Robin Hood: Origins

Send us a text

In this episode Richard and Dr. Jennifer Paxton of The Catholic University of America   search for a historical Robin Hood and explore the medieval and Tudor stories about the heroic outlaw and his band of merry men. This is the first of a two-part series.  The follow on episode will be on Robin Hood in movies and television.

Credits
The podcast's intro and exit music is composed by the talented and generous Alexander Nakarada (https://alexandernakarada.bandcamp.com/album/collection-celtic-medieval).
The opening to the folksong "Lord Randall, My Son" is by Ewan MacColl from his album, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads)"  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0dRGi4rx0c)
The modern English translation of "A Geste of Robin Hood" is by Robin Landis Frank (https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ohlgren/gesttrans.html)

Listen on Podurama https://podurama.com

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

richard abels (00:05):
Welcome to our podcast. Tis but a scratch, fact
and fiction about the MiddleAges. I'm your host Professor
Richard Abels. And today we'regoing to be talking about Robin
Hood. My co host is a veteran ofthis podcast, Dr. Jennifer
Paxton of the CatholicUniversity of America. You might

(00:25):
remember Jenny from our threeepisodes about King Arthur.
Welcome back, Jenny.

Jennifer Paxton (00:30):
It's wonderful to be back. Richard.

richard abels (00:32):
Jenny is an especially appropriate co host
with today's episode. Havingdiscussed with her the
historical origins and legend ofthe most famous medieval figure
in the English speaking worldKing author, we are now turning
to his close runner up. RobinHood. Robin Hood first appears
in the written record in thelate 14th century in a throwaway

(00:55):
line in William Langland's,Middle English allegorical poem,
"Piers Plowman," Langland In thepoem has Sloth declare to
Repentance, "I kan noghtparfitly my Paternoster as the
preest it syngeth But I kanrymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf

Erl of Chestre," which means (01:15):
" I do not know my Paternoster as
the priest sings, but I do knowrhymes of Robin Hood. And
Randolph, Earl of Chester."Although this is the first
surviving written reference toRobin Hood. It's evidence that
by the late 14th century, poemsabout Robin Hood, were so

(01:38):
common, and so well known, thatthey can be used as a shorthand
for the type of tales everyonewould be expected to know.

Jennifer Paxton (01:47):
So Robin Hood we know but who was this
Randolph, Earl of Chester? Goodquestion.

richard abels (01:53):
And very medieval of us to ride off on a tangent.
And the answer is we don't know.
There are a number of EarlReynolds of Chester. The two who
are the most likely candidatesfor the ballots are run off the
third also known as rent if theblood V. One of the great men of
the realm during the reigns ofKing Richard the Lionheart, John
and Henry the third and ran offthe third's grandfather ran off

(02:16):
the second to granade. rent ofthe second was the virtual ruler
of a Palatine in northernEngland. He gained notoriety and
maintain his control over hislands by shrewdly switching
sides during the civil warbetween King Stephen and the
Empress Matilda. He died at theheight of his power, and he
lived in 53 when he and his Benwere poisoned while visiting

(02:40):
William Peverel. Probably toavenge arenales Proceed
treachery against King Stephen,whom William Peverel had
supported fervently, the AngloScottish folks on Lord Randall
my son, here's sung by you andMcCall may draw upon popular
memory of the poisoning althoughto stretch to see William

(03:00):
Peverel as Earl rentals truelove Oh

Jennifer Paxton (03:05):
Lord, He been Lord Dorando my son of lord he
have been my Bonnie young manI've been dead wild wet mother
mark my bed Sue forearm with awet and Fein would lay do.

richard abels (03:36):
The main thing though, is that Reynolds was a
historical figure. The questionis whether Robin Hood was one as
well.

Jennifer Paxton (03:44):
The same question we asked about whether
there really was a King Arthur.
It's ironic that the two mostfamous medieval people, at least
for English speakers, KingArthur and Robin Hood, are of
questionable existence.

richard abels (03:57):
I think we both agreed that King author probably
is a fictional character, or atleast that the evidence for
historical Romano Britishchieftain author is scant,
bordering on non existent.
Historians have also debated theexistence of Robin Hood as early
as 1584 Reginald Scottassociated Robin Hood with the

(04:17):
Germanic kobold or Goblin,Harlequin, or as he was also
called Robin Goodfellow.
Shakespeare's Puck, the ideathat Robin Hood originated as a
wood spirit had some support inthe 19th century. This was the
view of Thomas Wright, a 19thcentury antiquarian, who helped

(04:38):
found the Campden and Percysocieties for the publication of
medieval and early modernBritish texts. Right well
gathering material for his owncollection of medieval political
ballots in Carol's which waspublished by the Percy society
in 1841. came to the conclusionthat Robin Hood was less a real
person than the kings and heroesof outlaw romances, such as hair

(05:01):
with the weight or uses thepirate, associating Robin Hood
with the mythological elementsof the bay Day celebrations. He
identified him with similarlynamed wood spirits, the Teutonic
Hodgkin and the British RobinGoodfellow, Hunter responded
angrily. Quote, trusting to theplain sense of my countrymen. I

(05:22):
dismiss these theorists, to thatlimbo of vanity, there to live
with all those who make allremote history into fable, and
quote, the most importantcollector of British folk
ballads, FJ child's wasconvinced by rights arguments,
and dismissive of Hector's. Heconcluded that Robin Hood was,

(05:43):
quote, absolutely a creation ofthe Ballard Muse and quote, but
unlike the case of King Arthur,the modern historical consensus
is that the Robin Hood of themedieval ballots was based on a
real if historically obscure,outlaw

Jennifer Paxton (06:01):
understandably, as there is nothing really
magical in the story is toldabout Robin Hood. The stories
are rooted in socio economictensions and grievances that
gave rise to actual outlaws inmedieval England. So who was the
historical Robin Hood?

