Page 89 - All About History - Issue 09-14

The myths of Robin Hood

Was Robin Hood as generous as the
tales depict him?
If Robin Hood and his Merry Men did exist in the
time of King John, it’s highly unlikely they would
have embarked on the scale of philanthropy
portrayed in the modern tale. This idea likely
came from an early medieval ballad involving
Richard at the Lee, a knight who had fallen upon
hard times. His lands were to be forfeited to an
abbot because he couldn’t repay a loan to the
abbey, so Robin gives him money to pay his
mortgage. Historian John Paul Davis goes further
as to suggest that Robin Hood stole from the
rich and lent to the poor, as a kind of medieval
loan shark. In his book Robin Hood: The Unknown
Templar, Davis says that Hood loaned Richard
a sum of £400, before stealing it back off the
abbot once Richard has paid the
abbey back. Victorian-era author
Howard Pyle and 20th-century
films undoubtedly had a big
hand in transforming Hood
from a devious bandit into the
philanthropist he is today. So did
someone named Robin Hood
steal from the rich and give to
the poor? It is possible, yes.
Did he have their best interests
at heart? That’s as clear as the
legend itself.

“16th-century Robin Hood makes the

transition from a brutal and murderous
Robin Hood and Little John – two popular
names adopted by rogues and criminals
outlaw in defiance of the monarchy”
in the 13th century

and themes that generations to come would and gave to the poor. highwayman driven to robbery as an income by
adopt when turning to their own adaptations. The By the time author TH White came along, the his Protestant faith under a Catholic monarch.
18th-century Robin Hood sees him encounter story of Robin Hood was among the world’s most Ukranian rebel Ustym Karmaliuk made his name
farcical situations. For example, the ballads of the well known. White took it a step further and, as in the 19th century for robbing the rich and
time talk of a series of tradesmen and professionals an author made famous by his Arthurian novels, distributing the proceeds of his crimes to the poor,
getting the upper hand with the hapless outlaw, brought Robin Hood and his Merry Men into his and over a millennium before Robin Hood came
while the Sheriff of Nottingham is the only one to novel The Sword In The Stone, which was made into to the fore, Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, defied
be bested by Robin. Robin dresses up as a friar in an anthropomorphic Disney film a quarter of a the Romans when they forcibly took control of
Robin Hood’s Golden Prize and cheats two priests century later. her lands and people. She led a successful revolt
out of five hundred pounds – nearly $16,000 The late-20th century and the booming that destroyed a Roman legion and the Roman
(£10,000) in today’s money – before he’s caught and phenomenon that was cinema brought with capital before it was put down. Almost every
summons the Merry Men with his horn. it numerous adaptations, most of which aren’t generation has a story that is similar to Robin
The Victorians, notorious for enamelling history remotely faithful even to the 16th-century versions. Hood, illustrating the very human desire and need
with their own style and values, weren’t shy about The Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn film to have a figure who stands for right against wrong,
leaving their mark on Robin Hood either. By the Robin and Marian made much of the romance light against dark.
mid-19th century, the cost and efficiency of printing but for the first time, cast King Richard as a less- Given that nearly a millennium has passed since
books was such that they had become available to than-benevolent character. The Robin of Sherwood the first tale of Robin Hood was told, in addition
the masses. US writer and illustrator Howard Pyle television series went as far as to add a Muslim to his murky origins that even 13th-century bards
took the traditional folk tale of Robin Hood and character in the form of Nasir the Saracen, a trend cannot agree on, it’s unlikely any historian will be
adapted it to his own children’s version, serialising the famous Kevin Costner film followed through able to settle on who Robin Hood and his Merry
it into short stories called The Merry Adventures Morgan Freeman’s Azeem. Men were exactly, or what little truth there is to
of Robin Hood, which became enormously The character of the lovable rogue has their deeds. As far as history is concerned, the © Jay wong; Mary Evans; Corbis
popular. His green-tights vagabond was a moral international appeal, so almost every country has Robin Hood legend has become a victim of its own
philanthropist who would go on to spawn a whole its own version of Robin Hood: in Wales, Twm popularity, obscured by generations of storytelling
century of the people’s hero that took from the rich Siôn Cati is likened to Hood as a high-ranking taking it firmly into the realms of fantasy.
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