Robin Hood: Fact or Fiction? (Medieval Legend Investigation Documentary)

I'm walking along what used to be the Great North Road, the

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version of the m1, and this was one of the most difficult and dangerous stretches because it was banned in Sherwood Forest. Now there can't be many characters in the story that you can immediately identify by just saying the name of a place, but I'm already absolutely sure that everyone realizes that this will be a show about Robin Hood, everyone knows his story, it's a of the most famous people in history, but what was he really like? Did he really exist? I want to try to establish whether the most famous outlaw of all time was just a comic book character or a flesh-and-blood historical figure.

He's always fascinated me with stealing, so this is something of a personal quest. We all feel like we know the famous outlaw, but he comes in a lot of shapes and sizes. Images of him that we have all had since child

hood

, perhaps very far from the real truth in the dictionary of national biography. Robin Hood is the only figure who does not exist, he certainly came from the rich, but he never managed to give a thousand men to the poor. He couldn't find an outlaw if he didn't want to be found in Sherwood Forest. I wrote a children's series called Maid Marian and her Merry Men.

It parodied the Robin stories we all know from television and the Robin Hood movies and his team of intellectual finalists, but what we consider traditional is not our modern Robin story it is the product of centuries of change and evolution. The Robin we know today is Robin. of locks who returns from the Crusades and discovers that his lands have been stolen by the evil Prince John and his henchmen, the Sheriff of Nottingham, flees to Greenwood and continues fighting with his merry men, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, he home with his beloved. Maid Marian and reclaim the lands from him alone when King Richard the Lionheart returns from the Holy Land.

It's a great story, but it's a red herring when it comes to tracking down a real Robin. We want Robin in the flesh, so we'll have to look. the original stories of Robin in their early versions the first stories of Robin were ballads passed down by word of mouth we know they existed in 1377 by researching these original stories we should be able to find evidence of Robin's true identity. The first fic is as exciting as our modern versions, but it offers no clue as to how Robin became an outlaw. The story begins abruptly at his, Robbins', camp, there with only three of the usual suspects, Little John Scarlet and much of Miller's son.

They are preparing a meal. Robins is hungry, but he doesn't want to eat until he has a guest. He sends his men to nine. He waits on the Great North Road and catches a dining companion. They don't have to wait long before weighing. They lie threadbare. The night, of course, is a scandal. Robin offers hospitality to the nightgown and then, once he has eaten, tells him that he has to pay for his meal, but it turns out that the night he has no money. His son killed the man to pay a heavy fine. loan from the monks and marries in York, unless he pays the debt tomorrow, he risks losing everything else because the night has been honest.

Robyn sends him with 400 pounds to pay the debt, trusting that the Virgin Mary will pay him plus she gives the knight a new set of clothes and a good horse and sends little John to accompany him to York as a valet when you read the ballot you begin to notice that it is very different from the version we know today Robin here is not a nobleman among the outlaws a hornless landowner Freeman, but the most obvious thing is the setting, it is not Sherwood Forest, this is where it takes place the poem and the woods traditionally known as barn style in South Yorkshire yes, Robin Hood was a Yorkshire town, you might be surprised that that Robin Hood is from Yorkshire, but it depends on the background, historians have known for a few years.

The problem is that others of our kind who perhaps live around Nottingham at a show in the woods, their stories will merge with the original ballads that do come from. this area and the

fact

that Nottingham is a much better known place than when Tree Job bans Dale, which most people, to be honest, have never heard of, the area would help the connection with Nottingham. The ballads are very specific about the area. This track is the remnant of. the great northern highway when it descended towards barnesdale to cross the river it passed over a 20 bridge today the a1 detours passed over the bridge half a mile to the east and that is where the viaduct is now that the merry men laid their ambush this is the place where Little John and the scholarly Will stalk the knight in the poem.

Robin sends them to the sale to spy on the bridge. You can see beyond those white buildings, the road winding towards the bridge from the other side of the valley. The writer knew this place. I knew it was the perfect vantage point, it may surprise some people to hear the stories of Robin Hood coming from here and not Sherwood, but six centuries ago I wouldn't have raised an eyebrow the phrase Robin Hood in Barnsdale was a legal saying meaning something was a well established

fact

and a couple of miles down the a1 from the bridge there is more evidence for you as it is claimed that this is Robin Hood's well near Skell Brook or rather it is the cover that the 19th century architect Van Bura XVIII designed for him.

