The Outlaws of Medieval Legend: Robin Hood - Literature review Example

Historical Research Paper: Robin Hood Introduction There are a variety of semi-mythical and semi-historical figures in history. Their existence has been set forth by many historians and even philosophers; however, most of these figures have already been disproven by scholars and historians. Figures like King Arthur, Midas, and Croesus, are just some historical personalities whose existence have been questioned, proven or disproven at some point in our history. One other figure who merits addition to the above distinguished list is Robin Hood. This paper shall discuss the true identity of Robin Hood. It shall discuss a theory about his existence by assessing the diverse and rich stories that have been suggested about him. The various stories and theories about who Robin Hood is are indeed very much diverse. However, none of these theories have found full historical support as compared to the theory and accounts set forth by Joseph Hunter who claims that the real Robin Hood was a tenant of the Wakefield Manor during the reign of Edward II and who rebelled against King Edward and outlawed thereafter. With the above premises, this student is leaning towards Hunter’s theory about Robin Hood, that he was a rebel and later an outlaw against an oppressive regime. Details of the above premises shall be explained in the discussion that will follow. Discussion The story of Robin Hood has been theorized by various historians and writers. One of the first theorists is Joseph Hunter, who was an assistant records keeper at the Public Record Office in the 1850s1. Joseph Hunter later published a book claiming that Robin Hood lived in Wakefield and later rebelled against the King Edward’s reign, for which he was later outlawed2. I agree with Hunter’s accounts because he cites records which prove Robin Hood’s existence in Wakefield. In proving the truth of the existence of a person, it is always important to find solid documents and records which prove the link between the myth and actual people. Hunter’s Robin Hood and the Robin Hood mentioned in the earliest ballads of Robin Hood have shown strong and documented connections with each other which cannot be easily discounted as falsities. And these connections require at least a second look. An early and popular ballad about Robin Hood is the ballad ‘A Gest of Robyn Hode’. Many of the accounts from the ballad actually coincide with the existence of Hunter’s Robin Hood. The exact solution to this mystery is based on the most accurate records and accounts which relate to Robin Hood. This solution will necessitate a critical analysis of the theories set forth by authors and historians on the subject matter. The solution, which shall present the most accurate, logical and evidence-supported, shall be considered as the best solution to this problem. This student believes that Joseph Hunter’s account is the correct solution to this problem because it presents factual records and accounts on the issue. In Hunter’s book “The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, Robin Hood”, he speaks of a Robyn Hod/Hode who registered into the service of Edward II in 13233. He cites records that he was able to unearth from Wakefield documents which prove the service and existence of a certain Robyn Hod during King Edward II’s regime. His position is supported by one of the earliest surviving ballads entitled ‘A Gest of Robyn Hode,’ (or Lytell Geste) which chronicles how King Edward traveled around the country, how he met Robin Hood, how he then pardoned him, and later recruited him to work in his court4. The ‘Gest’ goes on to narrate how Robin later loses all his possessions and in discontent, returns to the life of an outlaw. In assessing elements of Hunter’s Robin Hood, similarities with the Robin Hood ballad ‘Gest’ can actually be seen. Hunter’s historical research documents how King Edward has indeed traveled England during his reign between April and November 1323. The records that Hunter later found reflect firm evidence that a certain Robyn Hod served as a porter to the king’s court from March to November 1324. Hunter’s accounts match the time period after Robin Hood was said to be pardoned and taken in to serve the King5. Hunter further suggests that this Robert Hood of Wakefield first rebelled against King Edward and was later pardoned. Hunter sets forth close to factual information which matches accounts from ballads and tales about Robin Hood6. Portions of the ‘Gest’ ballad, one of the earliest accounts and literature about Robin