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360° tour:
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Richard Rutherford-Moore has written three
books on The Legend of Robin Hood, several Robin Hood feature
articles on the BBC Nottingham website and starred in a virtual
inter-active guided tour of 'Robin Hood Country'.
This article is based on the author's third book on Robin
Hood OFF ON THE OUTLAW TRAIL AGAIN! published in Spring 2004. |
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Robin Hood meeting King Richard the Lion-Heart
in Sherwood Forest has often been described in story, television
and film - but did it really happen? In this article, the "Robin
Hood Country" tour guide and Robin Hood author Richard Rutherford-Moore
brings the two men back together for a fresh acquaintance.
Introduction
The 1938 feature film The Adventures of Robin Hood is a classic;
it was so successfully-pitched just before the Second World War
that everyone could see the real-life threat in the form of Nazi
Germany reflected in the sneering faces and dastardly plots of the
three main antagonists; namely Prince John, The Sheriff of Nottingham
and Sir Guy of Gisborne. The feature film is perhaps best summed-up
by the writer of the musical soundtrack, who at first shied away
from the job as he saw difficulty in setting to music virtually
an entire film of non-stop action sequences. The writers - it is
claimed in the credits - used 'old Robin Hood stories' in creating
the script for the feature film ; certainly the film seems very
familiar when viewed by modern audiences today, but - back in 1937
did The Legend of Robin Hood really create the film : or was it
more a case of vice versa? The plot of the 1938 feature film is
the exciting story of a Saxon lord named Robin - who upon hearing
Prince John pronounce that he has 'kicked Longchamps out' and John
himself in the absence of the King has assumed the role of Regent
of England - states to the Prince that what he has done is Treason
and he will to raise a revolt and oppose it. What happens then is
known to practically everyone over five years in age ; Robin Hood
becomes an outlaw but in Sherwood Forest raises a formidable force
and proceeds to do exactly what he said he would. King Richard eventually
returns from imprisonment abroad - held prisoner in Germany but
this fact was deliberately omitted from the 1938 film script - just
in time to prevent Maid Marion from being executed and Prince John
being crowned as the new King. Robin kills Sir Guy in the classic
shadow-dancing sword fight and after John gets told off by King
Richard for being such a naughty boy everybody lives happily ever
after. The reality of all this however is somewhat different from
the film script as - it was Longchamp who was the real villain.
 |
| An artists
impression of King Richard I joining Robin Hood to Maid Marian
in marriage. The marriage in Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood and
Maid Marian in the presence of King Richard I is traditionally
held to have occurred at St. Mary's Church in Edwinstowe, but
is supported by no historical evidence outside ballards and
stories. |
Part One - England,
1189 - 1194
Richard I, The Lion-Heart was crowned in 1189 ; he was a born soldier,
and he assumed this calling as a way of life. When a truce was broken
and unarmed Moslem merchants attacked, Saladin led his forces to
defeat the Christian armies and Jerusalem was captured in October
1187 ; most of the Christian leaders taken prisoner were then executed.
Richard saw himself born to become the leader of a new Third Crusade
and recapture the Holy city from the Infidel. In 1187 he took the
Crusader oath.
Richard I left on the Holy Crusade in December 1189, naming the
son of his deceased elder brother - his nephew Prince Arthur - as
his heir should he die whilst abroad and getting an oath from his
brother John not to travel to England in Richard's absence for a
period of three years. Their mother - Queen Eleanor - shortly afterwards
persuaded Richard to release his younger brother from this oath.
Before Richard I left England, he divided England in two and gave
the job of ruling in his absence to two of his most loyal Justices
- Hugh Bishop of Durham would care for the northern part ; and William
Longchamp, his Chancellor and Bishop of Ely administering the southern
part. Within a few months of Richard's departure, Longchamp had
marched north with an army and displaced Hugh. For six months, Longchamp
lorded it over England gaining the reputation of 'an overbearing
and intolerable tyrant'.
When Prince John after spending Xmas in Normandy returned to England
in early 1191, he found himself the immediate focus for the baronial
opposition to Longchamp. When Longchamp besieged Lincoln castle
in order to remove Gerard Camville, the Constable there and replace
him with one of his personal supporters, Prince John countered the
attack by moving into royal Nottingham castle - a move which was
completely unopposed - and garrisoning that castle and nearby royal
Tickhill castle with his own supporters. John threatened that if
Longchamp did not end his siege, he would march over and "visit
him with a rod of iron and such a mighty host that he (Longchamp)
could not withstand." Longchamp answered A fresh agreement
was made on terms very favourable to Prince John.with a demand that
John hand back the two castles and surrender to Longchamps' justice.