richard abels (06:17):
You're going to be really surprised to discover
historians disagree, amazing. Hehas been amazing. The first
difficulty is that Robin Hood isonly mentioned in one late
medieval Chronicle, and around1440, a Scottish avid Walter
Bauer while revising JohnFordham's late 14th century
chronicle called the ScottishChronicon the chronicle of

(06:39):
Scotland inserted a reference toRobin Hood under the year 1266.
Bowers identified Robin Hood asan adherent of the cause of the
rebel Baron Simon demand footvalet here seem to be
identifying Robin Hood withanother well known leader of a
rubber band, the 13th centuryoutlaw. Roger good Baird, a

(07:02):
small landowner inLeicestershire, and sometimes a
member of the garrison ofNottingham Castle, who was
outlawed after the Battle ofadmission for having supported
the rebel cause. The Scottishtheologian and historian John
Major also names Robin Hood, inhis history of Great Britain,
published in 1521, but placeshim in the 1190s for no apparent

(07:24):
reason. He was followed in thisby the Elizabethan historian
Richard Grafton kings printer toEdward the fourth, who claimed
to have quote, an old an ancientpamphlet and quote about the
life of Robin Hood, and a recordof the confiscation of his lands
in the exchequer rolls. IfGrafton had an old an ancient

(07:44):
pamphlet. It hasn't survived,and scholars have found no
reference to Robin Hood in thepipe rolls, John Leland Chaplin
to King Henry the eighth, andthe most distinguished of the
two dams. Aquarians describedRobin as a nobleman despite his
status as a Yeoman in the earlyballad. The playwright Anthony
Monday, wrote two plays in 1598,in which Robin Hood appears as

(08:08):
Robert Earl of Huntington. Thisidentification entered into the
canon, although it has nohistorical basis. In the late
20th and early 13th centuries,the URL dealing with Huntington
was held by the Scottish royalfamily and anonymous 17th
century pros life of Robin Hoodpreserved in the 18th century
Sloane manuscript now in theBritish Library, provided Robin

(08:31):
with a birthplace Loxley insouthern Yorkshire. This text is
based almost entirely upon theballads. It's one contribution
to the Robin Hood story isassociating Robin with Locksley
Thomas scale dean of Yorkprovided an epitaph allegedly
inscribed on Robins grave slab,which provided a death date of
1247. In the 17th century,Kirklees Abbey had a single

(08:55):
gravestone for three men, aRobin Hood, and two men who do
not appear in any of the RobinHood balance, William Goldberg
and Thomas what was stilllacking was a genealogy. If
Robin had been a nobleman, anearl of Huntington, he must have
had a noble genealogy in 1746, aligature antiquarian, Dr.

(09:15):
William Stokely, using a rathermisusing and enhancing DuckTales
peerage invented a fictitiousfamily tree for a fictitious
nobleman. The man who pulled allthese threads together was
Joseph Ritson in 1795 Ritson alawyer, antiquarian, harsh,
literary critic, and ferventsupporter of the French

(09:37):
Revolution, collected into asingle volume, all the ballads
of Robin Hood in theintroduction, he included a
quote unquote life of RobinHood. This was based upon major
the ballads and the speculationsand inventions of the 17th
century and Aquarians Ritsonposited that Robin Hood was born

(09:58):
at Locksley around the yearirrelevant 60 was of noble birth
perhaps the Earl of Huntingtonand was outlawed for debt and
gathered a rubber band inBarnsdale forest in Yorkshire
and I did Kirklees Abbey in 1247Watson's great contribution was
to have Robin not only Rob richhabits and sheriffs, but to give

(10:20):
the loot to the poor, heanswered would be critics who
might challenge Robins actionsin robbing the rich to give to
the poor by stating, quote, thatsame power which authorizes
kings to take it where it can beworst spirit, and give it where
it is least wanted and quote, soWalter Scott was a great admirer

(10:42):
of Britain's work, modernhistorians are less impressed. A
more serious historical studywas undertaken by Joseph Hunter
in 1852. As Assistant keeper ofthe public records, Hunter had
knowledge of an access to theextensive administrative records
of the medieval English crownand as a Yorkshire man, he had

(11:04):
an interest in the tales ofRobin Hood and his band of
outlaws in bond sale foresthunters starting point was what
he believed to be the oldestballad about Robin Hood, "A
Geste of Robin Hood." Jenny, whydon't you give a synopsis of
that poem? For our listeners?

Jennifer Paxton (11:20):
"A Geste of Robin Hood" is the earliest
surviving poem about Robin Hood,although it was published in the
early 16th century. On the basisof its language, it seems to be
mid 15th century. This is a longpoem, some 1824 lines divided
into eight cantos or fits. Thestory has Robin and his band,

(11:43):
which includes Little John,

richard abels (11:48):
Whom becomes Will Scarlett

Jennifer Paxton (11:50):
Will Scarlett, right, in their outlaws camp in
Barnsdale forest in southwesternYorkshire. Robin refuses to dine
until his men can find and bringa stranger to be their guest.
They find a sad and night,quote, There never was a sorry
or man to ride on a summer'sday. As the poet puts it, he is

(12:12):
happy to accept their invitationto what turns out to be a lavish
feast. But when Robin asks himto pay for it, the night is
ashamed to admit that quote, Ihave nothing in my coffers. So
the night which I may offer youfor shame. Robin tells Little
John to look in the night'sbaggage and finds a mere 10
shillings. The night explainsthat he had to mortgage his

(12:34):
lands to the abbot of St. Mary'sto raise 400 pounds to go bail
for his son was being held for ahomicide. The deadline for
repaying his debt to the abbotis drawing near, after which he
will permanently forfeit hisproperty. Robin generously
offers to lend the night themoney, who pledges in the name
of the Virgin Mary to repay theoutlaw. The abbot and his

(12:57):
accomplice the high justice ofEngland when the abbot bribed to
give judgment against the boyhappily await the Knights
default, and are pleased to seehim approach and ragged
clothing. The knight begs theabbot to accept his service in
lieu of cash, and the abbotrefuses, demanding his money all
the while keeping the knightkneeling beforehand. Finally,

(13:19):
the night throws off the ruseand plunks down a bag with the
400 pounds and gold and silverand reproves the abbot for his
greed. The abbot is forced torestore to the knight his lands,
and the high justice refuses toreturn the bribe. So the abbot
loses all around the nightreturns home raises the money

(13:40):
and repays Robin.

richard abels (13:42):
That's a happy story, but it's not the end,
right? It's

Jennifer Paxton (13:44):
not. The fourth fifth completes the story of the
greedy Abbot of St. Mary's,Robin again seeks a dinner
guest. This time, Robbins menfind an unwilling guest, a monk
who was brought by force to theOutlaws Den. The monk turns out
to be the seller of St. Mary'sAbbey. Robin assumes that he is
carrying with him the 400 poundspaid to the abbot by the night.