Hood, are successfully proven by the information that Hunter was able to gather about Robyn Hod or Robert Hood. Records reflect that a certain Robyn Hod and a certain Robert Hood was outlawed by King Edward7. A certain Robyn and a certain Robert was also later pardoned and even given employment in the king’s court8. These are accounts are too similar with each other and cannot be easily dismissed as simple coincidence. Another coincidence pointed out by Hunter is the fact that Robert Hood was a forester, very much like his father9. As an outlaw and as a forester, he would have chosen refuge in the forest. This description comes too close to the mythical and semi-mythical Robin Hood which can be read from the ‘Gest’ and from other literary accounts that soon followed. Hunter further claims that the records of Robyn’s service to the king are documented in court records when he was given his severance pay. When we check accounts in the ballad, Robin Hood was an outlaw who was forgiven and later offered employment by the King. This Robin Hood was dissatisfied with court life and later left the palace after a year of service to the King. Records Hunter further narrates that he again ‘found’ Robyn Hod when he turns up as Robert Hood in Wakefield. This Robert Hood was speculated to have joined the Lancastrian revolt, and later disappeared. After a while, a Robyn Hod is found in the employ of the court where the Wakefield records indicate that a certain Robyn Hode was receiving a pay of 3 dollars a day as one of the king’s “valets, porteurs de la chambre”10. In the 22nd of November, Robyn Hode again appears in the records where he “jadys un des porteurs por qas qil ne posit pluis travailler, de donn par comandement, v.s” 11. This statement translates that by command, because of his inability to work, Robyn Hode was given five shillings as his severance pay. Again, there is a certain merit in evaluating Hunter’s Robin Hood as the real Robin Hood. It is too much of a coincidence to ignore the patterns in the life of the mythic and Hunter’s Robin Hood. Many authors also point out that the earliest ballad – ‘A Gest’ – about Robin Hood contains many minute details which seem to imply that it is based on actual figures and actual places. Since, the ‘Gest’ was first published in the 1400s, the historians and theorists looked into the previous centuries for the closest places and figures which closely resembled the Robin Hood tales. These historians were able to establish that there are so many accounts in the Robin ballads as narrated in Gest which actually resemble the type of life and the situations that existed in the 13th and 14th centuries in England12. The ballad makes mention of sheriffs, forests owned by the crown, corruption and usury by the Church, and even settings in the ballads which seem to be based on real places. The descriptions have tangible qualities which make them believable as real places and real people. As a result, many historians speculate that the story of Robin Hood is based on a real person. And the accounts of Hunter have been considered the starting point of other historians in establishing factual information about Robin Hood. This student supports this path that many historians have taken because Hunter has pointed out that many Hoods find their roots in Wakefield. This increases the possibility that the Robert Hood or the Robyn Hod which was found by Hunter is actually THE Robin Hood. The fact that some of the Hoods from Wakefield were also involved in violent activities and very much connected to the foresters during the 13th and 14th centuries point to the strong possibility that Robert Hood is indeed the Robin Hood being described in the ballads13. The involvement of these Wakefield Hoods in thievery, violence, attacks, and such other retaliatory practices also point out facts which can hardly be ignored by anyone seeking the truth about Robin Hood’s identity. The descriptions of the ballads compiled in ‘Gest’ point to many similar incidents seen during the 13th and the 14th centuries. In extrapolating and analyzing the events during this time, it is easy to imagine the discontent felt by the people against the Crown and the officials who were considered custodians of many properties in the territories. The possibility of these oppressive practices by the Crown triggering subversive and rebellious acts by the people is another strong possibility to consider. As was described in the ballads and the tales of Robin Hood, Robin Hood was an outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor14. The accounts of