John erupted in a terrific rage which set his nearby courtiers scurrying
for cover and the scene was set for a battle - then Richard's emissary
arrived. Richard I had heard of Longchamps' upsets and troubles,
and sent the Archbishop of Rouen all the way from Messina back to
England to sort it out. The Archbishop in the kings' name was to
order four knights Richard had left behind to form a council and
sort out the trouble. The Archbishop arranged a compromise - Longchamp
left Lincoln and John gave back control of the two royal castles,
returning things to the state they were before tempers flared. As
soon as the Archbishop left England to report to Richard, Longchamp
tore up the agreement and he ordered one of his powerful supporters
named Roger De Lacy to hang the two Constables that had handed over
Nottingham and Tickhill to Prince John, which he duly did. John
retaliated by attacking De Lacy's lands and confiscating his estates
that lay within John's own jurasdiction. A second arbitration by
the ruling council was necessary and duly agreed : the two royal
castles would revert to the ownership of the Crown, but be held
for Richard I under a Constable appointed by Prince John - and as
preferred by most of the barons present at the arbitration, in the
case of the king dying abroad on Crusade, Prince John would succeed
Richard I on the throne of England. These terms agreed, both sides
retired to glare at each other : then John's half-brother Geoffrey
landed at Dover in late September 1191.
Geoffrey had also sworn not to travel to England in Richard's absence,
and Longchamp seeing Geoffrey as a threat to the throne tried to
arrest him on a charge of treason. The farce resulting in Geoffrey
after a stake-out of four days being dragged out of 'Holy Sanctuary'
by Longchamps' impatient soldiers led to everyone involved in the
unlawful capture of Geoffrey being excommunicated by the Bishop
of Lincoln and Longchamp being first denounced and then excommunicated
himself and deposed by the ruling council. Longchamp locked himself
in the Tower of London, but was forced to surrender to Prince John
after a few days. Longchamp was tried ; his defence was he had not
been disloyal or a traitor to Richard but in his zeal he may have
been tactless and overbearing. He was deposed and imprisoned. On
the last day of October, Longchamp was permitted to leave England
- he had tried to escape earlier dressed as a woman but an amorous
and impudent seaman 'felt' rather than saw through Longchamps' disguise.
Prince John was begged by the barons to get rid of the despotic
Longchamp - not the other way around, as depicted in the 1938 feature
film. John also had the support of all the English freemen and burgesses,
without which the struggle between him and Longchamp would have
probably degenerated into a similar civil war such as between Stephen
and Matilda between 1135 and 1155, resulting in wholesale anarchy.
In February 1192, Queen Eleanor returned to England after hearing
of her son John plotting with the King of France - Philip Augustus
- to get hold of Richard's lands and castles in France. Philip's
sister Princess Alice was bethrothed to Richard I but he had jilted
her in favour of marrying Princess Berengaria of Navarre. Because
of this, a rather disillusioned Philip had left command of the joint
Crusade to Richard I who remained in the Holy Land. Hearing of the
recent troubles in England, Philip decided to revenge himself on
Richard I and made approaches to Prince John to marry his sister
Alice instead and get hold of Richard's lands in France. The fact
that John was already married was not seen as a problem by either
Philip or John. Queen Eleanor narrowly managed to get John barred
from leaving England by the ruling council in order to clinch the
deal with Philip. At the same time, Longchamp returned to England
demanding a re-trial and through a go-between offering John a bribe
to enable Longchamp to get his old job back : Queen Eleanor then
used Longchamp to forestall John's deal with Philip. The ruling
council was left in a quandary as they didn't like what they were
hearing about John or Longchamp. Leaving the ruling council to fret
and worry for a time, Prince John then made it known he really needed
the money Longchamp was offering him and would be forced to accept
the bribe through necessity - but - if the ruling council matched
Longchamps' offer to him John would cheerfully accept it from them
instead, which would then solve everyone's problem. As a result,
the ruling council paid Prince John the money but out of King Richard's
treasury and re-asserted their oaths to him to succeed Richard.
Longchamp was forced to return to France to await the fury of King
Richard when he returned from the Holy Land.
John had broken the independence of the ruling council and destroyed
Longchamp - all John had to do was be patient for the throne to
drop into his lap. Nine months later, the devastating news arrived
in February 1193 that King Richard had been arrested at Vienna in
December 1192 and was at that time in prison in Germany, held to
ransom for the immense sum of a hundred thousand marks or £66,000
: at the time a quarter of England's wealth. The news was followed
shortly afterwards by a rumour that Richard was in fact, already
dead.