(14:07):
The seller denies it. But whenhis baggage is opened, the
outlaws discover 800 pounds.
Robin thanks the Virgin Mary forpaying his loan to fold. And
Robin not only returns to thenight is 400 pounds, but gives
him the additional 400 pounds aswell.

richard abels (14:25):
So we now have the second fit, the first two
fits, and the fourth fit, butthere is something in between
the third fifth,

Jennifer Paxton (14:33):
the third fit seems to be a tangent, which is
not unusual for medievalliterature. In fact, not at all
unusual in it Little John winsan archery tournament observed
by the much hated Sheriff ofNottingham. The sheriff is so
impressed he invites John intohis service. John seeing this as
an opportunity to rob thesheriff accepts under the alias

(14:56):
Raynald. Greenleaf could nameright John quarrels with the
sheriff's cook the to fight. AndJohn is so impressed with the
cooks fighting ability that heinvites him to join the rubber
band. And the cook accepts

richard abels (15:10):
that sort of like a motif you see in the movies
where Robin challenges peoplelike Little John and Friar Tuck,
and he's so impressed that afterhe's defeated, you asked him to
join him.

Jennifer Paxton (15:22):
It's the origin story of the various Merry Men.
Yes. So they both then rob thesheriff. Little John then
promising the sheriff goodhunting leads him into the hands
of Robin who entertains thesheriff on his own stolen
plates. Insult to injury, right.
Robin releases the sheriff afterhe promises to be the best
friends that you have ever had,and swears on Robins sword that

(15:45):
he will never harm Robin or hismen.

richard abels (15:50):
I don't trust that sheriff. I

Jennifer Paxton (15:52):
don't either.
The rest of the poem tells howthe Sheriff of Nottingham proves
false to his oath. He luresRobin to Nottingham for an
archery contest the prize beinga golden silver arrow. By the
way, later on, it's sometimesgold. It's sometimes silver that
was gold and silver right? WhenRobin wins the sheriff raises
the hue and cry against him. TheOutlaws escape. Although Little

(16:13):
John is wounded. They takerefuge with the night Sir
Richard at the Lee, who's castlewith Stan's a siege by the
sheriff. The sheriff appeals tothe king. When the sheriff is
unable to discover Robin Hood'scamp. He takes the night
prisoner robbing learning ofthis new treachery from the
Knights wife rescues him andkills the sheriff.

richard abels (16:35):
It's at this point that the poet gives us one
of the few clues of when all ofthis is happening. The king we
learned is named Edward Robinhaving killed the sheriff now
turns to Sir Richard A handsomebow and says, Thou shalt with me
to Greenwood through Meyer mostand Fen they'll shout with me to

(16:57):
Greenwood without any lazingtill that I have got us grace of
Edward are commonly King. We arenot told whoever whether calmly
Edward is Edward the first,Edward the second, or Edward the
third.

Jennifer Paxton (17:13):
King now travels to Nottingham to deal
with the robbers use anger tofind his forests depleted of
deer. Unable to find the robbershe decides to let them find him
enters the forest with a smallretinue all disguised as monks.
This is another motif we'regoing to see if we will indeed,
they are, of course captured byRobin Hood. When the king drops

(17:35):
his disguise, the outlawssubmit. They all receive pardon
and Robin is taken into the kingservice. After a year however,
he grows bored and finds hiswealth depleted by the luxuries
of the court. He returns to theforest and his outlaw ways where
he lives for the next 22 years.
The poem ends with the death ofan ailing Robin Hood at the

(17:55):
hands of his relative. Thepriors of Kirklees and her lover

richard abels (18:01):
Hunter began by asking which of the three King
Edwards had made a royal visitNottingham? The answer was
Edward the second after hisvictory in 1322. Over the
supporters of his rebel cousin,Thomas, Duke of Lancaster, and
with the second undertook aroyal progress through the
north, he traveled acrossLancashire and Yorkshire between

(18:23):
August and November in the year1323 and stayed at Nottingham,
from the ninth to the 23rd ofNovember. Now that Hunter had a
king and a date, he scoured theadministrative records for
individuals named Robert Hood.
Robin is a diminutive of Robert,who would fit this chronology
and locale, he found to a RobinHood drawing wages as a porter

(18:47):
of the King's Chamber beginningon March 24 1324, and a Robin
Hood in the court rolls of thematter of Wakefield in Yorkshire
in 1316, and 1317. Wakefieldsignificantly, is about 10 miles
from Barnsdale forest. Puttingall of this together. Hunter
posited that the Robin Hood ofWakefield was the same man as

(19:09):
the Robin Hood of the Royalchamber. The former Hunter
speculated had been outlawedbecause of his support for the
rebellion of Thomas ofLancaster, but was pardoned and
taken into royal service by KingEdward the second. During his
stay in Nottingham, Hunterconcluded that he identified the
historical Robin Hood.

Jennifer Paxton (19:33):
Is there any record of either of these Robert
hoods having been outlawed?

richard abels (19:38):
No. Nor is there any evidence that the Robin Hood
of Wakefield was a supporter ofThomas of Lancaster, or that he
was the same man as the RobinHood of the world chamber.
Hunter's carefully constructedchronology of events was
undermined when it wassubsequently discovered that a
Robin Hood of the chamber was onthe payroll in June of 1323.

