned from 1199 until his death
A depiction of a wedding between Robin in 1216. These ballads and stories were born and
Hood and a coy looking Maid Marian, cultivated out of an era of social upheaval. The end
presided over by King Richard I
of King John’s reign saw the English barony revolt
and the signing of the Magna Carta, which was
the first step along a long road to the breakdown
of the ancient feudal system of government. While
Who was Maid Marian and was there any truth in her characters like Maid Marian appeared in tales from
legend? When did she first enter the stories? a later date, some of Robin’s band of ‘Merry Men’
can be clearly identified at this time, but things get
Maid Marian is more a complete together. In fact, the increased
fabrication than an embellished popularity of the story of Robin Hood a lot murkier when it comes to the titular hero.
character. As a love-match and soul was probably brought about by three According to one of the more recent theories
mate to Robin Hood, she popped plays that are known to have been backed by, among others, historian David
onto the scene sometime in the 16th written for the May Day festivities: Baldwin, Robin Hood’s real identity was that of
century and was likely derived from Robin Hood and the Sheriff, Robin Hood a 13th-century farmer called Robert Godberd,
a 15th-century character: the Lady of and the Friar and Robin Hood and the
May Day. This popular festival was a Potter. It is small wonder really, that whose escapades were far from the sugar-coated
yearly tradition in the Middle Ages but it some bard would eventually pen a tales we see today. The crimes him and his band
took several generations of storytelling romance between the dashing rebel and of outlaws around Nottinghamshire and nearby
before Marian and Robin were brought the fictional May Day queen. counties were accused of were of the brutal era
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