Prince John could not be prevented from sailing over to France to
meet Philip 'to find out the truth'. It is often implied but never
proven that the rumour of Richard's death was circulated by John
and Philip in order for John to be crowned and Richard's lands shared
out between John and Philip. John's offer to Normandy to defend
it from the threat of a French invasion in return for their allegiance
was rejected : John returned to England to recruit an army to crush
any opposition to him being crowned and Philip planned an invasion
of Normandy and England.
The temptation at this time to the ruling council to give into Prince
John - the man they had all sworn would succeed Richard anyway -
was terrific as it would keep the Peace and avoid a almost certain
French invasion supported by John's troops in England. Seeing the
council wavering, Queen Eleanor pointed out that Richard's death
was only a rumour and the ransom demand still stood, and reminded
the council of their outstanding oaths of loyalty to King Richard.
The Lionheart's past reputation and his recent exploits in the Holy
Land were widely known and when Eleanor and the council put the
problem to the people the response from them was both immediate
and overwhelming in support of a tremendously popular King Richard.
Prince John was faced down by the council as a result and troops
raised by them to both counter John's threats and guard against
a French invasion. The ransom demand would be paid if proof of Richard
being alive was given.
Prince John was forestalled but two problems remained - the first,
Richard's release due to the political situation in Europe was uncertain
- if Richard was already dead or killed later, the council would
have to crown as their new King a man they were currently threatening
; and secondly, Prince John controlled large parts of England's
income and his help in collecting the ransom money was absolutely
necessary. The collection of the ransom money was arranged by the
Bishop of Salisbury, Hubert Walter, under an agreement that any
castles not controlled by Prince John at that time would be turned
over to Queen Eleanor's caretaker-ship for a specific period on
the understanding that if Richard wasn't released by the end of
that time the castles would then transfer to Prince John - an agreement
tantamount to offering John complete control of England and hence
the throne.
Things in Germany weren't as bad as thought ; Richard had worked
his charm on his jailer, Emperor Henry VI. Duke Leopold of Austria
had arrested Richard I under circumstances that were contrary to
the code of chivalry and crusading : Richard had offended Leopold
in the Holy Land on a military matter and revenge was the main motive
for Richard's detention. Richard had been transferred to Henry VI
of Germany for safe-keeping and a half-share in the ransom but since
that time Henry and Leopold had fallen out to the extent that Henry
VI had used the French threat of buying Richard and holding him
to ransom in exchange for all his lands in France to raise the ransom
demand by fifty thousand marks but planned to give Leopold only
twenty thousand marks as his share. Richard had secretly agreed
a portion of his French lands would go to Philip upon his release
along with twenty thousand marks if Philip kept quiet and caused
no further upsets ; Henry VI then showed Richard private letters
from both John and Philip offering him money to continue keeping
Richard a prisoner.
On February 4th 1194 - twelve months and six weeks after his arrest
and a substantial portion of the ransom demand having been paid
- Richard I was released into the arms of his mother, Queen Eleanor.
On March 7th he landed at Dover after an absence from England of
four years. His welcome 'home' was outstanding and widespread. By
comparison, Philip in France and John in Normandy were quiet : Philip
had heard the news of Richard's release first and sent a warning
to Prince John that is traditionally said to read simply "Look
Out ! The Devil is Loosed !"
Though London threw open its doors to give Richard a hero's welcome,
the gates of most of the castles controlled by Prince John remained
firmly shut. Nottingham was the last castle to hold out, though
invested and surrounded by troops loyal to King Richard. King Richard
himself had to batter his way into the castle gatehouse, burn it
down, hang the survivors and make several blood-curdling threats
of what he would do to the defenders when he got into the castle
itself before Prince John's two constables finally saw wisdom and
surrendered, throwing themselves on Richard's mercy and blaming
Prince John for everything. Richard issued a command to John from
the Great Hall on the Middle Bailey of Nottingham Castle that John
appear before him within forty days to answer the charges against
him or "suffer the loss of all his lands and any claim to the
throne". John ignored the summons and remained in Normandy.
Most of the other supporters of Prince John who had incurred Richard's
displeasure and knowing of Richard's plans to raise an army and
immediately attack Philip of France in Normandy to get his lost
castles back, paid over hefty sums to keep their positions through
"the Kings' Pardon".