The low markers have been moved to make way for the highway, but for centuries people have stopped here to celebrate Robin Hood. This is the oldest known place name associated with Robin Hood, but over the next three centuries the name begins to appear everywhere. Robin Hood is being his wits Robin Hood's bats in Cambria Robin Hood's ride in Richmond sorry, practically everywhere except Sherwood, the first name there doesn't appear until the year 1700, the jump on the bandwagon that was four centuries after the event, so we have stories set in barnesdale, not sherwood. Robin is not a dispossessed nobleman, but a low-born Sherman of York.

Most of these original stories tell us about tomorrow, I must go to Yorktown to st. Mary the Abbot and the Absent Monks Mary is happy in York hoping that her moneylenders will not appear that night. The Knights only had until sunset to pay off their large debt, after that they can claim all their property and lands, but just in time. The night arrives expecting him to be left empty-handed. The abbot does not show him respect and leaves him kneeling like a servant. He gets a scare when the night gives him the 400 pounds of his debt. It seems that everything is in order and there is a twist in the Greenwood Road Robin sends his men on a carbon copy of his first ambush.

Now behold, this time his dinner guest is none other than the month of Samaras, unlike the knight, the monk declares himself poor, but it is discovered that he has 800 pounds with him the night he was told the truth and was helped the monk lied and lost everything justice prevails and Robin doubles his money but there is no mention of giving to the poor our heroes are just a bunch of highway robbers can you imagine some Aukerman rubbing off the rich to give to the poor? certainly he stole from the rich and kept it, that was the product of a much later version, the theft of the balance is a bit of a thug in a poem, he kills a man, puts his head on his bow and mutilates his face, the Robin Hood The original is a pretty vicious character, but in the Middle Ages, when people were entertained by the first ballads and stories of Robin Hood, they expected to find a vicious character as a hero because in those days everyone was used to living a pretty hard life, so that just because someone went around locking people up and stealing people's heads, as long as he went around killing people they didn't like, it didn't really matter how he did it, but why does Robin mess with clergymen in particular?

Samira actually? She exists, she is here in York, but don't be fooled by these romantic ruins, it was more than just a religious institution. York was the second most powerful political center in the country and the monks who ran Abbey's like these were also politicians and captains of industry. As she was in charge of the spiritual well-being of the country, the abbess of northern England controlled the wool trade, money was supposed to be a means to an end and supported a life of prayer, but wealth had led to squalor in Robin's time. Religious communities were famous for their greed, lack of morals and hypocritical lifestyle, on the contrary, Robins was portrayed as righteous and truly religious.

He may be a criminal, but his harsh justice restores true values. When Robin assaulted some Ares's monk, a big round of applause would have gone up for this ordinary guy. Robin was landing a blow. For justice and true religion, everyone knew that the system was rotten, only an outlaw would have dared to do something about it. So far, this original version of the rocket stories has given us a good overall picture of the kind of tough character we're looking for, but... We'll get more clues about his real identity when he comes face to face with his archenemy, the sheriff. , to find the facts about the real Robin Hood.

We have been analyzing the first

fiction

al versions of the

legend

of him. These

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tales destroy the myth. of a penniless nobleman secured in favor of a much harsher house and our criminal based on their agenda, but the stories in these ancient texts also contain evidence that points us to a real flesh-and-blood historical Robin Robin and his men of brilliant hardships, the Sheriff. of Nottingham organizes a competition to catch despite wearing their

hood

s the sheriff knows that whoever splits the wand to win must take an hour of course he never makes it our lovers always escape at the last moment while chasing fights he escapes from prison and then the fight with the sheriff culminates in a confrontation Robin defeats his archenemy with a single shot moves instantly killing the sheriff with his sword Robin contemplated our company the next king Edward comes to eliminate these rebels in the north with his men disguised as monks, he is deliberately captured in the woods, but when he sees Robinson's loyal subject, he forgives the outlaws and takes Robin into his service, leaving us with a conundrum.