thievery were very much rampant during the 13th and 14th centuries, and these accounts were mostly seen as responses to abuses by the Crown. The truth about the identity of Robin Hood is not as grand as the accounts in the ballad; nevertheless the situation of the people during such time was real enough. From the people’s hapless state, they may have sought a champion for their cause in the person of Robin Hood, who they later immortalized in ballads which portrayed their desire for heroism. This student has found reinforcement for belief in Hunter’s Robin Hood because the Hoods of Wakefield have the closest proximity to Barnsdale (not Sherwood), which is said to be the actual location of the ballads of Robin Hood15. Records during the time of the Tudors reveal that Wakefield named one of their streets ‘Robinhood Strete’. This seems to imply their acknowledgment of Robin Hood’s actions and their expressed approval for his exploits. A closer examination of Wakefield Court records by historians reveal some surprising and very important names which may now help further provide support for Hunter’s theories. Records show that a Roger de Doncaster, a chaplain in 1301-2 owned land about ten miles from Kirklees; a Richard of the Lee was also seen in the records to have lived in Wakefield in 1317; and finally, a Robert Hood and his wife Matilda were recorded to have purchased a lot in Bickhill in 131616. Such land was later confiscated by King Edward because of Robert Hood’s loyalties pledged to Lancaster. Historians also found records of an Adam Schackelock who is said to be related to Will Scathelock in the Robin Hood ballads17. A John le Nailer was also found in the records; he may be the Little John in the ballads who is known for having Nailer as a last name. A family known as Whitehondes was also found; some historians claim that Gilbert of the White Hand may be derived from this family18. The likeness of these personalities often does not match the descriptions seen in the ballads; nevertheless accounts of several Robert Hoods were also found to exist at about the same time19. The simple explanation may then be found in the fact that there may also be several John Nailers or Roger de Doncaster alive during such times, and one of them may actually be the real derivation of the characters in the ballads of Robin Hood. In the tales and myths about Robin, his family lands were indeed seized because of allegiance to the Crown which was broken20. These similarities represent possible representations of fact which may be the basis of the ballads which actually help provide comparatively definitive proof that the Robin Hood that Hunter found is the real Robin Hood; that he was not the Earl of Huntingdon, nor was he of Earl of Locksley, but that he was indeed an outlaw who was disgruntled in the King’s service. The years that indicated the supposed existence of Hunter’s Robert Hood were established as a time where story-telling passed on legends and myths about peasants and about gentry. Even tales have their basis in fact, and these tales may also be embellished by story tellers who seek to entertain and to entice the appetite of audiences for more. It cannot also be denied that when certain liberties are allowed in the interpretation of the Wakefield Robert Hood and the ballads of ‘Gest’, these two accounts can fit well together. Hunter’s Robert Hood was said to have lived at about 1377, and the first ballad of Robin Hood (Gest) was first seen in 142221. This actually gives enough time for the story and legends to develop and to be based on actual persons who lived in just about the same time frame. When trying to verify the accounts from the ballads and the myths about Robin Hood, we look to the time before (not after) these ballads were published. And the 1377 timeline for Hunter’s Robert Hood fits in perfectly with the 1422 time period when the first ballads were first published. The attributes credited to Robin Hood are not supernatural, nor are they vague, but they are qualities which would have been expected or would have been seen in a person living in an oppressed and impoverished state. Some details have been added to depict a more romantic and more enigmatic character, “but that the leading features of it, as popularly detailed, rest at all events on a basis of fact, is, in our opinion satisfactorily established”22. Hunter’s Robert Hood is also the most accurate Robin Hood because he places Robin Hood’s time during Edward’s reign, not Richard’s or John’s. This is more in keeping with the ballads of ‘Gest’ which support the historical