Richard was desperate for money, auctioning off many official posts
to the highest bidder. Three sheriffs who had opposed Longchamp
- including his loyal former 'northern' Justice and poor old Gerard
Camville at Lincoln - were sacked by King Richard and their posts
put up for sale. Richard is said to have remarked "he would
have sold London had anyone been wealthy enough to afford to buy
it." Richard's callous and ruthless raising of cash to raise
an army was remarked upon in turn as a "return of Longchamps'
tyrannical and overbearing methods." The Lionheart left Hubert
Walter in charge of England and sailed for France on May 12th 1194,
never to return. He and his younger brother met later in Normandy
in the presence of their mother and Richard quickly forgave John
"for being a child, led astray by evil advisers."
Part two - Sherwood Forest, 1189
- 1220
In 1138, the Scots had taken advantage of the civil war between
the factions of King Stephen and the Empress Maud to cross the northern
border and raid into English territory. Archbishop Thurstan of York
appealed to the 'Men of Sherwood' to come and help an improvised
army beat the Scots off - this they duly did, and at Northallerton
the Scots retired after being peppered by deadly arrows from the
bows in the hands of the enigmatic 'Men of Sherwood'. In the battle
of Lincoln of 1141, though both factions appealed to the same Men,
it appears that not many turned out in support of a purely factional
fight.
Fighting a foreign enemy for your country's sake obviously had a
different appeal to these Men, though the civil war dragged on for
almost twenty years and saw almost complete anarchy take over -
including Nottingham Town being destroyed twice - burned by the
Earl of Gloucester in 1140 and burned again by the future Henry
II in 1153. The entire period of this civil war was later described
as an era where 'Christ and his Saints slept' regarding the interests
of common folk and the fighting, rapine and land-grabbing of aristocratic
lords. It took Henry II many years to get full control of the royal
lands and castles back for the Crown in areas that had become utterly
lawless and bands of brigands, robbers and outlaws posing as soldiers
roved the countryside preying wholesale on church, village and desmesne
alike.
In 1140, a new bridge over the River Trent at Newark offered a safer
passage north-south. Much of the traffic heading north to York formerly
using the road known as The Kings' Great Way from the bridge over
the Trent at Nottingham kept to the Great North Road and crossed
the river at Newark : it avoided the expensive Nottingham bridge
tolls, offered an alternative to the road in the form of seats on
passage boats up-river - and avoided passing through the southern
end of Sherwood Forest under the threat of robbers and outlaws.
By 1190, the Forest road had seen a drop in merchant and trading
traffic but a rise in travellers having a religious connection.
In 1172, yet another monastery had been founded in Sherwood Forest
and endowed by the King himself with the village, mill and church
of Papplewick as a sort-of gift regarding the penance placed on
Henry II by the Church resulting from the murder of Thomas a Becket.
The new St Mary's Priory was situated in the Leen Valley roughly
ten miles north of Nottingham and already in the area of Sherwood
Forest lying to the north and south, east and west off The Kings'
Great Way were the monasteries of : Blyth (founded 1088) Lenton
(1109) Worksop (1123) Thurgarton (1140) Rufford (1146) Shelford
(1154) and Felley (1156) to be followed by the founding of Welbeck
Abbey (1189). The wealth of these great monasteries lay in their
involvement in the wool trade ; each had outlying granges where
one or two brothers or lay-monks looked after a small flock of sheep
and the production of fleeces brought in a good source of revenue
for the monastery concerned. From 1140, complaints were made to
the Sheriff of Nottingham concerning robberies perpetrated against
the monks 'by outlaws' ; by 1194 the complaints from local priors
and abbots had grown something had to be done about the pestiferous
outlaws.
The Leen Valley was dominated by a range of hills lying on it's
western border. To the east, the ground rose - but not as prominently
- before the rising and falling undulating contours of the dales
here were lost in the densest part of royal Sherwood. The Kings
Great Way ran north from Nottingham around the western edge of Bestwood
Deer Park, through Papplewick and past St Mary's Priory on the eastern
edge of the Leen Valley, disappearing into the leafy glades of the
old 'keeping' of Lyndhurst with Blidworth hill to the east and continuing
towards Mansfield, onto Worksop and Blyth. Richard I attacked and
captured the last of his younger brothers' castles - Nottingham
- in March 1194 then relaxed by hunting in this part of Sherwood
Forest (resting for a time at St Mary's Priory) before meeting and
entertaining his friend, King William of Scotland. If Richard heard
any of the complaints about robberies from the religious houses,
he would have ordered the Sheriff of Nottingham to sort the problem
out - Richard needed money badly, and was looking to the Church
to provide a good proportion of this though they'd already contributed
a major part of his ransom. Richard I wanted the church to stay
firmly in support of his reign.