Modern Robin stories set in the reign of Richard the Lionheart, evidence and ballads suggest. all this is wrong the ballads say that Robin met a completely different king edward, the attractive king now there have been eight kings edward who have had all of britain through the centuries the first mention of the ballads is in the year thirteen seventy and seven, so those rules all these kings are because Edward IV didn't come to the throne until the 15th century, so using this logic, Robin must have existed between 1274, when Edward IV came to the throne, and 1377, when we get the first mention of balance and There is other blindingly obvious evidence to support that quotes are the most famous thing Robin Hood is famous for: the rise of the ship, the long bow, is what they call the animals he began to take off.

In the 13th century, that is when they have permeated the villages and cities and have begun to take root in our communities and basically become a sporting religion of the common man in the reign of Richard the Lionheart the bow was a minority weapon not He had worshiped long archers and would be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd made the bow a key part of his military strategy. Archery was mandatory for all able-bodied men so being a great archer was like being a soccer star today if you have the eye and the strength and can do the business with the bow you were truly one of the best of the community, the robbery of the marksman, could only be a product of this culture in the early 14th century and a closer examination of the ballads leads us to an exact date.

Historians have closely examined the lives of the Three Edwards who are potential candidates to be our handsome King and have concluded that only one of them could have come face to face with an outlaw in this area in the year 3023. Edward II went on a tour of the north. ending up in Nottingham due to a political crisis that began here Pontefract Castle Pontefract in West Yorkshire was confusingly the home of Thomas the Earl of Lancaster, Edward's cousin, the second king was unpopular Lancaster decided to make his own bid for the throne and called He summoned his men from Yorkshire and Lancashire to form an army, but when they left Pontefract, Edward ambushed them and crushed the rebel.

The Earl of Lancaster was tried and beheaded. His followers were outlawed and fled for their lives to places like farms. Dale Lancaster's revoir provides a plausible explanation. explanation for why Robin and his men would have been away, also connects Robin to Nottingham through the villains. The period of the Revolt was the only time that the Sheriff of Nottingham was also responsible for Yorkshire being the king's right hand man. I-Robin originally detained is a recurring character in the stories when the outlaws flee from the sheriff, they run to his castle for protection. The knight's name is Sir Richard of the Lea and this is where the Ballad says he camepunctually on cable day, but this is Lancashire, several days' journey from Barnesdale, where Robins is located.

At first glance, it seems pretty far-fetched to have a main character from so far away, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Plumpton and wired ale are linked with Barnesdale through the lands of Thomas Earl of Lancaster, they formed a corridor crossing the Pennines allowing easy communication between the rebels here and here a knight based on wired ale would have been brother-in-arms to a landowner outlaw in barnesdale the lancastrian revolt is the only time and place where ballads fit political history When historians realized this, they set themselves the task of finding a real Robin Hood from this period in today's medieval archives.

If you wanted to reach me, you'd probably try looking in the phone book and there, of all the Robinsons, you'd be. forced to meet unTony, but it would be difficult to know if it was Tony Robinson or not, and in the early 14th century it would be even more difficult because court roles and church records from the early Middle Ages were not cataloged there. there are no indexes and no one is written in alphabetical order, yet lo and behold, when historians were searching for Robin in the early 14th century, they found one in the court papers of the manor of Wakefield during the reign of Edward II who was living with his wife Matilda. was a lodger called Robert Hood to most people, that's what Robin Hood is not, it's a totally different name, but it's not Robin, it's a nickname for Robert for many years, the name Robin was used instead of Robert, like for example, Jack could be a nickname. because the name is John, therefore John F.

Kennedy is Jack Kennedy, therefore this man is called Robin Hood. Let's assume for a moment that this is the real man behind the balance theft. Robert Hood was a Forester and is one of the Lancastrian rebels who are later outlawed. As a result of the rebellion, he loses his property in Wakefield and the property was here. Robin Hood's house was in great recovery. Today it is the size of the bus station. Okay, our Robert Hood, who lives somewhere below stop number 49, disappears at 13 22. I never heard from him again, but that's not the end of the story.