documents that Hunter found on the Robert Hood of Wakefield23. Hunter also goes on to point out that the time of Edward II fits in perfectly with the ballads of Robin Hood. Edward I never went to Lancashire after he was crowned; there never was any proof also that Edward III was ever in Lancashire during his reign24. Documents and court accounts however indicate that Edward the II did visit Nottingham and even took time to check out the condition of his forests. At about this time, if the ballads are to be taken into consideration, Robin Hood entered into the king’s service. It is then the height of coincidence to note that during this time, records from the court accounts do indicate that a Robyn Hod was in the service of King Edward. It is important also to note that Robyn Hod may have been exiled by the King for his participation in the rebellious activities of the Earl of Lancaster (Thomas). For this reason, he was later granted pardon by the king and offered employment25. Hunter discusses a strong argument when he extrapolates that it would not be impossible for many of the peasants and followers of Lancaster to secret themselves in the woods in order to escape the king’s wrath. His extrapolations lend credence to the stories of Robin Hood and his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest, preying on the gentry and on the king’s bounty in order to survive. The story again links up with King Edward’s travels through Nottingham and through his forests where he finds these men and later grants them pardon26. Hunter’s accounts offer many possibilities which, at best, are just assumptions and extrapolations. However, considering the limited records and record-keeping activities made at this time, these extrapolations are still the best evidence that we can use. They are logical and are based on events which track the movements of King Edward and Robert Hood/Robyn Hod. Granted, there are some inconsistencies and discrepancies especially in the dates of these personages which were explored by Hunter, however, they can be easily explained by inaccurate and absent record-keeping activities during said time period. This student is leaning greatly towards Hunter’s Robin Hood as the real Robin Hood because his term of service under Edward II bears great similarity to the ballads of ‘Gest’. The ballads speak of Robin Hood who became tired and depressed in the service of the King; records reveal that Hunter’s Robyn Hod became weary and also depressed while serving as the King’s porter and he later asked the king for a leave of absence27. King Edward later granted his request. Another set of records appear which indicate that a certain Robyn Hod was being released from service because he could no longer work. It is easy enough to conclude that these two characters, who have a similar life history, who have similar names, and who both left the king’s service for some form of dissatisfaction or disgruntlement are one and the same person. No other Robin Hood bears so many factual coincidences to the Robin Hood in the ballads and tales as much as Hunter’s Robin Hood. It is also important to note Robin Hood’s manner of death. The ballads speak of Robin Hood being betrayed and thereafter being killed at a convent of Kirklees where the prioress was actually a relative of Robin Hood28. Hunter’s research was able to unearth that an Elizabeth Staynton, once a prioress at a convent in Kirklees, was regarded by nobles as kin to Robin Hood29. So it is very much possible that this Elizabeth Staynton is actually Robin Hood’s kin who may or may not have caused his death. The death of Hunter’s Robin Hood has not been established, so there is no way of connecting his manner of death to the myths. However, it is important to note the noble blood which seems to be credited to Robin Hood. In a way, this noble blood may actually be seen, if proven, in the Elizabeth Staynton connection. This regard of nobility is often hoisted on Robin Hood by different writers and followers of the tales of Robin Hood. However, this student is inclined not to agree that Robin Hood had noble blood. Hunter mentions that this connection has not been definitively proven. This student tends to agree with Hunter. Hunter was also able to find some proof which relates his Wakefield Robert Hood to the Robin Hood in the ballads. The tenant Robert Hood was said to have been driven to the woods, there to later be joined by his wife Matilda who changes her name to Marian30. And again, this historical Robert Hood comes very close to the Robin Hood made popular by the ballads and by