(19:59):
Three months before the outputsuppose it submission to the
king in Nottingham. Hunter'sentire thesis rests on the
assumption that the mid 15thcentury justice Robinhood
accurately recounts events thatoccurred more than a century
earlier. But it seems to me aslikely that the "Geste" is just

(20:20):
a good story I would agree withyou, perhaps most damaging to
Hunter's thesis is that there isa lot of evidence that the story
of Robin Hood was alreadycirculating well before 1324
Robin Hood was used as a familysurname. Before the end of the
13th century, a GilbertRobinhood is named as a tenant

(20:44):
of the liberty of Leicester inthe toll rolls of the county of
Sussex for 1296. The earliestknown Legal Records mentioning a
person called Robin Hood, RobinHood, a 13th century candidate
was offered by LVD Owen in 1936,in July of 1225, Royal justices

(21:04):
of King Henry the third held assizes of justice at York, the
pre rolls for these as sizeshave not survived, but the
judgments and fines wererecorded in the pipe rolls of
the Yorkshire Exchequer for1226. There we find a notice
that the chattels of Robert hoodfugitive had been confiscated to

(21:26):
the ground, the value of thesechattels was placed at a bodice
32 shillings and sixpence. Whenthis fine was repeated in the
pipe roll for the followingyear. The name of the outflow is
given in a more colloquial form,as hob hood. This Robert or hop
hood is named in the Yorkshirepipe rolls for nine successive

(21:48):
years. The only thing we knowabout him is that the money was
owed from the liberty of St.
Peter's York, which means thatRobin Hood must have been a
tenant of the Archbishopric ofYork, the Archbishop held no
lands in the matter ofWakefield, and there is nothing
to associate this Robin Hoodwith the 14th century Robin Hood

(22:10):
of Wakefield. In fact, the onlything we can really say about
the Robin Hood of the Yorkshirepipe rolls is that he was
attendant of the Archbishop ofYork who for unknown reasons,
was outlawed, and was at largein the late 2020s and early
2030s. Professor JC hold, whose1982 Robin Hood remains the most

(22:30):
important historical study ofthe man in the legend, I agree
with you there opted for Owenscandidate and a 13th century
origin for the story of RobinHood. I think that Hulk was
right. But as he was well aware,the case he made is hardly
conclusive. All that Holt reallyoffers is the existence of an
early 13th century Robin Hood inYorkshire who was an outlaw, and

(22:55):
the observation that by the endof that century, Robin Hood, had
been adopted as a surname or anickname by a family that held
the Lancastrian tenancy inSussex in 1984. Two years after
the publication of vaults book,another historian David crook,
strengthened the case for theYork Robinhood fugitive crook

(23:17):
discovered in the memorandarolls for 1262. memoranda rolls
are the record of debts owed tothe crown, maintained by the
exchequer crook found in thememorandum rolls for 1262, a
boxer outlaw called William Robblood. Unlike Gilbert Robin Hood
of Sussex, this was not a familyname, as the same fugitive has

(23:40):
identified in the previous yearsroles as William, son of Robert
LeFevre. I think this is verystrong evidence that tales about
Robin Hood were circulatingbefore the 14th century, and
that by the middle of the 13thcentury, his fame had reached
well beyond Yorkshire in NewHampshire. The mystery though,

(24:01):
is why the problem is that weknow virtually nothing we know
nothing about this YorkshireRobinhood. Fugitive we don't we
don't know why he was outlawed.
And we know nothing about whathe did after he was outlawed. In
fact, we don't even know that hewas the head of an outlawed ban.

(24:22):
All it says is that his chattelswere confiscated, and that he
was a fugitive from justice. Andthat's it. So at the very hot
the very kernel of our story isdecipher

Jennifer Paxton (24:34):
the amazing thing, I think, is that perhaps
from this rather on promisingbeginning, this incredible
complex of stories andcharacters possibly emerged,
much like King author, I thinkvery, very similar.

richard abels (24:50):
So let's talk a little bit about how this legend
developed. Sure,

Jennifer Paxton (24:55):
there are four other poems about Robin Hood,
all of which survive and textsfrom the 16th century, both
printed and in manuscript. Andthese all have a credible claim
to being of medieval provenance.
And that's because of thelanguage. And yeah, we can tell
that these are a little bitolder than the time when they're
present. So these are Robin Hoodand his death, which expands

(25:18):
upon the ending of adjust ofRobin Hood. There's Robin Hood
in the monk, which tells howlittle John freeze Robin from
the sheriff's jail despite Robinhaving unjustly struck him after
a quarrel about an archerycontest. And by the way, I'll
just throw in that therelationship between Robin Hood
and Little John is one of themost interesting sort of

(25:39):
bromances it is in in thehistory of literature, I think
because Little John is prettyloyal to Robin despite the fact
that Robin is kind of a bastardsome of the time. There's also
Robin Hood and ghee of his bore,which has Robin hunted by a
nasty Yeoman intent on reward,

richard abels (25:58):
and an ST. yovan.
Who then becomes a staple forthe later stories about

Jennifer Paxton (26:04):
Robin Hood, where he actually gets a social
promotion.

richard abels (26:07):
Yeah, and he goes from being gi to guy. Yes, he
does.

Jennifer Paxton (26:11):
They meet and fight. Robin after having been
wounded kills, give gets born.
And having heard that thesheriff had captured Little
John, he comes up with a plan torescue him. He cuts off keys
head and mutilates the facebeyond recognition. And we're
told that this is with an Irishknife, right, which is like,
whoa, that's really bad. He wasreally kidding. Not kidding.

richard abels (26:31):
If this were an American story who would have
made a bowie knife, it wouldhave been but then again, none
of our cinematic Robin Hoodswould ever have mutilated a
corpse.