The ballad says that Robin was taken into King's service but after 15 months he was so depressed that he left him to return to his former life, the record tells us a year later. the Lancaster revolt there was still political unrest the kings undertook a tour of the north offering an amnesty to the outlaws, some of whom they took into their own ranks enter our second candidate this is Robin Hood a chambre valet a bodyguard who appears in the payroll he attends the second court in 1323 but the following year he receives a lump sum of five shillings because he can no longer work when you compare the stories with history the parallels are striking let's recap the Ballad tells us that the Kings forgave Robin Hood of his crimes that Robin went to work for him but left the Kings' service about a year later because he was feeling fed up and depressed and the records tell us that this man, Robert Hood of Wakefield, fought in the Lancaster Revolt and disappeared, but that shortly After Then this man discovers Robin Hood, a servant of the king who works for the king for about a year and then he disappears too.

Could these two men be the same person? Our Robert Hood of Wakefield was a gamekeeper with whom he would have been well equipped for life. an outlaw in the woods of Barnsdale an elegant and ingenious church in Sherwood there is a medieval gamekeeper's grave which gives us an idea of ​​essential forestry equipment there is a bow and arrow of course and this has a sort of shoulder strap with a horn hanging from it, right? I have to tell you a baldric, but living in the woods required more than this near the church. I learned what Taft's life can be like in the escape in the cave known as Robin Hood's stable.

I met a man who has set out to survive in the forest using only the tools of the Middle Ages what were the biggest problems the ring one night it rained very, very hard one night my resolution device to climb an old tree and sleep inside the oak not far from here what equipment do you have to go? basic equipment you have to carry a house on your bike really this is a flask because it is very difficult to find water this is a cup the weight of an ox horn a blanket to keep you warm at night an antler to dig a hole to go to the bathroom and toilet paper hang from the trees an ax to make a shelter in the forest and here the necessities and some small luxuries some eating utensils a little salt a little flour just a basic equipment in terms of weapons the UVO bowling game simple in a hunting case These are hunting arrows and I have to eat with a knife to kill people, so you have a hunting horn.

It is very important to maintain communications in the forest. This was the medieval equivalent of Robin Hood's mobile phone, so Mike Robin Hood really. have dried up, disappointingly out of tune outlaws and there's one more surprise in store if you're still clinging to the image of the merry men who live in Greenwood they probably came home in winter this place is particularly inhospitable in bad weather you can imagine what it's like in January, you'd say so if you spent the night here in January and they almost certainly went home, so we have a plausible if surprising candidate for our real Robin Hood, a York Sherman landowner who lives as an outlaw during the summer and He sneaks back home to his wife Matilda here in Wakefield in the winter, but every outlaw needs his gang next.

We have to find the real merry men. By comparing clues from early Robin Hood stories with historical records, we find a candidate for the real Robin Hood. Robert, who lived in Wakefield until the year 3022, when he fled to the woods of Barnstone, we can also find real versions of the merry men who may have been allied with Robert of Wakefield. Here again, the older version of the story does not have the band of outlaws. We know that today we have Little John mentioned with Robin early on and then a few others, a lot of Wolf Scarlett Friar Tuck arrives later, so in many of the early ballads you have Robin and a very small group that is very believable to the outlaws. real outlaws, it was usually the leader, his younger brother, a cousin and someone from the same town, he got into trouble too, that's realistic and I think it's perfectly possible there could have been people from Nottingham Yorkshire anywhere else who had those names that they were outlaws, so what evidence do we have about the true identity of the outlaws?

I was on this bridge the first day with the intention of crossing first. Would you wear that star just to look like a bold guy or do you know how to use it? We all know. Little John as the giant who joins the merry men after fighting Robin on a bridge, but at first there is no fight and John plays a much more central role - there is no merchant in Meryton and it is actually Little John who starts the whole dispute with the sheriff. The relationship with Robin is much more democratic. Little John isn't afraid to tell Robin what to do.

Tourist lore about Little John is that he is buried in the middle of a sage in Derbyshire, so people assume he came from there, but the ballads say he comes from Holdernesse. near Beverly in Humberside and Little John is just an alias, his real name is Reynold Greenleaf, hiss. Oh men, call me Reynold Green, we have records from 13 18 and 13 23 and Little John is accused of crimes in Wakefield and Beverly, could Little John was already a criminal who joined Robert Hood of Wakefield in Barnesdale after the riot of Lancaster. As for the other outlaws, we don't have much record of the Millers, but there are some fascinating clues about Scarlett's identity.

