A romantic hero who robbed the rich to help the poor, or a bloodthirsty bandit who was idealized by subsequent generations? What is the true face of a daring daredevil named Robin Hood?
In historical chronicles six hundred years ago, it is possible to find only a brief mention of the rogue of the same name, who hunted in the forests of Central England.
However, it is unlikely that the petty villain would have received the attention of chroniclers if his deeds did not stand out from a number of other events of those troubled times. And yet, when wars, plague and famine were commonplace, the historiography of that time devotes a few lines to it. Popular rumor took care of the rest.
Throughout the depths of time, numerous legends have reached our days about the romantic robber, whose name is now, oddly enough, more heard than during his lifetime. This name is Robin Hood.
Truth and fiction
1988 March - The Nottingham City Council in the east-central UK releases a report on the city's most famous citizen. Because over the years, the council has received thousands of inquiries about Robin Hood and his gallant retinue, the council decided to make a definite statement in this regard.
Despite the fact that the legends about Robin Hood have a long history, the city councilors took it upon themselves to question the credibility of the legend of the elusive Robin and find out who Robin Hood was.
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After a thorough study of the distant past of Nottingham, researchers came to the conclusion that the brave hero who robbed the rich to help the poor did not even know the maiden Marian - according to legend, the lover of Robin Hood. Monk Tuk, as they believe, is a completely fictional person. Little John was a wicked and grumpy man who had nothing to do with the lighthearted character from folklore. This is the interpretation of the research results.
Having debunked the legend, the members of the council hoped by this to gain fame as discoverers. However, they became only the latest in a whole line of skeptics. Because, studying the history of Robin Hood, it is almost impossible to separate fact from fiction. And before them, many undertook to explore this exciting story, but the image of Robin did not fade from this in the least.
So, who is Robin Hood, where is the truth, and where is the fiction about a man whose exploits to this day excite readers, cinema - and television viewers? Some are inclined to take on faith what serious investigators have uncovered: Robin robbed passers-by on the Great North Road near Barnsdale in South Yorkshire and looted with his gang of criminals in Sherwood Forest, 30 miles from Nottingham. Others are more attracted by the romantic version of the legend that this handsome hero actually robbed, but only the rich, in order to give the stolen goods to the poor.
Facts in history
The first reports that Robin Hood ruled the forests and wastelands of England date back to 1261. However, in written sources, it was first mentioned only a hundred years later. This was done by the Scottish historian Fordun, who died in 1386.
The next information about Robin Hood in the chronicles dates back to the 16th century.
According to the chronicler John Stow, he was a robber during the reign of Richard I. He was the leader of a gang, which included a hundred brave outcasts. All of them were excellent archers. Although they traded in robbery, Robin Hood “did not tolerate harassment or other violence against women. He did not touch the poor, giving them everything that he took from the saints and noble rich people."
We will consider this story from the most benevolent positions. Let's start with the fact that the existence of Robin Hood is documented. He lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire during the 13th and 14th centuries.
The documents record that the legendary robber was born in 1290 and was named Robert Good. In the old registries, three variants of the spelling of the surname are given: Year, Gode, and Goode. But no one disputes the origin of Robin: he was a slave of the Earl of Warren.
How did the peasant's son end up on the predatory path?
1322 Robin goes into the service of a new master, Sir Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. When the count led the rebellion against King Edward II, Robin, like the other servants of the count, had no choice but to obey the master and take up arms. However, the uprising was suppressed, Lancaster was captured and beheaded for treason. His possessions were confiscated by the king, and the earl's people who took part in the riot were outlawed.
Robin found the perfect refuge in the deep Sherwood Forest, in Yorkshire.
Sherwood Forest was 25 square miles adjacent to Yorkshire. The Sherwood and Barnsdale woodlands were crossed by the Roman-paved Great North Road, which had a lot of traffic. This attracted the attention of rogue bandits.
This is how the legend of Robin Hood, a man in green, forest-colored clothes, appeared.
New stories
Robin's legends abound with many funny stories about his daring adventures and antics. One of them tells of how the swaggering and narrow-minded Bishop of Hertsford, on his way to York, met Robin and his men, who were roasting venison from the royal hunting forests.
Taking Robin's people for simple peasants, the bishop ordered the capture of those who killed the deer. The robbers calmly refused: the deer could not be resurrected, but everyone was terribly hungry. Then, at a sign from the bishop, those around the fire were surrounded by his servants. The robbers, chuckling, began to beg for mercy, but the bishop was adamant. Robin was eventually tired of the bickering. He signaled, and the rest of the gang arrived from the forest. The dumbfounded bishop was taken prisoner and began to demand a ransom.
Wanting to teach his unlucky hostage a lesson, Robin made him dance a jig around a huge oak tree. To this day, that place in the forest is called the "bishop's oak".
It is also said that Robin, accompanied by his best friend Little John, paid a visit to Whitby Monastery. The abbot asked them to show their vaunted archery skills. They had to shoot from the monastery roof. Robin and Little John gladly granted his request. They did not disgrace their glory.
Passing from mouth to mouth, one of the most beloved stories of how Robin met Edward II has been preserved in the people's memory. According to legend: the king, worried that his deer population was melting before our eyes, disappearing into the insatiable maws of robber people, wanted to once and for all clear his forest from poachers.
The king and his knights, disguised as monks, went to Sherwood Forest, knowing that Robin Hood and a gang were waiting there for unlucky travelers. And they were not wrong. The robbers stopped them and demanded money.
The disguised king declared that he had only 40 pounds (a rather small amount at the time). Robin took 20 pounds for his men and returned the rest to the king.
Then Edward told the leader that he was being summoned to Nottingham to meet with the king. Robin and his men fell to their knees and swore their love and devotion to Edward, then invited the "monks" to dine with them - to taste the king's own venison!