Jennifer Paxton (26:40):
Then putting on these cloak he brings the
suppose that head of the outlawto the sheriff, the sheriff is
overjoyed and offer some money,but he's surprised when he says
that the only reward he willaccept is having killed the
master. He now wants to kill theNavy who served him. The sheriff
is more than pleased to acceptbut of course Robin instead,

(27:01):
cots John's bonds hands him abow and the to escape the
clutches of the sheriff.

richard abels (27:08):
There is also an early 16th century comic tale,
Robin Hood in the potter and alate 15th century play Robin
Hood and the Sheriff ofNottingham, only a fragment of
which survives.

Jennifer Paxton (27:21):
And those are really the raw ingredients for
the stories that will laterbecome the Robin Hood legend.

richard abels (27:27):
So to take stock by the end of the 15th century,
we have in place the followingelements of the Robin Hood
story. First, we have anoutlawed named Robin Hood, who
will though of human status actswith the courtesy appropriate to
one of noble rank. Robin is aleader of a rubber band that
operates primarily in Barnsdaleforests in Yorkshire, but is

(27:49):
also sometimes found in nearbySherwood Forest in Nottingham.
Sure. This Mary rubber bandincludes a little John who is
Robins friend, sometimes rivaland second in command, much the
Miller son and will Skalak orScarlett under Robins
leadership. They rob undeservingand corrupt rich Abbott's and

(28:10):
royal officials. Although innone of the medieval balance, do
we find them robbing the rich togive to the poor, and at least
"A Geste of Robin Hood," RobinHood just men practice
generosity where it is due. Inthat tail. Robin not only loans
money to an honest night inneed, but forgives that loan and
doubles the amount as a rewardfor the night chivalry and

(28:33):
honesty. But there are stillsome important elements of the
familiar Robinhood legendmissing. We don't have however,
some of the big

Jennifer Paxton (28:44):
players do we know we're missing some pretty
important ones. Yep,

richard abels (28:47):
we're missing made married. And good King
Richard, and bad Prince John.

Jennifer Paxton (28:53):
We're also missing Friar Tuck.

richard abels (28:54):
And when missing Friar Tuck, we're missing some
of the biggies. So do you wantto tell our listeners where they
come in

Jennifer Paxton (29:01):
work? Yeah, Mary Maid Marian really comes
from a separate tradition. Soshe comes from the French
pastoral tradition. These arestories that would have come
into England via the sort ofcross channel interest in French
culture as you have thisbilingual ruling class. And so

(29:21):
these stories would havecirculated in French they would
have been translated. And somade Marian in these stories, is
the lover of a ratherineffectual guy named Robin, who
is not really the Robin Hood ofthe stories we've been talking
about. He's just another guynamed Robin. But her story seems
to have been a lot of a part ofthe main main tradition. So the

(29:43):
festivities around May Day,which was the beginning of the
summer. And what seems to havehappened is the stories about
Robin and Marian get graftedonto Robin Hood, because there's
a coincidence between the namesof the two and also the Robin
Hood stories really As animportant female protagonist,
you've got to have that

richard abels (30:03):
which seems to be part of the process of ennobling
Robin Hood and turning thelegend into a show barbaric
romance.

Jennifer Paxton (30:10):
Indeed. And so her story gets added on and
Friar Tuck seems to have had apre existing life as well and he
shows up around the same time.

richard abels (30:18):
He does, he does, like Maid Marian Friar Tuck
became associated with the mainrebels. These festivities
included cosplay pageantry isnot unlike modern renaissance
fairs. By the beginning of the16th century, the Robin Hood
story became a favorite theme,with Friar Tuck, now firmly
established as one of his merrymen. But again, like Maid Marian

(30:42):
Friar Tuck the Outler fryer wasnot originally associated with
Robin Hood. He does not appearin any of the medieval Robin
Hood ballads. In fact, the firsttime we encountered the name,
Friar Tuck is in to Royal rich,issued in 1417. These rich
ordered the apprehension of aman calling himself Ferreira

(31:05):
talk. The charge was that for atalk, and his band of armed
robbers, quote, threatened thepeaceful existence the men of
Sussex and Surrey, and hadentered the Warrington chases of
the two counties to hunt withoutlicense burning the lodges of
the foresters, and Warren nerds,and so Metis them in life and

(31:25):
limb that they can no longercarry on the Kings business and
quote, The Robber gang was stillat large and 1429 when a royal
letter unmasked this Friar Tuckas Robert Stafford chaplain of
Linfield in Sussex. It's notsurprising that some medieval
clerics and monks turned tocrime given how many of them had

(31:47):
entered the church, not out ofreligious conviction, but for
familial, economic and socialadvantage. The most famous
pirate captain of the 13thcentury was Eustace the monk who
abandoned the monasticprofession, upon the death of
his noble father became Senegal,to the count of Boulogne
quarreled with the count andspent the rest of his career as

(32:10):
a pirate captain, or perhapsmore accurately a privateer,
first serving King John, andthen serving John's enemy, King
Louie the eighth of France. Usejust like Robin Hood, became the
hero of ballads. The activitiesof the historical Friar Tuck,
were also not unusual. Robbergangs, often led by men of

(32:32):
substance who were the livery,that is the colors of even
greater men, proliferated duringthe 13th 14th and 15th
centuries, whenever royalauthority was weak, and the
political order unstable inEngland. Many of these bands
were outgrowths of politicalunrest and discontent among the
nobility, just as Robin Hood inhis receive legend, fights the

(32:55):
tyranny of bad Prince John, tomaintain the kingdom for good
King Richard the historicalbandleader Roger God dared whose
gang haunted Robins own SherwoodForest in the late 1260s and
early 1270s, and whose careermay have influenced the
development of the Robin Hoodlegend, had been a supporter of

(33:16):
Simon DeMontfort during thebaronial rebellion against the
quote unquote, tyranny of KingHenry the third. Similarly, the
reign of Edward the second wasmocked by the activities of
rubber bands led by men ofsubstance, the best known of
which was the full dual gang, asin the stories of Robin Hood,