Is Scarlett a stranger? name because in the oldest case it seems to have the name scath lock center staff lock, perhaps in a northern form and scath lock seems to mean the term Smasher lock, said to be a merchant with broken entrances, some recent versions are skal has dressed in scarlet, you know? it's very elaborate, I don't think that's what they had in mind and yes, again there is evidence of a will lock at the right time and place, who might have met Robin Hood of Wakefield, he was a monk from Samaras in York that is mentioned.

In The Ballad we don't know why but he was expelled from the abbey at the end of the 13th century. If this true-willed Catholic held a grudge against Mary, he would help explain why the abbot ended up as a villain in the story then. We come to some really disappointing news. Robin Hood may have had a wife, but she was not Maid Marian. Early versions of the story don't have any love interests in them. Marian enters the tradition in a completely different way each year. of Witzel in the Middle Ages workers used to have processions and plays to celebrate the arrival of summer, we still have the remains of this tradition preserved in the works of Morris dancing mimes Robin was one of the main characters of these rebels who were unrestrained and disturbing. of the other characters, Mary must know the moment she became Robin's companion and the characters Roman and Mary used to ride revelers to give money to good causes, which is where we eventually get the tradition of robbing the rich. to give to the poor like Robin. changed from bandit to nobleman in Tudor times Marian was incorporated into the stories Marian appears in her full form when Robin becomes bourgeois when Robin is a lord, yes, a lady and appears in 1598 ninety-nine in Antony Monday's work, the fall of Robert Robert Earl of Huntington and the second, the death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon, but even here there is a link in the play: she assumes the name Marian as an alias to hide her real name, Matilda.

Interestingly, it is recorded that Robert Hood of Wakefield, his wife Matilda, fled with him into the woods to join him in the fight, that is what Maid Marian is supposed to do in the popular Legend of Robin Hood, so Robert Hood of Wakefield's wife Matilda closely matches the profile of Maid Marian. Marian is a later addition; There is only one woman registered. In the first stories she was a nun and would be Robin's nemesis. This is the Three Nuns pub on the road between Huddersfield in Dewsbury. It has been an inn here for over 700 years and gets its name from the shenanigans that were rumored to be happening. among the guests and three of the local nuns from nearby Kirklees Priory, if the ballads are to be believed, the guesthouse that once stood here among the last place Robin saw with all the Priory doors closed behind him and was unknowingly at her death after leaving the King's service Robin lives in Greenwood for 22 years and then unknowingly goes to her cousin, the prioress at Kirklees Priory, to be bled for her health, as they did in the middle Ages.

The story gives no motive, but this nun betrays him. Robin and leaves him to bleed to death and a later story says that Robin shoots one last arrow through the window and asks to be buried where he lands, have mercy on the dying man. Kirklees Priory was dismantled by Henry VIII as part of his dissolution of the monasteries, the only sign of the royal Priory today being the strange stones and potholes in the ground. The boarding house where Robin is said to have died still stands, although there is no record of how Robert Hood of Wakefield died, it is possible that he was the person who was murdered. here Kirklees is just 10 miles from Wakefield, where Robert Hood lived and the relevant dates linked the original stories with historical events.

The ballads tell us that Robin Hood was murdered by a relative who ran the Priory here 22 years after leaving the King's service dating from In Edward's time the second visit would be around 1346 or 7 and the records tell us that In 1346 the prioress here was Elizabeth - Stanton none other than the cousin of Matilda's wife Robert Hood. This is the room where Robin is said to have died. the spot that marks their graves there, but the thing about the arrow can't be 650 yards away and uphill, almost twice the range of the longbow for a skilled archer, it is generally accepted that the fact that Robin is buried where his arrow lands is a piece of poetic elaboration.

The simple original story of his death, the sight of Robin's grave in Kirklees has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, but if you're expecting a nice, simple ending, you'll be disappointed. Searching for Robin Hood is a bit like being the Sheriff of Nottingham. at the moment. You think you've got it, it slips through your fingers, this is the site of Robin Hood's grave, except it's not, the site has been moved at least three times and this is what Robin's tombstone looked like according to a sketch from the year 1665, but it disappeared and the replica was Mays.