mythical accounts. It is also important to discuss the other ‘Robin Hoods’ being speculated as the real Robin Hood and why this student believes they are not the real Robin Hood. Some authors speak of an anonymous manuscript which existed on 1600 AD and which indicates that Robin Hood was born in Locksley or Loxley in Yorkshire31. But some other papers refer to another village named Loxley seen in Warwickshire where a certain Robert Fitzooh or Robert Fitz Odo is said to be the real Robin Hood. Some followers liken Fitz Odo’s grave to Robin Hood’s grave found in Loxley. However, there is little proof about Fitz Odo being an outlaw, and a similar grave hardly proves that Robin Hood and Odo is one and the same person32. This version of Robin Hood is full of so many holes and the similar points being likened to the fictional Robin Hood are very minor points which do not serve as strong proof to support Fitz Odo as Robin Hood. Robin Hood of Locksley being of noble blood or being the Earl of Huntingdon is also not supported by this student because the similarities in the mythical accounts are just that – similarities. They were never proven, nor were there any documents found which proved that the Robin Hood in the ballads was actually based on the life of the earl33. A certain Robert Hood, servant of the Abbot of Cirencester is also being speculated as the real Robin Hood. However, experts on Robin Hood have quickly dismissed this Robin Hood because this Robin Hood was too far from the setting of the Robin Hood ballads34. Historian Jim Lees postulates that Robin Hood is the nobleman Robert de Kyme; however, his conclusions are not accepted by other historians and Robin Hood followers35. Considering the above unproven theories of Robin Hood, this student is inclined to favor Hunter’s Robin Hood as the real Robin Hood. For purposes of this study, it is important to note the discussion of Keen on Holt’s query about Robin Hood being either a peasant or a gentleman. The point being driven by Holt already assumes the existence of a real Robin Hood – more than a fiction-based character. Keen was eager to point out that Robin Hood is of noble class who is skilled in archery, and that the ballads of Robin Hood just represented the hopes of the hopeless and the oppressed36. Holt also supported Keen’s argument by emphasizing the description attached to Robin Hood in the ballads as a ‘yeoman’. This term actually means someone who is just below a gentleman’s status in society37. They favored the depiction of Robin Hood not as a peasant, not even as a true gentleman, but straddling between these two positions in society. The important point that this student would like to emphasize by citing these two authors is that Robin Hood is based on an actual living character; his identity is not quite established but, he was a real person. Many historians have come to question the existence of Robin Hood as a real person throughout the years. Even Joseph Hunter himself was among the first to refute claims of Robin’s existence. This, he later set right in his book when he firmly and succinctly stated that “neither is Robin Hood a mere poetic conception, a beautiful abstraction of the life of a jovial freebooter living in the woods, nor one of those fanciful beings, creatures of the popular mind, springing in the very infancy of northern civilization…but a person who had a veritable existence quite within historic time…”38. This student willingly supports this contention. The accounts above firmly indicate proof that Hunter’s Robin Hood is the real Robin Hood, that he was an outlaw who rallied against King Edward II and was later hunted and labeled an outlaw. He was later pardoned, but after being dissatisfied in the King’s service, he left the King’s employ. In the years that followed no other information about him was found. However, the records and documents which were found about Hunter’s Robin Hood closely resemble accounts written in the early ballads about Robin Hood. And these similarities tend to help support the thesis that the basis for the mythic Robin Hood is actually Hunter’s Robin Hood. No firm support for other Robin Hoods were found, hence this student has chosen to favor Hunter’s Robin Hood as the real Robin Hood. Based on the above considerations, this student answers the thesis of this paper this way: The true identity of Robin Hood is based on Robert Hood or Robyn Hod as theorized by Hunter. Notes 1. Barczewski, S. Myth and national identity in nineteenth century Britain (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 126 2. Wright, A. Search for a Real Robin Hood. Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 2009 (02 October 2009) http://www.boldoutlaw.com/realrob/realrob2.html 3. Hunter, J. The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, Robin Hood (Robert White: Park Street, 1883), p. 60 4. Knight, S. & Ohlgren, T. (eds). A Gest of Robyn Hode (Michigan: Medieval Institute Productions, 1997) 5. Ibid 6. Wright, A. Search for a Real Robin Hood. Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 2009 (02 October 2009) http://www.boldoutlaw.com/realrob/realrob2.html 7. Ibid 8. Ibid 9. Wood, M. In Search of England: Journeys Into the English Past (California: University of California Press, 1999), p. 81 10. Chambers, W. & Chambers, R. Chamberss Edinburgh journal, Volumes 17-18 (London: William and Robert Chambers, 1853), p. 138. 11. Clerk of the Chamber (22 November 1324) Exchequer: Kings Remembrancer: Memoranda Rolls and Enrollment Books. Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, 1274-1354 12. Wright, A. Search for a Real Robin Hood. Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 2009 (02 October 2009) http://www.boldoutlaw.com/realrob/realrob2.html 13. Wood, M. In Search of England: Journeys Into the English Past (California: University of California Press, 1999), p. 74 14. Wright, A. Search for a Real Robin Hood. Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 2009 (02 October 2009) http://www.boldoutlaw.com/realrob/realrob2.html 15. Wood, M. In Search of England: Journeys Into the English Past (California: University of California Press, 1999), p. 74 16. Ibid 17. Keen, M. The outlaws of medieval legend (London: Routledge, p. 1961), pp. 183-185 18. Ibid 19. Knight, S. & Ohlgren, T. (eds). A Gest of Robyn Hode (Michigan: Medieval Institute Productions, 1997) 20. Ibid 21. Chambers, R. The book of days: a miscellany of popular antiquities (London: William and Robert Chambers, 1864), p. 606. 22. Ibid 23. Thaxter, C., Jewett, S. Dickinson, E., & Cairns Collection of American Writers. The Atlantic Monthly, volume 1 (London: Trubner and Company, 1857) p. 159 24. Ibid 25. Ibid 26. Gent, S. The Gentleman’s Magazine (London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1852), p. 160 27. Chambers, W. & Chambers, R. Chamberss Edinburgh journal, Volumes 17-18 (London: William and Robert Chambers, 1853), p. 138. 28. Ibid 29. Ibid 30. Wright, A. Search for a Real Robin Hood. Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 2009 (02 October 2009) http://www.boldoutlaw.com/realrob/realrob2.html 31. Ibid 32. Ibid 33. Ibid 34. Ibid 35. Ibid 36. Keen, M. The outlaws of medieval legend (London: Routledge, p. 1961), pp. 183-185 37. Singman, J. Robin Hood: the shaping of the legend (Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing, 1998), p. 34. 38. Hunter, J. Hunter’s Tracts (Robert White: Park Street, 1850), p. 60. Bibliography 1. Primary Source Clerk of the Chamber (22 November 1324) Exchequer: Kings Remembrancer: Memoranda Rolls and Enrollment Books. Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, 1274-1354 Secondary Sources Barczewski, S. Myth and national identity in nineteenth century Britain (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 126 Bellamy, J. Robin Hood: an historical enquiry (Kent, Australia: Taylor and Francis, 1985), p. 24. Chambers, W. & Chambers, R. Chamberss Edinburgh journal, Volumes 17-18 (London: William and Robert Chambers, 1853), p. 138. Chambers, R. The book of days: a miscellany of popular antiquities (London: William and Robert Chambers, 1864), p. 606. Hunter, J. Hunter’s Tracts (Robert White: Park Street, 1850), p. 60. Hunter, J. The Great Hero of the Ancient Minstrelsy of England, Robin Hood (Robert White: Park Street, 1883), p. 60 Keen, M. The outlaws of medieval legend (London: Routledge, p. 1961), pp. 183-185 Knight, S. & Ohlgren, T. (eds). A Gest of Robyn Hode (Michigan: Medieval Institute Productions, 1997) Singman, J. Robin Hood: the shaping of the legend (Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing, 1998), p. 34. Thaxter, C., Jewett, S. Dickinson, E., & Cairns Collection of American Writers. The Atlantic Monthly, volume 1 (London: Trubner and Company, 1857) p. 159 Gent, S. The Gentleman’s Magazine (London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1852), p. 160 Wood, M. In Search of England: Journeys Into the English Past (California: University of California Press, 1999), p. 74 Wright, A. Search for a Real Robin Hood. Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood. 2009. (02 October 2009) http://www.boldoutlaw.com/realrob/realrob2.html Read More