(33:36):
and the historical fair atop thetargets of these bands were
often corrupt royal officials,especially those charged with
enforcing the hated forest laws.
When I first learned about thehistorical Friar Tuck, I thought
that Robert Stafford had simplyadopted as a nom de validate for
his five minutes activities thename of legendary outdoor monk,

(33:57):
but this does not seem to be thecase. There are no surviving
medieval ballads or evenreferences to a Friar Tuck. Even
more telling, is that the royalclerks who drafted the rich of
1417 Assume that Friar Tuck wasan alias, because it was so
quote, an unusual name in commonparlance, and quote,

Jennifer Paxton (34:23):
well, if you think about it, from the time of
the peasants revolt in 1381,some of the major leaders of the
peasants revolt were usingaliases also. So I think this
was this was a thing that peoplethat people did, it was a
recognized practice.

richard abels (34:35):
JC hold may well be right, that Robert Stafford
was the original Friar Tuck.
Friar Tuck seems to have beendrawn into the Robin Hood orbit
in the late 15th century. He'snamed in a play written in 1475
Robin Hood in the night, whichsurvives only in a fragment. His
prominent role in the Robin Hoodcanon is due to William Copland,
a London based printer Who in1560 published a play that he

(35:00):
called "A Merry "Geste of RobinHood and of his life with a new
play for to be played in Maygame very pleasant and full of
pastime." This was actually twoplays. The first is taken from
the ballad Robin Hood in thepotter, the second which may be
drawn from another ballad, RobinHood and the curdle fryer.

(35:21):
Though that ballad survives onlyin the 17th century manuscript
tells us a familiar story abouthow Robin Hood encountered a
corpulent fryer, and as a prank,forced him to carry him on his
back across the stream. They endup fighting and the firefight so
well, that Robin asked him toact as chaplain for his rubber
band. This is one of the morefamous scenes in the 1938 Robin

(35:44):
Hood, with Errol Flynn andEugene pallet playing the role
of Friar Tuck. It's not acoincidence that Robert Copeland
wrote "A Merry Geste of RobinHood", to be, quote, played in
May games very pleasant and fullof pastime, and quote, by the
late 15th century, plays aboutRobin Hood had become a staple

(36:07):
of the May games and May Daycelebrations. Alan Wright points
out that by 1600, there weremore than 130 references to
performances of plays involvingRobinhood more references than
any other kinds of British folkdrama, echoing late medieval
roundtable tournaments. Duringthese festivals, people dressed

(36:30):
up like Robin Hood and hisMerrie Men. As Jenny explained.
This was the time that MaidMarian entered the Robin Hood
story, because she alreadyindependently served as Queen of
May in these festivals. Once herRobin became identified with
Robin Hood, he became king ofthe May, a courteous leader of a
rubber band was the perfect Lordof Misrule to preside over

(36:55):
annual rebels of disorder.

Jennifer Paxton (36:59):
Henry the Eighth even plays the role of
Robin Hood. Yeah, he

richard abels (37:02):
really did.
There's a wonderful story toldby the contemporary chronicler,
Edward Hall how a young Henrythe Eighth and 12 nobleman
dressed and armed as Robin Hoodand his Merrie Men burst into
the chamber of Queen Catherineof Aragon, just as she and her
ladies were rising, weary ofroad Hall, quote, The Queen, the
ladies and all other there wereabashed as well for the strange

(37:24):
sight as also for their suddencoming. And after certain
dances, and pastime made, theydeparted. I'm sure she was
totally confused by all of this.
I know that Catherine had bondedwith her original intended
husband, Henry's older brother,author, over their common love

(37:44):
of stories about King author,but the Spanish Princess
probably had never heard ofRobin Hood. I can imagine that
she had her ladies were trulyabashed to have a dozen on BET
in disguise suddenly burst intoher chamber. But I suspect that
given how much Henry loved thestories of Robin Hood, that

(38:05):
Katherine quickly came up tospeed. Five years after this, in
May of 1515, Henry staged adifferent type of Robin Hood
encounter. In this one, Henrynow played the role of an
honored guest of the courteousoutlaw. As Henry Catherine, and
their attendance were ridingalong the forest edge, they were

(38:28):
suddenly stopped by a man whointroduced himself as Robin
Hood, along with him with 200,Yeoman archers, clothed all in
green with green hoods. Afterentertaining the royal potty
with a display of archery. Robininvited them to feast with him.
Robin skirted the potty into theforest, where in elaborate

(38:49):
robbers den had beenconstructed. And the royal court
joined the pretended Merry Menin a feast that featured
venison.

Jennifer Paxton (38:58):
Well, I mean, it's it's it's an amazing thing
to sort of get a window on to awhole tradition that was in the
end, relentlessly stomped out atthe time of the Reformation. So
this these are widespread.
Everyone does this. We have thefirst written record from it in
the early 15th century, but itlasts way until Elizabeth's
reign and then it's it'sabsolutely stamped out by by the

(39:21):
the Protestant reformers,

richard abels (39:27):
just as appeared in stamped out 12 Night
Christmas rebels andfestivities, which really was
the historical war at Christmas.
The Puritans just didn't likerebels. The period and Bishop
Latimer of Western railed andsermons against Robinhood plays
in pageants as an invitation towrite and sin, much as early

(39:47):
clerics had denouncedtournaments. In 1555. The
Scottish Parliament made it acriminal offence to hold
celebrations in which Robin HoodLittle John The advent of
unreason and the queen of Maywere impersonated. I suspect
that what Latimer and thePuritans really objected to was
the public drunkenness and whatthey perceived as lewd dancing.

(40:10):
But although anthropologistsassure us that rebels in which
the social and political orderis inverted, actually reinforce
the existing social order. RobinHood made a cosplay could add
did occasionally take violentturns, charges of riotous
assembly was brought against aStaffordshire man, Roger

(40:32):
Marshall in 1498, in defiance ofthe order of the local justice
of the peace Marshal, callinghimself Robin Hood, had led a
troop of 100 men to the fear atWillard hill there according to
the accusation, they maderiotous assembly course money
from the merchants, andthreatened personal violence.