It was vandalized by 18th century canal workers who thought a bit of Robin Hood's tombstone would cure his toothache. When this site was excavated,There was nothing but earth, which is not surprising if the tombs have been moved to replace the missing tomb slab. There is a 19th century inscription in Old English to establish the tomb's ancient credentials, even if we have not found its last resting place, we have constructed a coherent picture of a historical Robin, our man from Wakefield matches the The clues given in the early sources, the Lancaster Revolt give him the opportunity and motive, there are real contemporary Yorkshire outlaws who could having been his Merry Men and Robin Hood was related in real life to characters mentioned in the ballads such as the Prioress of Curly, but as with the grave the truth about Robin is complex and fragile there is always more to him than meets the eye just when we thought we had found our main suspect Robin Hood of Wakefield two hundred and fifty miles to the south historians discovered another man who ruined everything open again this man had never committed a crime in his life the first ballads about Robin Hood have told us given a picture of a historical suspect Robert Ode of Wakefield who appears to have ended up working for King Edward after the Lancastrian Reformation in 1322, but in all the best detective stories the last of the solutions can be altered by a single clue , suddenly there is evidence that suggests that previously, in the Middle Ages, it was customary to be known by your father's name, so if your father was a landowner called Robert or Robin Hood then you would be called Roberts or Robertson or Hudson or Hudson or Hood or of course Robinson but then, out of nowhere, a historian discovered a man who had lived in Sussex in the year 1296 called Gilbert Robin Hood.

This was an extremely rare surname and seemed to imply that the name was already known as some sort of nickname, but then more and more people called Robin Hood or Robin started appearing, but they weren't just random individuals, we know that a very high proportion of They had at some point in their lives committed criminal acts, but even in a case where the court clerk changed a man's last name from the favorite to Robin Hood because it was now Robinhood became a common criminal alias, this does not mean that None of these men are candidates for the real Robin, it just goes to show that people knew about him 50 years or more before Robert had Wakefield, so where does that leave our prime suspect?

Well, he's still probably the Robin of ballads, but balance isn't about The original Robin historians snuck around and came up with another Robert Hood in 1225. He was now a lawyer who had been fined 32 shillings and six pence at York Court of Justice, but there is no record of him doing anything like theft and random stories. The Robin Hood type names in the records didn't seem to go anywhere, but there were plenty of evil figures we know existed whose lives matched the famous stories, they just weren't called Robin. The best example is a story that began with a dispute over The ownership of Whittington Castle here in Shropshire, interestingly during the reign of Richard the Lionheart in 1197, it was inherited from his father by a man called Fook Fitzwarren, but a rival Lord With better contacts with King John he wanted Whittington to be accused of treason. and fitzwarren was outlawed the three years he operated a guerrilla campaign in the forests of the borders of Wales and the stories that emerged about him are eerily similar to those we associate with Robin Hood, but he is only disgusted that Warren has a right-hand man called John .

He rubs people the wrong way by inviting them to dinner and then making them pay, takes refuge with a local knight and kills his sworn enemy in the forest, but when the king arrives at the forest in disguise, Fitzwarren is spared. Sounds familiar, could this man be from Shropshire? a new main suspect whose name changed in the course of history, it's really strange, maybe there was never a real historical Robin Hood, maybe the stories are just a mix of old

legend

s, but if that's the case, why bother inventing Robin Hood? Why not follow Fitzwarren's thinking and tell all the stories about him or maybe there was a guy in real life like our Robin Hood of York or our Robert Hood of Wakefield who had adventures and then a lot of

fiction

al things were added to him ? them, but there is a third possibility, suppose that both the stories of Fook Fitzwarren and the ballads of Robin Hood are based on an earlier figure, a hidden Robin Hood that we have not yet discovered.

The modern story of Robin Hood is set in the time of Richard the Lionheart when Robin is also called Robin of Loxley due to the northern connections in the ballads. Historians always assumed this meant Locksley. In your wishes, there is another Locksley here in Warwickshire, near Stratford-on-Avon, and here the trail leads us to the ancestor of one of the. The Norman invaders who arrived with William the Conqueror in 1193, the manor of the Lord of Locksley was Robert Fits, a descendant of the eldest bishop of my years, because Fits meant an illegitimate descendant, it was sometimes discarded, leaving us with the smell of Roberts effectively in Richard's time.