Though plans to outwit the robbers were laid in 1194, the demands
on money and soldiers made by Richard I and after his death by King
John meant that these plans were postponed for over ten years. That
the plans were not shelved or abandoned completely is an indication
of their importance. Between 1205 and 1209,work began on an extension
of Nottingham castle : a new fortress actually in Sherwood Forest,
and placed on the western borders of the Leen Valley, built on a
commanding height overlooking the St Mary's Priory. Built by the
Deputy-Constable and garrisoned by soldiers, these men would patrol
the area to prevent and hopefully catch the robbers - and if the
robbers and outlaws weren't willing to submit, to exterminate them.
The isolated fortress was not wanted by locals - obviously the robbers
weren't bothering them, or they'd have welcomed the protection -
but their complaints were ignored though a large part of common
land was legally aforested and became the property of the Crown.
The position of the new fort was too isolated and unsupported -
instead of catching the robbers, the hidden robbers turned their
attention to the fort and probably made life miserable for the By
1220, the new fort had been seen as such a failure it had been abandoned
and the garrison paid off and disbanded, or returned to duty at
Nottingham.
The 'romantic' legend ; 1160 - 1250'Robin Hood' was born in Loxley, Locksley or Lockesley, a village
in Yorkshire in the year 1160, but was outlawed after an argument
for wounding his father with a scythe. The young man ran off towards
nearby Barnsley rather than face judgement and punishment - when
South and West Yorkshire became too hot to hold him, he made his
way down The Great North Road and sought shelter with robbers and
outlaws hiding in Sherwood Forest, further enhancing his existing
woodcraft and skill with a bow and a sword. He rose in reputation
to lead these men, but replaced their code of daily brutality with
a revenge theme of targeted thefts. He met Richard I in Spring 1194
during the attempted rebellion led by his younger brother - Prince
John - and declaring his loyalty to the king and entering his service
as a retained archer, gained a Royal Pardon. He served abroad with
Richard I for some time before retiring once again to Sherwood where
he married or re-married a girl named Mary, Marian or Matilda. When
his wife died some years later he built a chapel to her memory and
stayed close by it. As an old man, he went to a female relative
for medical aid but died - either murdered or from natural causes
- and was buried by her in an unmarked grave.
That's one version of The Legend of Robin Hood. Similar names to
Robin Hood appear in medieval records all over England from the
year 1200 ; beyond that the records themselves are fragmentary.
In and around Wakefield in the first half of the 14th Century, there
are a cluster of such names which coupled with the Contrariants
of the Lancaster rebellion against Edward II are offered as evidence
that these records contain the real Robin Hood : but these have
been examined several times by leading historians and found 'inconclusive'.
They are also pre-dated by other references in records to a Robin,
Robyn, Robert Hod, Hode or Hoode. Place-names associated with Robin
Hood in attempts to date them are complicated by a possible previous
ownership by woodland deities or gods named for 'Robin Goodfellow',
'The Green Man', 'The Horned God' or foreign imports such as Esus,
Odin or Wotan. Before the 14th century, records of Robin Hood the
Outlaw are pretty rare : manuscripts dated before 1500 down to 1330
become pretty scarce after that date. Previous historians in the
15th Century have recorded dates for Robin Hood's origins in the
12th Century, but frustratingly failed to note where their references
were found.
For Robin Hood to have been able to meet Richard I, their meeting
must have fallen within a period when:
1. Richard was in England (preferably within Sherwood Forest )
2. Under circumstances that Richard would not order Robin's immediate
arrest or death
3. At a time using records that Robin Hood was supposed to be alive
and surviving as an outlaw
4. Could there be a reason why the two men might want to meet each
other …
Was there such a time?
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire : 1189 - 1194
Richard I was born at Oxford in 1157 and crowned King at Westminster
Abbey in 1189. Throughout the ten years of King Richard's reign,
only a few months were spent actually in England. When he died in
France in 1199, Richard's heart was buried at Rouen in Normandy,
his brain at Poitou and his body next to his father Henry II at
Fontevrault - England got no souvenir of Richard to bury, despite
providing most of the financial means for Richard's military adventures
throughout his entire reign. During one of the two periods Richard
I was in England he could have met the outlaw, Robin Hood.