(40:53):
Roger Marshalls defense was thathe and his troop were merely
following in old tradition, thatmen from the locale would come
to the fear led by either RobinHood or by the abbot of bam, to
gather money with theirDesportes, which they would then
donate to local churches. He andthe others he maintained, quote,

(41:15):
made as good cheer unto them, asthey should do to their loving
neighbors, and denies that theybecame riotously and quote,
whether Roger Marshall washonest in his defense is
unknown. But the practice of theking of the May usually someone
dressed as Robin Hood, wouldgather followers and lead them
to a neighboring town to demandmoney for the church was a

(41:39):
common practice. JC Holt, infact, speculates that this money
was then distributed to thepoor, which might be the origin
of Robin Hood's robbing the richto give to the poor, and
although it's equally likelythat it was a product of Joseph
Britain's Jacob in sympathiescoloring his reading of the

(42:00):
ballads, the popularity of RobinHood with King Henry the eighth
in his court, seemscounterintuitive. After all,
we're talking about stories inwhich a Yeoman outlaw robs
corrupt Abbott's and royalofficials. This would even be
otter if the audience for theRobin Hood stories were
peasants, as suggested by theBritish historians Rodney

(42:21):
Hilton, and we'll reskin theMarx's Hilton and non Marxist
keen both concluded thatmedieval English outdoor tales
were expressions of thediscontent of peasants arising
from their economic exploitationby church and crown. They found
the origin of the Robin Hoodballads in the communal

(42:42):
storytelling of country people,with keen imagining them
composed to accompany song anddance at rustic festivals. This
argument appeals to commonsense. Unfortunately, it's not
borne out when when carefullystudies the medieval evidence,
as JC Holt pointed out, thegrievances expressed in the

(43:03):
medieval Robin Hood ballads withthose of the gentry, not the
peasantry, the victim of theAbbott's high justices and
Sheriff of Nottingham's greed,in "A Geste of Robin Hood" was
not an oppressed peasant, but anhonest and honorable night. The
medieval robbing may not havebeen an absolute URL or noble as

(43:23):
he was to become in the 18thcentury. But he also wasn't a
peasant. The term Yeoman in the13th century meant a servant a
retainer of the king was someother great noble. By the 14th
century, it comes to mean asmall landowner, somewhat below
the gentry, but superior to thepeasantry. Just as crucially,

(43:45):
the Robin Hood of the balladsdoes not act like a simple
country, man or peasant. Hismanners and values are those
official Bower nobleman. He isloyal and generous to those
deserving of generosity. Braveand pious, holds criticism of
Cain and Hilton carry the day,so much so that when Dorset

(44:05):
press released Boris Keynes 1961outlaws a medieval legend in
1987. The only change was a newintroduction, which begins with
a plaintiff Mia culpa. Since thebook first came out keen notes,
there had been a great deal ofresearch on the subject of

(44:27):
medieval outlaws, and the RobinHood legends, quote, my book in
the views that I have expressedin it have been the subject of
criticism, some of it harsh andmuch of it, as I now recognize
fully justified. King then goeson to explain why the book that
presumably the reader had justpurchased is completely wrong.

(44:48):
To understand how an outlookcould become celebrated by local
Gentry. One has to understandthe historical context of the
medieval Robin Hood stories. AsI mentioned earlier, the late
Middle Ages was a period ofEnglish history that is rife
with outlaw bans, many of themlike the full Ville gang, led by

(45:09):
members of the local elite.
Robin Hood in these tales is arobber. But he only robs the
unworthy, rich churchmen androyal officials who have misused
their office to exploit not thepeasants or merchants but the
local Drake Gentry. Men like SirRichard at the Lee in the

(45:31):
"Geste,"

Unknown (45:32):
know that the medieval legends really don't describe a
dynamic of Robin Hood as a kindof a social protester. No, he's
really not that figure. He'smore if anything, he's more a a
transgressor, a Lord of Misrule.
Someone who, who can defy thesocial order when he chooses to,
but he's also part of it inother ways.

richard abels (45:54):
He's, he's an exemplar of chivalry. In the in
the "Geste of Robin Hood," heinvites people to be his guest
at feasts, those lavish feasts.
He's a gift giver, as well asbeing a robber. He has
generosity. He has loyalty. Heis chivalry,

Unknown (46:17):
I think in certain way he is. He is a reproach to a
noble audience reading thesestories or experiencing these
stories, because he's basicallyshowing them what they shouldn't
be.

richard abels (46:28):
Yes, he's the yeoman, who is showing his
betters true nobility.

Unknown (46:34):
He's also very religious. Yes, he is, which is
something that the modernstories jettison completely
because they just, you know,with anti Catholicism they're
they're just really can't copewith his most cognitively

richard abels (46:46):
invokes the Virgin Mary. In the "Geste," we
are told, quote, a good customthen had Robin, in whatever land
he were, every day before hewould dine. Three masses would
he hear the one in worship ofthe Father, and another of the
Holy Ghost, the third of ourdear lady that he loved

(47:09):
altogether most. Robin loved ourdear lady, for fear of deadly
sin. Would he never do agathering home that any woman
was in, and he swears by theVirgin Mary, and Robin is always
good to his word. Unlike theSheriff of Nottingham, Robin
never betrays his word. Robbingsimple, heartfelt piety is

(47:33):
contrasted in the "Geste" withthe rapacious Abbot of St.
Mary's taking the Lord's name invain. When Richard at the Lee
approaches the abbot on the daythat his loan is due, before he
pays him the 400 pounds, that hewas loaned by Robin, he begs the
abbot for the courtesy of anextension and promises to be his

(47:55):
true servant until the debt hasbeen paid. The abbot with the
support of the bribe justice,refuses to return the Knights
lands him, quote, The Abbott'swore a great big oath, by God
that died on a tree, get theland how you pay, for you will
get none of me, the villains ofthe medieval Robinhood ballots

(48:20):
of the officials of church andcrown in the 14th and 15th
centuries, these men were blamedby the local Gentry for taxing
and tithing them excessively forthe abuse of prevents taking
horses and cattle with a promiseof later payment at a rate set
by the king. Payment that oftennever came. And for taking

(48:42):
bribes to subvert justice, thehabits and monks of the wealthy
monasteries were especiallyresented, as bad neighbors
always looking to increase theirhouses, already lavish
endowments at the expense ofhonest landowners.