Lionheart was banished from his Manor Locksley Manor and for a time became an outlaw because there are records from that period that say that he is causing trouble in the surrounding woods and that he was a thief for a time. He was eventually given his lands back when Richard the Lionheart finally returned from the Crusades, so he matches to some extent the actual historical Robin Hood from the point of view of later legend, so, out of nowhere, another candidate for a part of the country not generally associated with the Crusades. Robin tells, but it gets even stranger, the connection to Robert Oder comes from relatively recent research, but there is evidence here in Locksley Cemetery that he may have simply discovered a tradition that was known before, just north of the church, they found a mysterious headstone its design seemed to match the original Kirklees grave slab remember that in 1665 the Kirklees stone had been sketched in Yorkshire and then had disappeared is this evidence that people knew that Locksley was part of the story for longer other historians this is the tombstone that looks like To me, there are three possibilities: Either it's all just a coincidence, but that seems unlikely given how similar the original floor is to what we have here, the patterns are the same and the dimensions are very similar, or this could be a copy of the original. headstone at Kurt's Lee's or us, maybe just maybe these are the original Kirklees headstones that were brought here by someone who believed this was the true last resting place.

We have three historic candidates who together have helped create the figure of Robin Hood. Robert Hood of Wakefield, the Lancastrian rebel, there is our historic Nan Robins who has added his touches and there is Robert Olor, the original mobile monopoly, but there is another angle to the story and for that we have to return to Sherwood Forest, this time not to the usual tourist route. The subtle cathedral of Lyon when the stonemasons finished the cathedral in the Middle Ages they decided to leave an exhibition piece in the octagonal chapter house. The highest form of the stonemasons' art was to carve leaves in stone that had the lightness and delicacy of nature, and woven into the fabric of this Christian meeting house is the ancient pagan spirit of the dreamers, called three, another name for the spirit of the great poets was Robin, good cut, this Robin will be the inspiration behind the mythical hero that houses now this figure is not clearly associated with Outlawry it is much more associated with nature because Robin in the original ballads always appears framed in the forest , which is where he is and then he goes into action and goes back to the forest and if you want the original Robin Hood, I think he's that figure.

Meet Robin of the Forest Robin in the Hood Perhaps it is this pagan version of Robin that appeals to us most in the 21st century. Robin Hood type stories I think have been with us probably since the end of the last ice age about 35,000 years ago, but they have been added and subtracted from since then Robin Hood, which we now know here in Sherwood Forest, is not the rubble that we would be standing on, now they have elected him as a conservationist, a conservationist who takes care of the green forests in those days. nothing at all, it was just be careful with the bishops, the archbishop be civil and whatever you do, don't get caught by the sheriff and not only when I wrote the children's series about Maid Marian, I knew I was joining a long tradition of telling stories about Robin, but until I went looking for the real Robin I never fully appreciated how much that tradition has evolved to meet the needs of the audience.

I think Robin Hood is in the process of becoming the supporting character in a series of feminist sagas starring Maid. Marian, that's underway. What will there be then? Will there then be an intergalactic Robin Hood? Maybe there will be a gay Robin Hood? I think it's quite likely that that will happen. The homeless sociability of the legend will be interpreted that way and you can see good reasons for it, but. I guess what's really after Robin Hood is a lot of exposition that I stole in my quest of trying to figure out if Robin Hood was fact or fiction and the answer is that it's both, there's a lot of Robin Hood, there's the mysterious man of Locksley the Lancaster. revolutionary, the petty criminal, the king's servant, not to mention the countless medieval outlaws who adopted his name as an alias to try to protect their anonymity, they all lived and breathed, they were all facts, but it took a fiction to make the story. story was great. legend that could touch us more deeply than the simple story of a human being and whether that legend is about the spirit of Greenwood or the nature of being a hero of a common man's struggle, they all create for us a Robin who is fair, brave, heroic and human enough that we can believe that in a more just world we too could be Robin Hood.