Eventually Edward realized that Robin was simply making fun of him. Then he revealed himself to the robbers and forgave them on the condition that they all appear at the court for service as soon as he called them.
This story, of course, seems implausible, created by the fantasy of fans of Robin Hood. But in the end, maybe not everything in it is fiction.
The fact is that this case is described in the "Little Feat of Robin Hood", published in 1459. It is known for certain that the king visited Nottingham in 1332. We also know that a few months later, the name of Robin Hood is mentioned in reports about Edward's yard.
However, he soon suddenly disappeared from the royal court to reappear in the forest and in popular rumor.
So, let's continue the story about the daring adventures of Robin Hood. He showed up at St Mary's Church in Nottingham, where a monk recognized the robber and reported to the sheriff. Robin was captured only after he single-handedly killed 12 soldiers with his sword. Even being in captivity, the fearless leader did not doubt that his loyal friends would not leave him. Shortly before Robin was due to stand trial, Little John organized a daring assault and returned the bandit leader to their leader. For complete justice, the robbers tracked down and killed the monk who betrayed Robin.
Forest brotherhood
You can't talk about Robin Hood without paying tribute to his merry gang and legendary girlfriend, the girl Marian.
Robin's closest assistant was Little John, presumably not at all a merry fellow, but a sullen and very vulnerable guy. Most likely, he was called the Kid as a joke, since he was quite tall. This was discovered when his grave in Hazersage was opened in 1784 and the bones of a fairly tall man were found.
As for Brother Took, opinions differ about him. Some believe that this legendary character combines the features of two fat monks, others believe that there really was such a cheerful person who loved to have fun and dance in the company of forest brothers. Perhaps it was Robert Stafford, a priest from Sussex (early 15th century) who sometimes, under the pseudonym of Brother Took, participated in the adventures of the gay gang.
Maiden Marian as a character also fits well with the theory that the image of Robin emerged from the folk tales of traditional May festivities and games. Marian could simply be the girl chosen for her beauty by the "Queen of May".
The inconsistency of the image
The legendary adventures of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest ended presumably in 1346. It is believed that he died at the Kerkles Monastery after a serious illness. The abbess treated Robin with copious bloodletting, as a result of which, weakened and bloodless, he never recovered from his illness.
This is the romantic image of Robin Hood, a daredevil and benefactor. But the Anglo-Saxons have a strange tendency to vilify their idols, and Robin suffered the most from this.
Graham Black, director of the Legends of Robin Hood exhibition in Nottangham, said: "We are close to knowing the true identity of Robin Hood."
For Black, Robin's true story dates back to 1261, when Robert Smith's son William was outlawed in Berkshire. The court clerk who wrote the decree named him William Robingood.
Other court documents have survived that mention people named Robingood, most of whom are criminals. Therefore, researchers believe that if Robin Hood actually existed, then he most likely acted before that time.
The most likely candidate for this dubious role, according to Graham Black, is Robert God, a resident of the Archbishopric of York, who escaped justice in 1225. Two years later, he is referred to in written documents as Hobhod.
Where does the romantic version of the legend come from?
Robin Hood is considered to be a contemporary of King Richard I, nicknamed the Lionheart, who ruled from 1189 to 1199. It was attributed to this era by Walter Scott in Ivanhoe.
According to some versions, Robin was a nobleman. But this is a clear invention of the playwright, who in 1597 wanted to attract the nobility to his theater. Previously, Robin was considered a vassal of the lord.
The fame of Robin Hood as the greatest archer comes from itinerant storytellers who passed from mouth to mouth ballads about the legendary robber, recorded in the second half of the 15th century.
As for the maiden Marian, it is believed that this was a beauty, under the care of the treacherous Prince John. She first met Robin when she was ambushed by his men. However, scientists do not agree with this version, claiming that Marian appeared in a French poem of the 13th century as a shepherdess with her shepherd Robin. Only 200 years after the appearance of this poem, it finally entered the legend of Robin Hood. And Marian gained the reputation of the virgin virgin much later under the influence of chaste Victorian morality.
According to legend, Brother Tuk was a merry glutton who amused the robbers with his funny antics and jokes. The monk was unsurpassed in stick fights. In fact, it turns out that Brother Tuck also existed. This is the name given to a priest of the Lindfield parish from Sussex, in fact a murderer and robber, when in 1417 a royal decree on his arrest was issued, the priest went on the run.
James Holt, professor of medieval history at the University of Cambridge and author of a book on Robin Hood, wrote: “Written material indicates that Brother Tooke organized his band of robbers two hundred miles from Sherwood Forest, centuries after Robin Hood. In fact, Brother Tuk was quite far from harmless gaiety, for he ravaged and burned the hearths of his enemies."
Little John, Robin's right hand, was capable of brutal murders. It was he who killed the monk, suspected of betraying Robin, then beheaded the young servant of the monk, who witnessed the murder.
But Little John has done a lot of bold things. One of them, which has already been mentioned, is the rescue of Robin Hood from a well-fortified prison guarded by the guards of the notorious sheriff of Nottingham.
Of Robin Hood, Professor Holt wrote: “He was absolutely not what he is described. He wore a cap like a monk's hood. There is no evidence that he robbed the rich in order to give money to the poor. With these fabrications, the legend grew over 200 years or more after his death. And during his lifetime he was known as a notorious marauder."
And yet, following the legends of hoary antiquity, we prefer to see in Robin Hood the defender of the oppressed and powerless, a brave and cheerful chieftain, who now and then wipes his nose to those in power.
And we want to believe that, ending a life path full of various feats, our hero, on the verge of death, sounded his horn with his last strength, as if sending a message about himself to the future, and we still hear the echoes of this signal in our hearts.