September - December 1189
Richard I is crowned in London in September 1189 but leaves England
for France in December 1189. Did he ever come north during that
period? The historical evidence available says he did not ; and
there is no evidence that 'Robin Hood' ever travelled south. Richard
I left France for the Holy Land in July 1190 - until March 1194
he was 'abroad'.
March - May 1194
Richard I returns from captivity and lands at Dover ; he is welcomed
at London, and then heads north to deal with the last of his younger
brother's castles at Nottingham. Richard I takes Nottingham castle
on March 28th. By April 16th he was back at Winchester ; in mid-May
he left for France and never returned to England. He died in France
in 1199.
The last week of March - the first week of April, 1194
Richard attacks the only place to offer him any real opposition
: Nottingham castle. He breaks into the Gatehouse after Prince John's
two Constable's refuse to recognise him and order arrows to be shot
at him and his mounted retinue, wounding some of them. Richard orders
and immediate assault, leading it personally : they break into the
wooden gatehouse, setting it on fire. The walls on the Middle Bailey
are stone and these are too powerful to be attacked. Richard summons
the castle to surrender, backing up the threat by hanging the survivors
from the defenders of the gatehouse in full view and telling the
rest of the garrison he will have them excommunicated before battering
them all to death with siege engines when they arrive. The two Constable's
wisely surrendered to Richard I the next day and they and the garrison
were spared. Three days later, Richard I summons his younger brother
to appear before him from the Great Hall on the Middle Bailey.
In the novel Ivanhoe this is the time-period chosen by Sir Walter
Scott for Robin Hood to meet Richard I (though for a great portion
of the time they are together King Richard is in disguise and the
outlaw doesn't name himself 'Robin Hood' but Locksley). Locksley
and The Black Knight are the joint leaders of the attack on the
castle - a re-named Nottingham castle is featured in the novel -
and as King Richard reveals his true identity to everyone so in
return does 'Locksley' reveal himself as Robin Hood. Sir Walter
Scott reputedly stayed at a house near Friar Tuck's Well in Sherwood
Forest whilst writing notes for Ivanhoe and did visit several other
associated sites (though his description of the site in the book
makes one feel he visited the wrong one). It is said Scott accessed
'documentary evidence' that Robin Hood met Richard the Lion-Heart
in 1194 in Sherwood Forest - but exactly what this evidence was
is uncertain. Both Ivanhoe and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
contain many references to Saxon and Norman - but by the year 1200
it is unlikely that this distinction was made as a form of prejudice
by one class to another. King John had far more trouble with Anglophobic
or Francophile barons and clergy than from 'Saxon' peasants.
In the oldest stories of the meeting between the Outlaw and the
King, Robin Hood meets the King in Sherwood Forest ; but the featured
King is in disguise when they meet. Robin Hood recognises the King
through his physical strength when blows are exchanged during a
contest. Though the King reveals his true identity later the Kings'
actual name is never given. The pair become 'friends' and set off
for Nottingham where Robin Hood is seen with the King in public
and a Royal Pardon is assumed to have been granted by all and sundry.
It isn't likely that The Sheriff - if he ever met Robin Hood - regarded
the outlaw with any feelings of friendship as previously the outlaw
had embarrassed the Authorities several times and been a thorn in
their side (and in one account had murdered a previous Sheriff).
But - no records of a real person named Robin Hood living in the
vicinity of Sherwood Forest exist before the year 1220. That such
a person could have lived there many years previously isn't impossible.
Only felons are recorded in the records used in evidence. If 'Robin
Hood' didn't come to trial or notice under that name he couldn't
have been outlawed under that name. Similar names do exist, with
the earliest said to be dated to 1213. The first mention outside
a local tradition of Robin Hood meeting Richard I in Sherwood Forest
is in a history book of 1521. No source of original reference is
given, but the statement struck a chord and was developed through
a popular play in 1598 and a poem in 1632 which later became a play.
These three works set the precedent for Robin Hood existing as a
Saxon outlaw of noble birth persecuted by Norman overlords. When
the King is named in Robin Hood stories, the name Henry or Edward
is often given - never Richard. King Edward II did visit Nottingham
in 1323 after crushing the Lancaster rebellion at the battle of
Boroughbridge but is not recorded as having any outlaw friends in
tow. With the reference published in 1377 to 'rhymes of Robin Hood'
in the poem The Vision of Piers Plowman written by William Langland
in 1371 and records of similar surnames in the previous century,
it always 'feels' like the Robin Hood legend had an origin before
the year 1250 - the average date given by two contempory chroniclers
at the time of the poem being published. There are real and recorded
outlaws who did Robin Hood-type things - but with the possible exception
of Hereward the Wake most of their names are relatively unknown.