Jennifer Paxton (48:59):
Well, one of the things that's very, very
striking about these stories istheir anti clericalism. Yes. And
for them to be anti clerical isfor them to be right in the
mainstream of late medievalEnglish society.

richard abels (49:12):
It is and, you know, if one wonders how Henry
the Eighth managed to dissolvethe monasteries, and why there
wasn't a greater outcry, thewealthy monasteries were
extremely unpopular.

Jennifer Paxton (49:28):
Yeah, that's true. And really the only part
of the country where the therewas an outcry is in the north is
in the north. And that's an areawhere the monasteries had
actually more successfullyoccupied a socio economic niche.
Yes. Especially Yeah. As Yeah.
So so that's a place wherepeople couldn't really imagine

(49:49):
their lives working out wellwithout the monasteries. And so
they protested, but elsewhere,yeah, they went without much of
a protest and they

richard abels (49:57):
wouldn't be surprised that that they would
Be a wicked Abbot, who wouldconnive with the local justice
or the sheriff to convict aninnocent man, so that he would
be able to get money for it. Andthe seller of a monastery would
be the one who would beparticularly corrupt.

Jennifer Paxton (50:19):
A seller, by the way, is somebody who would
have been responsible for theprovisioning of the monastery.
So that person would have beendoing all the buying and selling
for the Abbey. And so you wouldhave probably had to be on that
person's nice list if you wantedto do business with the Abbey.
Well, one of the things that'sreally important, I think, to
note about these bans is whatyou've just said, which is that

(50:40):
there isn't a class cleavage,though, between, you know,
members of the establishment atthe top and people at the
bottom. That's a kind of dynamicthat we see evolving of
developing stories much, muchlater. The reality, the social
reality that's being describedis much more complex than that.
It tends to have to do withregional rivalries that are very

(51:01):
localized. One interesting thingthat I'll throw in there is the
Scottish connection. Yeah.
Because some of the earlyreferences to Robin Hood, you've
already mentioned, Richard areactually Scottish. And that's
because the Robin Hood storiesare actually very popular in
Scotland as well. Okay, why?
Well, that's a good question,because there's actually quite a

(51:23):
bit of cultural contact betweenScotland and England at this
period, we're talking about theparts of Scotland that are
speaking a similar dialect,right. So we're talking about
the, the area in north toEdinburgh, where they're
speaking what's really calledScots now, there's been middle
Scots. Yeah. And they're,they're dialed into some of the

(51:44):
same currents. And some of theseoutlaw stories are really set in
the period of endemic warfarebetween England and Scotland. So
part of what's going on inEdward the seconds reign is that
the economy is all messed up,because he has to fight these
wars with Scotland, which isfather one, and he lost. And and

(52:04):
that, you know, you what youdon't want in your king is, is
you don't want your king tolose.

richard abels (52:09):
Okay, so at what point do we have the story come
together in such a recognizablefashion, that, that it becomes
the basis of the movies that weknow,

Jennifer Paxton (52:18):
I think that the real key transition happens
in the 16th century, when theRobin Hood stories get localized
in time, because up until thispoint, they're really kind of
timeless? Yes, they're notassociated with a particular
King. There's one of themedieval stories that talks
about a King Edward Wright,which doesn't narrow it down a
lot considering that every kingbetween 1272 and 1377, is named

(52:39):
Edward, and sort of like callinghim King George in the 18th
century. That doesn't does

richard abels (52:44):
not to mention the irony that the historical
Robinhood probably lived duringthe reign of King Henry the
third, the father of Edward thefirst.

Jennifer Paxton (52:53):
So up until this point, these stories could
happen at any time. Butbeginning in the 16th century,
they get localized to the reignof Richard the Lionheart and he
live in 90s. And the firstwriter to do this is a Scottish
author, which is veryinteresting. So you have this
points where the Scots are veryimportant in in the Robin Hood
story. And then by the end ofthe 16th century, that is when

(53:16):
the Robin Hood stories tookplace, and that becomes
canonical. And so they're set inthis period when Richard goes
off on crusade, there is a kindof a power vacuum. And that's
when Robin Hood comes to thefore.

richard abels (53:31):
It's also during this period that your followers
came to eclipse bonds tale asRobins outdoor Haven. Beginning
of the 16th century Robin Hoodplaced Ames began to proliferate
around Barnsdale show it andNottingham as Robin Hood, like
King Arthur before him became adraw for tourists. Sherwood
Forest went out over Barnsdaleprobably because it was near

(53:55):
Nottingham, and Nottingham was amuch visited County town while
the area around Barnsdale wasdotted only with Hamlet's well
surprise surprise. It looks asif we've run out of time. Jenny
and I will return however foranother episode Robin Hood. This
one dealing with movies andtelevision shows. I hope you

(54:16):
plan on joining us if you'vebeen enjoying tis but a scratch
and your preferred podcastprovider has ratings and
reviews. Please take a fewminutes to leave a favorable
rating and review. Ratings andreviews will help others
interested in things medievalfind a podcast by until next

(54:37):
time.

Unknown (54:44):
Robin Robin Hood writing through the glass Robin
Hood with his band of men by thebed love by the rock When
robbing the grantee starches towin Tavern on the green. They

(55:10):
bow to help the people avecgame. They handled all the
trouble on the English countryscene and still found plenty of
time to see. Robin Hood RobinHood riding through the Glen
Robin Hood Robin Hood with hisband of man by the bad rock

(55:37):
Robin