A popular modern belief that he was of the time of Richard I probably stems from a “pedigree” fabricated by an 18th-century antiquary, William Stukeley. None of the various claims identifying Robin Hood with a particular historical figure has gained much support, and the outlaw’s existence may never have been anything but legendary. Robert Hood of Wakefield was the son of a forester who worked for the Earl de Warenne.

The man then introduces himself as Yahya — which he says can be translated to "John" — and proposes that he and Robin work to end the war by stealing back the money taken from the people to fund the church’s conflict. Marian seeks Robin upon learning that he is alive, but he’s advised by John not to tell her of his plans for her own protection. The Sheriff of Nottingham also had jurisdiction in Derbyshire that was known as the "Shire of the Deer", and this is where the Royal Forest of the Peak is found, which roughly corresponds to today’s Peak District National Park. The Royal Forest included Bakewell, Tideswell, Castleton, Ladybower and the Derwent Valley near Loxley. The Sheriff of Nottingham possessed property near Loxley, among other places both far and wide including Hazlebadge Hall, Peveril Castle and Haddon Hall. Mercia, to which Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of Sheffield City Centre.

• Children’s editions of the garlands were produced and in 1820, a children’s edition of Ritson’s Robin Hood collection was published.
• Around these bare facts a wonderfully fanciful romance has been woven in an Anglo-French chronicle which dates to the C13th.
• The plots of neither "the Monk" nor "the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne", which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy.
• The earliest surviving clear mention of "the rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the 1370s and paints him as an already established and well known piece of folklore.
• William Marshal, the Lord Chancellor since the days of John’s father, opposes the new taxes and is relieved of his position by John.

In the centuries when the Robin Hood legend was taking shape, the English government was beset by a number of crises that upended the social order. A civil war in the 12th century, later known as the Anarchy, led to a catastrophic breakdown in law and order. In the 14th century the Black Death and Hundred Years’ War with France placed a huge burden on the lower classes, who, in 1381, launched the Peasants’ Revolt. The medieval English ballads use this term to describe a status higher than a peasant but lower than a knight. In its original sense “yeoman” meant a young male servant, applied to servants of standing within a noble house. In the Gest Robin is depicted as a Yeoman of the King who, despite his privileged position, misses the forest and so chooses to abandon the court. The story of the legendary British outlaw portrayed with the characters as anthropomorphic animals.The story of the legendary British outlaw portrayed with the characters as anthropomorphic animals.The story of the legendary British outlaw portrayed with the characters as anthropomorphic animals.

Just as Robin Hood eludes the sheriff of Nottingham, pinning down the folk hero’s exact origins challenges scholars.

Returning home to England to learn the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham (Mendelsohn) has seized his family estate, aristocrat Robin of Loxley joins forces with Friar Tuck (Minchin) and Little John (Foxx) – a fierce Arabian warrior who wants to put an end to the Crusades. Armed with arrows and dubbed Robin Hood, Loxley leads a band of oppressed rebels in a daring plan to rob the Sheriff of his money and take away his power. Although many of the best-known Robin Hood ballads are postmedieval, there is a core that can be confidently attributed to the medieval period. These are Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, Robin Hood and the Potter, and the Lytyll Geste of Robin Hode. During the 16th century and later, the essential character of the legend was distorted by a suggestion that Robin was a fallen nobleman, and playwrights, eagerly adopting this new element, increased the romantic appeal of the stories but deprived them of their social bite.

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In 1968, Ken Anderson pitched a film adaptation of Robin Hood, incorporating ideas from Reynard the Fox by using anthropomorphic animals rather than humans. The project was approved, becoming the first animated feature to be produced without the involvement of Walt Disney. The original theatrical cut of the film was released on VHS in the US on October 30, 1991, and on DVD on September 30, 1997.[22] A 2-disc special-edition DVD was released in the US on June 10, 2003,[23] containing a 155-minute-long extended version of the film. This alternate cut of the film was released on Blu-ray in the US on May 26, 2009. Robin tells Marian of her brother’s death, but she sees little need for his protection.

Voice cast

Pyle’s work gained a new audience for Robin Hood in the United States, which seemed to hunger for more tales of the Prince of Thieves in years to come. C. Wyeth to create a colorful Robin Hood, one of the most visually striking renditions of the tale. Several more characters begin to appear in the Robin Hood stories at this point. Like Robin Hood, these two were also popular figures at the May games, and they begin appearing in literary works as well. Beginning in the 15th century and perhaps even earlier, Christian revelers in certain parts of England celebrated May Day with plays and games involving a Robin Hood figure with near-religious significance.

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The soldiers shoot arrows into the moat, but Robin dives to safety, and rejoins Little John and Skippy. Hiss chides a despairing Prince John for his failed trap, and points out the castle (which belonged to Prince John’s mother) is afire, causing Prince John to panic. The Sheriff, under Prince John’s orders, taxes the inhabitants of Nottingham excessively.

Character Filmography

Postmedieval ballads (which gave Robin a companion, Maid Marian) also lost most of their vitality and poetic value, doubtless as a result of losing the original social impulse that brought them into existence. In 1765, Thomas Percy (bishop of Dromore) published Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, including ballads from the 17th-century Percy Folio manuscript which had not previously been printed, most notably and Guy of Gisborne which is generally regarded as in substance a genuine late medieval ballad. The plots of neither "the Monk" nor "the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne", which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. The origins of the legend as well as the historical context have been debated for centuries.

It is therefore unsurprising that medieval records mention a number of people called "Robert Hood" or "riches of robin slot", some of whom are known criminals. However, Robin Hood appeared on the 18th-century stage in various farces and comic operas.[62] Alfred, Lord Tennyson would write a four-act Robin Hood play at the end of the 19th century, "The Forrestors". It is fundamentally based on the Gest but follows the traditions of placing Robin Hood as the Earl of Huntingdon in the time of Richard I and making the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John rivals with Robin Hood for Maid Marian’s hand.[63] The return of King Richard brings a happy ending.

These parallels are not mere coincidences, they are exact analogies, and they share much of the same mythological basis as the earlier tales of Hereward the Wake (who himself uses disguises and trickery). If our dating of Robin Hood is correct, then the tales are contemporaneous, and what we can see here is the development of a popular mythology which eulogises those men who stood out against the excesses of John’s rule. The forest in the Middle Ages included very extensive areas of cultivated land as well as wood and waste land. They were the private preserve of the king and his officers, and were protected by a harsh series of forest laws, against which there could be no appeal – not even to the ecclesiastical courts. Scholars sometimes explain these recurring themes of duping and punishing corrupt people in power as reflecting a struggle between dispossessed Saxons of the countryside and the powerful Norman rulers in the cities.

Historian and archivist Joseph Hunter discovered that many different Robin Hoods dotted the history of medieval England, often with variant spellings. One of the oldest references he found is in a 1226 court register from Yorkshire, England. It cites the expropriation of the property of one Robin Hood, described as a fugitive. In 1262, in southern England, there is a similar mention of a man called William Robehod in Berkshire. The previous year there had been a reference to “William, son of Robert le Fevere member of a band of outlaws”—believed to be the same person. In 1354, farther north in Northamptonshire, there is a record of an imprisoned man named “Robin Hood” who was awaiting trial.

Stay up-to-date with real-time market data, news and world events so you can manage your portfolio and stay one step ahead. Robinhood has top-of-the-line security features to protect your assets and personal information. So, Robin did exist, but not in quite the same way as the Robin Hood we all think of, the cinematic Robin of Sherwood, Prince of Thieves!