Most of the current on-going research at several places in the United
Kingdom into a 'real Robin Hood' is centred around the middle of
the 13th Century. Medieval records beyond this period grow increasingly
rare and contain scanty information.
"Keep your friends close by
; but keep your enemies even closer." (
An old proverb )
When King Richard wasn't fighting, deer and boar
hunting or ruling his empire, one of his favourite pastimes was
hawking - and the open spaces in Sherwood Forest in the Leen Valley
were popular places to participate in this sport. After the capture
of Nottingham castle in March 1194, King Richard is recorded as
hunting for relaxation in Sherwood Forest and probably made a few
'house calls' on important personages to renew an acquaintance,
receive a vow of loyalty or tap them for cash. Word would have swept
through the glades by the strange ethereal means of communication
that existed at the time, and a full account would have circulated
in Sherwood about Richard's exploits at Nottingham castle. The King
stayed or rested at St Mary's Priory as is recorded - lying on the
eastern edge of the Leen Valley.
If Robin Hood had been working for Richard in the years of his absence,
then if the opportunity did arise for King Richard and Robin Hood
to meet, with regard to their individual characters both men would
have seized it. Both men had much to gain from mutual support.
The famous painting Robin Hood entertaining King Richard the Lionheart
in Sherwood Forest by Daniel Maclise currently hanging in Nottingham
castle depicts the meeting between King Richard I and Robin Hood
in Sherwood Forest. In the picture, the initial formalities have
obviously having been dealt with and both men are seen amidst scenes
of drinking and feasting under broadleaf trees surrounded by lots
of people, all paying great attention to Robin Hood and King Richard.
Little John looks like Hercules in style and dress, carrying a dead
deer over his shoulder - a seriously grave offence under the strict
Forest Law at the time. Marian sits demurely at the base of a nearby
oak tree crowned with woodland flowers. Robin with a drink in his
hand postures before the King whilst recounting a tale - and definitely
looking a little tipsy - whilst King Richard is dressed in mail
armour ( armour was not worn for hunting as it was considered both
uncomfortable, unfair and unsporting ) covered by a white sleeveless
surcoat attended by a strange-looking page who pours him wine from
a jug. King Richard sits and smiles benevolently at Robin, with
his similarly-armoured guards standing well in the background. Friar
Tuck is pictured with many other background characters who have
been identified as Will Scarlett, Gilbert, Much, Gamwell, Alan a
Dale and so on by the eager viewers of the painting. The picture
we have is very much part of the 19th century Victorian-period romantic
ideal of the meeting between the two men and the steadily increasing
tourist trade involving Robin Hood going on in Sherwood Forest at
the same time as this image was painted. The most remarkable feature
in the painting - often missed by viewers - is that Robin Hood is
dressed not in green clothes, but in bright red.
St Mary's Priory would be seen by both sides as 'neutral territory',
though Robin Hood's belligerent attitude to the clergy is made pretty
clear. The monks there did not permit the wearing or carrying of
weapons in the precincts of the Priory so a meeting between Richard
and Robin could have been arranged there easily by a go-between
prompted by either side.
Large numbers of itinerants in Sherwood Forest - not all of them
robbers or outlaws - had existed for years and would be a valuable
source of military manpower if tapped ( in the year 1138 Archbishop
Thurstan of York appealed to the Men of Sherwood to help him fight
a Scots invasion and Edward I later recruited skilled longbow-men
from Sherwood Forest for his Welsh and Scots wars in the latter
half of the 13th Century ). In addition to his military capabilities,
Richard I could be charming and witty, write songs to music and
when in captivity played several practical jokes on his jailers
(Richard especially liked getting them drunk enough to fall over).
When King Richard pleaded his case for release before the Emperor
of Germany, the Emperor was so moved by Richard's eloquence he got
up from his throne and embraced Richard with the kiss of peace.
Though Robin Hood's pranks often went wrong in his early days, through
this bravado he evolved into a clever trickster and a cunning and
careful planner. That the leaders of both sides were past experts
in stage-management is established ; any arranged meeting would
be conducted with great care on both sides - trust had to be earned
on both sides - at a site approved by both parties with a fixed
number of attendants. Sherwood Forest was a royal forest and totally
belonged to the King - there could be no question of a meeting on
Robin Hood's territory ; on the other hand, that part of the royal
forest still contains today a large number of the traditional sites
having a strong association with Robin Hood - so it could perhaps
be interpreted as 'outlaw country' and a balance struck if it became
necessary.
Whatever else was to be said, an oath of loyalty from Robin Hood
to Richard and in exchange a pardon from Richard to Robin Hood for
past crimes would have occurred, enabling them to go forward from
their first meeting as both men had many enemies lurking in the
shadows and it would be in the interests of both men to advertise
the new entente cordiale. After the initial exchanges, the charm
of both men coupled with their behaviour toward each other would
ease the assembled audience into a more relaxed atmosphere of social
chit-chat over a drink and leading into fun and games at a woodland
feast. When The Sheriff of Nottingham heard about the new deal -
or if Robin Hood really did ride back to Nottingham with King Richard
- might not like it but as the King's personal representative in
the shire he would have to accept changes in Crown policy made by
the King in public - and in private wait for an opportunity for
revenge.
So our meeting could have happened - but if it did happen it must
have been so memorable or emotional that nobody thought to record
the epic for posterity!EpilogueKing Richard after Sherwood in early April
1194 left to greet his good friend King William of Scotland for
a parley. By mid-April the King was in the south of England and
by the end of May in France. If Robin Hood went with him from Sherwood,
it isn't recorded anywhere - but in the Robin Hood legend, Robin
Hood gets a bit homesick after a year serving the King and obtains
a leave of absence to go on a visit 'home' - but he never returns
to court. Four years later, King Richard is dead. If you add up
the evidence contained in the popular Robin Hood legend in years
- he supposedly lived on in the greenwoods for over forty years
until 1247, making him a remarkably old man when he died at an age
between eighty and ninety years old.King Richard's captor - Leopold of Austria
- was excommunicated by the Church and ordered to pay back the ransom
to England. He refused to do so : when he fell from his horse in
December 1194 he broke his ankle - the foot below turned black overnight
and when the limb was finally amputated three days later blood-poisoning
and gangrene had spread through Leopold's entire body. In agony
but having promised to pay back the ransom, Leopold died on New
Years Day 1195 after being received back into the Church. When the
news arrived in England, men simply said "God's Justice had
been Done."King Richard got his revenge on Philip, King
of France in September 1198 at Gisors - in the retreat after the
fighting in which King Richard personally unhorsed three enemy knights
with one lance, as the rest of the mounted French knights crowded
around their King on a wooden bridge it collapsed under their weight
and the bridge, knights and King crashed down into the river below.The man who shot the crossbow-bolt that struck
Richard I and led to his death a short time later was forgiven by
the King - but was flayed alive and hanged after Richard died. Upon
hearing of King Richard's death, a chronicler noted "Avarice,
crime, unbounded lust, unscrupulous pride and blind desire have
reigned for twice five years but all these an archer lay prostrate
by the skilful handling of his weapon." Within five years,
the same chronicler was writing "With King Richard were buried
the pride and honour of the chivalry of the West ...."Prince John succeeded Richard I to gain the
reputation today as "England's worst King". During the
period of King John's reign, the standard reward offered for the
dead-or-alive capture of any outlaw rose by 500 percent.The remains of the old motte-and-bailey castle
in the Leen Valley can still be seen.King John granted the water-meadows on the
River Leen to St Mary's Priory in 1205. The entire place was on
the brink of bankruptcy until the mid-1500's when it was dissolved
by Henry VIII and later bought by the Byron family, re-named Newstead
Abbey to suit the new 'Gothic' fashion.The spot traditionally known as "Robin
Hood's Grave" was dug up in 1706 - but no remains of a grave
or human remains were found at the spot.
PostscriptSean Connery had previously played an
aging Robin Hood in the feature film Robin and Marian. In 1998 he
was cast in a surprise cameo role to play King Richard the Lionheart
in the final scene of the feature film Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves.
For many British viewers it was the best bit in the entire film!
 |
| 'Blacke Dickon'
- the author's medieval forester character - relates the legend
of King Richard The Lionheart's meeting with Robin Hood at a
recent event in Nottingham Castle. (English Heritage) |
The author is scheduled to present "Robin
Hood's Nottingham", a new guided tour for visitors based at
Nottingham Castle beginning in May 2004. Details from Nottingham
Castle, the BBC Nottingham website or the newsdesk of the World-Wide
Robin Hood Society website. Private tours including "Robin
Hood's Sherwood Forest" can be booked through Nottingham Castle.
A new Robin Hood book for 2004 from the author is "Robin Hood's
Nottingham Castle" detailing the exciting adventures and events
that have featured in and around this historic site from creation
in 1068 through to the present day. |
If I had my life to live over, I'd try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I ...